Reading Comprehension and Information Retrieval
What this domain tests
Reading comprehension in NSSCO English Second Language 6109 asks you to locate information, understand explicit meaning, infer what is implied, recognise a writer's attitude, and explain vocabulary in context. Answers are usually short: a word, a phrase, or a sentence inside a stated word limit.
Work at three speeds
- Skim the passage once for topic and shape: titles, and the first sentence of each paragraph.
- Scan for names, figures, dates and key nouns when a question borrows those words.
- Read closely only the lines a question points to, plus the sentence before and after, because meaning often runs across a sentence boundary.
Worked example
Passage: 'Although the town's new bus service was launched with much fanfare, few residents use it. Fares rose twice in six months, and the only route serving the industrial area stops at 6 p.m. - an hour before the night shift ends.'
Question: Give two reasons, in your own words, why residents avoid the bus (2 marks).
Reasoning: 'few residents use it' is the result, not a reason. The two causes are cost (two fare rises) and timing (the industrial route ends before the night shift finishes). A full-mark answer: 'Fares have gone up repeatedly, and the route to the industrial area closes before the night shift ends.' It keeps both causes, rewords them, and stays inside a 20-word limit.
Traps that cost marks
- Lifting whole sentences when the question says 'in your own words'.
- Giving one reason for a two-mark question, or three when two are asked.
- Ignoring a word limit: anything past the limit is not marked.
- Replacing inference with your own opinion about the topic.
- Missing a negative instruction ('Which is NOT stated...').