Reading Comprehension: Locating Evidence and Respecting the Text
Question types you will meet
Detail questions, inference questions, main-idea or best-title questions, vocabulary-in-context questions, attitude/tone questions, and organisation questions ("why does the author mention X?"). Each has a different evidence standard: a detail question must be checkable in one or two sentences; an inference must be forced by the text, not merely possible.
Concepts you must control
- Paraphrase recognition: the correct option almost never copies the passage's wording; it restates it.
- Scope words: some, most, mainly, only, always, never. A single over-strong word can kill an option.
- Main idea vs topic: the topic is what the passage is about; the main idea is what the author says about it.
- Attitude signals: evaluative adjectives, adverbs and quotation marks reveal stance.
- Text structure: contrast, cause-effect, problem-solution, claim-example - useful for title and purpose questions.
Traps
- True but not asked: a correct statement about the passage that does not answer this question.
- Detail distortion: the right names and numbers with one changed relationship (cause swapped for effect).
- Extreme wording: options with all, never, completely, the only way are usually wrong in expository text.
- Double negatives and litotes: "not without its critics" means it did have critics.
Worked example
Passage line: "The proposal was not without its critics, and even its supporters admitted the timetable was optimistic." Question: What can be inferred? A. Nobody supported the plan. B. The plan faced opposition and a tight schedule. C. The timetable was extended. A misreads the double negative; C is not stated. "Optimistic timetable" is paraphrase for "tight schedule", so B.
Rule of thumb
Put a finger on the sentence that decides the answer. If you cannot, you are guessing.