Reading Comprehension: Unseen Passage
What the unseen passage rewards
Comprehension items on the DHSE paper test four things: locating stated fact, inferring what is implied, explaining vocabulary in context, and recognising the writer's tone or purpose. Read the questions first, then the passage twice - once for gist, once with a pencil underlining the sentence that answers each question.
Core moves
- Answer in your own words. A lifted sentence earns part credit only; compress it to a phrase that responds to the question word (why, how, what).
- Respect the mark value. A one-mark item needs one clause, not a paragraph.
- Reference items (it, this, they) require naming the noun phrase referred to, then saying what it does.
- Vocabulary in context: substitute your answer back into the sentence and check whether the meaning survives.
- Inference: use 'this implies that...' only when the evidence is textual, not personal opinion.
Worked example
Passage line: 'The library opened at nine, but by half past eight the steps were already crowded with readers who had nowhere else to be.' Q: What does the detail about the steps suggest about the readers? Reasoning: the stated fact is a crowd before opening time; the phrase 'nowhere else to be' hints at both eagerness and a lack of alternatives. Model answer: 'They were eager for the library to open, and for many it was the only comfortable place available.' Two ideas, both anchored in the text.
Traps
Writing a summary of the whole passage for a detail question; importing outside facts; leaving a 'why' answer as a bare noun phrase with no reason attached; muddling the writer's attitude (tone) with the writer's purpose (why the piece was written).