Comprehension X-Ray
Highlight the two sentences that most strongly support this idea. Then check your clues.
This engine’s own main skill is Inference & Evidence. It practises retrieve an explicit detail alongside it.
Turning at the fork without checking the sign and warning others about a particular loose step suggest Maya knows the route. A previous visit is one reasonable explanation. These details do not prove it: someone could have described the route or warned her about the step. The bus, rain, mud, map, closure and gulls describe the scene but are not as direct a link to Maya’s knowledge. Explain how a clue supports your idea, and recognise when another explanation is possible.
What to say if they get stuck
- Look for a detail that supports this particular idea, rather than just mentioning the same place.
- Details about the weather help set the scene. Which details suggest Maya already knows the route?
- Think about her turn at the fork and her warning about a particular step. Could she have learnt these details another way?
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Inference Iceberg
Sort each statement: stated in the text, suggested by clues, or not supported.
This engine’s own main skill is Stated vs inferred. It practises retrieve an explicit detail alongside it.
STATED means a detail is given directly, even if the statement uses different words. HIDDEN means the idea is inferred: clues support it, but it is not directly stated. Nell’s repeated counting, patched coat and choice between two items suggest she has little money. The shopkeeper’s tapping suggests impatience. These are reasonable readings, not certain facts. NOT SUPPORTED means the text does not give enough evidence for the claim. Buying bread does not support saying Nell will go hungry, and impatience alone does not show dislike. Explain both the clue and how it supports your idea. Other interpretations may also fit a passage.
What to say if they get stuck
- For STATED, find the detail written in the passage. It may use different words from the statement.
- For HIDDEN, join the clues. Counting coins, a patched coat and choosing one item suggest that money is tight. This is likely, not certain.
- For NOT SUPPORTED, ask what evidence is missing. Nell buys bread, so the passage does not give enough support to say she will go hungry tonight.
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Question Forge
Three questions, three lines they were forged from. Hammer each pair together.
This engine’s own main skill is Question types. It practises retrieve an explicit detail alongside it.
Three question types, three kinds of line. Retrieval comes from a line that states a fact, so you copy it out. Reading between the lines comes from a line that shows without telling, so you read the clue and say what it means. Vocabulary in context comes from a line with one hard word and enough around it to work the word out. When you meet a question, name its type first. The type tells you what sort of line to hunt for and what sort of sentence to write.
What to say if they get stuck
- Start with the easy weld. One question asks for a number, so it can only come from the line that states one.
- A vocabulary question needs a hard word sitting in the line, with clues around it to work the meaning out.
- That leaves reading between the lines, which always comes from the line that shows a person doing something without ever telling you why.
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Unreliable Witness
Three witnesses, one true account. Work out who can be trusted.
This engine’s own main skill is Summarising & accuracy. It practises retrieve an explicit detail alongside it, and covers most of it rather than all.
A good summary keeps three things exactly as they were: the size of what happened, the reason it happened, and the details that were actually written. Distortions almost always attack one of those three. Making it bigger is exaggeration, so "clung on halfway" becomes "fell all the way to the ground" and the whole meaning flips, because a boy who holds on is brave and a boy who falls is unlucky. Swapping the reason is the sneakiest, because "the kite was stuck" becomes "his sister dared him", which invents a motive the passage never offered. Adding a detail is the easiest to miss, since invented facts sit quietly among the real ones. So when you check a summary, including your own, test each claim against the exact words: if you cannot find the line, take the claim out.
- Step 1. Honest. Which witness retells the passage without bending it?
- Step 2. Lies. Now catch each liar. Tap the exact words they twisted.
What to say if they get stuck
- Do not ask which retelling sounds best. Ask which one you could match to the passage line by line.
- A distortion is usually one phrase, not a whole sentence. Look for a word that has been made bigger, or a reason nobody actually gave.
- The passage says he clung on, and it never gives a reason for the climb beyond the kite being stuck. Anything else has been added.
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