Reading skills

Multiple choice.

Exactly one.

Objectively, all-or-nothing — right answer earns the mark, a wrong one earns nothing.

A wrong option written to look tempting — often by reusing a word from the text.

« Choisissez la bonne réponse », often « En vous basant sur le paragraphe X, choisissez la bonne réponse ».

No — you only choose the letter of the correct option.

It must be supported by the text, not by outside knowledge.

The sales.

To close (a street) to traffic.

The writer's purpose for that paragraph — choose the option that captures why it was written, not one small detail.

Lis (read the question and all options) → Localise (find the relevant part) → Lis de près (read that line closely) → Élimine (the distractors) → Choisis (the one the text proves).

A wrong option that repeats a word from the text but misreads its meaning, so it feels familiar.

It is often easier to rule options out than to spot the right one; what's left is your answer.

It is multiple-SELECT: you choose N true statements (here five), not a single answer — N equals the number of correct options.

True.

False.

Give the reason by quoting the relevant words from the text.

« Cochez la bonne réponse et justifiez votre réponse par des mots du texte. Les deux parties de la réponse sont requises. »

1 mark for the decision (V/F) and 1 mark for a correct justification.

From the text — you quote or copy the relevant words.

The statement you must judge true or false.

No — quote only the specific words that prove your answer.

Tick the correct answer (V or F).

Lis l'affirmation → Localise la ligne → Décide vrai ou faux → Cite la justification → Écris les DEUX.

The marks depend on justifying it with the relevant words from the text — « les deux parties sont requises ».

Writing V or F with no justification.

A buried justification may not be credited; short and exact beats long and vague.

The decision (vrai/faux) AND the justifying words from the text.

What a word or phrase means in this particular text, using the context.

To mean.

The meaning.

A synonym — a word with the same meaning.

A word that looks like an English word but means something different.

(1) « Quel mot signifie « X » ? » and (2) « Trouvez dans les lignes X à Y les mots ou expressions qui signifient… ».

Currently / nowadays — NOT 'actually' (a faux ami).

Match each listed word to its meaning from a word bank (the matching variant).

To sign up for / join.

Localise the word → Lis autour (read around) → Déduis from context → Associe to the option / find the synonym → Vérifie it fits.

A word can have several meanings; the context decides which one fits here.

Re-read the sentence with your meaning slotted in — it should make sense.

Slot the English-looking meaning into the sentence; if it makes no sense, it's a faux ami.

Yes — the surrounding context usually gives the meaning away.

To complete / fill in the blanks (a gap-fill task).

From the text itself (« avec des mots du texte »), or from a given list.

One word or just a few words — sometimes capped at « un maximum de trois mots ».

The blank / the gap to be filled.

The missing word.

Take the word(s) for the gap straight from the text.

Yes — it is marked objectively, so spelling and accents must be exact.

Choose a word from the given word bank to fill each gap (word-bank gap-fill).

Come from the text/list, fit grammatically, and be spelled correctly.

Lis la phrase à trou → Prédis le type de mot → Trouve-le dans le texte → Écris-le correctement → Vérifie qu'il s'accorde.

So you scan for the right kind of word (noun, verb, number) instead of any word.

If the word is the wrong form or is misspelt, objective marking won't award it.

No — the word comes from the text or the given list; never invent it.

Exactly — letter for letter, with the correct accents and the right form (gender/number).

To link / match up (a matching task).

Link each item in one set to its partner in another set.

« En vous basant sur les lignes X à Y, reliez chaque début de phrase à la fin correspondante. »

Personnes↔opinions, titres↔paragraphes, the two halves of a sentence, and questions↔réponses.

Exactly once.

The extra (spare) option that matches nothing and is left over.

The headline / heading.

The paragraph.

The matching ending (the correct second half of the sentence).

It's a distractor — a spare that matches nothing, to catch you out.

Lis les deux listes → Les sûrs d'abord → Élimine → Relie le reste → Vérifie (none reused, the spare is left over).

No — do the matches you're sure of first; each one removes an option.

No — match on the meaning of the whole statement, not a single shared word.

One of those matches is wrong — each option is used only once.

To complete sentences (a sentence-completion task).

Finish a sentence so it matches what the text says.

« Complétez les phrases suivantes avec des mots du paragraphe / du texte. »

A limit: complete each sentence with no more than three words.

« Reliez chaque début de phrase à la fin correspondante » — choose each ending from a list.

The sentence stem — the beginning you must complete.

The correct ending.

True according to the text.

Yes — the completed sentence must fit the grammar of the stem.

When it is true according to the text, not just sensible in general.

Read the stem → Find what the text says → Choose or write the ending → Check the sentence is true per the text → Move on.

Yes — if the text doesn't state it, a sensible-sounding ending is still wrong.

An ending true for a later part of the text but not for the part the stem asks about.

No — complete it from the text, which stays in front of you.

A word like « le » or « cela » that points back to a noun or idea said earlier in the text.

The referent — the actual noun or idea a reference word points to.

« Écrivez à qui ou à quoi se rapportent les mots soulignés. » [1 point]

To refer to / to point back to (something said before).

A noun already mentioned (the direct object).

A person already mentioned (the indirect object — to him / to her / to them).

A whole idea or phrase said before, not just one noun.

The nearest noun.

A place that was mentioned.

The owner mentioned (whose something is).

Backwards — they point to something said earlier, so read the lines before the word.

Repère → Lis avant → Identifie → Remplace → Vérifie.

The referent must agree in gender and number with the word, so « le » needs a masculine singular noun and « les » a plural one.

The actual noun or idea it points to (e.g. « le chien »), never the word « le » itself.

An answer of a few words or a short phrase to a question about the text.

« Répondez aux questions suivantes » — answer the following questions.

In your own words — you must paraphrase, not copy the line.

Based on the paragraph… — it tells you exactly where in the text to look.

According to the text — the answer is in the passage, so locate it.

To answer / to respond (to the question).

Content correctness — the right information, briefly; style is not the point.

Usually not — the content (the correct, text-supported idea) is what earns the mark.

Yes — then you may lift the words straight from the text.

Lis la question → Localise → Note l'info clé → Réponds court → Vérifie que ça répond.

Read the question first, so you know exactly what to look for in the text.

Extra padding earns no extra marks and risks contradicting yourself; a few words are enough.

A blank scores zero, but a brief, text-supported attempt can score the mark.

You may lose the mark for not paraphrasing — you must reword the idea.