Paper 1 Question 1: The Multiple-Choice Question

Paper 1 Question 1 is the first reading question, and for the 2026 exam it is a multiple-choice question. It replaced the older "list four things" task. You are told to read again a short line range of the source (the sample paper specifies lines 1 to 9), then answer four short multiple-choice sub-questions on those lines.

Each sub-question gives you three options and asks you to shade one circle. Each correct answer is worth 1 mark, so the whole question is worth 4 marks.

Feature	Detail
Question type	Multiple choice, four sub-questions
Line range	A short stated range (sample: lines 1–9)
Marks	1 each, 4 in total
Assessment Objective	AO1
Suggested time	About 3–4 minutes

It is the shortest and most straightforward reading question, worth a small share of the paper's 80 marks. Treat it as a quick, reliable four marks rather than something to labour over.

Question 1 assesses AO1: your ability to identify and interpret explicit and implicit information and ideas. Understanding this wording tells you where the answers come from.

• Explicit information is stated directly, in the words on the page. If the text says the animals attack in packs, an option about attacking in groups is testing explicit information.
• Implicit information is suggested or hinted at, so you have to infer it. If the narrator says he "had not forgotten" a warning, the text implies that remembering that warning is what worries him, even though it never says so in those exact words.

Because AO1 covers both, the correct option is not always a word-for-word match. Often it is a synonym — a word meaning the same thing — of a word in the source. Recognising that "group" means the same as "pack", or that "tough" matches "hardy", is exactly the skill being marked.

Every answer must be justified by the given lines. If you cannot point to the word or phrase that supports your choice, you have probably picked the wrong option.

The single most important rule for Question 1 is that your answers must come from the stated line range and nowhere else. An option can be perfectly true of the source as a whole and still be wrong, because it does not appear in the lines you were told to read.

The AQA sample paper shows this clearly. One sub-question asks what worries the narrator about the hyena. "Its appearance" feels plausible, but within the stated lines the hyena's appearance has not yet been described; that comes later in the source. The information supported by these lines is that he is remembering his father's warning. Choosing "appearance" scores zero, not because it is untrue of the whole text, but because it is outside the given lines.

Before you shade a circle, find the exact words in the stated lines that support your choice. If the support sits outside the range, it is the wrong answer.

This is why the question tells you to read again a specific range. It is testing careful, precise reading, not general recall of the passage.

Because the wrong options are designed to look plausible, the reliable method is to check all three against the text before committing.

Work through each sub-question like this:

1. Reread the relevant part of the stated lines.
2. Test each option in turn against those words. Ask: is this stated or implied here?
3. Eliminate the options the text does not support.
4. Shade one circle for the option you can justify.

Wrong options usually fail in one of two ways: they are true elsewhere in the source but not in these lines, or they misread a word. In the sample, a question on what sort of attackers hyenas are hinges on the word "hardy". A student who misreads "hardy" as "hardly" ends up choosing "reluctant" and loses the mark; the word actually means tough.

Slow down on the wording. Most lost marks here come from misreading a single word, not from failing to understand the passage.

Question 1 has strict instructions for marking your choice, and following them protects your marks.

• Choose a maximum of one answer for each sub-question. Shading two circles for the same question cannot be credited.
• Shade the circle fully for the option you think is correct.
• If you make an error, cross out the whole box.
• If you change your mind and want an answer you crossed out, draw a circle around that box to reinstate it.

These rules exist because the sheet is designed to be read quickly and unambiguously. A half-shaded circle or two competing marks can cost you a mark you had answered correctly.

This is the one reading question where presentation of the answer itself matters. One clear shaded circle per sub-question, and nothing ambiguous.

Consider this original example in the same style as the exam. Suppose the stated lines read: "The old dog rarely barked, and never at strangers. It kept to the porch, guarding the door from a patch of shade."

Sub-question: What is the dog's usual behaviour towards strangers?

• Option A: It barks at them.
• Option B: It ignores them.
• Option C: It follows them.

The text says the dog "never" barked at strangers, so Option A is contradicted. Nothing suggests it follows them, so Option C is unsupported. "Kept to the porch" and not reacting to strangers implies it ignores them, so Option B is correct: the answer is inferred, not stated word for word.

Now a trap. Sub-question: Where does the dog rest? If an option said "in the garden", it might be true later in a passage, but these lines place it "on the porch", so only "on the porch" can score. Picking "garden" from memory of a different part would score zero. The lesson is the same each time: justify every answer from the exact words in front of you.

1. Choosing an answer from outside the stated lines

An option that is true of the source as a whole still scores nothing if the given lines do not support it. Always check that the words backing your choice sit inside the stated range.

2. Misreading a single word

Marks here are often lost by misreading, such as reading "hardy" as "hardly". The passage is short, so read the key words slowly and be sure you have them right before choosing.

3. Not recognising synonyms

The correct option is frequently a synonym of a word in the text, such as "group" for "pack". Match by meaning, not just by matching identical words on the page.

4. Shading more than one circle

Only one answer per sub-question can be credited. If you change your mind, cross out the whole box and clearly mark your single new choice rather than leaving two circles shaded.

5. Spending too long on it

Question 1 is worth only 4 marks. Give it three or four minutes of careful reading, then move on and protect your time for the higher-tariff questions later in the paper.