Reading Comprehension
What this section tests
Reading comprehension assesses your ability to understand main ideas, supporting details, vocabulary in context, reference words, and the writer's purpose across short passages. Texts may be notices, emails, articles, or short narratives.
Concepts to master
- Skimming and scanning: skim for the topic and structure first, then scan for the keyword in the question.
- Reference tracking: pronouns like it, they, this, and the former point back (or forward) to specific nouns. Trace them carefully.
- Inference: some answers are implied, not stated. Ask what the writer assumes the reader will conclude.
- Cohesion: connectors such as therefore, although, and in contrast tell you how ideas relate.
Traps to watch
- True-but-not-asked: an option may be factually correct in the passage yet fail to answer the specific question.
- Extreme wording: options with always, never, all, or only are frequently wrong unless the text is equally absolute.
- Half-right options: the first clause matches but the second contradicts the text.
- Same-word trap: an option repeating a word from the passage is not automatically correct; meaning matters, not echo.
Rule of thumb
Answer from the text, not from memory or general knowledge. Locate the sentence that supports your choice and confirm it answers this question. If you cannot point to evidence, the option is probably a distractor. For vocabulary-in-context items, substitute each option back into the sentence and check that the surrounding logic still holds.