Step	What to do	Why it works
1	Read the QUESTIONS first	You enter the text knowing exactly what detail you need — your eye is already searching for the right section
2	Skim the passage for gist	One fast read (30 seconds) gives you the topic, tone and rough structure — without that, you will misread inference questions
3	Scan for detail per question	Questions follow text order — return to the relevant section for each question rather than re-reading the whole passage
4	Find the French evidence before writing English	Prevents guessing from English assumptions — if you cannot point to the line, you cannot answer it
5	Check tense and negatives before committing	AQA regularly contrasts past/present/future and uses ne...pas/jamais/plus to flip meaning

⭐ The Most Important Rule

Read the questions FIRST, then skim the text. Never read the full passage before looking at the questions — you will read it in the wrong way and waste time looking for things the questions do not ask about.

📋 AQA Paper 3 Question Types — What Each One Requires

Question type	What it tests	Key strategy
True / False / Not Given	Whether a statement matches, contradicts, or is absent from the text	"Not Given" means the text does not address it at all — neither confirms nor denies. Do NOT infer; the text must say it explicitly
Box matching (person → opinion)	Matching names to statements	Find each name in the text, read only that person's section. Do not carry over details from one person to another
Short answer in English	Specific detail extracted from the text	Find the French evidence first, then translate. A precise phrase is enough — do not pad. Avoid copying French words untranslated
Grid / table completion	Filling cells with names, times, quantities, opinions	Each row maps to one section of the passage in order. Read column headers carefully — they tell you the exact detail type
Translation extract (FR → EN)	Accurate rendering of a marked paragraph	See U11-T3 for the full translation process. Translate meaning, not word-for-word. Never leave a blank

📋 True / False / Not Given — The Hardest Question Type

Marie adore faire du vélo le week-end, mais elle n'a jamais essayé le VTT.

Marie loves cycling at the weekend, but she has never tried mountain biking.

Statement: "Marie enjoys cycling." → TRUE — the text explicitly says adore faire du vélo.
Statement: "Marie goes cycling every day." → NOT GIVEN — the text says le week-end (at the weekend) but makes no claim about frequency otherwise. The text does not contradict OR confirm "every day".
Statement: "Marie has tried mountain biking." → FALSE — elle n'a jamais essayé le VTT directly contradicts this.

⭐ NOT GIVEN is Not "I Cannot Find It"

"Not Given" means the text is silent on the point — it neither confirms nor denies the statement. It is NOT the answer you choose when you are unsure. If the text mentions the topic but does not support the statement, that is FALSE. Only choose "Not Given" when the topic itself is not addressed.

📋 Distinguishing Opinion from Fact

Signal type	French phrases	What it tells you
Explicit opinion marker	à mon avis, je pense que, je crois que, selon moi, il me semble que	The writer is stating a personal view — not a fact
Impersonal opinion	on dit que, on croit que, il paraît que, il semble que	A general/reported view — not necessarily the writer's own position
Factual statement	Numbers, dates, statistics; declarative sentences with no marker; selon une étude	Stated as objective fact — can be verified in principle
Evaluative adjective (opinion signal)	excellent, affreux, remarquable, incroyable, décevant, passionnant	Even without an explicit "I think", evaluative vocabulary signals attitude

Selon une étude récente, 70% des jeunes Français utilisent les réseaux sociaux chaque jour. À mon avis, c'est vraiment préoccupant pour leur santé mentale.

According to a recent study, 70% of young French people use social media every day. In my opinion, this is truly worrying for their mental health.

"70% of young French people use social media every day" = FACT — attributed to a study, stated as an objective statistic.
"This is truly worrying for their mental health" = OPINION — signalled by à mon avis AND the evaluative adjective préoccupant. Even if the writer did not say à mon avis, préoccupant alone would reveal attitude.

📋 Inference Questions — Working Out Meaning from Context

Inference questions appear at Higher tier and ask you to read between the lines. The answer is not stated directly — you must work it out from the evidence available.

