Hi dear English enthusiasts, now that we have a new Reading section at DET, the question arises about how difficult is it? Well, based upon some experience in tutoring students for this section in particular and Duolingo in general, I would like to share with you some thoughts…
First of all, I think the first question where you have to select proper words for the gaps in the sentences is not too arduous… At least for those who have some experience dealing with such questions – either in TOEFL or GMAT or other test… Sometimes Duolingo gives a bit ambiguous options – so that two or three of them seem appropriate (and grammatically they are indeed!), and I consider this to be not so decent on their part…:)
What concerns the question, in which you should select the main idea of the excerpt – here ambiguity increases… I understand all the words everywhere in the text and questions, still the choice does not seem clear… Of course, I admit that Duolingo doesn’t want to seem a primitive purely based vocabulary test, but they should also realize that when a candidate is so limited in time, she or he is stressed without the additional ambiguity, so it would be kinder to provide clearer options for the answer.
So, I think that overall this new DET section of Reading is quite interesting and surmountable, but if the system finds out beforehand that your English is sufficient, it will give you a challenging task. You have to practice with an experienced tutor who can assist you in attuning your skills to the specifics of Duolingo. So, feel free to contact me – I have a very large experience in tutoring candidates for IELTS, Duolingo, TOEFL – so I will help you raise your score by a considerable margin.