Reading and Thinking Skills
Reading and thinking skills cover the comprehension half of the MDCAT 2026 English paper — using context to decode unfamiliar vocabulary, recognising figurative language, and scanning passages efficiently for short-answer items. Expect 2–3 MCQs from this section.
Deducing Meanings from Context
"Deducing meaning from context" is the skill of inferring an unfamiliar word's meaning from the surrounding sentence or paragraph. MDCAT examiners deliberately test obscure words you cannot have memorised, forcing you to read for clues.
- Definition clue
- The meaning is given directly in the sentence, often after a comma or dash. "A cardiologist — a doctor specialising in heart disease — was called immediately."
- Synonym / restatement clue
- A near-synonym appears nearby, often after that is, or, in other words, namely. "He was a garrulous, or extremely talkative, neighbour."
- Antonym / contrast clue
- A contrasting word appears, signalled by but, however, although, unlike, while, on the other hand. "Unlike his boisterous brother, Ahmed was quiet and reserved." → boisterous = noisy, lively.
- Example clue
- Examples follow such as, like, including, for example, for instance. "Avian species, such as eagles, sparrows and parrots, all share feathers." → avian = bird-related.
- Cause & effect clue
- Logic from the situation. "Because the desert had been arid for years, no crops would grow." → arid = dry.
- General-inference clue
- Tone, mood and broader sentence logic. "The orphan looked at the ruined home with desolation in his eyes." → desolation = deep sadness or emptiness.
A four-step procedure
- Re-read the sentence containing the word, ignoring the word itself.
- Look for any of the six clue types above — especially commas, dashes, or contrast words.
- Substitute a plain English guess in place of the word and check if the sentence still makes sense.
- Eliminate options that contradict the tone or logic of the passage.
Figurative Language Analysis
Figurative language uses words in non-literal ways for effect. The seven figures listed below cover almost every MDCAT figurative-language item.
- Simile
- An explicit comparison using like, as, than, as if, similar to. "Her smile was as bright as the sun." / "He fought like a lion."
- Metaphor
- An implicit comparison — one thing is described as if it were another, with no like / as. "Time is a thief." / "The classroom was a zoo."
- Personification
- Giving human qualities to non-human things or abstract ideas. "The wind whispered through the trees." / "Opportunity knocked at the door."
- Hyperbole
- Deliberate exaggeration for emphasis, not meant to be literal. "I have told you a million times." / "My bag weighs a ton."
- Oxymoron
- Two contradictory words placed side by side. "deafening silence", "bittersweet", "living dead", "open secret".
- Alliteration
- Repetition of the same initial consonant sound in nearby words. "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers." / "wild and woolly".
- Onomatopoeia
- Words that imitate the sound they describe. buzz, hiss, crash, clang, sizzle, murmur, splash, tick-tock.
Distinguishing simile from metaphor
- Simile: "Life is like a journey." → uses a comparison word.
- Metaphor: "Life is a journey." → direct equation, no comparison word.
- Both compare two unlike things, but only similes signal the comparison overtly.
Easily confused pairs
- Personification vs metaphor: personification is a sub-type of metaphor where the target is specifically human qualities given to non-humans.
- Hyperbole vs irony: hyperbole exaggerates; irony reverses meaning. "I could eat a horse" is hyperbole, not irony.
- Oxymoron vs paradox: oxymoron is a two-word contradiction; a paradox is a longer self-contradictory statement that nonetheless holds truth ("less is more").
Scanning and Short Questions
Scanning is reading rapidly to locate a specific piece of information — a name, a date, a number, a key term. It is different from skimming, which is reading rapidly to grasp the general idea.
- Skimming
- Eyes move quickly over the text to capture the main idea, gist, or organisation. Read the first sentence of each paragraph.
- Scanning
- Eyes hunt for a specific keyword, number, or proper noun. Ignore everything that is not the target.
Five-step scanning routine for MDCAT
- Read the question first — identify the keyword(s) (a name, number, technical term).
- Predict where in the passage that keyword is likely to appear (first paragraph for definitions, last paragraph for conclusions).
- Run your eyes vertically down the passage, looking only for that keyword.
- Once found, read the surrounding sentence(s) closely.
- Confirm by matching the option wording to the passage wording — reject options that distort or exaggerate.
Short-question answering rules
- Answer in a complete sentence using key words from the question.
- Stay within the passage — never bring outside information.
- Watch for negative wording: "Which is NOT mentioned?" — eliminate the three that ARE mentioned.
- For "the author implies/suggests" questions, choose the option that is reasonable from the passage but not stated directly.
- For vocabulary-in-context questions, substitute each option into the original sentence and pick the one that preserves meaning.
Common distractor types
- Half-true: matches one phrase from the passage but contradicts another.
- Out of scope: a true statement, but not from this passage.
- Extreme wording: uses always, never, all, none, only — usually wrong unless the passage is equally extreme.
- Reversed cause and effect: swaps which factor caused which.
Worked MCQs
Five MCQs on context-clue, figurative-language, and scanning patterns — the kinds you will face in MDCAT 2026.
Q1. "The desert had been arid for years, so no crops could grow there." The word arid most nearly means:
The clause "no crops could grow" is a cause-and-effect clue; if no crops can grow, the desert must be lacking water. Hence arid = dry. Fertile is the opposite; cold and noisy do not fit the cause shown.
Q2. Identify the figure of speech: "The leaves danced in the breeze."
"Danced" is a human action attributed to leaves — a non-human subject. That is the textbook definition of personification. There is no like / as (would make it a simile), no exaggeration (hyperbole), and no internal contradiction (oxymoron).
Q3. Which sentence contains a metaphor?
A metaphor is an implicit comparison without like / as. "He is a shining star" directly equates him with a star. The first option is a simile (uses as), "buzzed" is onomatopoeia, and "raining cats and dogs" is an idiom / hyperbole.
Q4. "Deafening silence" is an example of:
An oxymoron joins two contradictory terms: deafening (extremely loud) and silence (no sound). Hyperbole exaggerates without contradiction; alliteration is a sound device, not a meaning device.
Q5. When you read a passage to find a specific date or name, you are using which reading skill?
Scanning targets a specific piece of information (date, name, number). Skimming, by contrast, picks up the gist without searching for one fact. Intensive reading is slow, detailed reading; SQ3R is a study technique, not a reading speed.
Quick Recap
- Six context-clue types: definition, synonym, antonym/contrast, example, cause-effect, inference.
- Always check tone — positive vs negative connotation often decides between two close options.
- Simile = explicit (like/as); metaphor = implicit ("X is Y").
- Personification = human action given to non-human; hyperbole = exaggeration; oxymoron = two-word contradiction.
- Alliteration = repeated initial consonant sound; onomatopoeia = sound-imitating words.
- Scanning hunts a keyword; skimming captures gist.
- Beware extreme wording (always, never, none) and out-of-scope distractors.