Section guide · Marlins English Language Test for Seafarers
Marlins test reading the three reading tasks and how they are scored
The reading section of the Marlins test is one screen, but it is not one point. It can be a short notice with drop-down gaps, three sentences and a bank of words with one too many, or paragraphs that need a heading. This guide explains each task, how the points are counted, how much time to give it, and works through a short passage written by us, gap by gap.
Marlins' About the tests page lists one Reading question in each written test — Seafarers, Cruise Ship Staff and Offshore Workers — at the time of writing (October 2026). One question, but not one point: on Marlins' free practice tests, a reading screen gives one point for every gap you fill correctly. You can see it in the Offshore Workers test, whose listed sections add up to 80 questions while the test is described as 85 — the reading screen there has six drop-downs.
Test
The reading task in our timed simulation
Seafarers
One task, drawn from three kinds: a short text with 4 gaps × 4 options (4 points), headings for 3 paragraphs (3 points) or a word bank for 3 sentences, all or nothing (1 point).
Cruise Ship Staff
The same three kinds as Seafarers, on hotel and guest-service topics.
Offshore Workers
One short text with 6 gaps × 3 options — 6 points on one screen.
Six points is as much as the whole Time and numbers section of the Offshore test. That is the first rule of reading on the Marlins test: never treat it as one question. Our Reading Comprehension unit has 200 items, and the three exam-format reading units add 100 more tasks.
01Task 1: a short text with drop-down gaps
A notice, an email, a page of standing orders or a short report, usually around a hundred words, with four gaps (six in the Offshore test). Each gap opens a list of options. Most gaps test grammar inside the sentence; one or two test the meaning of the whole text. What the gaps usually ask for:
A word that goes with another word.responsible for, in charge of, without delay, at once, on arrival. These are fixed: learn them as one piece.
A linking word.although, however, because, unless, until, so. Read the sentence before and after the gap: is it a contrast, a reason, a condition or a result?
A small grammar word.any / some, each / every, a / the, who / which. The sentence tells you which one fits.
A verb form.must be posted, has been repaired, would rather be. Check the subject and the time of the sentence.
Method: read the whole text once, quickly, without choosing anything — 30 to 40 seconds. Then fill the gaps you are sure of. Then go back to the hard ones and read the complete sentence around each gap, plus the sentence before it. Finish by reading the whole text again with your choices: a wrong option usually sounds wrong when you read it in the full text.
02Try it: a short passage with four gaps
An original text in the format of the test. Choose one option for each gap, then open the key.
Example · short text, 4 gaps × 4 options
NOTICE TO ALL CREW — FRESH WATER
Because the evaporator is under repair, fresh water will be rationed (1) we reach Durban on Friday. Showers are limited to five minutes, and the laundry may be used (2) on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Drinking water is not affected: bottled water is available in the mess room, (3) the supply is limited, so please take only what you need. Anyone who notices a leaking tap or pipe should report it to the duty engineer (4) delay.
Chief Engineer
(1)a) while · b) until · c) by · d) since
(2)a) ever · b) every · c) even · d) only
(3)a) although · b) because · c) unless · d) so
(4)a) in · b) for · c) without · d) with
Show the answers, explained
(1) b — until. Rationing continues up to a moment — "we reach Durban" — and stops then: until. "By" gives a deadline for one action ("by Friday"), "while" needs an action that lasts, and "since" looks back to the past.
(2) d — only. Water is rationed, so the laundry is limited to two mornings: only. "Every" needs a noun ("every Tuesday"), and "even" would mean the laundry is surprisingly open — the opposite of the notice.
(3) a — although. Water is available, but the supply is limited — a contrast: although. "Because" and "so" make a reason or a result that does not exist, and "unless" turns it into a condition.
(4) c — without. "Without delay" is a fixed phrase meaning "immediately". None of the other prepositions makes a phrase with "delay" here.
Notice what the four gaps had in common: none of them could be answered from the gap alone. Gap 1 needed the event after it, gap 2 the idea of rationing from the first sentence, gap 3 the contrast with "not affected" and gap 4 a fixed phrase. That is why the method says read the sentence, not the gap.
03Task 2: three sentences, one word bank, one word spare
Three separate sentences, each with one gap, and a bank of four words. Each word can be used only once, and one word is not needed. In our practice this task is scored all or nothing — one point for the whole task when every sentence is right — which is how we saw it scored on Marlins' free Cruise Ship Staff practice test. So one careless gap costs the whole task.
Example · word bank, one spare word
Words: lower · report · repair · secure
Before the ship leaves port, ________ all loose equipment on deck.
