Triage in the Final Passage
You are 31 minutes into a 50-minute reading section with three passages and 18 questions, six per passage. You have finished Passage 1, answered five of six questions on Passage 2, and have not opened Passage 3. Your remaining Passage 2 item is a hard inference worth one mark. Passage 3 is 850 words and carries four matching-headings questions plus two detail questions. Your normal reading speed is about 180 words per minute, and you tend to re-read sentences when anxious. You have a visible clock, no extra time, and answers must be transferred to a sheet as you go. You are tempted to finish the inference first so that Passage 2 is 'clean.' The headings questions are worth four marks and the details two.
1. How should the 19 minutes be divided, and what principle justifies the division?
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Budget by marks, not by passage order. Nineteen minutes for 7 marks (4 headings + 2 details + 1 leftover inference) plus one already-attempted item. Suggested: 2 minutes skim topic sentences for the headings task, 7–8 minutes on the six Passage 3 questions, 2 minutes to write and check, and 4–5 minutes buffer. The principle is equal marks per question: the leftover inference is worth the same as each heading, so it cannot justify abandoning four heading marks.
Matching headings is paragraph-gist, so read the first and last sentence of each paragraph rather than the full 850 words; at 180 wpm a full read costs about 4.7 minutes before you answer anything. Then scan for detail-question keywords. Write answers as you go; transferring at the end risks transcription errors. Keep a visible checkpoint: at minute 40, all Passage 3 answers must be on the sheet.
2. Should you return to the unfinished inference before starting Passage 3? Justify.
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No - start Passage 3, and only return if the buffer survives. The inference is one mark; Passage 3 contains six. Starting Passage 3 first protects the larger block. But do not abandon the inference: circle it on the answer sheet, and if at minute 44 you have four headings and both details answered, return for 3 minutes. The reason is that inference questions often require re-reading a sentence in context; that is a bounded task once you know the line.
If you return earlier, you risk the 'one more minute' trap and lose the headings block. A second principle: the inference may be deliberately hard and low-yield; spending 4 minutes on a 1-mark item while six marks sit untouched is a net loss. Return only when the marginal expected mark is higher than the marginal cost - that is, when the rest is secure.
3. What is the risk of reading Passage 3 in full at your normal speed?
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Time bankruptcy. 850 words at 180 wpm is about 4.7 minutes of pure reading, before note-taking, question reading, or answer writing. Add even 30 seconds per question for six questions (3 minutes) and you are at roughly 8 minutes with no check time, which sounds fine - but the real risk is comprehension drift: at speed, you retain paragraph topic but not the specific claim a detail question asks about, so you re-read. That doubles cost.
For matching headings, full reading is also the wrong tool because headings test the main idea, usually stated in the first or last sentence. Skim those, mark the topic, then answer. If a detail question points to paragraph 4, read paragraph 4 closely. Selective reading is not laziness; it matches the question type. The exception: if the passage has an 'author's attitude' question, you may need a full pass, so check the question set first.