How to see it
A finding question has its answer written in the text. Your job is to find the exact words, not to remember roughly. Two moves. Pick a key word from the question. Then scan for it, and read the whole sentence, and the one after it. Find it, then check it.
A worked example
Key words: time, and set sail. Scan for times. Nine o'clock is the first one. But read on. The gate had closed, the boat was full: Ruby never got on it. The next sentence: she sailed on the next one, at half past nine. Half past nine.
The common mistake: grabbing the first detail that matches
The trap is the first time you find. Nine o'clock is in the passage, so it feels safe, and it is wrong, because Ruby missed that boat. A detail has to be checked against the sentences around it.
Try one
The ferry to Gull Island left at nine. Ruby reached the harbour at ten to nine, but the gate had already closed because the boat was full.
This one has two answers. Which two things does the passage tell us about the boat that left at nine?
- AIt left late.
- BIts gate had closed.
- CIt was going to Gull Island.
- DA seal swam beside it.
- EIt was empty.
Show the answerHide the answer
Right: B and C
It was the ferry to Gull Island, and its gate had closed because it was full. The seal swam beside the next boat.