Reading and Responding: Skimming, Scanning, and Inferring
What this domain tests
Reading and Responding uses authentic-style texts: notices, letters, advertisements, short articles, dialogues, and forms. You must locate information, understand the writer's purpose, and interpret tone and implied meaning. The skill being tested is efficient reading - matching the question to the right part of the text rather than translating every word.
Concepts to master
- Text types and their conventions. A patalastas (advertisement) persuades; a liham (letter) has a salutation and closing; a paunawa (notice) gives rules; a balita (news item) answers who, what, when, where.
- Skimming for gist (read the title, first and last sentences) versus scanning for detail (hunt for a name, date, or price).
- Cohesion. Pronouns and demonstratives (siya, ito, iyon, doon) point back to earlier nouns; track what they refer to.
- Affixes that change meaning. -um-, mag-, ma-, i-, -in, -an alter focus and sense: bili (buy) vs bumili (bought) vs bilhin (to buy something).
- Connectors (dahil, kaya, ngunit, bagaman) show cause, result, and concession.
Traps to watch
- Words that look English but differ in Filipino context (salvage, bold, hostess have local meanings).
- Detail that appears in the text but does not answer the question.
- Purpose questions (Ano ang layunin ng teksto?) - answer with the writer's aim (to inform, warn, invite, complain), not the topic.
- Time and condition clauses - kung, kapag, hanggang change whether something has happened or might happen.
Rule of thumb
Read the questions first, then scan. For each answer, find the exact line in the text that supports it and mark it. If you cannot point to a line, the answer is probably wrong or is an inference - in which case check the tone words.
Worked example
Text: Ang mga mag-aaral na nais sumali sa paligsahan ay kailangang magpasa ng kanilang lahok bago ang Biyernes. Hindi tatanggapin ang huli. Question: Kailan ang huling araw ng pagpasa? The answer is Biyernes; hindi tatanggapin ang huli confirms lateness is refused, so the deadline is firm, not flexible.