RUAE understanding texts

Question 1

purpose of text

Answer 1

The purpose of a text is why it has been written.

For example, a newspaper article may have been written to give information on a topic, but it could also have been written to discuss different opinions on a topic and give the writer’s thoughts and feelings on the subject.

Question 2

target audience

Answer 2

Target audiences are different groups in society that writers are aiming to reach. Audiences can be targeted by:

gender
age
social status
lifestyle
etc.
For example, the writers of Good Food Magazine will aim their articles and recipes at a target audience who are interested in cooking. This audience might also contain many readers aged 30-60 who are female.

Question 3

main and supporting ideas

Answer 3

Main ideas
A writer’s main points are the arguments that they put forward in favour or against a topic.

For example, in an article about the dangers of smoking, a writer’s main points may be:

smoking damages physical health
smoking is expensive
smoking is anti-social
These main points will often be made clear at the beginning of paragraphs, in the introduction and the conclusion.

Supporting ideas
Supporting ideas of a passage might be the evidence used to back up these main points.

For example, if one of their main points is that smoking damages physical health, the supporting details may be:

a quote from a doctor
the results from a survey
statistics about life expectancy

Question 4

answering in your own words

Answer 4

Sometimes you can be asked to answer or explain in your own words.

You do not need to translate the section you are looking at word for word, as long as the original meaning comes across clearly.

For example:

‘John scrambled up the stairs.’

In your own words you might explain this as - John ran up the stairs in a panicked way.

Question 5

summarising key points

Answer 5

Summarising involves taking the main ideas from a piece of text and rewriting them in your own words. A summary is significantly shorter than the original text and should give an overview of a topic area.

You may be asked to summarise a writer’s main points or summarise a range of opinions or ideas on a topic. You are often asked to do this in your own words. Using bullet points can be a good way to do this.

Question 6

linking ideas in a text

Answer 6

Linking ideas in a text means highlighting the connection between two key points of the passage. There is a helpful approach which involves linking backward and linking forward:

Quote the part of the sentence that links back, to something the writer has said previously.
Quote the part of the sentence that links forward to a related point or idea.
For example, in a passage about leaving the European Union, if the linking sentence was:

‘However, it is not simply the financial consequences we must consider, but the social implications as well’.

‘financial consequences’ links back to where the writer discusses how much it may cost to leave the European Union.
‘social implications’ links forward to where the writer discusses the social problems that he believes Brexit may cause.
It’s also helpful to look out for linking words or phrases. Commonly used linking words include:

However
Therefore
On the other hand