Reading Comprehension

What is Reading Comprehension?

Within English, which covers grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, poetry, drama and the skills for clear communication, this topic explains Reading Comprehension. English topics help you read closely and write with purpose, so each one here explains a skill and shows how it works in a model text.

Check that you can explain Reading Comprehension in your own words and give one example from everyday life. If you can do that, you have understood the core idea.

Understanding Reading Comprehension helps you read texts more closely and write with more control, which earns marks in both reading and writing papers.

Reading Comprehension in detail

Reading comprehension is understanding and interpreting what you read. Effective strategies include previewing the title and headings, reading actively, asking questions, looking up unfamiliar words, identifying the main idea and supporting details, and rereading difficult parts.

Questions test different skills: finding information, inferring meaning, explaining the writer's methods and giving your opinion. Answer using evidence from the text, in your own words unless asked to quote, and check what the question demands. Regular reading of different types of texts builds fluency and understanding.

How the interactive helps you understand Reading Comprehension

Click a step, or use the Previous and Next buttons, to move through the sequence one stage at a time. Auto-play moves on for you.

Before you change anything, predict the result. Then change one value at a time and check whether your prediction was right. This is a quick way to build a correct mental model of Reading Comprehension.

Real-life uses and examples

• Plan an essay paragraph by linking the technique to the reader’s response.
• Spot Reading Comprehension when you read a poem, story or speech, then explain the effect it creates.
• Use Reading Comprehension to make your own writing more precise and vivid.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Quoting a long passage instead of picking a short, precise phrase.
• Naming a technique without explaining its effect on the reader.
• Learning the definition without testing it. Use the quiz and the interactive to check that you can apply the idea.