Reading Comprehension – Technical and Vocational Texts
What this domain tests
The reading section gives you technical and vocational texts - workshop instructions, machine manuals, safety notices, specification tables, job advertisements, short trade articles and workplace emails - and asks you to extract meaning accurately. The exam rewards precision, not general knowledge: every answer must be traceable to the text.
Reading procedures
Numbered instructions are held together by imperatives (fit, loosen, connect) and sequencing words: first, then, before, after, once, until, finally. Track what must happen before a step is safe. Words like ensure, make sure and check signal conditions that must be met, not optional extras.
Reading specifications and warnings
Specification tables compress information: model, voltage, diameter, maximum load, torque. Match the unit to the number - 12 mm is not 12 cm, and 230 V is not 230 W. In warnings, the modal verb carries the strength of the message: must = obligation, must not = prohibition, should = recommendation, may/might = possibility.
Reference and cohesion
Pronouns and demonstratives point backwards: it, they, this, these, the former, the latter. When a question asks what 'this' refers to, find the previous noun phrase that fits grammatically and logically.
Worked example
Text: 'Tighten the wheel nuts to 110 Nm. Do not exceed the torque marked on the fastener, as overtightening may shear the stud.' Question: What can happen if the stated torque is exceeded? Reasoning: 'exceed' means go above; 'may shear' means it is possible, not certain, that the stud breaks. An option saying 'the stud will definitely break' is too strong; 'the stud may break' matches the modal.
Traps that cost marks
- Choosing an answer that is true in real life but not stated in the passage.
- Treating may/might as will.
- Missing NOT or EXCEPT in the question stem.
- Confusing similar units or reversing a comparison ('A is longer than B' versus the reverse).
- Answering from the first matching word instead of reading the whole sentence.