Section II Part B: Reading
The reading section includes informational texts, literary excerpts, and advertisements or notices. The main skill is locating evidence efficiently and resisting plausible-sounding but unsupported options.
Concepts to master
- Main idea vs. detail: ¿Cuál es el propósito principal? differs from ¿Qué se afirma sobre X? Read the question first, then scan.
- Vocabulary in context: ¿Qué significa “X” en el contexto? Use surrounding clauses, not your first dictionary sense.
- Author's attitude and tone: adjectives and rhetorical questions reveal stance.
- Text organization: cause-effect, problem-solution, and comparison structures help you predict where information sits.
Traps
- True-but-irrelevant options: a statement may be accurate yet not answer the question. Re-read the stem.
- Overgeneralization: choices with siempre, todos, nunca are often wrong unless the text is absolute.
- False cognates: actual (current), realizar (to carry out), largo (long), éxito (success), asistir (to attend).
- Scope errors: the option describes a part when the question asks about the whole passage.
Rule of thumb
Use the “prove it” test: for each candidate answer, find the exact phrase in the text that supports it. If you cannot point to a line, the option is probably a distractor. When two options survive, choose the one that covers more of the passage if the question is about main idea, and the narrower, precise one if the question asks for a specific detail.