Finding the Important Bits

You have to agree - it's much easier to remember key points than a whole lot of words.

Scan the writing for Key Words and Phrases

Once you've worked out what the question is asking you, you'll need to go back to the text and look for key words and phrases.

The key words and key phrases in a sentence or a paragraph give you the real nitty-gritty of what it means. They're the things you'll need to answer the questions. The other stuff adds a few frills and detail, but isn't absolutely essential.

When you want to find out those key bits of information, it's much quicker to let your eyes wander over the page on the lookout for the words you want. This is called scanning.

You can use key words and phrases from any piece of writing to write a summary. A summary tells you the main points of a piece of writing as briefly as possible.

Find the bits that Answer the Question

Q. In what way does the article make readers want to visit the castle?

The key to answering questions like this is to …