What you'll learn
A graphic text is a piece of writing organised on the page rather than written in paragraphs — a bus timetable, a price list, a notice on a school wall, a food label or a set of instructions. Reading comprehension of graphic texts on the SEA English Language Arts paper means finding information laid out in rows, columns and headings, and using it to answer a question. It is worth 4 items and 8 marks out of the paper's 36 items and 64 marks, so each item carries 2 marks. This guide covers how tables and timetables are built, how to read a notice, how to work across a row and down a column without slipping a line, the arithmetic these questions need, and the time and money traps that lose the most marks.
Every table and notice here is printed in full so you can practise on it. These are among the most winnable questions on the paper: the answer is always on the page, and the skill is finding it accurately.
Key terms and definitions
Graphic text — information in a visual layout: tables, timetables, notices, labels, forms.
Table — information arranged in rows and columns.
Row — a line running across the table, left to right.
Column — a line running down the table, top to bottom.
Heading — the label at the top of a column or the start of a row, telling you what the entries mean.
Title — the name of the whole table or notice.
Cell — the box where one row and one column meet. The answer to a table question is usually one cell.
Key or legend — a short note explaining symbols used in the table.
Footnote — a small note under a table, often beginning with an asterisk (*), adding a condition. Footnotes are where the trickiest marks hide.
Timetable — a table of times showing when something happens or departs.
24-hour time — times written from 00:00 to 23:59, so 14:30 means half past two in the afternoon.
Notice — a short public message giving information, an instruction or a warning.
Core concepts
How to read a table
Work in a fixed order every time and you will not slip a line.
- Read the title, which tells you what the whole table is about.
- Read the column headings across the top, then the row labels down the side.
- Read any key or footnote before you start, not after you have answered.
- Find the row first, then the column. Put one finger on the row label and slide it across; put the other on the column heading and slide it down. The answer is where they meet.
Here is a fare table for a maxi route.
| Journey | Adult | Child |
|---|---|---|
| Sangre Grande – Arima | $8.00 | $4.00 |
| Sangre Grande – Port of Spain | $14.00 | $7.00 |
| Arima – Port of Spain | $9.00 | $4.50 |
For the adult fare from Arima to Port of Spain, find the row Arima – Port of Spain, then move across to the Adult column: $9.00. A child fare is exactly half the adult fare on every row, which is a useful check.
How to read a timetable
A timetable has one extra idea: each column is one journey, so reading down a column follows a single bus from start to finish.
BUS ROUTE 4 — SANGRE GRANDE TO PORT OF SPAIN (mornings, Monday to Friday)
| Stop | Bus A | Bus B | Bus C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sangre Grande | 06:15 | 07:40 | 09:05 |
| Valencia | 06:32 | 07:57 | 09:22 |
| Arima | 07:00 | 08:25 | 09:50 |
| Tunapuna | 07:26 | 08:51 | 10:16 |
| Port of Spain | 08:05 | 09:30 | 10:55 |
Read down a column to follow one bus: Bus A leaves Sangre Grande at 06:15 and reaches Port of Spain at 08:05. Read across a row to compare buses at one stop: three buses call at Arima, at 07:00, 08:25 and 09:50.
Two calculations come up constantly.
How long does the journey take? Bus A: 06:15 to 08:05. From 06:15 to 08:15 is 2 hours, and 08:05 is 10 minutes earlier, so the journey takes 1 hour 50 minutes. Every bus on this route takes that same 1 hour 50 minutes, which is a sensible check on your working.
How long between buses? From 06:15 to 07:40 is 1 hour 25 minutes, and from 07:40 to 09:05 is also 1 hour 25 minutes.
Time does not work in hundreds. This is the biggest trap in the section. Add the hours first, then the minutes, and if the minutes reach 60, exchange 60 of them for one hour. So 08:20 + 1 hour = 09:20, and 09:20 + 25 minutes = 09:45.
Reading a notice
A notice packs a lot into a few lines. Read every line, including the small ones at the bottom, where the conditions live.
SPORTS DAY — SAN JUAN GOVERNMENT PRIMARY
Friday 17 October, Larry Gomes Stadium
Gates open 7.30 a.m.
March past 8.00 a.m.
First race 8.30 a.m.
Adults $10 Children under 12 free
Bring: water, a hat, your house colours.
No glass bottles. No parking on the grass verge.
Tickets from the school office up to Wednesday 15 October.
From this you can answer: what, where, when, who it is for, what it costs, what you must bring, what is not allowed, and what the deadline is. Any of those could be a question.
Notice two phrases doing a lot of work. Under 12 does not include a child who is 12. Up to Wednesday 15 October means Wednesday is the last day. Small words such as under, over, up to, except and only are almost always the point of the question.
Reading a label
Food labels give figures for a fixed amount, usually 100 g, and the question asks about a different one.
CASSAVA CRISPS — NUTRITION INFORMATION (per 100 g)
| Nutrient | Per 100 g |
|---|---|
| Energy | 380 kcal |
| Protein | 7 g |
| Total fat | 12 g |
| — of which saturated | 5 g |
| Carbohydrate | 60 g |
| — of which sugars | 22 g |
| Salt | 0.9 g |
For 50 g, halve everything: 190 kcal, 3.5 g protein, 6 g fat, 11 g sugars. For a 250 g pack, multiply by 2.5: energy 2.5 × 380 = 950 kcal, and sugars 2.5 × 22 = 55 g.
