One of the basic issues with reading tests is often time, or more specifically time limits. Students are given a set amount of time to read some material and answer the questions related to the passage or article. Unfortunately, right now, there is no module in place to specifically do this. However, it is possible to set up a Quiz that does time students.

The first thing that needs to be done is to set up a Quiz. In the Quiz creation page, you need to set the time limit to however long you intend the test to be. Once this is done, make sure the number of questions per page is set to unlimited. The method being described here uses a question at the beginning of the Quiz to hold the reading passage, so make sure the item shuffling is turned off or the students won't see the reading in the proper place.

Once the settings are finalized, save the Quiz and go to the Question Bank page. Here, make a Description question to hold the reading passage. This will be the first question on the page. After this item, include all questions you want relating to the reading.

When you have added all the questions you want, you will have a timed, reading test with the passage at the top and all the related questions below. An example is shown in the next screenshot:

As seen in the previous screenshot, the passage is at the top and the questions follow. The timer is visible in the upper-left corner of the screen showing how much time remains. This method of creating a timed reading test is very useful and something that you will find very easy to put together.

If you don't want a timed reading, simply leave the time limit disabled.