English · Topic 1 of 25 · Free lesson
Finding information
Retrieval questions ask you to find a fact that is written in the passage. The answer is already there: your job is to find it quickly and copy only the part the question needs.
What it is
Retrieval questions ask you to find a fact that is written in the passage. The answer is already there: your job is to find it quickly and copy only the part the question needs.
Levels 1–3 · Reading
Remember
The question word tells you what to hunt for: when = a time, where = a place, who = a person, how many = a number.
Light bulb
The answer is in the text. Retrieval is a treasure hunt, not a guessing game: if you can't point to the words, keep looking.
Getting started (Levels 1–2)
The method
- 1Underline the key word in the question, and the question word: who, when, where, how many.
- 2Skim the passage for that key word, or a word that means the same.
- 3Read the whole sentence around it carefully.
- 4Answer with a short phrase, or a full sentence if the question asks for one.
Worked example
When did the ferry leave?
The ferry left1 Oban at seven o'clock.2 Mara stood on the top deck, clutching a bag of warm doughnuts, while gulls wheeled above the harbour.
- 1The key word from the question: left.
- 2'When?' needs a time, and here it is.
- 1.Key word: left. 'When' means you need a time
- 2.Find 'left' in the passage: 'The ferry left Oban at seven o'clock'
- =Answer: at seven o'clock
Understanding it
Retrieval questions are often the easiest marks in the paper, so they are worth getting right every time. They also build the base for harder questions: you can't work out a hint or explain a word until you can find the right lines quickly and read them closely.
Think of the question as a search order. The question word tells you the kind of answer, and the key word tells you where to look. Remember that the passage may use a different word with the same meaning: 'left' in the question could be 'set off' in the text.
The 11+ tests retrieval in many shapes: find and copy, multiple choice, true or false, and putting events in order. Some questions hide the answer later in the passage than you expect, or give two similar facts close together, so always check that your answer fits the question exactly.
Key words
- skim
- Read quickly to find a word, without reading every line.
- retrieve
- Find and bring back a fact from the text.
- key word
- The most important word in the question, used to search.
- quotation
- Words copied exactly from the passage, inside quotation marks.
Step by step
'The library closes at five on weekdays, but on Saturdays it shuts at noon.' When does the library close on a Saturday?
- 1.Key words: close and Saturday. 'When' means a time
- 2.The first time, five, is for weekdays: a trap
- 3.'Shuts' means the same as 'closes'
- =Answer: at noon
Common mistakes
Copying the whole sentence, including parts the question didn't ask for.
Copy only the words that answer the question. One mark usually needs one short fact.
Answering from memory or general knowledge instead of the passage.
Go back to the text every time and point to the words that prove your answer.
Stopping at the first matching word, even when the sentence goes on to change the fact.
Read the whole sentence, and the next one, before you write your answer.
Exam level (Levels 3–4)
Using the same passage: find and copy one word that tells you the doughnuts had just been made.
- 1.'Find and copy' means use the passage's exact word
- 2.Look at the words about the doughnuts: 'a bag of warm doughnuts'
- =Answer: warm
Watch out
Read the whole sentence. 'It was built in 1880 but only opened in 1885': a question about when it opened wants 1885, not the first date you see.
Exam tip
If a question gives a line or paragraph number, start your search there. One mark usually means one short fact.
Quick check
Work each one out, then tap to see the answer.
1 · Level 1
'Tom fed the hens at six, then cycled to school.' What did Tom do first?
Show the answer
He fed the hens
2 · Level 2
'The museum, which opened in 1902, has over 300 clocks.' How many clocks does the museum have?
Show the answer
Over 300
3 · Level 3
'Although the bridge was finished in 1880, it only opened in 1885.' When did the bridge open?
Show the answer
In 1885
Read: A Library Is
by the Academy11+ team
A library is a ship with a thousand cabins, and every cabin holds a different voyage.
A library is a silence that hums, a hush so thick you could fold it up and take it home.
A library is a forest whose trees were pressed flat and taught to talk.
A library is a time machine: open a cover and it's 1666, and London is burning. Hold your breath.
A library is the cheapest ticket to anywhere: Egypt on the top shelf, the Moon on the bottom, a dragon's cave beside the photocopier.
A library is Mrs Okafor at the desk, who knows which book you need before you know it yourself.
A library is a promise: take what you like, look after it, bring it back, and it will be waiting for whoever comes next.
11+ example questions, worked
Real 11+ style questions, solved for you. Read how each one is done.
11+ example question 1
What makes this a list poem?
- AEach stanza has exactly three lines
- BIt tells the story of one rainy visit to a library
- CEach stanza ends with a question for the reader
- DEach stanza begins 'A library is' and adds a new idea
- EEvery line rhymes with the line after it
How to solve it: All seven stanzas start with the same words, such as "A library is a ship" and "A library is a promise", building up a list of ideas. The poem does not rhyme, and some stanzas have two lines.
Try it
Answer from the passage above. We'll mark each one as you go.
5 questions
1.In stanza 3, what are the trees that were 'pressed flat and taught to talk'?
2.What is special about Mrs Okafor?
3.What is the poet mainly trying to show?
4.'A library is a ship with a thousand cabins'. Which technique is this?
5.In stanza 2, what does the word 'hush' mean?