Reading comprehension: finding, verifying and paraphrasing evidence
Reading comprehension is the opening block of the La Rioja PAU English paper (Universidad de La Rioja, Lengua Extranjera II: Inglés). You face a text of roughly 400-550 words - usually a newspaper article, column or interview on a current topic - followed by items that ask you to locate information, judge statements, infer meaning and explain vocabulary. Marks are won on precision, not speed: every answer must be traceable to a specific line, and the examiner can see instantly whether you found it.
What the items actually demand
- True/False with justification. This is really two answers fused: the verdict and the sentence that proves it. A 'false' verdict needs a quotation that is incompatible with the statement, not merely a different sentence.
- Short-answer questions. Answer in your own words, respecting any word limit. Never lift a whole sentence from the text.
- Meaning from context. Define the word as it is used in this text, with a synonym or a short definition - not by dropping it into a new sentence.
- Reference items ('What does it in line 12 refer to?'). Answer with the noun phrase from the text, not with a full explanation.
- Purpose and tone. Look for the reporting verbs and hedges that carry the author's stance: concedes, warns, argues, is thought to, may well.
A method that earns marks
- Read the items before the text - ninety seconds that save five minutes of re-reading.
- Skim for the thesis and the paragraph order: first and last sentence of each paragraph usually carry it.
- Locate each item by keyword, then read two lines either side of the match.
- Write the answer, then go back and underline the proving sentence. If you cannot underline it, the answer is a guess.
- Paraphrase structurally: commuters were put off by rising fares becomes higher ticket prices discouraged daily travellers.
Worked example
Passage: 'Since the council introduced the bike-share scheme, cycling to work has tripled, yet only 6% of journeys are now made by bicycle. The council's own report concedes that the scheme has mostly attracted people who already cycled.'
Item: 'The bike-share scheme has turned most car drivers into cyclists. True or false? Justify.'
Reasoning: the tripling figure is real but relative to a tiny base (6% of journeys), and the report admits users were already cyclists - so the claim about most car drivers is contradicted. Verdict: false. Justification: 'the council's own report concedes that the scheme has mostly attracted people who already cycled.' Note the trap: quoting 'cycling to work has tripled' would support the opposite verdict.
Traps that cost marks
- Statements that are true in the real world but not supported by the text. The item tests the text, not your knowledge.
- Justifying a 'false' with a true-but-irrelevant sentence - a very common half-mark loss.
- Copying long chunks: the paraphrase mark disappears even when the content is right.
- Ignoring hedges. Turning 'may reduce' into 'reduces' flips the item.
- Miscopying names, dates or numbers when the answer is quoted from the text.