Reading Comprehension
What the reading section tests
Passages in this paper are short and practical: school notices, email exchanges, short stories, and simple charts. Questions ask for main idea, specific detail, pronoun reference, and a small inference. You do not need to translate every word; you need to locate the sentence that decides the answer.
Core moves
- Read the question first, then scan for the keyword or its synonym.
- For detail questions, underline the exact line and check that it answers the question asked.
- For pronoun questions (it, they, this), look at the previous one or two sentences for the noun that fits grammatically and logically.
- For inference, choose the answer that must be true from the text, not the one that is merely possible.
- In chart or notice items, check dates, times, and conditions ('students only', 'by Friday') before reading the choices.
Worked example
Notice: 'Volunteers for the school festival must sign up by Wednesday. Students who belong to a club may sign up through their club leader.' Question: What should a student in the tennis club do? Choices: A) sign up by Wednesday at the office, B) ask the club leader, C) sign up after the festival. Reasoning: The notice gives a general deadline and a special route for club members. The tennis club student is a club member, so the specific rule applies: sign up through the club leader. The deadline still matters, but B is the action the text assigns. Correct: B.
Traps
- Choosing an option because it repeats a word from the passage; correct answers often paraphrase.
- Missing a negative or exception ('except', 'not included').
- Answering from personal experience instead of the text.
- Confusing a general rule with a special case.