Reading comprehension
Reading comprehension tests your ability to understand written German from everyday and semi-formal sources: notices (Aushänge), advertisements (Anzeigen), emails, timetables, menus, forms, short articles and letters. The exam asks for gist, specific detail and sometimes inference, with answers in German or by matching.
Core rules
- Skim first for topic and layout: headline, sender, date and bold words usually reveal the text type and purpose.
- Scan for the exact information the question needs; you do not need to understand every word.
- Use word formation: separable prefixes (an-, auf-, aus-) and compounds (Fahrkarte, Hausaufgabe) can be decoded from their parts.
- Watch for negation and restriction: nicht, kein, nur, außer, geschlossen.
- Be alert to false friends: aktuell = current (not actual), eventuell = possibly, sensibel = sensitive, Gift = poison, bekommen = to receive, Handy = mobile phone.
- In compound nouns the last element carries gender and basic meaning: die Fahrkarte, das Klassenzimmer.
Worked example
Notice: „Wegen Bauarbeiten bleibt die Bibliothek am Freitag geschlossen. Bücher können am Automaten zurückgegeben werden.“ Question: Kann man am Freitag Bücher zurückgeben? Answer: Ja, am Automaten. Reasoning: the library itself is closed, but the return machine remains available. The trap is to answer simply Nein because of geschlossen.
Traps that cost marks
- Answering from general knowledge rather than from the text.
- Copying a whole sentence when the question asks for one detail.
- Missing nur or außer, which narrow the meaning.
- Guessing from one familiar word without checking the surrounding sentence.