Factual passages

What a factual passage is

A factual passage gives information: a news report, a notice, a description of a process, a short article about science, health or the environment, or a passage with figures and dates. Its purpose is to inform, so the answers are almost always stated somewhere in the text.

What NCET asks

• Specific details: who, what, when, where, how many.
• The main idea or the most suitable title.
• Which statement is true or not true according to the passage.
• The meaning of a key term as used in the passage.
• Simple conclusions that follow directly from the facts given.

How to answer

• Scan for the detail. If the question asks for a year or a number, run your eyes over the passage looking only for numbers.
• Match words, not ideas you already know. Options often contain facts that are true in real life but are not in the passage. Choose only what the passage supports.
• Watch qualifiers. “Most”, “some”, “only” and “all” change the meaning of an option completely.
• For “not true” questions, check each option against the text and cross out the ones you can find.

Common mistakes

• Answering from general knowledge instead of the passage.
• Choosing an option that copies words from the passage but changes their meaning.
• Missing a negative word in the question (“Which of the following is NOT…”).

Practice tip

Each week, take three short factual texts in Kannada (a notice, a news item and an explainer) and write five who/what/when questions for each. Writing questions makes you notice what examiners will ask.