Reading Comprehension
Reading Comprehension in the Iwate entrance English exam asks you to make sense of short passages, dialogues, notices, and information texts. The test rewards precise reading: locating stated details, following pronoun reference, identifying main ideas, and drawing only inferences that the text supports. It is not a vocabulary quiz in disguise, so do not choose an option just because it repeats a word from the passage.
Core reading moves
- Preview the question stems before a second read. This tells you whether to scan for a date, trace a speaker's reason, or summarize a paragraph.
- Map paragraphs by job: problem, example, result, advice. The main idea usually sits in the first or last sentence, but check the whole paragraph.
- Resolve pronouns by number and logic. In 'Ken borrowed gloves because the notice required them,' them must refer to gloves, not the notice.
- For notices and ads, match every condition: who can apply, when, where, cost, and what to bring. One unmatched condition makes an option wrong.
Worked example
Passage: 'The city cleanup is on Sunday. Volunteers must bring gloves. Ken did not have any, so he borrowed a pair from his sister.' Question: Why did Ken borrow gloves? Answer: Because volunteers were required to bring them. Reasoning: the notice supplies the rule; Ken's action responds to that rule. 'His sister had extra gloves' may be true in the world, but the passage does not say it.
Traps
- Choosing a true statement that does not answer the question.
- Missing NOT or EXCEPT.
- Treating a personal opinion as an inference.
- Confusing similar words such as borrow/lend or bring/take.
- Stopping at an unknown word instead of using the surrounding sentence.