Reading Comprehension
Reading passages on this paper move from short practical texts - notices, emails, menus, timetables - to a narrative and a short expository passage. Questions ask for details, the reason behind an action, the main idea, and what a pronoun refers to. The vocabulary stays inside junior high school range, so the difficulty lies in the questions rather than the words.
Core rules
- Read the question first, then scan for the paragraph that answers it.
- Match meaning, not words: a correct option usually paraphrases the text ("not allowed" → "you must not").
- For "why" questions, find the sentence with because, so, or that's why, and read the line before it.
- For reference questions (it, this, they), look at the previous sentence and check grammar: singular or plural, person or thing.
- For main-idea questions, weigh the whole passage; the first and last sentences usually carry it.
Worked example
An email reads: "Hi Yumi, Sorry, but I can't come to the library on Saturday - my grandmother is visiting. Could we meet on Sunday instead? Ken." Question: Why did Ken write this email? Options: (a) to tell Yumi he finished his homework, (b) to ask Yumi to change the day, (c) to invite Yumi to his house, (d) to say thank you for the book. "I can't come... Could we meet on Sunday instead?" is a request to change the day, so (b). Option (c) is tempting because the grandmother is visiting his house, but that is background, not the purpose.
Traps
- Options that repeat a word from the passage but state the wrong relation.
- "Not true" and "doesn't say" questions: three options appear in the text, so find the one that does not.
- Over-reading: do not add information the passage never gives.
- Spending the same time on every passage; the final expository text usually carries the most marks.