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Edutest Reading retrieval questions

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The short answer

A retrieval question asks for something the passage states, so the answer is matched to its words, not memory. It's part of the 30-minute Reading Comprehension test, at your child's year level on their school's date .

Edutest · 24 October

Checked by the SelectiveReady team on 24 October 2026 · Updated 27 October 2026 · How we check facts

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On this page
  1. What is a retrieval question?
  2. What shapes do retrieval questions take?
  3. How does your child find the answer fast?
  4. What do Edutest retrieval questions look like?
  5. What traps should your child watch for?
  6. Why do careful readers still lose these marks?
  7. How can your child practise retrieval?

What is a retrieval question?

A retrieval question asks your child to find information the passage gives in plain words. Nothing has to be worked out: the answer is written there. The skill is finding it quickly and reading it exactly.

That sounds easy, which is why these questions can catch strong readers. It's tempting to answer from memory of the passage, and the trap options are built for that. Each is close to something in the text, but at the wrong point, about the wrong thing, or slightly changed.

Edutest describes its Reading Comprehension test as reading and interpreting passages, and correcting, completing and punctuating sentences. Retrieval is the first step of interpreting a passage, and every other passage skill leans on it.

Edutest · 24 October

What shapes do retrieval questions take?

Retrieval questions come in a few recognisable shapes. Knowing the shape tells your child what kind of looking to do.

The last shape is the hardest. An option can sound reasonable and still claim more than the passage does, or join two separate facts as if one caused the other.

Four shapes of retrieval question
ShapeHow it is wordedWhat your child does
A stated detailWho, what, where or when …?Find the key word, read that sentence
NOT in the passageWhich of these is NOT given …?Tick off each option in the text
Order of eventsWhat happens straight after …?Find the step, then read on
Supported by the passageWhich statement is supported?Check every option against the text

How does your child find the answer fast?

Go back to the text every time, even when the answer feels obvious. Looking takes seconds; a remembered detail can be wrong without your child noticing.

  1. Pick the key words in the question

    In a question about where the young kelp grows at first, the key words are young kelp and at first.

  2. Scan for it, or a word that means the same

    The passage may use different words from the question. 'At first' may appear as 'begins' or 'in autumn'.

  3. Read the sentence and the ones either side

    The detail may be split across two sentences, or changed by the next one.

  4. Match the option to the words

    The right option says what the text says, though it may use other words. If it adds anything, it is wrong.

What do Edutest retrieval questions look like?

All four use one information passage about farming seaweed, so your child can see how the shapes differ on the same text. Read each one with your child, then point together to the line that proves the answer.

Farming the Sea

Farming the Sea

In some cool coastal waters, you can find farms with no fences, no tractors and no soil. The crop is kelp, a large brown seaweed, and the "fields" are long ropes floating just below the surface of the sea.

Kelp farming begins on land. In autumn, workers collect a few ripe pieces of wild kelp and place them in tanks of chilled seawater. The pieces release millions of tiny spores, which settle on spools of thin string. For about six weeks the young kelp grows on the string in the tanks, where it is safe from waves and hungry fish.

In early winter the string is wound around thicker ropes, which are then anchored out at sea between floating buoys. Kelp needs cold water rich in nutrients, and here it gets both. In good conditions the young plants grow quickly. By late spring, before the sea warms up, the ropes hang heavy with brown blades, some of them longer than an adult is tall, and the harvest begins.

Farmers like kelp for several reasons. It needs no fresh water and no fertiliser, and it does not have to be fed. As it grows, it takes in carbon dioxide from the seawater, and the ropes give small fish and crabs a place to shelter. Once harvested, the kelp can be eaten, dried for animal feed or turned into fertiliser for crops on land.

Many of these farms are still small, and storms can tear ropes loose. But some growers believe that the sea could one day help to feed far more people than it does now.

Worked explanation 1

Where does the young kelp grow during its first six weeks?

  1. A.

    On thick ropes anchored between buoys

  2. B.

    On string in tanks of chilled seawater

  3. C.

    On rocks in shallow water near the shore

  4. D.

    In nets hanging beneath the farm boats

Answer: B

Answer: B (On string in tanks of chilled seawater)

The second paragraph says the spores settle on thin string, and 'for about six weeks the young kelp grows on the string in the tanks'. The tanks hold chilled seawater. The answer is B.

The trap: A is where the kelp goes next, in early winter. Children who remember ropes and buoys but not the order pick it.

Why the other options are wrong

  • A (On thick ropes anchored between buoys): The ropes come later, in early winter, after the six weeks.
  • C (On rocks in shallow water near the shore): Rocks near the shore are never mentioned.
  • D (In nets hanging beneath the farm boats): No nets or farm boats appear in the passage.

Worked explanation 2

Which of these is NOT given in the passage as a reason farmers like kelp?

  1. A.

    It needs no fresh water or fertiliser.

  2. B.

    It gives small fish and crabs shelter.

  3. C.

    It grows back quickly after each harvest.

  4. D.

    It takes in carbon dioxide as it grows.

Answer: C

Answer: C (It grows back quickly after each harvest.)

Go to the paragraph that begins 'Farmers like kelp for several reasons' and tick off each option. No fresh water or fertiliser: there. Shelter for small fish and crabs: there. Taking in carbon dioxide: there. The passage does say the young plants grow quickly, but it never says kelp grows back after it is harvested. The answer is C.

