This editorial is a practical guide to preparing for a government or institutional typing test, and it is written in the same formal register those tests use. Typing it is practice; following it is preparation.
What makes this passage demanding
- Hyphenated words.
nerve-racking, five-minute, last-minute and full-size all use the hyphen key. - Parentheses around a list in Part 6. Close the bracket before the comma that follows it.
- Long, rule-heavy sentences with several items separated by commas.
- An apostrophe in
night's. - A deliberate misspelling. Part 6 quotes
teh, the classic slip for the. Type it exactly as written; correcting it would be an error. - Figures. Part 3 converts 35 words per minute into 10,500 key depressions per hour.
The method, briefly
- Read the official notice in full: duration, minimum speed, error rules and backspace rules vary between examinations.
- Understand the measure. One word is usually counted as five keystrokes; some tests use key depressions per hour instead.
- Practise on exam-style text — formal prose with figures and punctuation, like the passages in this track.
- Time yourself and record speed and accuracy for every attempt.
- Analyse your errors word by word, and drill the patterns that repeat.
- Practise on a full-size keyboard if your test centre will use one.
- Rest the day before, and on the day, settle your posture and rhythm before the timer starts.
How to practise it
Type each part as a short timed passage at your target examination pace. Note your accuracy for each one; if it falls below the threshold your examination requires, slow down until it does not.
Practice notes
The most common examination mistake, described in Part 10, is starting far faster than your normal pace. Begin this lesson — and your test — at the rhythm you have practised, and hold it to the last word.