“Hey, look at me. I completed the test really quickly!  See? I’m leaving the exam room and you all are still at it. So who’s the smartest student in this class? ”

_________________ (add relevant students’ names. You know                          who these students are!)

So what are these “speedy students” missing?

Lots of things.

But for the moment I’m only trying to tackle one specific point that causes students to wildly jump to conclusions – line numbers.

True, if a question is phrased like this, students know where the answer will be found.

1. What does the writer explain in paragraph I?

However, what happens when the line numbers only denote the source of the quoted phrase, while the answer is located elsewhere?

1. What does the word “this” ( line 6) refer to?

We know what happens.

All those who work quickly without paying attention to every word of the question, lose a lot of points…

Here’s a short interactive, self-check worksheet, intended to highlight the different ways locations in a text are referred to on reading comprehension questions.

Where Would I Find the Answer in the Text?

https://www.liveworksheets.com/qa2708231ys

Hopefully, the students will get the point and not lose points…