eng7-R3· Reading· ~15 min

Reading: Travel & Friends

Read a travel-blogger interview and an article about friendship.

When you read a short text, first look at the title and pictures to guess what it is about. Then read the questions before you read the text — this helps you know what to look for. While reading, underline key words and try to guess the meaning of new words from the sentences around them. After reading, go back to the text to check your answers.

Key terms

main idea — The most important point the text is about — what the writer wants you to understand.
detail — A small piece of information in the text, such as a name, place, number, or fact.
skim — To read a text very quickly to get a general idea of what it is about.
scan — To look through a text quickly to find one specific piece of information, like a date or a name.
context — The words and sentences around an unknown word that help you guess what it means.
inference — A conclusion you make from the text even though the writer does not say it directly.
Question Types in This Lesson
Question typeWhat it asksHow to answer
Main ideaWhat is the text mostly about?Look at the title, the first sentence, and the last sentence.
DetailWhat does the text say about X?Find the exact sentence in the text that gives the answer.
Reference / InferenceWhat does 'it' refer to? / What can you understand?Read the line before the pronoun; think about what the text suggests.
Vocabulary in contextWhat does the word X mean here?Read the whole sentence and the one before it; choose the meaning that fits.

Table 1: The four kinds of reading questions in this lesson and how to approach each one.

✎How to Answer a Main-Idea Question
  1. 1Step 1: Read the title of the passage. The title often tells you the topic.
  2. 2Step 2: Read the first one or two sentences and the last sentence of the passage — the main idea is usually there.
  3. 3Step 3: Look at the four choices. Cross out the ones that are too narrow (only one small detail) or too broad (not really about the text).
  4. 4Step 4: Pick the choice that says what the whole text is about, not just one part of it.
🚫Common mistake

Common mistake: Choosing an answer just because a word from the text appears in it. Distractors often use the same words as the passage but say something wrong — always check the meaning, not just the words.

⚠️Caution

Warning: Do not use your own knowledge about the topic to answer. Every correct answer must come from the text itself, even if you already know something about the subject.

💡Note

Note: For vocabulary questions, try replacing the word in the sentence with each choice. The one that keeps the same meaning is the correct answer.

Rules

  1. 1Read the title first — it tells you the topic of the text.
  2. 2Read the questions before you read the passage so you know what information to find.
  3. 3Skim the text quickly to get the main idea, then read it again more slowly for details.
  4. 4When you see a new word, look at the words around it to guess its meaning.
  5. 5For pronoun questions ('What does it refer to?'), look at the sentence just before the pronoun.
  6. 6Always check your answer in the text — do not guess from memory alone.

Practice

4 easy · 4 medium · 4 hard

10 random questions per test

EasyMediumHardMixed