Reading

In the Reading Test students will answer multiple-choice questions relating to a range of written texts of different types and varying lengths, aligned to Level 4 and 5 of the NZC.

The texts will relate to a range of experiences relevant to everyday life, such as employment opportunities, health and safety situations, media coverage, sports events, school or community events, the environment, and important individuals.

Students whose reading was clearly at or above the standard demonstrated strengths in: 

• careful and considered close reading of both the texts and the questions 

• identifying the writer’s purpose (i.e., why did they write this text?) 

• identifying the writer’s audience (i.e., who did they write this text for?)

• recognising the strategies and language choices the writer used to achieve their purpose 

• using language comprehension skills to help make sense of unfamiliar texts (e.g., inferring unknown vocabulary from the context 

• using their knowledge of language patterns and word families 

• understanding how to determine the relevance, reliability, and trustworthiness of information. 

Students whose reading was below the standard demonstrated that they had difficulty in: 

• using close reading strategies to understand the texts and/or questions 

• understanding the writer’s purpose 

• understanding the writer’s intended audience 

• understanding the reason why the writer made certain language choices 

• selecting and using reading strategies to help them make sense of texts (e.g., unfamiliar vocabulary) 

• making decisions about the relevance or reliability of information.