Reading comprehension passages can cover many topics, and they can come with many different kinds of questions. Most questions, however, fall into one of these five themes:
Examples:
Main idea questions ask about the passage as a whole. When you answer them, focus on the big picture rather than small details.
A useful place to look is the introduction and the conclusion, because writers often state the main point at the beginning and/or end. Many wrong answers mention a real detail from the passage but miss the overall message, so don’t get pulled into minutiae.
Examples:
These questions ask what the author believes or is trying to persuade you to accept.
Sometimes the author’s opinion is stated directly. For example, if you see words like “should” or other clearly opinionated phrasing, that’s often a clue to the author’s viewpoint.
Be careful, though: an author may mention a commonly held belief or quote someone else’s opinion without agreeing with it. Those are common traps. Make sure the passage gives evidence that the author personally supports the idea.
Examples:
Informational questions ask about a very specific detail. In most cases, the passage contains a sentence (or short section) that directly states the answer.
The main strategy is to skim to find the relevant part of the text. Once you locate it, read a few sentences before and after to confirm you’re using the detail in the right context.
Also watch for questions that mention a claim the passage later corrects or challenges. Sometimes a passage introduces an idea only to present an alternative view afterward.
Examples:
These questions ask you to click on a sentence in the passage. You’re usually looking for a sentence that serves a specific purpose, such as explaining a cause, stating a problem, or giving a definition.
As you choose, watch for trap sentences that sound relevant but are later contradicted or revised a few sentences afterward.
Examples:
These questions focus on vocabulary in context. You usually don’t need to read the entire passage, but you do need to read the sentence containing the word and the surrounding sentences.
Most often, you’re choosing a synonym for a word in the text. The key is to match the meaning the word has in that specific sentence, not the meaning it can have in other situations.
Try reading this example text and answer the following questions. Remember to look for specific evidence that either proves or disproves the answer choices.
In the Sahara and the Sahel, groundwater is a limited and indispensable resource for pastoral livestock farming. The daily life and work of the herders are organised around the location of the wells and the depth of the water table. To ensure the sustainable development of these regions, it is therefore essential to develop accurate piezometric maps, even in the areas that are most difficult to access.
Thanks to high-resolution satellite images, the tracks made by cattle, goats and camels in the Sahara and Sahel could become a key indicator of the depth of the water table.
In the northern Sahel, pastoralists water their livestock from deep wells. To draw water, they hitch oxen or camels to a rope whose length is an accurate measure of the depth of the piezometric surface of the water table. When pulling on this rope, the animals leave deep tracks on the ground that can be observed and measured on satellite images.
We have developed a remote sensing technique that allows us to (a) identify pastoral wells, (b) isolate the tracks left by the animals used to draw water, and (c) use these animal tracks to estimate the water depth.
Try answering the question below, and then check our explanation.
Q1. Which of the following statements would the author most likely agree with?
A. The satellite images cannot be used to determine the specific purpose of the animal tracks
B. The sensing technique finds the locations of the water tables by tracking animal migration to the water
C. Sustainable development is an impossible task in the most isolated regions of the Sahara
D. The rope lengths can be directly seen from satellite images
E. Goat tracks are less relevant to the remote sensing technique than camel or oxen tracks
Have an idea of the correct answer?
Answer: E. Goat tracks are less relevant to the remote sensing technique than camel or oxen tracks
Here’s an explanation of the reasoning for each choice:
A. The final paragraph states that the sensing technique isolates the tracks left by the animals that are a result of drawing water with ropes.
B. The sensing technique does capture animal tracks. But it does not use the tracks specifically to find the wells. The tracks are used to determine the depth of the water in the well.
C. The end of the first paragraph posits that piezometric maps can be used to ensure sustainable development even in the most isolated areas.
D. The satellite images actually measure the animal tracks left by the animals pulling the ropes to draw water. The rope length is not directly seen or measured. Only animal tracks are measured to estimate the rope length and water depth.
E. Though the passage does indicate that the satellite images can see goat, camel, and oxen tracks. The passage only refers to camel and oxen when discussing the technique used to determine the depth of the wells. Because this is the main focus of the project, camel and oxen tracks are much more relevant.
Let’s try another question relating to the same passage:
Q2. What is one way the project might reasonably ensure sustainable development in the Sahara and Sahel region?
A. The deepest wells can be used to supply water to the nearest cities
B. Pastoralists can be informed which wells have recently been losing or gaining water
C. Farmland can be made around the deepest wells
D. Water filtration systems can be used so that the water is more safe for people to drink
E. Tracking trading routes seen from the herd paths can be used to create waypoints and trading posts
Ready to check your work?
Answer: B. Pastoralists can be informed which wells have recently been losing or gaining water
The passage states that the water tables are an “indispensable resource for the pastoral way of life,” so the correct answer needs to connect sustainable development to the herders’ ability to raise livestock.
This rules out A and C, which focus on cities or farming rather than pastoral livestock. The wells are specifically used to water the pastoralists’ livestock, which rules out D. Choice E can be ruled out because the project does not track herd paths; the tracks are analyzed around wells to estimate water depth.
That leaves the only correct answer: B. If pastoralists know which wells are losing or gaining water, they can make better daily decisions in a life that is “organised around the location of the wells and the depth of the water table.”