Lucas Fink

Each question on the reading section counts for the same number of points except the final question on each passage. That question may be worth 2 to 4 times the number of points. It's a table that you have to fill in. Here's an example. To get better at the reading section, the most important thing is practice. There are two strategies that you might find helpful. The most common strategy is reading the whole passage before answering questions. This is better if you have trouble dealing with a lot of information at one time. Generally, if you are scoring lower, it's a better strategy. Be sure to understand as much as you can, but don't get stuck on any one sentence. Continue reading and make your best guess about sentences you're unsure of. Ask yourself questions and summarize what you read in your head. When you start answering the questions, you should have a clear picture of the structure of the passage in your head (or in your notes, if you need to take them). You don't need to remember every detail, but you should know the big ideas. Be aware that you only have 20 minutes for each passage and set of questions. Do not take more than that, if possible. The other strategy, which I recommend to higher scorers like you, is to go straight to the first questions. Read the question, then start reading the passage. Answer the question when you have read enough of the passage and know the answer. Then move on to the next question. Read the question and answer it if you have already read the right information. If you haven't read that part of the text yet, then continue reading the passage from where you stopped before until you can answer the second question. This strategy can save time, but it's often difficult for students who have more trouble understanding the reading. When you reach the final passage, if you do not have enough time , answer all of the vocabulary questions first. They usually don't require you to read the passage, only to know the meaning of the word. Answer any other questions about small details you can find in the text without reading the whole passage. Then go back and read the text, answering questions as normal until time runs out. As for the speaking task, Nina was right that the most important thing is experience, but structure also helps a lot. Know the test well. Be prepared for the exact structure you will use in each task. For example, the first task might be structured like this: - Personal choice - Reason 1 for choice - Example/explanation of reason 1 - Reason 2 for choice - Example/explanation of reason 2 That could be 5 or 10 sentences, depending on how much information you add. But knowing the general structure before the test will make you more comfortable when you respond, and that helps a lot. Also, speak English in your head all day. :-) You don't have to be surrounded by English speakers to get practice.

Do you really just ​want the answers? I wonder if that would really help. You might need the explanations, too. :-) So let's try something different: you post your answers, and I'll tell you which ones are incorrect and why. That will be more productive!

Writing in a block of text, with no paragraphs, definitely won't help your score, but it's not so simple that we can say exactly how much lower your score will be than it would if you'd broken up your essay into the appropriate intro/body/conclusion format. 290 words is a bit short, too, but if you used clear, correct English and communicated well, with logical relationships between sentences, you could, theoretically, score a 25. Note that this also depends heavily on how good your first essay was. If the length and structure of the second essay were literally the only problems with either essay, I'd estimate the max score to be 28. So then, the question is how good the rest was. :-) I'd be curious to know how it turns, out—do post the results when you hear back from ETS, please! Lucas