IMAT Reading Skills and General Knowledge · Free notes
Reading Comprehension: Reading What the Text Supports
Reading Comprehension has 9 past questions since 2011, and the ministry papers from 2023 on have asked 9 of them. It belongs entirely to the current format: the ministry papers open with short passages, often translated from Italian essays, articles or medicine leaflets, each followed by one question. The work is careful reading, not knowledge, and the 2026 papers say so: answer only from what the text states or implies. The difficulty sits in the options, which reuse the passage's own words while adding a claim, dropping a 'may', reversing a cause, or giving the right idea with a wrong second half.
The handout has every subtopic, worked example, formula and trap with answers shown.
Subtopic notes
What the Text Says, and What It Supports
0 PYQsA reading answer is right only when a line of the passage states it or makes it follow; outside knowledge and over-strong wording make an option wrong.
Negative Stems, Causes and Half-Right Options
0 PYQsSome stems ask for the one option the text does not support, and some ask why something happens; both reward checking every part of every option.
Reading Leaflets, Reports and Figures
0 PYQsTechnical texts pack exact information into few words; read every frequency, condition and number exactly as written, and add nothing.
The Author's Point, Words in Context and Tone
0 PYQsSome questions are about the passage as a whole: what it mainly says, what a word or image means here, and how the author feels about the subject.
Formula & revision sheet
0 formulas · 13 gotchas across all subtopics — the exam-eve cheat-sheet
Formula & revision sheet
0 formulas · 13 gotchas across all subtopics — the exam-eve cheat-sheet
Watch out for (4)
- Choosing an option because it is true in real life→ A routine and a time budget for each reading question
- An inference is not a sensible guess→ Stated, implied or not supported: the three kinds of option
- The text's own words are not proof→ Which is true according to the text: matching each option to one line
- May and could are not will and always→ Qualifiers and over-strong options: may, some, not yet, approximately
Watch out for (3)
- Forgetting the NOT halfway through→ Negative stems: CANNOT be inferred, NOT correct, EXCEPT
- Reversing cause and effect→ Cause and reason questions: finding the author's own explanation
- One correct half does not make an option correct→ Options that are only half right
Watch out for (3)
- Frequency not known is not very rare→ Reading a medicine leaflet: frequency, possibility and warning signs
- A side effect is not a treatment→ Reading a medicine leaflet: frequency, possibility and warning signs
- Percentage points are not percent→ Numbers in a report: rises, falls, percentages and causes
Watch out for (3)
- A true detail is not the main point→ The author's main point and purpose
- The dictionary's first meaning is often the trap→ Meaning of a word or phrase in context, and figurative texts
- Extreme tone words are rarely right→ Tone and attitude: how the author feels about the subject
PYQ weightage by concept
12 concepts · 0 PYQs — where the marks actually sit, so you know what to drill first
PYQ weightage by concept
12 concepts · 0 PYQs — where the marks actually sit, so you know what to drill first
| Concept | PYQs | Share |
|---|---|---|
| A routine and a time budget for each reading questionfoundation | — | — |
| Stated, implied or not supported: the three kinds of optionfoundation | — | — |
| Which is true according to the text: matching each option to one linefoundation | — | — |
| Qualifiers and over-strong options: may, some, not yet, approximatelyfoundation | — | — |
| Concept | PYQs | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Negative stems: CANNOT be inferred, NOT correct, EXCEPTfoundation | — | — |
| Cause and reason questions: finding the author's own explanationfoundation | — | — |
| Options that are only half rightfoundation | — | — |
| Concept | PYQs | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Reading a medicine leaflet: frequency, possibility and warning signsfoundation | — | — |
| Numbers in a report: rises, falls, percentages and causesfoundation | — | — |
| Concept | PYQs | Share |
|---|---|---|
| The author's main point and purposefoundation | — | — |
| Meaning of a word or phrase in context, and figurative textsfoundation | — | — |
| Tone and attitude: how the author feels about the subjectfoundation | — | — |