Reading Comprehension: Answering Items on Evidence, Not Keywords
What the reading domain tests
Reading comprehension in the Estonian upper-secondary English exam checks whether you can handle authentic English texts at B2, with some items pushing into C1. Tasks are usually multiple choice, matching headings or statements to paragraphs, true/false/not stated, and gapped summaries or sentence completion governed by a word limit. Marks are awarded per item, so precision beats reading everything twice at speed.
Rules that decide marks
- Read the questions before the text, but read the stem fully and only skim the options - options are designed to be half-remembered and then misapplied.
- Items almost always follow the order of the text (heading-matching is the exception), so your place in the text is also your place in the question set.
- Correct options paraphrase; wording lifted straight from the text is usually the distractor.
- Follow the reference chain: this, they, such a step, the former tell you what a sentence is actually about.
- Discourse markers announce function: however and that said signal contrast, consequently signals result, for instance signals exemplification. Headings are matched on function, not on a repeated noun.
- In true/false/not stated, "not stated" means the text neither confirms nor denies the statement - not that you failed to find the exact words.
- In gap-fill, decide the part of speech first, then the form (plural? tense? comparative?), then check the word limit.
Worked example
Text: In a study of 240 secondary students, those who slept under six hours before a test recalled about 20% less than classmates who had slept eight. The researchers stop short of claiming that sleep alone determines results: teaching quality and prior knowledge, they note, remain stronger predictors.
Question: What do the researchers conclude? A) Sleep is the strongest single factor in test performance. B) Students sleeping under six hours do worse than those sleeping eight. C) Sleep is one factor among several affecting results. D) Teaching quality matters less than sleep.
Answer: C. A and D are contradicted by remain stronger predictors. B is a genuine finding in the text, but it is not the conclusion - this is the classic "true but not the answer" trap. C is supported by stop short of claiming that sleep alone determines results.
Traps
- Choosing an option because it reuses text vocabulary.
- Ignoring negative framing in the question (Which is NOT mentioned...).
- Exceeding the word limit in gap-fill tasks, which voids an otherwise correct answer.
- Spending so long on one stubborn item that two later items are left blank; nothing is deducted for a reasoned guess.