1. As you read, make connections to what you already know and to other subjects and content areas. The more you know about a subject and the richer your vocabulary is, the better you will understand the passage. As you practice your reading skills, try to determine how the main idea, the purpose of the passage, and specific key words connect to the knowledge you have learned in other classes: science, art, social studies, psychology, geography, and others. You will then be able to transfer this knowledge to the reading passage. It may be a cliché, but it is applicable: "Knowledge is power," and this power will make you a more successful reader. Fiction writers and newspaper journalists write for an educated audience. You are a member of that audience.
2. Look to the main idea and activate background knowledge about it. All readings will have an introduction with information about the source. This introduction usually includes the author's name and some brief information about the passage. It sometimes includes other facts, such as the novel or short story from which the passage comes and the nationality of its author. Get as much information as you can from this introduction. This will trigger ideas about what you already know regarding the subject matter and similar situations you have read or heard about. Use this to make connections to what you expect to read in the passage.
3. Use context to derive meaning. In some cases you may not be sure of a word or an expression. In those cases, look at the context of the entire sentence and paragraph in order to help you figure out its meaning. Avoid the bilingual dictionary and remember you do not have to know every word to understand the passage. Use your ability to make inferences, recognize cognates and words of the same family, break up prefixes and suffixes and, if necessary, make educated guesses.
4. Study the visuals. Some of the reading passages are paired with a second source that is an informational graphic, such as a chart, table, or graph. In these cases, establish the relationship between these visuals and the ideas or objects mentioned in the passage. Then look at the visual to see what additional information it provides. You will answer multiple-choice questions that relate to both the reading passage and the visual, so it will help you if you highlight, circle, or underline the source of the question (fuente escrita, artículo, gráfico, etc.). This way you will know exactly the source you need to consult in order to answer the questions.
Keep in mind that these visual elements present information in a way that combines text with images. You must analize the parts and then see how they work together as a whole in order to understand all the information they are presenting.
Read carefully any titles or captions in order to understand exactly what type of information is being shown.
With charts and tables, pay close attention to the column and row heads. Note any use of extra rules, spacing, or shading that helps to group items into subcategories.
With line and bar graphs, note that there are normally two axes (at the end and at the bottom). Make sure you understand what information is being presented on each axis. Then look to see how the point on the line or the top of the bar shows the intersection of these two kinds of information. Analyzing that intersection will help you interpret the information being presented.
Pie charts show percentages of a whole ("slices" of a "pie"). These percentages add up to 100%, or the whole "pie." Usually the percentages are listed on each "slice," but sometimes they are not. In those cases, look at the relative size of the "slices" to determine rough percentages.
For further support, review Appendix A: Vocabulary for Reading Tables and Graphs.
5. Make inferences, compare facts and ideas, and draw conclusions. Some questions in this section of the exam will test your ability to make cultural inferences. For example, suppose you are asked to read an article printed in a newspaper from Colombia. If the article describes a tradition, a custom, or a holiday celebrated in that country, that is a cultural practice in that culture that may be different from yours. If the article discusses a type of food, a piece of art, or some other object that is well known to the audience for whom the passage is intended, that is a cultural product that you may not be familiar with. if, as you read, you come to the conclusion (you infer) that the passage reflects the way the ideas are viewed in that culture, this is a cultural perspective, a view different from your own.
Your ability to make inferences will be tested in several ways.
Some questions may require that you interpret linguistic cues to infer social relationships. Does the article talk about a specific sociocultural group? Does it discuss different ethnic groups and their contributions to society? Does it present ideas about religion, government, or education? Does it include a dialogue that allows you to focus on how people use formal or informal language to address each other?
At times, you may be asked to identify the tone of a selection. Look for cues that will help you identify if the passage is funny, romantic, pessimistic, nostalgic, objective, etc. What point of view is the author expressing an how does the tone contribute to that point of view?
6. Follow a three-step process. As you start practicing for the exam, use the following reading process: pre-reading, reading, and post-reading. As you become more proficient in the language and reading, your will be able to go through the process more quickly.
Pre-reading: Organize yourself before you start to read.
a. Look at the curricular theme that is associated with the reading to preview its content. As noted above, there are six curricular themes used throughout the exam: Los desafíos mundiales,
La ciencia y la tecnologíá, La vida contemporánea, Las identidades personales y públicas, Las familias y las comunidades, and La belleza y la estética.
b. Read the title and any other information that precedes the selections and make predictions about what it might contain.
c. It is always a good idea to read the questions before you read the passage; that way you will know what information you need to find.
Reading: Start connecting the passage's content and main ideas to what you already know about the subject.
a. Read the first paragraph and continue to make predictions.
b. Focus on details and language
c. Visualize the passage content as you read
d. Focus on associations and connections (background knowledge) triggered by the text.
e. Watch out for false cognates.
f. Check the tense in which the passage is written.
g. Pay attention to word order. Sometimes the sentences may not have the order you are used to seeing, for example, a subject followed by a verb.
h. Take notes and mark key words or ideas. Circle, underline, or place checks or other marks next to facts or key words you noticed when you previewed the questions before reading. Although
you will not be allowed to use a highlighter the day of the exam, you should use a different color pen to underline the main idea of each paragraph.
Post-reading: After reading the entire passage, make sure you do the following:
a. Synthesize what you have learned from the text. Were you able to make successful connections to what you already know and to the different kinds of information included in the reading (and
visual)?
b. Be strategic when answering the questions. In some exams, you lose 1/3 of a point for incorrect answers. ON the AP* exam yo do not, so you can guess any time you are not sure about the
answer.