Comprehension Skills: notes

Before You Answer

• Read the whole passage once, then read each question and find the lines it points to.
• Answer from the passage, not from what you already know.

Kinds of Question

• Literal: the answer is stated. Find the line and use its words.
• Inference: the answer is hinted. If a boy slammed the door and stamped upstairs, he is angry, though the text may not say so.
• Vocabulary in context: the meaning that fits the sentence, not the most common meaning.
• Reference: a pronoun such as it or they points back to a noun. Check the sentence before it.
• Purpose and tone: is the writer informing, persuading, warning, or amusing? Look at the choice of words.

Good Habits

• Main idea: the one sentence that sums up a paragraph; details support it.
• Fact or opinion: a fact can be checked; an opinion uses words like best, should, beautiful.
• Marks guide length: two marks usually means two points.
• Use your own words unless the question says to quote.