Non-fiction texts are common in reading comprehension. They are any text which is not fiction and comprise a range of text such as:

• Informative articles.
• Factual information.

Let's try and understand what parts these texts have. Such parts are:

• Factual information or general information.
• Cause and effect relations e.g. a butterfly is created when a caterpillar becomes a cocoon.

• Inferences – what did the author almost say?

  • This means the answer won't be stated but it will be strongly implied.

• A lot of detail.

• Written with usually a plain tone.

What they rarely have is:

• Figurative language.
• Lack of tone/atmosphere and adjectives.
• Lack of persuasion.

In non-fiction texts, it is likely that the types ofquestions that will be tested are:

• Inference Questions – reading between the lines.

  • "Suggested" is a clue.
  • Don't answer the question based on your outside knowledge, all the information would be contained in the passage.
  • Cause to likely effect but not stated outright.

• Detail questions – about the facts, find the answer in the passage. Usually they're about cause and effect – i.e what's the cause of abc, or what effect does abc have on something?

Let's look at these types of questions in the illustrated example below.

We'll also put into practice the approach to answering questions too.

Illustrated Examples

Example 1 – Australian Painted Lady

The Australian Painted Lady (Vanessa kershawi) is abutterflythat is mostly confined toAustralia , although westerly winds have dispersed it to islands east of Australia, includingNew Zealand. There is debate surrounding the taxonomy of this species. Some believe that the Australian Painted Lady should be a subspecies to the Painted Lady due to the similarity in lifestyle and behavior. Furthermore, the Painted Lady is found around the globe but Australia is the only location in which it varies enough to be considered a separate species.However, due to the distinct genitalia of the males, and variation in coloration, many others consider the Australian Painted Lady to be a separate species.

During spring, adult butterflies migrate south in large numbers from northern states ofQueenslandandNew South Wales.In order to find mates, male Australian Painted Ladies exhibit territorial behavior, which involves a male perching on vegetation in a sunny spot on a hilltop, waiting for females to fly by.Despite urbanization and invasive plants altering its habitat, populations of Australian Painted Ladies have not been significantly impacted by these changes.

The Australian Painted Lady is remarkably similar to the Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui). It is differentiated by its smaller size, rarely exceeding 2 inches across its wings, and the blue coloration at the center of the four eyespots on its hind-wings. Its body is dark brown, almost black, all over, except the tips of the antenna which are white. The base of the wings are brown, which turns into a brick red coloration, broken by bands of black. The tip of them are black with four white dots running from the apex of the wing, and a white bar extending from the leading edge of the forewing. The hind-wings have four round eye-spots at their base, with a blue center for at least three. The underwings are almost identical to the upper-wings, except the base of the underwings is brick red rather than brown.

The Australian Painted Lady's coloration allows it to blend in effectively with the ground.Males and females look almost identical.The ovum is translucent green in color and barrel-shaped with 13-15 vertical ribs. Right before hatching, the black head and grey tinted body appear through the shell.

Thelarvais grey with pale yellow stripes along each side of its body,yellow dots,and has rows of branched spines covering its body.Its head is typically brown or black, and the caterpillar grows to approximately 3cm. Thepupais brown with darker markings, and four pairs of metallic silver or gold dots. Australian painted ladies use the plants as hosts during their larval stage, and as food sources. However, they inflict little damage to the plant.

1 The Australian Painted Lady is considered a separate species because

A the Painted Lady species is very different than the Australian Painted Lady.

B the Australian Painted Lady varies in lifestyle and behaviour.

C the habitat of the Australian Painted Lady is limited to Australia and the Painted Lady resides in every country around the world.

D the Australian Painted Lady differs from the Painted Lady in colour and male genitals are different.

2 The passage suggests that the male Australian Painted Ladies migrates because they

A need to find a better habitat for its offspring.

B do not find vegetation and breed in the North.

C need to find female partners in order to breed.

D have to extend their territory.

3 The passage suggests that industry and urbanization have not altered significantly the population of Australian Painted Ladies because

A the population has been reduced in a minimum quantity.

