Reading for Information

This task tests whether you can find information and match it to its place in a text. You are not asked to remember the whole text. You need to know what each paragraph is for, find the right spot fast, and see when a choice says the same thing as the text in different words. The skill is precise matching. Your answer has to fit what the text states, not just its topic.

Step by step

1. 1

   Build a quick map of the paragraphs

   Before the questions, skim each paragraph's opening and a little of its body. Give each paragraph a short label in your head that says what it does, such as who the service is for, what it costs or how to apply. Questions about where something appears then become a lookup on your map, not a reread of the whole text.

2. 2

   Put the question in your own words before you look

   Read the question and decide what kind of thing you are hunting for: a fact, a reason, a condition, a place in the text. Say it to yourself in plain words. That keeps you searching for the idea, not for matching words, and the text will often express the idea differently.

3. 3

   Go to the paragraph your map points to and read closely

   Use your labels to go straight to the likely paragraph. Read the sentences there slowly, including small words like only, unless and before, because they change what is true. If the idea is spread across more than one place, check which paragraph is actually about it and which just mentions it in passing.

4. 4

   Test the choice against the exact sentence

   Check every part of the choice you are considering against the text: who, what, when, how much, and how certain. If any part goes further than the text, reverses it or swaps in a detail from elsewhere, drop that choice. You should be able to point to the sentence that proves your answer.

5. 5

   Answer, then move on

   Some questions are trial questions and you cannot tell which ones, so treat every question as if it counts and leave none blank. If one is stuck, pick your best choice, note it in your head and move on. You can come back while you are still in this section.

Using the time

At the start, spend a short, steady stretch mapping the paragraphs. Keep it brief, because the map only needs labels, not details. Spend most of your time on the questions, rereading only the part of the text each one points to. Near the end, make sure every question has an answer. Then use any time left to recheck the answers you were least sure of before you leave the section, since you cannot return to it.

What usually goes wrong

• Choosing the paragraph that shares a word

  A key word from the question may appear in several paragraphs, but only one of them is really about the idea. A choice can also repeat the text's words and still change their meaning. To catch this, ask whether the sentence says what the choice says, not just whether it contains the same term.

  In your feedback: Partial match

• Missing the answer because it is reworded

  If you only scan for the exact words in the question, you can pass over the sentence that holds the answer in different words. When your search finds nothing, look for the idea instead: a synonym, a broader or narrower term, or a sentence that describes the same situation.

  In your feedback: Missed paraphrase

• Accepting a choice that is too absolute

  A choice may use words like all, every, never or always when the text only says some, often or in certain cases. Before you commit, compare how certain the choice is with how certain the text is. If the choice is stronger, it is not supported.

  In your feedback: Extreme wording

• Getting stuck and running short

  Rereading the whole text for one hard question uses up time you need for the others, and the clock never pauses. If your map does not point you somewhere quickly, choose your best option, move on and return if time allows.

  In your feedback: Ran out of time

Drafted by an AI writer and passed by a separate AI editor, checked against our content rules: structure and approach only, no wording to reuse. How our content is made