The trap: D tempts children who feel that taking in carbon dioxide helps the planet rather than the farmer. But it is listed in the paragraph of reasons farmers like kelp, so it is given as a reason.

Why the other options are wrong

  • A (It needs no fresh water or fertiliser.): Stated in the list of reasons farmers like kelp.
  • B (It gives small fish and crabs shelter.): Stated in the same list: the ropes give small fish and crabs a place to shelter.
  • D (It takes in carbon dioxide as it grows.): Stated in the same list: it takes in carbon dioxide as it grows.

Worked explanation 3

What happens straight after the young kelp has grown on string in the tanks for about six weeks?

  1. A.

    The string is wound around thicker ropes.

  2. B.

    Workers collect ripe pieces of wild kelp.

  3. C.

    The kelp releases millions of tiny spores.

  4. D.

    The ropes are cut and the harvest begins.

Answer: A

Answer: A (The string is wound around thicker ropes.)

The six weeks in the tanks ends the second paragraph. The third paragraph begins with the next step: 'In early winter the string is wound around thicker ropes'. The answer is A.

The trap: C tempts because spores are the most striking detail. But spores are released before the kelp grows on the string, not after.

Why the other options are wrong

  • B (Workers collect ripe pieces of wild kelp.): Collecting wild kelp is the very first step, in autumn.
  • C (The kelp releases millions of tiny spores.): The spores come before the six weeks of growth.
  • D (The ropes are cut and the harvest begins.): The harvest is the last step, in late spring.

Worked explanation 4

Which statement is supported by the passage?

  1. A.

    The string goes out to sea as soon as the spores settle on it.

  2. B.

    Storms are the reason that kelp farms are still small.

  3. C.

    Harvested kelp is used only as food for people and animals.

  4. D.

    The kelp spends longer growing at sea than in the tanks.

Answer: D

Answer: D (The kelp spends longer growing at sea than in the tanks.)

You need to put two parts of the text together. The young kelp grows in the tanks for about six weeks. It goes out to sea in early winter and is not harvested until late spring, several months later. So it spends much longer at sea than in the tanks. The answer is D.

The trap: B tempts because the last paragraph puts storms and small farms in the same sentence. But it gives them as two separate facts joined by 'and'; it never says storms are why the farms are small.

Why the other options are wrong

  • A (The string goes out to sea as soon as the spores settle on it.): The kelp first grows on the string in the tanks for about six weeks.
  • B (Storms are the reason that kelp farms are still small.): Storms and small farms are two separate facts; no cause is given.
  • C (Harvested kelp is used only as food for people and animals.): It can also become fertiliser for crops, so 'only' is wrong.

Ask which option looked right at first. If it was wrong, find the line together and read it aloud next to that option. The difference between the two is the habit to fix.

What traps should your child watch for?

Check each wrong answer against this list, then reread the sentence that holds the answer.

  • The right detail at the wrong time. In the kelp passage, the ropes and buoys are real, but they come after the time in the tanks. Order questions punish fuzzy memory.
  • Misreading NOT. In a NOT question, every option but one is in the text. Your child is hunting for the missing one, so each option needs checking, not just the first that sounds familiar.
  • Two facts joined into a cause. "Many of these farms are still small, and storms can tear ropes loose" gives two facts. It does not say storms are why the farms are small.
  • Small words that change a claim. "Only", "always" and "never" in an option make it claim more. One counter-example in the text rules it out.

Why do careful readers still lose these marks?

They answer from memory instead of the page. Retrieval questions are the most direct in a passage, so a child who gets the inferences right and then drops a retrieval mark is losing marks they'd already earned.

The fix isn't reading faster. It's a reflex: before choosing, your child points to the words that prove the answer. That costs a few seconds and saves the marks.

Time still matters. Edutest says many students will not finish every question, and there are no marks lost for wrong or blank answers. A detail your child can't find after a real look should get a best guess, and then it's time to move on.

Edutest · 24 October

How can your child practise retrieval?

Treat any text as a hunt. Hand your child a recipe, a timetable or a news article, and ask in different words from the text: "When does the market close?" when the sign says "trading hours end". Finding the same idea in new words is the core of the skill.

Then add order and NOT questions: "What comes just before the eggs?" or "Which ingredient isn't in it?"

Four questions show the method; a full Reading Comprehension test shows whether your child still checks the page when time is short. Practice test 1 gives results by skill, so you'll see whether retrieval marks are slipping.

The app's retrieval lesson has an Interactive version and Notes. Retrieval sits with the other kinds on the Reading Comprehension sample questions page; when the detail has to be worked out, that is inference.

See where your child stands

Practice test 1 marks every answer and shows results by skill: what your child already does well and the three skills to work on next.

Sample: Edutest Scholarship in SelectiveReady, results by skill after a practice testSample

Practise for the real test

Practice test 1 is free. Then packs from A$109 for 12 months, or A$9 a week, per exam.

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Sources and checks

  1. Edutest: scholarship and entrance testingEdutest · Facts checked 24 October 2026
  2. Edutest: frequently asked questionsEdutest · Facts checked 24 October 2026
  3. Edutest: parents and students overviewEdutest · Facts checked 24 October 2026
  4. Edutest: important informationEdutest · Facts checked 24 October 2026
  5. SelectiveReadySelectiveReady · Facts checked 2 November 2026

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