Do you read a text and understand it, but get the questions wrong? To improve your technique, follow these steps:
Click on the links throughout to get more information and practice exercises.
1. Manage your time
How much time can you spend on each section and question? If you plan, you will not run out of time and can avoid missing an easy question. There are many different ways to do this. Which technique works best for you? Try them all.
- How long is the test? How many sections are there?
- e.g. Test = 60 minutes with 4 Sections
- Time = 15 minutes per section
- How long is the test? How many questions are there?
- e.g. Test = 60 minutes with 30 Questions
- Time = 2 minutes per question
- How long is the test? How many marks/points is it worth?
- e.g. Test = 60 minutes with 15 Marks
- Time = 4 minutes per mark
Note: some questions may be worth more marks. Using style C, you would spend more time on a question worth 2 marks than on a question worth 1 mark.
2. Read the instructions carefully
Instructions can be written and spoken. In class, you may get instructions from your book, the text or your teacher. Remember to listen carefully to your teacher’s instructions too. For tests, make sure you read the instructions carefully. If you are unsure, check with your teacher at the beginning of the exam.
- e.g. Write no more than 10 words
- You may get zero if you write 11 words
- Your answer may not be complete with only 1 word
- e.g. What are 2 examples of….?
- You may get ½ a mark for only 1 answer
- You may get zero if you write 3 or more answers
3. Read the questions and analyse the type/purpose
Understanding question types will help you answer the questions.
- Fact or specific details= WH Question words will show what kind of specific information to focus on. Answers are often people, places, things or times.
- Definitions= You explain the meaning of a word or idea based on the information in the reading. Look at the context – the words/sentences around that word. Sometimes the text contains a definition already. Look for words like this means, in other words and this is defined as. Examples in the text can also include a definition. Look for words like such as, for example, for instance and like.
- Technique= What is the writing style of the author? This might also include questions about genre (type of text) or methods of text organisation.
- Mainidea= You need to find the main topic of the whole text or central thought of the author. This might include questions focusing on the main idea of a paragraph.
- Emotion / Tone / Attitude of Author= What does the author feel about an idea, situation or topic? This can be shown through adjectives (description of a noun) and adverbs (description of an action/verb). You need to understand the difference between fact or the opinion.
- Inference= An inference is a way to understand ideas not directly stated by the author. Inference questions ask you to join the information from the text with your own knowledge/experience about the idea and then answer the question.
For more examples go toReading strategy examples.
4. Start with the easy questions
When reading you can choose the order of what to read and which question to answer first. It is better to start with a topic that you are more familiar with, as you will know more vocabulary. You can choose to start with an easy question first.
Short answer questions are usually presented in the same order as the text. Markwhereyou find the answers clearly, so you can skip difficult questions and return to them at the end.
5. Read the question and look forkey words
Choose 1 question and identify the key words in it.Highlight them. What are the synonyms (words with similar meanings) for these words? In addition, key words can be specific people, places, things or events. Does the question have marker words such asMr Tom Jones, New York city, in paragraph 4, MacDonald’s, in 1995?
6. Read the text andhighlightthekey wordsin the text that match thekey wordsin the question
Now scan the text for the key word or its synonyms.Scanningis reading a text quickly in order to find specific information. It is different to skimming, which is reading quickly to get a general idea of meaning.
Use thetext’s structureto help. Find the introduction, body and conclusion paragraphs. Read paragraph topic sentences or concluding sentences as they will summarise the idea in that paragraph. For more help, look at signal language,discourse markersandconjunctions.
Highlight the key words in the text as well. Write the question number nearby (e.g try putting it in the margin.) This way, if you skip a question, it will be easy to return and look for that answer at the end. This will also make re-reading and checking your answer easier too.
7. Find the answer by reading the 2-3 lines before and after the word/phrase
For short answer questions, the answer is usually close to the key words. This means that you may find it before, after or around the information you highlighted at step 6.
Read the 2-3 lines before and after the key words. Look for words like pronouns. These may be used instead of the nouns (bothsubjectandobjectnouns). Click on the links below for more information and practice options:
- Subject pronouns(I, you, he, she, it, we, they)
- Object pronouns(me, you, him, her, it, us, them)
- Reflexive pronouns(myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves)
- Possessive pronouns(mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs)
- Demonstrative pronouns(this, that, those, these)
- Relative pronouns(who, which, that, whose)
8. Remove unnecessary words from the answer
If the answer is short and simple, you can write the exact words as your answer. However, for difficult questions you often need to show that you can identify the most important part of the answer. This may mean removing ‘extra’ information. So, highlight the important words and then write those as your answer.
If you need to make a grammatical change, do it. This could mean changing a verb to a noun, a noun to an adjective, etc. However, do not use synonyms. Often, students use synonyms that they are not familiar with. This may mean the meaning is not exactly the same. Start practising synonyms with athesaurus.
9. Check the logic of your answer
You have an answer, but does it make sense? Have you checked the logic of your answer? Some areas to check:
- Grammar - Have you compared your grammar with the question’s grammar? For example, did the question use present, past or future?
- Cause and effect language – Does your answer make sense? Did you identify the cause/effect correctly? Did you use the correctcause/effect vocabulary and grammar?
- Reason or purpose questions – Does your answer explain Why? Use:because….
- Instructions – Did you have to write a full sentence? How many words did you need to write?
Now it’s time to practice. Try:
