Reading comprehension (entrance exams): practice questions with explanations

1How to read an exam passage

Entrance-exam passages are short: a paragraph, a notice, a label or a table described in words. The questions test whether you can find information, understand the main point and draw sensible conclusions.

1. Read the question first, so you know what to look for.
2. Read the whole passage once, quickly, for its topic and point.
3. Go back to the lines that answer the question.
4. Choose the option the passage supports, not the one you believe from outside knowledge.

2Main idea and supporting details

The main idea is the point the whole passage makes. It is often in the first or last sentence. The other sentences are supporting details: examples, facts and reasons.

A good main-idea answer covers the whole passage. Wrong answers are often a single detail (too narrow), a broad statement the passage does not discuss (too wide) or something it never says.

Detail questions ask what the passage states. Look for the exact information, and watch words such as only, always, never, except and not.

3Inference and conclusions

An inference is a conclusion the passage strongly suggests but does not say outright. Combine the clues: smoke, a beeping alarm and a pan on the stove suggest burned food.

A good inference stays close to the evidence. Reject options that go too far (“all”, “every”, “always”) or that need information the passage does not give.

For study results, remember that a link is not proof of cause: dog owners living longer does not show that buying a dog makes you live longer.

4Purpose, tone, fact and opinion

Authors write to inform (explain facts), persuade (argue for a view; look for should, must, best) or entertain (tell a story).

The tone is the author’s attitude: critical, admiring, neutral, cautious, worried. Look at word choice: “they ignore the facts” is critical.

A fact can be checked (“The park has 200 trees”). An opinion is a judgement (“the most beautiful park”, “in my view”).

Signal words show how ideas connect: however and yet (contrast), because and so (cause and effect), first, next, then and finally (sequence), for example (illustration).

5Labels, notices and tables

Practical passages ask you to apply rules: a medicine label, a visiting policy, a bus timetable or a table of numbers.

• Find the row or rule that applies (an 18 kg child falls in the 15–19 kg row).
• Check every condition: age, time, number of doses, symptoms.
• Do the small calculation the question needs: dose × number of doses, times on a clock, totals or percentages.

6How exam questions look

• Easy (key terms and facts): stated details, the order of steps, simple main ideas and reading a short notice.
• Medium (applying the concepts): inferences, the author’s purpose, fact versus opinion, signal words and short calculations from labels.
• Hard (cases and analysis): weaknesses in an argument, tone, the structure of a passage, multi-rule notices and conclusions from data.

All passages here are short and written for practice. Real exams may use longer passages, but the same skills apply.