What a short-answer question is: A short-answer question asks you to answer a question about the text in a few words or a short phrase — not a full essay.
What's marked is whether your answer is correct and supported by the text, NOT your writing style.
Here is the most important thing to learn for the whole of Paper 2 Reading:
The exam instruction you'll see: In the real English Paper 2 exam, this question type is introduced by an instruction like:
“Answer the following questions.”
What you have to do: Answer briefly using information from the text — usually the exact words. Give EXACTLY what is asked and nothing extra; a full sentence is not required.
The Golden Rule: Most answers must be COPIED EXACTLY from the text. When the question says "Answer using the words as they appear in the text", paraphrasing scores ZERO — you must find the exact word or phrase and copy it.
So your job is to locate the right line and lift the precise words out of it. Don't reword, don't "improve" it — copy it.
- short answer
- an answer of a few words or a short phrase to a question about the text
- to locate
- to find the exact place in the text that answers the question
- to lift / to copy
- to take the exact words straight out of the text
- according to the text
- the answer is in the passage — find it, don't use outside knowledge
- complete (but not over-written)
- give the whole answer, but add no extra or irrelevant words
- justification
- the words from the text that prove your answer is right
Content over style: In a short-answer reading question, content correctness is what earns the mark — not long sentences or perfect grammar. A spelling slip is OK as long as the meaning is still clear. Give the right information, briefly, and you score.
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Paper 2 Reading — the main question types: Short-answer reading covers a small family of question types. They all rely on the same skill: locate the line, lift the exact words. Learn what each one asks for.
| Question type | What it asks you to do |
|---|---|
| Find the exact words | Copy the precise words/phrase from the text that answer the question. |
| Find the word/phrase that means… | Find the word in the text with the given meaning and copy it. |
| Gap-fill from a word list | Choose the right word from a given list to fill a numbered gap. |
| Multiple choice | Tick exactly ONE answer in the box. |
| True / False + justify | Tick True or False AND quote the words from the text that prove it. |
| Heading-match | Match each paragraph to the heading that fits it best. |
These need EXACT words from the text
- Find the exact words.
- Find the word/phrase that means…
- True/False — the justification must be quoted word-for-word.
These need you to CHOOSE
- Gap-fill — pick from the given word list.
- Multiple choice — put exactly ONE answer in the box.
- Heading-match — match each heading to its paragraph.
Read the instruction line: The instruction tells you the type: "Find the words…", "Choose the correct word…", "True or false? Justify…". Do exactly what it says — answering the wrong way (e.g. paraphrasing a "find the words" question) loses the mark.
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How to score in Paper 2 Reading: Marks in Paper 2 Reading are won or lost on a few simple habits. Learn these five and you'll pick up easy marks other students drop.
The five scoring rules
- Copy the exact words when the question says to — paraphrasing scores ZERO.
- Keep it complete but add NO extra words — extra wrong info can lose the mark.
- True/False needs BOTH the tick AND a justification quoted word-for-word from the text.
- Spelling slips are OK if the meaning is still clear — don't panic about a small error.
- In multiple choice, put exactly ONE answer in the box.
The short-answer routine — 5 steps
1
Read the question
What is it actually asking? Underline the key word (who? what? why? how many?).
2
Locate the line
Scan for the line in the text that answers it — the text stays in front of you, so re-read it.
3
Lift the exact words
Copy the precise word or phrase that answers the question. Copy, don't reword.
4
Trim the extras
Keep it complete but cut anything that doesn't answer the question — extra wrong info loses marks.
5
Check it answers the question
Re-read the question and your answer — does it respond to exactly what was asked?
Read Q → Locate → Lift exact words → Trim extras → Check
DO
- Copy the exact words when told to.
- Tick True/False AND quote the proof.
- Put exactly one answer in an MCQ box.
DON'T
- Paraphrase a "find the words" question.
- Add extra, irrelevant information.
- Tick True/False with no justification.
RELAX about
- A minor spelling slip if the meaning is clear.
- Perfect grammar — content is what's marked.
- Long sentences — a few words is enough.
Answering short questions on a real text: Here is a short text — the kind Paper 2 (Reading) gives you. The text stays in front of you, so you locate each answer.
Read it once, then we'll take a few short-answer questions through the routine — including a "copy the exact words" one, so you can see the Golden Rule in action.
The neighbourhood festival: Last Saturday, the San Roque neighbourhood held its yearly festival in the main square. In the morning there were games for the children and a cookery workshop where the residents learned to make traditional sweets. In the afternoon, a band played songs from the region.
The festival ended with an open-air dinner. Each family brought a dish to share with everyone else. Marta, one of the organisers, said that the best thing about the festival was not the food, but seeing all the neighbours together, chatting and laughing after such a busy year.
- yearly / annual
- happening once every year
- cookery workshop
- a class where people learn to cook
- traditional sweets
- typical local desserts made in the usual old way
- open-air dinner
- a meal eaten outdoors
- to share
- to give a part of something to others
Three short questions, step by step
Three questions, step by step
- (a) "Find the exact words." Question: "In the morning, what did the residents learn to make in the cookery workshop? Answer using the words as they appear in the text." Locate: "…a cookery workshop where the residents learned to make traditional sweets."
- (a) Lift the exact words — Answer: traditional sweets. The question said to use the words as they appear, so copy them exactly — don't reword to "local desserts" (that would score ZERO).
- (b) "Find the word/phrase that means…" Question: "Find the phrase in the text that means 'a meal eaten outside'." Locate: "The festival ended with an open-air dinner." Answer: open-air dinner — copied straight from the text.
- (c) Trim the extras. Question: "What did each family bring to the dinner?" The line says: "Each family brought a dish to share with everyone else." Answer: a dish (to share). Keep it complete but add no extra, off-topic words — that's all the mark needs.
Copy, don't improve: In part (a) the question told you to use the words as they appear, so we copied traditional sweets exactly. Rewording it — even into perfectly good English — would have scored ZERO. When in doubt, lift the words straight from the text.
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Where marks are lost: Most short-answer marks are lost not to hard English but to careless habits: paraphrasing when the exact words are required, adding extra wrong information, giving a True/False answer with no justification, putting two answers in one box, or leaving it blank out of caution. Compare the two columns.
Good practice
- Copy the exact words when the question tells you to.
- Keep the answer complete but cut any extra, off-topic words.
- For True/False, give BOTH the tick and a word-for-word justification.
- Always write something supported by the text; never leave it blank.
Typical mistakes
- Reword (paraphrase) a "find the words" answer — scores ZERO.
- Add extra information that turns out to be wrong, losing the mark.
- Tick True/False but give no justifying quote.
- Put two answers in one multiple-choice box.
Never leave it blank: If the answer is in the text, a blank scores zero but a brief, text-supported attempt can score. Locate the line, lift the words — even an answer with a small spelling slip beats no answer at all.