Literal detail
Give a short original passage (fiction, non-fiction, or poetry) followed by a question whose answer is stated directly in the text — a fact, number, name, or event the student only needs to locate, not interpret.
What "literal detail" means
The answer to these questions is written directly in the passage — word for word, or very close to it. You are not being asked to guess or read between the lines, just to find the exact sentence that answers the question and match it carefully.
Why they still trip people up
Even though the answer is "right there," these questions test speed and precision under time pressure, not cleverness. The usual trap is a decoy option that changes one small fact — a number, a name, or a "before" swapped for an "after."
A worked example
"Sam had packed his bag the night before, so when the alarm rang at 6am he was ready in minutes."
Question: What time did Sam's alarm ring?
Answer: 6am — stated word for word in the passage. No interpretation needed, just careful reading.
How to attack this question type
- 1
Go back to the passage and find the exact sentence — never answer from memory of what you think it said.
- 2
Watch for options that change one small fact (a number, a name, a time) from what is actually written — that is the most common distractor here.
- 3
If two options both sound plausible, the passage will settle it: the correct one repeats the SAME information the passage states, not similar-sounding information.
- 4
Before scanning the passage, note the key words in the question — who, what, when, how many — so you know exactly what to hunt for.
Practice · untimed
Mira stood at the edge of the diving block, her toes curled over the rough concrete. Below her, the pool was so still it looked like glass, and the only sound was the distant hum of the crowd finding their seats. She had practised this dive four hundred times in her backyard pool, but four hundred practice dives had never felt like this.
Her coach, Mr Osei, caught her eye from the poolside and gave a small nod — the same nod he gave before every training session, nothing special about it at all. Yet today it steadied her more than any pep talk could have. She thought of her sister, who had come third in this same event two years earlier and had told her afterwards, "The water doesn't care how nervous you are. It only cares what you do next."
The starting buzzer sounded, sharp and electric, cutting through the murmur of the crowd. Mira exhaled slowly, bent her knees, and rose up onto her toes. Four hundred and one.
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According to the passage, how many times had Mira practised this dive in her backyard pool before the competition?
More in Reading Comprehension
Inference
Give a passage followed by a question whose answer is implied but never stated outright — drawn from a character's actions, word choice, or the relationship between two stated facts.
Vocabulary in context
Give a passage containing a word with more than one common sense, then ask what the word means AS USED in a quoted sentence from the passage.
Author's purpose and tone
Give a passage followed by a question asking why the author included a specific detail, or what tone/attitude the passage conveys.
Punctuation
Pick the one correctly punctuated sentence from five that differ only in punctuation — direct speech, apostrophes, commas in lists, comma splices.
Vocabulary in context
A word is used in one sentence; choose the meaning that fits that sentence, using its clues rather than the word alone.
Active and passive voice
Rewrite a sentence from active to passive voice, or back — the verb form and the agreement with the new subject are what is tested.
Idioms and sayings
Choose what a common saying means, against a literal reading and near-misses.
Sentence correction
One word in a sentence is wrong — usually a verb agreeing with the nearest noun instead of the subject. Choose the replacement.