Reading · 4 min read
Reading · Reading Informational Texts
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Comprehension, analysis, and language skills tested with literary and informational texts, including workplace documents, brochures, websites, maps, and graphics: locating and interpreting information, inference, vocabulary in context, evaluating and synthesizing ideas, text structure, literary elements and devices, and grammar, syntax, and language conventions.
The CAEC Reading test contains 50 multiple-choice questions to be answered in 75 minutes. Questions are based on reading selections and measure three strands: Content and Context (50–55%): locating explicit information, interpreting word meaning, analyzing supporting ideas, and evaluating and synthesizing information; Structure, Elements, and Techniques (25–30%): organizational features, literary elements, and literary devices; and Grammar, Syntax, and Language Conventions (20–25%): applying grammar and punctuation rules and assessing sentence structure. Literary texts (novels, short stories, poems, essays, and drama) make up 20–40% of the selections; informational texts (articles, brochures, websites, workplace documents, maps, and graphics) make up 60–80%. About 20–30% of questions are low complexity, 40–50% moderate, and 20–30% high. The digital platform offers universal supports: a highlighter, a line reader, a screen colour overlay, and zoom. No dictionary, thesaurus, or translator is permitted.
Informational texts explain, report, instruct, or argue about real subjects. Because they supply most of the Reading test's selections, the core comprehension skills in this chapter (finding the main idea, sorting details, locating stated facts, and summarizing) apply to the majority of questions.
Topic, Main Idea, and Supporting Details
Topic
What is the passage about? (a word or
Community gardens
phrase)
Major detail
What directly proves or explains the
Gardeners grow fresh vegetables at low cost.
main idea?
Stated and Implied Main Ideas
A stated main idea appears in a topic sentence (for a paragraph) or a thesis statement (for a whole passage). It is most often the first sentence, sometimes the last, and occasionally a sentence in the middle that follows an opening question or example. An implied main idea is never stated in one sentence; build it yourself by asking what all the major details have in common, then phrase that common point as one sentence.
Winter used to shut down cycling in most Canadian cities. Today, several cities plough selected bike lanes before car lanes are finished. Shops sell studded tires that grip ice, and commuters have learned to layer clothing rather than wear one heavy coat. Some employers now provide heated storage rooms where bicycles can dry during the workday.
No single sentence states the point. The details (ploughed lanes, studded tires, layered clothing, heated storage) all show changes that make winter riding possible, so the implied main idea is: Changes in city services, equipment, and workplaces have made year-round cycling practical.
Test each main-idea choice for size. A choice that is too narrow matches only one detail (Studded tires grip ice). A choice that is too broad goes beyond the passage (Canadians enjoy outdoor exercise). A choice that is off target uses words from the passage but makes a different point. The correct choice covers every major detail and nothing more.
Locating Explicit Information
Many low-complexity questions ask for a fact the text states directly: a date, a number, a requirement, a name, or a step. The answer is in the text; the task is finding it quickly and reading it exactly.
➜
➜
➜
➜
Note exactly what is
A name, number, or
Use headings and bold
The sentence before and
Check qualifiers and
asked
unusual term
text to narrow the search
after
numbers
Answer choices often repeat the text's exact words but change one qualifier: some becomes all, may becomes must, before becomes after. Use the highlighter to mark the sentence that contains the answer, then compare it word for word with the choice.
Summarizing and Paraphrasing
A summary restates the main idea and major details of a text in far fewer words. It keeps the author's meaning and order of importance, leaves out minor details and examples, and adds no opinion. A paraphrase restates one sentence or short section in different words and roughly the same length. Both must be accurate: a restatement that changes the strength, scope, or cause in the original is wrong even if it sounds reasonable.
The passage says studded tires grip ice and that people layer
Year-round cycling has become practical in Canadian cities
clothing. Winter cycling is the best way to commute.
because of ploughed bike lanes, winter equipment, and workplace support.
Original: Some employers now provide heated storage rooms.
Original: Some employers now provide heated storage rooms.
Most employers are required to heat bicycle storage.
A number of workplaces have begun offering warm rooms for storing bicycles.
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