--- title: Retrieval: finding the answer in the text — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Retrieval: finding the answer in the text», a lesson of the english course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: A retrieval question asks for something the text says clearly. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/) / Retrieval: finding the answer in the t… # Retrieval: finding the answer in the text Lesson 17 of the english course of Mova's primary school: 22 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/0/) — A retrieval question asks for something the text says clearly. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/1/) — You do not guess and you do not use what you already know: you go back, find the words and use them. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/2/) — It is like a treasure hunt where the treasure is always in the text. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/3/) — Read this: «Tom walked to the shop at seven o'clock. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/6/) — The fast way: underline the key word in the question (time, buy, where), then scan, which means running your eyes quickly over the text looking only for that word or number. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/7/) — When you find it, read the whole sentence around it slowly. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/8/) — You do not need to reread the whole text for every question. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/9/) — Some answers need one small step. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/10/) — «The bus left at 3:15 and arrived 20 minutes later.» When did it arrive? - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/12/) — Add 20 minutes and you get 3:35. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/13/) — Tables, captions and headings are part of the text too: a table that says Monday 12°C and Tuesday 15°C tells you Tuesday was warmer. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/14/) — A retrieval question asks for information written clearly in the text. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/15/) — Retrieval answers come from the text, not from guessing or from what seems likely. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/16/) — Scanning means looking quickly through a text for a key word or number. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/17/) — Skimming means reading quickly to get the general idea of a text. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/18/) — If a question asks for several things («Name two things»), the answer needs every part. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/20/) — Some retrieval answers need a small step, like adding a time, but the information still comes from the text. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/21/) — Tables, captions, headings and bullet points are part of a text and can hold answers. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/22/) — Answers are often in the same order as the questions, but not always. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/23/) — Vague words like «and stuff» or «things» do not count as an answer; give the exact details. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/24/) — Using your own words is fine if the meaning stays exactly the same, but in tests the text's own words are safest. - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/17-retrieval-finding-the-answer-in-the-text/25/) — Slang: «heaps» (Australian) means many; «sound» (Liverpool) means fine or good; «skibidi» is a word some children shout that has no real meaning. - ← previous: [Reading for pleasure and the reading book at home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/16-reading-for-pleasure-and-the-reading-book-at-home/) - next →: [Inference: reading between the lines](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/18-inference-reading-between-the-lines/) - ↑ back to [English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/)