Up until now, Language Awareness in ASEP exams has been regarded as the least demanding of the three parts. As a result, the majority of candidates felt that there was no real need for prior preparation, as they were fairly confident about their abilities.
Still, it seems that since the 2005 exam things have begun to change. What candidates actually faced this time was a much longer exam, which did not only take longer to complete, but also included several "tricky" multiple choice questions, the answer to which not even very competent candidates were able to figure out. Moreover, it was the first time ASEP did not give the answers along with the results, as the case had been with the previous exams.
Therefore, it has become more than clear that those of you taking the exam, cannot possibly know what to anticipate in terms of format, length or tasks. This is the very reason you should make an effort to improve your awareness of the language as a whole and be prepared to encounter a completely new exam each time.
It is also essential to keep in mind that this exam is different from other exams you have taken so far, in the sense that in order to succeed and achieve your ultimate goal, you have to excel , not just pass the base, which is more or less what you have been doing at school or university.
For all these reasons, you should decide on the technique to follow in the exam, find out as much as possible about how the exam is conducted, how it is marked etc. and generally prepare everything to the very last detail in advance, as an exam situation is not the ideal time to experiment.
For example, you should know that for every wrong multiple choice answer you give, 0.25 of your marks is deducted, however, if you choose to leave one question unanswered, you do not lose any marks. This is why you might want to consider not answering the questions you are not at all sure about, although that depends on the risks you are willing to take.
To sum up, the idea here is to think of all the possible scenarios before entering the examination room and have a course of action ready for whichever one you face, so as not to waste valuable time. Under no circumstances should you be caught unprepared, as far as technique or organization is concerned. [...] (από την εισαγωγή του βιβλίου)