Hi, I'm Duc. If you're reading this, you've probably been in the same position I was: watching 75 minutes evaporate on 100 Reading questions, then frantically bubbling in random answers for the last ten questions of Part 7. That feeling is genuinely awful, right?
After many practice tests and one real exam where I scored 905, I developed a time management system that works for me. It's not some magic formula, but it gave me control over the test and helped me maximize my score. Today I'm sharing the whole strategy — one friend passing on hard-won experience to another.
Table of Contents
- The big picture: How to divide 75 minutes
- Detailed strategy for each Part
- Part 5: Speed is King (12–15 minutes)
- Part 6: Context is Key (8 minutes)
- Part 7: The Real Battle (45–50 minutes)
- Essential skills: Skimming and Scanning
- Plan B: When the clock shows 5 minutes left
The Big Picture: How to Divide 75 Minutes
The first thing I learned is that you can't split time evenly. 100 questions in 75 minutes does not mean 45 seconds per question. Each Part has different difficulty levels and skill requirements. After a lot of trial and error, here's the time allocation I find most effective:
- Part 5 (30 questions – Grammar & Vocabulary): 12–15 minutes
- Part 6 (16 questions – Text Completion): 8 minutes
- Part 7 (54 questions – Reading Comprehension): 45–50 minutes, broken down further:
- Single Passages: ~25 minutes
- Double/Triple Passages: ~20–25 minutes
- Buffer time: 5–7 minutes to review or tackle flagged questions
As you can see, Part 7 takes up the lion's share of the time. That's completely normal — it's the core of the Reading section. Let's dive into each part.
Detailed Strategy for Each Part
Part 5: Speed is King (12–15 minutes)
With 30 questions in a maximum of 15 minutes, my target is roughly 25–30 seconds per question. Part 5 primarily tests grammar and vocabulary. Questions are usually short and don't require deep reading comprehension.
Here's my approach:
- Skim the question: Immediately identify what the blank needs (noun, verb, adjective, preposition, etc.).
