Reading Comprehension: Finding the Answer in the Text
Reading Comprehension tests whether you can locate, interpret, and evaluate information in a passage - not whether you already know the topic. Treat every question as answerable from the text alone.
Concepts to master
- Main idea vs. detail: identify the passage's central claim and distinguish it from supporting facts.
- Inference: conclusions that follow necessarily from the text, not from personal opinion.
- Vocabulary in context: word meaning shifts with surrounding sentences.
- Author's purpose and tone: informative, persuasive, critical, neutral.
- Reference words: what "this," "they," or "such measures" points back to.
Traps to expect
- True but off-topic options - accurate statements the passage never makes.
- Extreme wording ("always," "never," "proves") where the text hedges ("often," "suggests").
- Half-right answers - the first clause matches, the second contradicts.
- Reversed cause and effect, or swapped subjects in a comparison.
- Familiar-topic bias - choosing what you believe rather than what the author wrote.
Rule of thumb
Answer in two passes: first predict the answer in your own words before reading the options, then eliminate any option containing a word the passage doesn't support. For inference questions, ask: "Could this be false while the passage stays true?" If yes, it is not the answer.
Worked example
Passage states: "Although the bridge was completed ahead of schedule, maintenance costs exceeded early estimates." A question asks what the passage suggests about the project. An option saying "the project was a failure" is wrong - the text reports one setback, not overall failure. The supported inference is that speed of construction did not guarantee low running costs.