An explicit detail is a fact the text states in plain words, and a reading question usually asks for exactly one of them. The skill is to find the right piece of information and answer with only what is needed. It appears in almost every reading task in reading for meaning.
How do I find the right detail?
Start with the question, not the text. The question word tells you what type of information you are hunting for, and that narrows the search.
| Question word | Looks for | Typical signal in the text |
|---|---|---|
| Qui? | a person | a name, il, elle, mon frère |
| Où? | a place | à, dans, chez, en + a place |
| Quand? | a time or day | le mercredi, à 16 h, en mars |
| Combien? | a number or amount | a figure, deux, quarante |
| Pourquoi? | a reason | parce que, car, à cause de |
Next, scan for that type of information, read the sentence around it, and check that it answers the question rather than a similar one nearby. Then decide the shortest words that carry the answer.
Worked example
Le club de lecture du lycée se réunit le mercredi à 16 h 30, dans la salle 12, et non à la bibliothèque, qui est fermée pour travaux jusqu’en novembre. Chaque élève apporte un livre, mais Mme Girard prête des romans à ceux qui n’en ont pas.
Question: Où se réunit le club de lecture?
Step 1, name the type. Où asks for a place.
Step 2, scan. Two places appear: la salle 12 and la bibliothèque.
Step 3, read around them. The text says the club meets dans la salle 12 and non à la bibliothèque. The negative non rules out the library.
Step 4, choose the words. The answer is dans la salle 12 (or simply la salle 12).
The other details in the text are true, but they answer other questions: when, why the library is closed, and what students bring.
What mistake should I watch for?
Mistaken answer: Le club se réunit dans la salle 12, et non à la bibliothèque, qui est fermée pour travaux jusqu’en novembre.
The student found the right place and then kept copying. The extra words add the library and the closure, which the question did not ask about. A marker may not be able to tell whether the student knows which place is correct.
The correction is to stop at the end of the detail. Here that is dans la salle 12. A good rule is to lift the answer, then cross out anything that begins after the point where the question is already answered.
Check yourself
Samedi dernier, Amir est allé à Lyon avec sa tante pour acheter une guitare. Le magasin était fermé à midi, donc ils ont déjeuné dans un petit café près de la gare. La guitare coûtait cent vingt euros.
1. Pourquoi Amir est-il allé à Lyon?
Show answer
Pour acheter une guitare. The reason is introduced by pour. The café and the lunch belong to a different part of the story.
2. Où ont-ils déjeuné?
Show answer
Dans un petit café près de la gare. The shop was closed at midday, but the question asks where they ate, not where they shopped.
3. Combien coûtait la guitare?
Show answer
Cent vingt euros (120 euros). Cent vingt is 100 + 20, so 120.
Where does this lead next?
Once you can pick out a stated detail cleanly, move to using context to infer a plausible unfamiliar word for the moments when the detail you need contains a word you do not know. Then test the whole module with the reading for meaning practice set.
Some students understand the text yet still lose marks because their answers carry too much or too little. A teacher in online one-to-one French tuition can read your answers beside the text and show where each one starts to drift.