Reading a short text: finding the answer in the text

The answer is always there

In a Checkpoint reading task you are never asked to guess. Every answer can be pointed to in the text. Your job is to find the place, not to invent the meaning.

Scanning for a keyword

Take the important word from the question — a name, a number, a place — and run your eyes over the text looking only for that word. Once you find it, read the whole sentence around it, and often the sentence after too.

Same idea, different words

The text rarely uses exactly the question's words. If the question says afraid, the text may say scared. So scan for the idea as well as the word — this is the skill that separates a good reader from a fast one.

Answer in the right form

If the question asks How many…? the answer is a number. If it asks Why…? the answer needs because. Matching the form of the question is half the mark.