Reading Comprehension
Reading Comprehension examines how accurately you extract meaning from an unseen passage and how well you distinguish what is stated from what is implied. Questions typically cover the main idea, explicit detail, inference, vocabulary in context, reference words, and the writer's tone or purpose.
Skills the questions target
- Main idea: the claim the whole passage supports, not merely its first sentence.
- Detail: a fact located by scanning for a name, date, or number.
- Inference: a conclusion that needs two clues joined together.
- Vocabulary in context: the meaning a word carries in that sentence, not its commonest dictionary sense.
- Reference: what "this", "they", or "the former" points back to.
A repeatable method
Read the question stems first so your eye knows what to hunt for, then skim the passage for its topic and structure. Scan to the relevant lines and read the sentence before and after the target. Answer in your own words before looking at the options. For inference items, underline the two clues that must be combined.
Worked example
Passage: "Although the committee praised the proposal as visionary, it postponed funding for the third year running." Question: What does the writer suggest about the committee? A) It rejected the proposal outright. B) It admired the plan but failed to act. C) It misunderstood the proposal. D) It had already funded the plan. Answer: B. "Praised... visionary" signals admiration; "postponed funding... third year running" signals inaction. "Although" signals the contrast, so an option that keeps only one half is wrong.
Traps that cost marks
- Choosing an option because it repeats words from the passage; word-matching is the commonest distractor.
- Missing "EXCEPT", "NOT", or "least" in the stem.
- Selecting a true statement that does not answer the question.
- Over-inferring beyond the evidence, especially about the writer's feelings.
- Ignoring negation: "not uncommon" means common.