Reading Comprehension
The biggest section. You read a text (one to several paragraphs) and answer questions on it. Every answer is in the text or follows directly from it, not…
The biggest section. You read a text (one to several paragraphs) and answer questions on it. Every answer is in the text or follows directly from it, not from your own knowledge.
Question types
| Type | How it looks | How to answer |
|---|---|---|
| Main idea | What is the passage mainly about? / The best title is… | Read the first sentence of each paragraph; pick the option that covers the whole text, not one detail |
| Details | According to the passage, … / Which is TRUE? | Scan for the key word and read the sentence around it |
| Vocabulary | The word “vital” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to… | Put each option in place of the word and keep the one that keeps the meaning |
| Reference | The word “it” in line 4 refers to… | Go back to the nearest matching noun before the pronoun |
| Inference | It can be inferred that… / The writer suggests… | Not written word for word, but certain from the text |
| Purpose | The writer mentions X in order to… | Ask why it is there: an example, a comparison, a warning… |
| NOT / EXCEPT | All of the following are mentioned EXCEPT… | Cross out every option you find; the one left is the answer |
Method
- Skim the questions first so you know what to look for.
- Read the text once carefully and give each paragraph a two-word label.
- Answer detail questions by going back to the exact place.
- Beware of options that copy words from the text but change the meaning.
- An option that is true in real life but not in the text is wrong.
- Absolute words (always, never, all) often make an option wrong.
- In main-idea questions, a true detail is still not the main idea.