Reading: locating evidence and recognising paraphrase
What the section demands
Password Skills Plus Reading presents several texts of increasing length and difficulty, drawn from academic and general-interest sources, with a spread of question types: multiple choice, matching headings or information, gap-fill and sentence completion, short answer, and true/false/not-given or yes/no/not-given judgement items. Every mark must be justified from the passage alone; outside knowledge earns nothing and can actively mislead you.
Concepts you must control
- Skim then scan: read for the structure of each paragraph (usually one controlling idea), then hunt for the exact line that answers the question.
- Paraphrase recognition: questions almost never reuse the text's wording. Expect synonyms, word-class changes (reduce → a reduction), and summary phrases standing in for a whole sentence.
- Cohesion and reference: track what this, they, the former and such measures point back to.
- Signpost language: contrast (whereas, nevertheless), cause (owing to), concession (admittedly).
- Instruction literacy: NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS, use any letter more than once, one answer per gap. The word limit is a real constraint.
Traps
Choosing the option that repeats the text's vocabulary but reverses the meaning; answering from the first mention of a topic when a later sentence corrects it; confusing not given with false (false means the text contradicts the statement; not given means the text is silent); exceeding the word limit and being marked wrong despite a correct answer.
Worked example and rule of thumb
Question: The main cause of the decline was ______. Text: "Although overfishing is often blamed, the decisive factor was a rise in sea temperature." The tempting word-match is overfishing, but the writer dismisses it. Answer: a rise in sea temperature. Rule: find the sentence, then check whether the question asks for the cause the writer endorses or the one they set aside.