Build a document map
A quick map reduces rereading because it records what each section does rather than summarizing every sentence. An email thread may move from announcement to question to confirmation. A table may separate time, location, entry rule, and exception. An article may introduce a problem, explain a process, report observations, and state limits. Spend the opening moments naming these functions. When a question arrives, search the function most likely to contain its answer.
- Situation
- A four-message volunteer thread changes an event date and later assigns one person a new role.
- In practice
- Map: message 1—change and staffing needs; message 2—availability questions; message 3—assignment and conditions; message 4—confirmation.
- Why it works
- A question about the final role belongs near the confirmation, while a question about the cause belongs in the first message.
Try this
- Label each section with a function in five words or fewer.
- Mark where proposals become confirmed arrangements.
- Use the map to choose a search area before scanning details.
Answer inside the text boundary
Reading questions reward the best-supported interpretation of the provided document, not the most plausible real-world statement. Before choosing, identify the sentence, table cell, or combination of conditions that makes the option true. Watch for choices that import general knowledge, assume a policy not stated, or turn a limited observation into a universal conclusion. A defensible answer can be paraphrased back into the document without adding a new premise.
- Situation
- A pilot article says five gardens drained normally after selected storms and one improved after sediment was removed.
- In practice
- Supported: maintenance affected performance. Unsupported: rain gardens prevent flooding in every neighbourhood.
- Why it works
- The larger claim sounds positive but exceeds the limited observations in the text.
Try this
- Point to the exact evidence unit for every answer.
- Ask what new assumption a tempting option requires.
- Preserve qualifiers such as some, may, pilot, and under these conditions.
Tactics to keep
- Preview headings before reading line by line.
- Use margin labels for function rather than topic alone.
- Search nouns and relationships together.
- Treat outside knowledge as irrelevant unless the text activates it.
Common pitfalls
- Summarizing every sentence and losing time.
- Answering from personal expectations instead of document evidence.
- Treating an early proposal as the final arrangement.
Practice prompts
Prompt 1
Choose an original passage with at least four sections.
Create a function map without copying any sentence, then predict where three question types would look.
Check yourself
- Labels describe functions.
- Predictions use structure.
- No label exceeds five words.
Prompt 2
Review one tempting wrong option from a completed set.
Write the unstated premise it needs and contrast it with the text's actual limit.
Check yourself
- The premise is genuinely absent.
- The limit is quoted or paraphrased.
- The correct choice needs less invention.
