Reading comprehension: finding evidence in short texts
Reading comprehension at Quickmarch level uses short notices, messages, emails, stories and simple articles. Tasks may ask you to match notices to situations, choose the best answer, decide true/false, complete sentences, or match questions to texts. The domain tests gist, specific detail, simple inference and reference: what a text is mainly about, what a date or price means, and what it, they or this refers to.
Core rules
Skim first for topic and purpose: is it an invitation, a warning, a lost-property notice or a diary entry? Then scan for the exact information the question needs: names, times, places, prices, conditions. Read all options before choosing, and find the line in the text that proves your answer. Correct options usually paraphrase the text; wrong options recycle words from it.
Worked example
Text: “Hi Sam, The football match on Saturday is cancelled because the pitch is flooded. Mr Lee says training will be on Friday at 5 instead. Bring your boots. - Alex” Question: What is happening on Friday? A a football match B training C nothing. Reasoning: “match … cancelled” rules out A; “training will be on Friday at 5” gives B; C is contradicted. Answer: B. The trap is choosing A because match and Saturday are the most visible words.
Traps that cost marks
- Choosing an option because it repeats a word from the text.
- Ignoring negatives: cancelled, not, closed, except.
- Missing a condition or change: instead, but, only if.
- Confusing the question word: who, where, when, why.
- Using general knowledge instead of the evidence in the text.