If you find a leak in the hydraulic line, ________ it to the duty engineer at once.
When the boat is ready, the bosun will ________ it slowly to the water.
Show the answers
1 secure · 2 report · 3 lower. The spare word is repair. It belongs to the topic — a leak, equipment — and that is why it is the trap: in sentence 2, "repair it to the duty engineer" is not English, because report is the verb that goes with to a person.
Method: place the word you are surest of first, then the second. The third gap is now a choice between two words. Check the spare word against every sentence before you finish: if it fits one of them better than your choice, swap. The words around the gap help most — a preposition after the gap (report … to, lower … to) or an object (secure all loose equipment).
04Task 3: a heading for each paragraph
Three short paragraphs about one subject — entering an enclosed space, a fire drill, life in the crew mess — and a list with more headings than paragraphs. Each paragraph takes one heading; one heading (sometimes two) is spare. Each correct heading is a point.
Example · two paragraphs, three headings
Headings: a) Checking your lifejacket · b) Learning the way to your station · c) Lowering the lifeboat
Paragraph A. Every crew member must know the way from their cabin to their muster station in the dark. Walk the route on your first day on board, and count the doors and the stairs as you go.
Paragraph B. A lifejacket is kept in every cabin and at each muster station. Make sure the light and the whistle are attached, and tell the third officer at once if anything is missing.
Show the answers
A → b, B → a. Heading c is spare. It belongs to the subject — emergencies and boats — but neither paragraph is about lowering a lifeboat. The two right headings each sum up a whole paragraph; heading c only shares its subject. A heading that repeats a word from the text is not automatically right — check it against the whole paragraph.
Method: read the first and the last sentence of each paragraph — the topic is usually there — and write a two-word summary in your head before you look at the headings. Then match. Choose the heading that covers the whole paragraph, not one detail of it: the spare heading is often a detail that appears in one sentence.
05How much time to give the reading task
The Seafarers test has a recommended time of 60 minutes for 85 questions — about 42 seconds each. The reading task needs more: plan three to five minutes. It is worth it, because it can be worth four or six points, and the time comes back if you answer the grammar items you know quickly.
Watch the clock. If you are running late, answer the reading task before the items you are only guessing at — you can move between questions, so its points do not have to wait for the end.
One quick read, then the gaps. Thirty to forty seconds of reading saves time later, because you understand each gap the first time.
Never leave a gap empty. An empty gap is a lost point; a guess between two options is a 50 % chance.
Save 30 seconds to read it all again with your answers in place.
You can come back. Marlins' About the tests page says you may return to any question and change your answer — if a gap stays unclear, mark the screen and come back at the end.
06The mistakes that cost reading points
Choosing from the gap alone. Three options may fit the grammar; only one fits the text.
Choosing the word you know. If you do not know an option, it can still be right. Decide by removing the options that do not fit.
Using a word twice in the word bank, or forgetting that one word is spare.
Matching a heading by one repeated word instead of the main idea of the paragraph.
Leaving the task to the last minute and losing four or six points to the clock.
Translating the whole text. You need the sense of each sentence, not a translation.
How to practise: read short real texts from ships every day — safety notices, company circulars, port information, cruise-line guest letters. After each one, close it and say in English, in one sentence, what it was about. That is the skill the headings task measures. For the gap tasks, collect the fixed phrases you meet (responsible for, in accordance with, prior to) in a notebook, with the full sentence.
07The other sections of the test
One guide per section, with the points each one is worth in the Seafarers test:
How many reading questions are in the Marlins test?
Marlins' About the tests page lists one Reading question in each written test (Seafarers, Cruise Ship Staff and Offshore Workers) at the time of writing (October 2026). That one question is a screen with several gaps, and on Marlins' free practice tests each correct gap is a point.
How is the Marlins reading task scored?
On Marlins' free practice tests, one point for each correct gap or heading. The word-bank task — three sentences, one spare word — was scored all or nothing on the Cruise Ship Staff practice test, and our practice scores it the same way. The reading points count in your overall percentage like any other.
What kinds of reading task are there?
Three: a short text with drop-down gaps (four gaps with four options for Seafarers, six gaps with three options for Offshore Workers), a word bank for three sentences with one word spare, and headings for three short paragraphs with at least one heading spare.
How long should I spend on the reading task?
Three to five minutes. It is longer than the 42 seconds the average question gets, but the task is worth several points. Read the text once, fill the gaps you are sure of, then the hard ones, and read it all again at the end.
Can I come back to the reading task later?
Yes. Marlins' About the tests page says you can return to any question and change your answer. Never leave a gap empty, though: put your best guess in and come back if you have time.
