Tomas: 13 out of 24 and thirteen minutes to spare
Tomas needs B2 in all four skills to take up a job offer, and reading is his weakest area. In a timed 45-minute mock he scored 13 out of 24.
- Short texts (notices, messages, adverts): 6 out of 6.
- Matching statements to paragraphs in a longer article: 3 out of 8.
- Two longer texts with four-option questions: 4 out of 10.
He finished in 32 minutes, then checked every answer twice and changed five. Three of those changes turned right answers into wrong ones. He reads every sentence at the same speed, silently mouths the words, and stops completely at vocabulary he does not know - in the mock he spent six minutes on one word in the second paragraph of the article.
Afterwards he said: 'My vocabulary is too small. I need a 3,000-word list before I book the test.' His teacher notes that he can explain the grammar of any sentence he is given, and that his listening and speaking are already at B2.
1. Read Tomas's score profile. What does it tell you, and what should he stop doing?
Read the worked answer
The profile is a text-type and question-type problem, not a vocabulary problem.
6/6 on short texts shows he can locate precise information in dense transactional writing. 3/8 on matching shows he is not yet handling gist and paraphrase across a whole paragraph. 4/10 on four-option questions, finishing thirteen minutes early, shows speed without evidence.
The five changes, three of them wrong, are the clearest symptom: he is re-answering from his memory of the text rather than from the text. His second pass is not checking; it is second-guessing.
Grammar knowledge is high, so more grammar study is wasted. A 3,000-word list would delay him for months and does not address the task in front of him.
What to stop: reading every sentence at one speed, stopping at unknown words, and changing answers he cannot support with a line in the passage. Reading every word is right for one task type and ruinous for the others.
2. Give him a 45-minute plan and a rule for changing answers.
Read the worked answer
Plan tied to the paper, not to the clock for its own sake:
- Short texts, 8 minutes. His strength. Do not bank time here by rushing, and do not reread.
- Matching, 12 minutes. Statements first, then each paragraph for its main point, never for a matching word. Write the paragraph letter plus one word of justification.
- Long texts with options, 18 minutes, about 9 each. Questions first, then the passage in sections; answer and underline the line that proves it.
- 7 minutes for flagged items only, applying the rule below.
The rule: change an answer only if he can point to the sentence that supports the new choice. If the support is 'it feels wrong', leave it. His three right-to-wrong changes cost more than any comprehension gap.
If a question takes more than about 75 seconds, mark it, choose the best option so far, and move on.
3. How should he deal with unknown vocabulary without a dictionary?
Read the worked answer
First decide whether the word matters. In short texts almost every word carries meaning; in a long text one unknown adjective often does not.
Cheap moves, in order:
- Word class and position. Is it the noun a price refers to, or a verb describing what someone did? That alone is often enough to answer.
- The sentence's own logic. Definitions ('known as…'), contrasts ('unlike…', 'rather than') and examples ('such as…') usually explain the word on the spot.
- Word parts. non-refundable, overcrowded, misjudged - prefix and root give the meaning.
- The options. If the question depends on the word, three options will be inconsistent with the surrounding sentence.
Six minutes on one word is the behaviour to eliminate, not the vocabulary gap. A B2 reader does not know every word; they know which words they can afford to skip.