Do you know what to expect at the STANAG 6001 level 3 READING exam? Read this post to find out about topics, text types, text length, time, skills you should have to do the tasks and marking criteria.

 

TEST DESCRIPTION

There are two reading tasks at the STANAG level 3 exam in English and you have 65 minutes to read, do the exercises and transfer your answers to the marking sheet.
Both TASK 1 and TASK 2 are multiple choice tests. The difference is that in TASK 1 the texts are short (about 70-80 words) and there is one question related to each text with three (a, b, c) possible answers. There are 13 to 14 short texts in this task.
In TASK 2, there is one text which is much longer (about 800 words) and there are 6 or 7 questions related to the text with four (a, b, c, d) possible answers.
There is one correct answer in each case.
 

TOPICS AND TEXT TYPES

All the texts at the exam are authentic texts or their passages, mainly of informative or opinion-giving character from the press and the Internet.
The topics cover such areas as military, politics, economics, science, technology or even culture.
You can expect different types of texts, but mostly articles and press releases, as well passages from scientific or factual literature or reviews. 
The last exam session, for example, surprised candidates with the text about medicine.
 

SKILLS

The questions will check your ability to:
  • identify the main idea of the text or paragraph
  • see the difference between the main idea and supporting ideas
  • understand both explicit (clearly stated) and implicit (suggested "between the lines") information
  • see the purpose of the text
  • understand the author's attitude to the subject matter
  • understand the connection between sentences and paragraphs (consequence, contrast, result, example)
  • understand unknown words from the context
 

MARKING

There are 20 questions in the reading test. You answer the question by circling the right letter on the answer sheet.
There is one point for each answer. To pass the test, you need to obtain 14 out of 20 possible points.
 

HOW TO PREPARE

As a summary of this overview of the reading exam, I would like to give you some general tips on how to prepare to this part of the exam.
It is not a secret that you need to read to learn to read and understand texts. So, read in English as much as you can.
 
What to read?
Read whatever you find interesting or useful.
You can ask yourself a few questions:
 
  • What do I like reading for pleasure?
  • What topics are of interest to me?
  • What sources of authentic texts in English do I know?
  • How much time can I spend everyday reading in English?

TIPS 

Read whatever you like reading - crime stories, romance, news, manuals, instructions, blogs...
Find sources on the Internet. Use your browser 🙂 .
Spend at least 5-10 minutes everyday reading something in English for pleasure! Scroll the headlines on a BBC site, read a page in a book, a blog post, a recipe, a review.
START A CATALOGUE of what you have read. Just make a list and write what you read everyday. It should motivate you to read a little something EVERYDAY.
It is also useful to do the tests typical for the exam and practise exam techniques as such.
You will find these together with all the above information on the website of The Polish Armed Forces School of Languages http://wsnjo.wp.mil.pl.
I will write more about exam techniques of doing multiple choice tests soon.
Good luck!
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to comment below ⬇⬇⬇ or contact me directly by email at info@stanagexpert.com