Strategy	What to look for	Example
Contrast markers	pourtant, cependant, malgré, bien que, alors que, néanmoins	"Il travaille dur, pourtant il n'est pas heureux" — the writer implies a gap between effort and outcome
Evaluative vocabulary	malheureusement, hélas, avec joie, à regret, bizarrement	"Malheureusement, il a dû partir" — the writer feels sorry about this departure
Rhetorical questions	Questions the writer answers themselves	"Qui peut vraiment ignorer ce problème?" — the writer implies nobody should ignore it
Repeated emphasis	vraiment, absolument, tellement, sans aucun doute	Intensifiers signal that the writer feels strongly

Elle a passé dix ans à construire son entreprise. Pourtant, malgré tous ses efforts, elle a dû tout abandonner à cause d'une décision injuste.

She spent ten years building her business. Yet, despite all her efforts, she had to give everything up because of an unfair decision.

Inference: How does the writer feel about the outcome? → Sympathetic/critical of the injustice. Evidence: pourtant (signals contrast — effort did not lead to reward), malgré tous ses efforts (emphasises what she invested), injuste (evaluative — explicitly labels the decision as unfair). All three signals converge on the same attitude.

📋 Attitude and Feeling Words — Higher Tier Priority List

French	English	Tone
préoccupant(e)	worrying / concerning	negative — expresses concern
décevant(e)	disappointing	negative — expectation not met
bouleversant(e)	deeply moving / overwhelming	strong emotion — positive or negative by context
épanouissant(e)	fulfilling / enriching	positive — sense of personal growth
accablant(e)	overwhelming / crushing	negative — sense of being overwhelmed
déroutant(e)	disconcerting / confusing	negative — sense of being thrown off
réconfortant(e)	comforting / reassuring	positive — sense of comfort
troublant(e)	disturbing / unsettling	negative — sense of unease
rassurant(e)	reassuring	positive — sense of relief
envisageable	conceivable / thinkable	neutral — possibility marker

⭐ How AQA Tests Attitude at Higher Tier

A typical Higher question: "What is the writer's attitude towards X? Give two details from the text to support your answer." You need to identify the attitude AND quote the precise evidence. Naming the attitude without text evidence = 0. Text evidence without correctly naming the attitude = 0. Both together = full marks.

This deep dive covers Step 1 — Approach an Unseen Text in This Order within Reading comprehension: True/False/Not Given, opinion and matching for GCSE French. Revise Reading comprehension: True/False/Not Given, opinion and matching in Reading and Translation into English for GCSE French with 10 exam-style questions and 20 flashcards. This topic shows up very often in GCSE exams, so students should be able to explain it clearly, not just recognise the term. It is section 2 of 4 in this topic. Use this deep dive to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.

Practice questions for Reading comprehension: True/False/Not Given, opinion and matching

Lis ce texte. **Je m'appelle Léa. J'ai deux frères et une sœur. Mon père est médecin et travaille à l'hôpital du lundi au vendredi.** Answer the following question in English. **What is Léa's father's job?**

1 markfoundation

Lis ce texte. **Je m'appelle Thomas. Le week-end, je joue au football avec mes amis le samedi matin. Le dimanche, je vais au cinéma avec ma famille. J'adore regarder des films d'action.** Answer the following question in English. **What does Thomas do at the weekend? Give TWO details.**

2 marksfoundation

Quick recall flashcards

Donnez… (instruction word in a reading task)

Give… — provide the information asked for, taken from the text. Example: 'Donnez un exemple' = Give one example.

D'après le texte… / Selon l'auteur…

'According to the text…' / 'According to the author…' These phrases signal that your answer must come only from what is written — do NOT use outside knowledge or guesswork.

Reading Comprehension — Working Smarter on Paper 3

Key rules at a glance

Step 1 — Approach an Unseen Text in This Order