Reading comprehension - specific information and inference
The second band of comprehension items asks for facts located in the text (names, dates, figures, reasons) and for inferences: conclusions the text supports without stating them. In the Madrid model this is where true/false-with-justification and short-answer questions appear. The justification must come from the text, and a correct True/False with a vague or mismatched quote still loses the mark.
Locating information
- Scan for an anchor: a capitalised name, a year, a number, an unusual noun. Then read the sentence before and after it, because pronouns carry the meaning forward (it, this, they).
- For true/false, one wrong element makes the statement false: the date, the direction of cause and effect, a scope word (all / some, always / once), or who performed the action.
- For short answers, paraphrase. Copying an entire sentence shows no comprehension and is often penalised; one clause plus the key detail is enough.
Reference and vocabulary items
- «What does it / this / doing so refer to?» Answer with the noun phrase, not the pronoun: «the council's decision», not «it».
- «Find a word meaning X»: give the exact form as it appears in the text - same tense, number and word class.
Worked example
Text sentence: «Because the new site has no bus stop, shoppers who do not drive have simply stopped coming.» Statement: «Shoppers stopped coming because prices at the new site are higher.» Reasoning: the statement is False. The text gives a transport cause (no bus stop), not a price cause; the statement invents a reason. A valid justification quotes or paraphrases «the new site has no bus stop». Note that a statement can be plausible in real life and still be false here. Inference item: «What can be inferred from the last sentence?» - «The council insists the new site is safer, but few shoppers seem convinced.» → Shoppers doubt the safety argument. The conclusion is supported by few … seem convinced; it is never stated directly.
Traps that cost marks
- Justifying with a sentence that merely mentions the topic rather than the claim.
- Absolute wording in the statement (the only, never, everyone) - usually false.
- Answering yes/no when the question asks for a reason.
- Reproducing the question inside the answer instead of answering it.