eng5-R4· Reading· ~15 min

Reading: School & Free Time

Practice texts about school and free time, on the themes of Units 6 and 8.

Reading comprehension means understanding a text: finding the main idea (what it is mostly about), picking out specific details (facts, names, numbers and times), and working out the meaning of a new word from the words around it. This topic gives you short texts on school and free time, the subject of Unit 6 (School Time) and Unit 8 (Get Moving!), and asks all three kinds of question about them.

The passages in this topic were written for this study bank, on the themes your coursebook covers. They are NOT extracts from book 850: the reading pages in the units print their texts as artwork, so they cannot be reproduced here. Two topics in this strand DO work on the book's own texts — the Unit 2 infographic (p28-29) and Extra Reading 2, "My Home is a Cave" (p101).

Key terms

main idea — The most important point of a text — what the whole text is mostly about.
detail — A specific piece of information that you can find directly in the text.
inference — A conclusion you reach by using clues from the text, even if it is not written directly.
context — The words and sentences around an unknown word that help you understand what it means.
skim — To read a text quickly to get the main idea without reading every word.
scan — To look through a text quickly to find a specific piece of information, like a name or a number.
Question Types and How to Answer Them
Question TypeWhat It TestsHow to Answer
Main ideaWhat the whole text is aboutRead the title and the first sentence. Ask: why did someone write this?
DetailA fact from the textFind the key word in the question, then find it in the text. Read that sentence carefully.
Inference / ReferenceA conclusion or what a word like 'it' or 'they' points toLook at the sentence before. Think: what makes sense here?
Vocabulary in contextThe meaning of a word as used in the passageRead the whole sentence. Try to replace the word with each choice — which one keeps the same meaning?

Four common question types in reading comprehension and strategies for each.

✎Example: Answering a Vocabulary-in-Context Question
  1. 1Read the sentence: From the Book Fair passage: 'You can buy a book or just look around.'
  2. 2The question: What does 'look around' mean in the text? A) buy something B) walk and see what is there C) read a whole book D) talk to friends
  3. 3Step 1 — Find the phrase: Find 'look around' in the text. Read the full sentence: 'You can buy a book or just look around.'
  4. 4Step 2 — Use context: The word 'or' shows two choices: buy OR look around. So 'look around' is the opposite of buying. It means you can come and see the books without paying.
  5. 5Step 3 — Test each choice: Replace 'look around' with each choice. 'You can buy a book or just walk and see what is there' — this makes sense. The other choices do not fit.
  6. 6Answer: B) walk and see what is there. The context tells us it is the opposite of buying.
💡Note

The passages in this topic were written for this study bank, on the themes your coursebook covers. They are NOT extracts from book 850: the reading pages in the units print their texts as artwork, so they cannot be reproduced here. Two topics in this strand DO work on the book's own texts — the Unit 2 infographic (p28-29) and Extra Reading 2, "My Home is a Cave" (p101).

🚫Common mistake

Don't choose an answer just because it uses words from the text. Wrong answers often repeat words from the passage but change the meaning. Always check the whole idea, not just the words.

💡Note

When a question asks 'What does the word X mean?', the answer is about how the word is used in that specific text — not the first meaning you know.

⚠️Caution

Inference questions can be tricky. The answer is not written directly in the text, but you can find clues that lead to one correct answer. The other choices will contradict something in the text.

Rules

  1. 1Read the whole text first before you look at the questions.
  2. 2Find key words in the question, then scan the text to find them.
  3. 3The answer is always in the text — do not guess from your own knowledge.
  4. 4For vocabulary questions, read the sentence before and after the word to understand its meaning.
  5. 5Check all four choices before you pick one — some answers look correct but are wrong.
  6. 6If you do not know an answer, cross out the choices you know are wrong, then choose from the rest.

Practice

4 easy · 4 medium · 4 hard

Up to 10 random questions per test

EasyMediumHardMixed