Reading and Responding in Armenian
What this domain tests
The reading section presents authentic-style Armenian texts - articles, letters, notices, advertisements, short literary extracts - and asks you to demonstrate comprehension, interpret tone, and respond in Armenian. You need to locate specific information, understand the structure of a text, and recognise the writer's purpose and audience.
Concepts to master
- Text types and their conventions: a formal letter opens with Հարգելի… and closes with Հարգանքով; a notice uses imperatives; a review mixes description with evaluation.
- Cohesion: follow pronouns and demonstratives (այն, սա, նա) back to their referents, and track connectors such as նախ (first), ապա (then), որովհետև (because), չնայած (although).
- Vocabulary in context: guess unfamiliar words from word formation - prefixes like ան- (without), ոչ- (non-), and suffixes like -ություն, -ական, -որեն.
- Fact versus opinion: identify evaluative adjectives and modal words (հավանաբար, իհարկե, կարծես) that mark the writer's stance.
Traps to watch for
Questions frequently test inference, not copying: the answer is paraphrased, while a distractor quotes the text verbatim but answers a different question. Watch for scope words - բոլորը (all), միայն (only), միշտ (always) - which make a statement too strong. In matching tasks, two options may seem plausible; the correct one satisfies every element of the question, not just one keyword.
Rule of thumb
Skim the whole text once for gist, read the questions, then scan for the relevant paragraph. When two answers look right, return to the exact line and check who does what, when, and whether the text states it or merely implies it.
Worked example: Text: «Չնայած անձրևին՝ համերգը տեղի ունեցավ բաց երկնքի տակ»։ Question: Did the concert take place indoors? The connector չնայած (despite) signals concession: the rain did not stop an open-air concert, so the answer is no.