Always check what the per line says. A label giving figures per 100 g is not giving them per packet.
Signal words in instructions and forms
Instruction texts and forms use words that change what you must do: first, next, before, after, do not, must, if, unless, tick one only. Underline them. A question on an instruction text is nearly always about the order of the steps or a condition.
Worked examples
Example 1: A timetable question with a deadline
Devon lives in Arima and must reach Port of Spain by 09:15 for a competition. Which bus should he take from Arima, and how long is the journey?
Find the Arima row: the buses leave at 07:00, 08:25 and 09:50. Now check each one's arrival in Port of Spain by reading down its column. Bus A arrives at 08:05, before 09:15. Bus B arrives at 09:30, which is 15 minutes too late. Bus C arrives at 10:55, far too late.
The answer is the 07:00 bus from Arima (Bus A), arriving at 08:05. From 07:00 to 08:05 is 1 hour 5 minutes.
The trap is answering "Bus B, because 08:25 is before 09:15". The departure is before the deadline, but the arrival is not, and it is the arrival that matters.
Example 2: A fare table with more than one traveller
Mrs Joseph travels from Sangre Grande to Port of Spain with her two children. What is the total fare?
Find the correct row first. It is Sangre Grande – Port of Spain, not Sangre Grande – Arima.
Adult fare: $14.00. Child fare: $7.00 each, and there are two children, so 2 × $7.00 = $14.00.
Total: $14.00 + $14.00 = $28.00.
Two traps sit here. The first is using the Arima row because it appears above. The second is forgetting that Mrs Joseph is travelling too — with her two children means three tickets, not two.
Example 3: A notice with a condition
Riya's father takes Riya (aged 10), her cousin Anisa (aged 9) and her cousin Kern (aged 14) to Sports Day. Riya's aunt goes as well. What do they pay altogether?
Go back to the notice: adults $10, children under 12 free. Count the adults — Riya's father and her aunt — so 2 × $10 = $20.
Now check each child against the condition. Riya is 10, which is under 12, so she is free. Anisa is 9, also free. Kern is 14, which is not under 12, so he pays $10.
Total: $20 + $10 = $30.00.
The whole question turns on the two words under 12. A pupil who reads "children free" and stops answers $20 and loses both marks.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
Slipping a row. Reading across from the wrong line in a long table. Fix: keep a finger or a ruler edge on the row you want.
Reading the wrong column. Taking the adult fare when the child fare was asked for. Fix: read the column heading again before writing the answer.
Adding time as if it were ordinary numbers. Fix: add hours first, then minutes, and exchange 60 minutes for an hour.
Ignoring the footnote, the small print or a condition word. Overlooking under, only, except, up to. Fix: read every line of a notice before answering, and underline condition words.
Forgetting to count yourself in. Buying tickets for the children and not the adult. Fix: count the travellers on your fingers.
Using the departure time when the question is about arrival. Fix: decide which time the question needs before looking at the table.
Assuming label figures are for the whole packet. Fix: check the per 100 g line.
Bringing in outside knowledge. If the notice does not say food is sold, you cannot answer that it is. Fix: only what is printed counts.
How parents can help at home
Graphic texts are the easiest section to practise, because real ones are all around you.
Use a real timetable or shop receipt. Ask three questions: what does this cost, when does it leave, how long does it take? That is the whole section.
Practise time on a clock face. Ask "if we leave at ten to eight and the drive takes forty minutes, what time do we arrive?" Children who can do this out loud stop making the hundreds mistake on paper.
Read notices at the school gate. Then walk away and ask what the deadline was and who it applies to. Remembering the condition is the skill being tested.
Turn the supermarket into practice. Compare two packet labels and ask which has more sugar per 100 g. That is exactly the paper's task.
Ask your child to make a table. Laying out the week's chores with headings teaches them how tables are built, which makes reading someone else's much faster.
Say the finger rule aloud. "Find the row, then the column." If your child gets a table question wrong, nine times out of ten that sentence is the fix, not new knowledge.
Exam technique for reading comprehension: graphic texts
Read the title first, then the headings, then any footnote. Spend ten seconds on the shape of it before reading the questions.
Read the question twice and decide exactly what is asked for — a time, a price, a number of people, a condition — before you look back at the table.
Find the row first, then the column, and keep a finger on the row.
Check the units and the per. Dollars, minutes, grams and per 100 g all matter.
When money or time is involved, do the arithmetic on the paper rather than in your head, and add hours and minutes separately.
Reread the question afterwards and ask "does my answer actually answer this?" A right calculation of the wrong thing is still no marks.
At 2 marks each these are worth as much as a grammar or spelling item and take less thinking, because the information is already in front of you. Do not rush them, and never leave one blank.
Quick revision summary
- Graphic texts are 4 items and 8 marks — 2 marks each, and the answer is always on the page.
- Read the title, the column headings, the row labels and the footnote before you start.
- Find the row first, then the column; the answer is the cell where they meet.
- Read down a timetable column to follow one journey; read across a row to compare journeys.
- Journey time = arrival − departure. Add hours first, then minutes.
- Time is not decimal: 08:20 + 1 hour 25 minutes = 09:45. Exchange 60 minutes for one hour.
- Condition words decide the answer: under, over, only, except, up to, free.
- Under 12 does not include a twelve-year-old.
- Count every traveller, including the adult asking the question.
- Label figures are usually per 100 g — scale them to the amount asked for.
- Use only what is printed; never add what you assume.