Reading Part 5: Concession vs Main Claim Under Time Pressure
Imogen is 58 minutes into the 75-minute Reading and Use of English paper. She has finished Parts 1–4 and four of the six questions in Part 5. Eight minutes remain before she must start Part 6 (gapped text) and Part 7 (multiple matching), neither of which she has seen. Part 5 Question 6 asks about the writer's attitude to a new footbridge. The article says the old bridge 'was not beautiful in any conventional sense' but 'slowed people down enough to talk'. The new bridge is called 'efficient' and 'a small victory for commuters'. In the final paragraph the writer says, 'I would not swap the ten seconds I lose each morning for the conversations I had on the old bridge.' Imogen shortlists A 'She believes the new bridge is an improvement overall' and B 'She regrets the loss of a social benefit but accepts the change.' She is drawn to A because 'small victory' sounds positive. She has already spent 90 seconds re-reading the same paragraph.
1. Which option should Imogen choose, and which parts of the text decide it? Show how the other shortlisted option fails.
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B is the better answer. The decisive sentence is the final one: 'I would not swap the ten seconds I lose each morning for the conversations I had on the old bridge.' This is the writer ranking social contact above efficiency, so it signals regret at a loss, not overall approval. 'A small victory for commuters' is a concession: it admits a practical benefit but limits it with 'small'. 'Efficient' describes function, not the writer's overall judgement. Option A fails on the word 'overall': it turns a limited, mixed response into unqualified approval. The test is whether the positive words are the main claim or a concession before a 'but' or a final evaluation. Here the final evaluation governs attitude. Reasoning routine: locate the question focus (attitude to the new bridge), find the writer's final evaluative sentence, then check whether each option matches the whole stance or only one phrase.
2. With eight minutes left and Parts 6–7 untouched, what should she do in the next minute, and why?
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She should give this item a hard cap of about 20 more seconds, mark B, and move immediately to Part 6. Reasoning: every Reading question is worth the same, and she has two whole sections unseen. A 90-second re-read has already produced no decision; another minute has a low chance of adding a mark and a high chance of costing several marks in Parts 6–7. There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so she must not leave a blank. She should write B clearly, cross out any tentative mark, and start Part 6. If she finishes Part 6 and Part 7 with time left, she can return, but she should not plan to. The judgement is opportunity cost, not how interesting the passage is.