eng7-R1· Reading· ~15 min

Reading: Schools & Technology

Read articles about schools around the world and young people in technology.

When you read a short text, first look at the title — it tells you what the text is about. Read the questions before the text so you know what to look for. If you find a new word, look at the words around it — they can help you guess the meaning.

Key terms

main ideathe most important point of a text
detaila small piece of information in a text
inferencea guess you make from clues in the text
skimread quickly to get the general idea
scanlook for one specific piece of information
contextthe words around an unknown word that help you guess its meaning
Question Types in This Lesson
Question TypeWhat It Tests
Main IdeaDo you understand the big picture?
DetailCan you find one fact in the text?
InferenceCan you make a guess from the text?
Vocabulary in ContextCan you guess a word's meaning from the sentence?

Each passage has four questions — one of each type.

How to Find the Main Idea
  1. 1Step 1: Read the title: 'Schools Around the World'
  2. 2Step 2: Read the first and last sentences: 'Schools are not the same in every country' and 'the way they learn can be very different'
  3. 3Step 3: Ask yourself: What is this text mostly about? Answer: It is about how schools are different in different countries.
🚫Common mistake

Do not use what you already know about the topic. Only use what the text says to answer the questions.

💡Note

Read the questions first. This helps you know what to look for when you read the passage.

Rules

  1. 1Read the title first — it gives you the main topic.
  2. 2Look at the questions before you read the passage.
  3. 3Underline key words in the questions.
  4. 4Find the part of the text that answers each question.
  5. 5If you do not know a word, use the other words around it to guess.
  6. 6Check all four choices before you pick one.

Practice

4 easy · 4 medium · 4 hard

10 random questions per test