eng10-R3· Reading· ~15 min

Reading: Environment & Health

Read articles about environmental problems and healthy living.

In this topic, you will read three short texts about the environment and health. Each text is followed by questions that test how well you understand the main idea, specific details, and vocabulary in context. When you read, first skim the text to get a general idea, then read the questions and look back at the passage to find the answers. If you see an unfamiliar word, try to guess its meaning from the surrounding sentences before looking it up.

Key terms

main idea — The most important point the writer wants to communicate in the whole text.
detail — A specific piece of information stated directly in the text.
inference — A conclusion you reach by combining clues from the text with your own reasoning.
skim — To read a text quickly to get a general idea of what it is about.
scan — To look through a text quickly to find a specific word, number, or fact.
vocabulary in context — Understanding the meaning of a word by looking at how it is used in the surrounding sentences.
Question Types and Strategies
Question TypeWhat It TestsStrategy
Main IdeaOverall message of the passageRead the first and last sentences; ask yourself what the whole text is about.
Specific DetailA fact stated in the textFind the key word from the question in the passage and read around it.
Reference / InferenceWhat a pronoun refers to, or a logical conclusionLook at the sentence before the pronoun; combine clues from the text.
Vocabulary in ContextMeaning of a word as used in the passageRead the full sentence and the ones around it; try replacing the word with each choice.

Four types of reading comprehension questions and how to approach them.

✎How to Answer a Vocabulary-in-Context Question
  1. 1Step 1: Read the sentence with the unknown word: 'Plastic does not break down easily — a single bottle can last for hundreds of years.'
  2. 2Step 2: The word is 'break down.' Look at the context: the sentence talks about how long plastic lasts.
  3. 3Step 3: Guess: 'break down' probably means to fall apart or disappear naturally over time.
  4. 4Step 4: Check the answer choices. 'Decompose' or 'fall apart' would be the correct meaning in this context.
🚫Common mistake

Don't choose an answer just because it contains words from the passage. Distractors often use the same vocabulary but change the meaning — always check the full sentence.

💡Note

For main-idea questions, if an answer is true but only covers one small part of the text, it is probably not the main idea.

⚠️Caution

When a question asks what a pronoun like 'it' or 'they' refers to, the answer is almost always in the sentence just before the pronoun.

Rules

  1. 1Read the questions first, then scan the text for answers.
  2. 2Look for key words in the question that match words in the passage.
  3. 3When asked about the main idea, think about what the whole text is about — not just one detail.
  4. 4For vocabulary questions, read the sentence before and after the word to guess its meaning.
  5. 5Eliminate answer choices that are clearly not mentioned in the text.
  6. 6Always check that your chosen answer is supported by information in the passage.

Practice

4 easy · 4 medium · 4 hard

10 random questions per test

EasyMediumHardMixed