B the population of the Australian Painted Lady is being threatened.

C the Australian Painted Lady is becoming extinct.

D only the habitat of the Australian Painted Lady has been affected.

4 The passage suggests that when an Australian Painted Lady butterfly perches on the ground, it is

A distinct

B imperceptible

C visible

D unsafe

5 The passage suggests that, before hatching, an Australian Painted Lady

A lives in a harsh shell.

B has a thick shell

C has a rough appearance.

D is visible through the shell.

6 The passage suggests that the Australian Painted ladies use plants as

A food and recreation.

B residence and breeding

C nourishment and protection.

D housing and growth.

Example 2 - Biomimicry

Biomimicry (from bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate) is a new discipline that studies nature's best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems.

By watching birds, dogs, sharks and other creatures of the wild, researchers and engineers have invented several new products that are inspired from these animals and their physical attributes._

I

Shinkansen Bullet Train

Eiji Nakatsu, an engineer at the Japanese rail company JR-West, took inspiration from the kingfisher, that creates barely a ripple when it darts into water in search of a meal. The train's redesigned nose — a 50-foot-long steel kingfisher beak — reduced power use and enabled faster speeds.IIExperimental Fish CarMercedes-Benz instead found inspiration for a car body (less its wheels) in the boxfish, a tropical species shaped sort of like a two-door compact. The fish's body turned out to be aerodynamically superb, and the resulting concept car has one of the most efficient shapes for a car of its size.

III

A very fishy wind farm
Wind turbines take up a lot of land, their blades sweeping circles more than a football field in diameter. John Dabiri of Caltech built a wind farm where the location of turbines relative to each other take advantage of the air flow among them. Their placement was determined by studying the wake vortices produced by schools of swimming fish.

IV

Fin to the wind

A Humpback whale has a row of warty ridges, called tubercles, on the front edge of its fins. Frank Fish, a biology professor in Pennsylvania, discovered that by adding rows of similar bumps to turbine blades he could reduce drag and noise, increase speed to changing wind direction and boost the power harnessed by 20%.

V

The core idea is that nature, imaginative by necessity, has already solved many of the problems we are grappling with. The conscious emulation of life's genius is a survival strategy for the human race, a path to a sustainable future. The more our world functions like the natural world, the more likely we are to endure on this home that is ours, but not ours alone.

1 The purpose of biomimicry is to

A imitate nature.

B investigate nature and human problems.

C watch nature and solve its problems.

D design new products based on nature's best solutions.

2 Eiji Nakatsu redesigned the train's nose based on kingfisher (I). The most likely reason for his redesign was to

A save energy and make the train faster.

B make the train more fancy and cheaper.

C produce a sophisticated train.

D experiment on energy and speed.

3 The experimental fish car shape, based on the boxfish, helps it work

A faster but cheaper.

B faster and effectively.

C neatly and properly.

D easily and carefully

4 PassagesI to IV mention some inventions used for transportation. Which of the inventions would the writer consider the most profitable?

A Shinkansen Bullet Train (I).

B Experimental Fish Car (II).

C Turbine blades based on Humpback whale (IV).

D None of the above.

5 Passage V mentions that "nature… has already solved many of the problems we are grappling with." Which of the following is a clear example of those problems we are dealing with?

A many people have to deal with illiteracy.

B the war efforts of the nations.

C holes in the ozone layer are causing climate change.

D a high number of couples are getting divorced every year.

6 Passage V suggests that biomimicry arose because

A humans coexist with nature.

B humans race will survive by helping our world function correctly.

C people are destroying our natural resources.

D humans need to learn survival skills from nature instead of destroying it.

Key Rules to remember:

• Parts of non-fiction texts are:

  • Factual information.
  • Cause and effect.
  • Implied information.

• Types of questions: inferences and detail questions.

Now it's time to do your assignment.

1. Download the assignment question here.
2. Print it out or if you want to do it electronically, save it.
3. Complete the questions to it.
4. Then check the solutions on the video below or download the ANSWER KEY here.

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