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IMAT Reading Skills and General Knowledge · Reading Comprehension

The Author's Point, Words in Context and Tone

Some 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.

All Reading Comprehension notes

Why this matters

The 2026 paper asked what a passage says about its subject as a whole, and the 2025 paper asked which animal a figurative text describes without naming it. Tone and word-meaning questions have not appeared yet, but they use the same reading skills and each needs only one method.

Concept 1 of 3: The author's main point and purpose

The main point is the claim that the rest of the passage supports. Examples, dates and quotations are evidence for it, not the point itself. Wrong options are too narrow (one true example), too broad (more than the passage covers), or a view the author mentions only to reject it.

Definition

  • The main point is the one claim most sentences serve. Look hard at the first and last sentences and at signals such as 'yet', 'in short', 'the point is', 'but'.
  • Too narrow: an option that states one example or detail, even correctly.
  • Too broad: an option that claims more than the passage covers (all of history, every country, every case).
  • Purpose asks what the author is doing: to explain, to argue, to warn, to compare, to describe, to criticise. Many cases from many centuries, all making the same point, usually serve to show that something is old, not new.
  • Test a candidate: if the author read it, would they say 'yes, that is what I set out to show'?

Worked example

We often speak of quarantine as a modern public-health tool, yet the idea is old. In the fourteenth century, the port of Ragusa, now Dubrovnik, required ships arriving from plague-affected areas to wait before landing, and the wait was later fixed at forty days, which gave us the word 'quarantine', from the Italian for forty. Even earlier, people with leprosy had been kept apart from towns. Methods have changed, and modern quarantine relies on knowing how a disease spreads and how long it takes to appear. But the basic idea of separating those who might be ill, to protect those who are not, is centuries old. Which of the following best expresses the main point of the text? (A) Ragusa was the first city to protect itself from the plague. (B) Separating people who may be ill is an old idea, though its methods have changed. (C) Modern quarantine is no more effective than medieval quarantine. (D) The word 'quarantine' comes from the Italian for forty. (E) Every society in history has used quarantine.
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A true detail is not the main point

Main-point questions usually include an option that the passage states almost word for word but that is only one example. It is true, and still the wrong answer, because the passage was not written to say it.

Concept 2 of 3: Meaning of a word or phrase in context, and figurative texts

Many words have several meanings, and the passage selects one. Put each option in place of the word and reread the sentence: the right meaning keeps the sense and fits the sentences around it. Figurative texts (fables, allegories, metaphors) describe something without naming it; the details and any familiar saying they echo are the clues.

Definition

  • Substitute: put each option in place of the word and reread the whole sentence and the one before it.
  • The commonest meaning is often a trap. In 'a sharp rise in prices', sharp means sudden and large, not able to cut.
  • Signals: 'unlike', 'but', 'whereas' set the word against its opposite; 'such as', 'for example' illustrate it; 'so' and 'because' show its result or reason.
  • Idioms mean more than their words: 'to break the ice' is to end an awkward silence, not to smash anything.
  • Figurative texts: ask what the described thing stands for. Collect the details (what it does, how it behaves) and match them to what they point to, including well-known sayings, such as 'a wolf in sheep's clothing' for someone dangerous who looks harmless.

Worked example

Charles Darwin had worked out the main lines of his theory of natural selection by the early 1840s, yet he published it only in 1859. Historians have offered several explanations for the delay: he wanted to gather an overwhelming body of evidence, he feared the reaction of the religious establishment, and he was often ill. What finally forced his hand was a letter from the young naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, who had reached almost the same theory independently. Darwin's long silence, once read as timidity, is now often seen as the patience of a scientist who knew his idea would be attacked. In the text, the underlined phrase means: (A) injured him physically (B) made him act sooner than he had planned (C) made him write by hand rather than print (D) persuaded him to change his theory (E) made him share the credit with Wallace
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The dictionary's first meaning is often the trap

Options in a meaning-in-context question usually include the commonest meaning of the word. If that meaning does not fit the sentence, it is wrong, however familiar it is. Substitute each option and reread.

Concept 3 of 3: Tone and attitude: how the author feels about the subject

Tone shows in word choice. A writer who 'claims' something doubts it more than one who 'shows' it; 'remarkably', 'sadly' and 'so-called' carry a judgement. Decide first whether the attitude is positive, negative or neutral, then how strong it is. Exam passages are usually measured, so extreme tone words are rarely right.

Definition

  • Collect the loaded words: adjectives and adverbs (remarkable, alarming, naive, hardly), verbs of saying (claims, admits, insists, as against states, shows), and phrases like 'so-called'.
  • Decide the direction (positive, negative, neutral) first, then the strength (mild or strong).
  • Common tone words: objective or neutral (reports without judging), critical (finds fault), sceptical (doubts a claim), admiring, ironic (says the opposite of what is meant), indignant (angry at an injustice), nostalgic (longing for the past), cautious.
  • Rhetorical questions ('Why do we accept this?') and exclamations usually signal a strong personal view.
  • Choose the option whose strength matches the text: a passage that weighs evidence and adds limits is cautious, not enthusiastic.

Worked example

Brain-training apps promise to make users sharper, faster and even younger in mind, and millions download them every year. The evidence is less exciting. Players certainly get better at the games themselves; that is hardly surprising, since practice improves almost anything. What the companies rarely mention is that large studies have found little sign that these gains carry over to memory or attention in daily life. Perhaps one day a game will be designed that does more. For now, a walk with a friend may do as much for an ageing brain, and it costs nothing. Which word best describes the author's attitude to brain-training apps? (A) enthusiastic (B) sceptical (C) indifferent (D) furious (E) nostalgic
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Extreme tone words are rarely right

Passages chosen for an exam are usually measured. Options such as 'furious', 'contemptuous' or 'ecstatic' need equally strong language in the text. A writer who doubts a claim politely is sceptical, not hostile.

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