Reading strategies

READING STRATEGIES
OVERVIEW QUESTIONS
The most common overview question asks about the purpose or main topic of the passage. Other overview questions ask about the writer of the passage or the reader of the passage.
What does this article/the memo mainly discuss?
What is this form?
What is the purpose of this letter/announcement/notice…?
Why was this notice/letter written?
In what business is the writer of the passage?
What kind of business is Mr. ________ probably in?
Who issued/wrote this notice?
What is the author’s opinion of ______?
Who were these instructions written for?
Who would be most interested in the information in this announcement?
For whom is this advertisement/notice intended? 
Don’t answer the initial overview questions until you have answered the other questions
Usually focus on the title and the first sentence(s) of each paragraph for the topic and main idea; also focus on the last sentence for the conclusion and a possible restatement of the topic and main idea.
Skim (read very quickly) the rest of the passage for the key words that will confirm the topic and main idea.
Read the answer choices and eliminate the distractors which may have one of these characteristics:
too general
too specific (detailed)
 incorrect
irrelevant (not mentioned)
DETAIL QUESTIONS
Information/Factual Questions often begin with the phrases “According to the passage/the author, wh- questions...” 
Negative Questions contain the words NOT, EXCEPT, or LEAST
Focus on one or two key words in the question
Scan the passage looking for the key words or related words (synonyms, word family)
Carefully read the sentence in which the key words occur. (You may have to read the sentence preceding or following that sentence as well.)
Choose the correct answer
INFERENCE QUESTIONS
Inference Questions usually include such words as “infer, imply, suggest, guess, probably, or likely” or such phrases as “Why … mention?” “What …. to do next?” “Which of these ….. is probably true?” and “ What …..probably do?”
Answer choices to inference questions require students to
understand what the question is asking and know where to find the answer in the passage
relate the information in the answer choice to a synonym or paraphrase of information in the passage; and
determine what is true and not true in the answer choices
Note: Answer choices that contain such words as always, never, all, and only are usually NOT correct.