SCORING 7 BANDS IN R AND L

Sharing my experience preparing for Listening and Reading to achieve a Band 7

I'm sharing my experience with Listening and Reading, along with some tips for computer-based exams that I found effective. Hopefully, these tips will help anyone aiming to improve their band.

1. Listening

I practiced almost all of Cambridge books from 14 to 18. So stick to Cambridge materials for a solid foundation, and get used to listening by watching YouTube videos on topics you enjoy.

When listening, I usually adjust the speed to 1.25x and 1.75x to get used to fast listening, so the exam feels much easier . Used online websites to practice .

After grading, I prioritize listening to the audio again to find mistakes instead of reading the script first. If there's still time, I go back and do some old practice tests to see if I've improved my band score.

2. Reading

This is the section I put the most effort into because I'm aiming for a band 8 or higher. My main practice sources are only two: Cambridge materials and the Online Websites , After completing the exercises, the clear explanations of the answers allow me to check my mistakes without asking anyone.

Tips for doing reading:

Underline or highlight the key for each question. Only choose an answer when you have clear evidence; don't guess randomly. Develop this habit from the start of your preparation, and during the exam, you'll automatically answer instinctively.

For TFNG, YNNG, and MCQ questions, the questions usually follow the order of the reading passage, so I only look at two questions at a time to avoid information overload. For example, if there are 6 questions, read questions 1 and 2 first, look for evidence, and whichever question you find first, the remaining questions are nearby.

For matching headings and matching information questions, read each paragraph in order. After reading each paragraph, quickly scan the entire question to see if the paragraph you just read is relevant to any other question, and answer it immediately to avoid having to reread it multiple times (remember to highlight it).

3. A few notes when practicing for the exam on a computer:

For the listening section, fill-in-the-blank questions, don't move your mouse back and forth between boxes to save time; press the tab key to jump to the next box much faster.

For map questions, remember to move your mouse along with the audio to avoid getting lost.

For the reading section, use copy-paste for fill-in-the-blank questions; it's faster and you won't have to worry about spelling mistakes.

For writing task 2, I wrote the outline directly in the text first, then filled in the sentences to complete them. Write the introduction and conclusion first so that if you run out of time, the essay will still have a complete structure.

Good luck with your exam preparation, and may you achieve your goals soon!