Linguaskill Business Reading: find the message, not the matching word
Reading is tested together with Listening in an adaptive Linguaskill Business test. The texts are short workplace materials: emails, notices, adverts, schedules, instructions and brief reports. Questions test gist, specific detail, inference and vocabulary or grammar in context. Because the test adapts, accuracy on early items matters; you cannot rely on a fixed question order.
Core rules
- Skim the text first: what type is it, who wrote it, who is it for, and what action or decision does it require?
- For detail questions, find the relevant line, then check the option's meaning. The correct option usually paraphrases the text rather than repeating it.
- For gap-fill items, read the whole sentence and test collocation and grammar, not just the word's general meaning.
- For inference, choose only what the text supports. Do not add outside business knowledge.
- Notice scope words: all, only, unless, before, not, except.
Worked example
Text: All contractors must sign in at reception and be escorted by a host at all times. Staff badges are required only in secure zones. Question: Who must be escorted at all times? A staff in secure zones B contractors C receptionists D all visitors Reasoning: the first sentence makes all contractors the subject of both must sign in and be escorted. At all times belongs to that contractor rule. The second sentence is a separate rule about staff badges and does not mention receptionists or all visitors. Answer: B. Option A borrows words from the text but applies them to the wrong group; D overgeneralises.
Traps that cost marks
- Choosing an option because it contains a word from the text.
- Missing NOT or EXCEPT in the question.
- Spending too long on one item and losing time later.
- Confusing near-neighbours such as invoice/quote, refund/receipt, recruit/reject.
- Answering from general knowledge rather than the passage.