Reading Comprehension: Short and Medium Passages
Reading comprehension: short and medium passages
This domain tests how well you extract main ideas, supporting details, sequence, reference, and inference from one-paragraph and multi-paragraph texts. Gunma entrance reading often includes school notices, emails, short stories, and explanatory passages; the task is not translation but selecting the answer the text actually supports.
Core rules
- First identify the genre and purpose: notice, message, story, report, or opinion. Purpose narrows the plausible answers.
- Find the topic sentence in each paragraph. For main-idea questions, the correct choice must cover the whole passage, not one vivid detail.
- For detail questions, locate the exact line and read the sentence before and after it. Reference words such as it, they, this, and such often point backward.
- For inference, choose the smallest conclusion needed. If a choice adds a cause, feeling, or result not implied, reject it.
- For order questions, track time words and pronoun chains, not paragraph position alone.
Worked example
Passage: “Mika started separating paper and plastic at home. At first her brother ignored the new boxes. A month later, he began asking which box used batteries went in. Their mother then put a chart in the kitchen.” Question: What is the main idea? Choices: A) Mika’s brother disliked recycling. B) A small habit spread through a family. C) Batteries are dangerous. D) The mother made a chart. Answer: B. A and C are unsupported; D is a detail. The passage moves from Mika to her brother to her mother, showing the habit spreading.
Traps that cost marks
Choosing a true detail as the main idea; choosing a word repeated in the text without checking its role; over-inferring emotions; ignoring “not,” “except,” or “least”; and letting outside knowledge override the passage. For medium passages, also check whether the question asks about the writer’s opinion or a quoted person’s view.