Sample IALS Questions
Prose Level 1 Score range: 0 to 225
Most of the tasks at this level require the reader to locate one piece of information in the text that is identical or synonymous to the information given in the directive. If a plausible incorrect answer is present in the text, it tends not to be near the correct information.
Tasks at this level require the reader to locate and match a single piece of information in the text. Typically the match between the task and the text is literal, although sometimes a low-level inference may be necessary. The text is usually brief or has organisational aids such as paragraph headings or italics that suggest where in the text the reader should search for the specified information. Generally, the target word or phrase appears only once in the text.
The easiest task in Level 1 (difficulty value of 188) directs respondents to look at a medicine label to determine the “maximum number of days you should take this medicine." The label contains only one reference to number of days and this information is located under the heading “DOSAGE.” The reader must go to this part of the label and locate the phrase “not longer than 7 days.”
In Canada, 22% of adults are performing at Level 1.
