Reading Comprehension
What this section tests
The reading section asks you to understand notices, emails, short articles and stories, and to answer questions about detail, main idea, reference and inference. Nagasaki's paper favours practical texts and clear logical links, so the answer is usually supported by a specific line or by a contrast in the passage.
Core rules
- Skim first for genre and purpose: who wrote it, for whom, and why.
- Scan for names, dates, numbers and capitalised words when a question asks for detail.
- For 'it/they/this' questions, look back to the nearest suitable noun phrase and check that it fits grammatically and in meaning.
- Treat contrast words ('but', 'however', 'although') as answer signals; they often carry the writer's real point.
- Choose the option that paraphrases the text, not the one that merely repeats a word from it.
Worked example
Text: 'The library will close at 5 p.m. on Friday for cleaning. Books returned after 5 p.m. can be put in the box by the entrance.' Question: What should you do if you return a book at 5:30 p.m.? Reasoning: the first sentence gives the closing time; the second gives the procedure after that time. The answer is 'Put it in the box by the entrance', not 'Come back on Friday'.
Traps
Matching a choice to a word in the text without checking the meaning; ignoring 'NOT' or 'EXCEPT'; over-inferring beyond the passage; and missing a change of subject in a long sentence.