Reading: Around Town & Holidays
Read a town blog, a flyer and a holiday forum post.
Reading comprehension tests your ability to understand short English texts and answer questions about them. In these exercises, you will read three types of short texts — a blog post about a street, a flyer for a club, and a forum post about a holiday — and answer questions about the main idea, specific details, what words refer to, and the meaning of words in context. These skills help you become a better reader in everyday situations.
Key terms
| Question Type | What It Tests | Example Question |
|---|---|---|
| Main Idea | What the whole text is about | What is the passage mainly about? |
| Detail | A specific fact from the text | When does the Book Club meet? |
| Reference / Inference | What a word refers to, or a simple conclusion | What does 'it' refer to? |
| Vocabulary in Context | The meaning of a word as used in the text | What does 'amazing' mean in the text? |
The four types of reading questions you will see in this topic.
- 1Step 1: Skim: Read the whole text quickly once. Do not stop at words you do not know.
- 2Step 2: Ask the Big Question: Ask yourself: 'What is this text mostly about?' Think about the topic that covers the whole text.
- 3Step 3: Check the Choices: Look at all four choices. Cross out any choice that is about only one small part of the text.
- 4Step 4: Pick the Best Answer: Choose the answer that covers the whole passage, not just one detail.
Don't choose an answer just because it uses a word from the text. Wrong answers often repeat words from the passage but say something different from what the text really means.
Read ALL the choices before you pick your answer. Sometimes two choices look similar, but only one is fully correct according to the text.
For vocabulary questions, always go back and read the whole sentence with that word. The words around it give you important clues about its meaning.
Rules
- 1Read the passage once quickly to understand the general topic (skim).
- 2Read each question carefully, then go back to the passage to find the answer.
- 3For main idea questions, ask yourself: 'What is the whole text about?'
- 4For detail questions, look for the exact information in the text.
- 5For vocabulary questions, read the whole sentence with that word — the sentence gives you clues.
- 6If you are not sure, cross out the choices you know are wrong, then choose from what is left.
Practice
4 easy · 4 medium · 4 hard
10 random questions per test