ABSTRACT:TEM8 and IELTS both are influential in the society. The thesis takes reading comprehension in TEM-8 and IELTS to evaluate the content validity of the tests in order to gain some insights into the English teaching programs in China. First, the author make a literature review about reading comprehension, content validity and comparative study between TEM8 and IELTS. 

   This thesis aims at analyzing comparative study on the validity of TEM8 and IELTS reading. The author selects eight tests, twenty eight reading texts. This thesis mainly analyzes the characteristics of reading texts, mainly on total length, reading speed, sentence length, topics, and genres.

   Major findings on the content validity are conducted: 1) The total length of IELTS reading text is longer than that of TEM8 reading; 2) The speed of IELTS reading is more stable than the required speed of TEM8 reading; 3) The figures of sentence length and longer words in IELTS and TEM8 are close to each other; 4) The topics of TEM8 reading mainly focus on social problem, while reading texts in IELTS are more evenly distributed among a variety of topics; 5) In terms of genres, IELTS reading prefers expository texts, whereas TEM8 reading prefers narrative texts.

   Finally, the thesis puts forward implications and limitations.

Key words: IELTS  TEM8  validity

摘要:英语专业八级和雅思都是国内很有影响的考试，本文以阅读为切入点来研究专业英语八级和雅思阅读的有效性。首先，作者进行了文献综述，对阅读理解以及内容有效性，雅思和专业英语八级的对比进行了综述。

　　　本文的目的是研究专业英语八级和雅思阅读的有效性，进行对比研究。作者抽取了共八份试题作文样题，总共二十八篇阅读文本。从阅读文本特点的有效性进行对比研究。主要从文章长度，阅读速度，句长，选材，体裁上进行对比研究。

　　　在阅读文本有效性的研究上发现：1）雅思阅读较专业英语八级阅读提供更长的文本。2）雅思在阅读速度上比专业英语八级阅读速度稳定。3）两者在句长和长词方面数据相近。4）英语专业八级阅读的选材多在于社会问题，而雅思阅读选材分布均匀，各个方面都涉及到。5）在体裁上，专业英语八级多注重叙述文，而雅思阅读多注重于说明文。

　　　最后，本文提出了一些相关建议以及本文中所存在的缺陷。

关键词：雅思  英语专业八级  有效性