The Reading Exam: What to Expect on Screen — Reading A2

On the DUO A2 Lezen exam, the screen is split: the passage sits on the left, the question and 3–4 options sit on the right. Most students lose their first three points reading the wrong half — the long text — before they have read the short question. This lesson walks you through what you actually see, the persona-prefix that frames every stem, and the single move that earns the time back.

1. The Screen Layout

The real DUO exam splits your screen in two:

• Left side: the text — a letter, an e-mail, a schedule, an advertisement. At the top you often see the instruction Lees onderstaande tekst.
• Right side: the question, plus 3 or 4 answer options.

You click one option per question. There is no dictionary at A2.

2. The Persona-Prefix

Most questions do not ask about the text directly. They open with a short setup naming a fictional reader and what they want to know:

Modibo woont in een flat op de tweede verdieping. Hij heeft een tafel gekocht. Wat moet hij betalen?

You are not Modibo. You are answering on his behalf. That means you scan the text for the fact he needs — delivery costs for a second-floor apartment — and ignore everything else.

3. Question first, then scan

A2 passages are stuffed with facts: times, dates, prices, names. If you read the passage first, you will try to hold all of them in your head and lose the question's specific target.

Read the question on the right side first. Pin the exact target (Hoe laat...?, Wat moet ze meenemen?, Waarom krijgt zij deze brief?), then scan the left for that one fact.

4. Always guess

Every item is multiple choice with 3 or 4 options, and a wrong answer costs nothing. If the clock is running out, eliminate the options you can rule out and pick from the rest. Never leave a question blank.