Checking evidence means holding your answer up against the text and asking, line by line, whether each part of it is really there. It is the last step of reading in reading for meaning, and it protects marks that careless confidence would lose.
How do I check an answer?
Break the answer into its parts, then look for evidence for each one.
- Write your answer as a claim. For example: “Camille is quicker by bike.”
- Split it into parts. Who? What is compared? What direction (quicker or slower)?
- Find a line for every part. Underline the words in the text.
- Check the small words. A negative (ne … pas, jamais), a number or a quantity word (tous, souvent) can change the claim.
- Check who says it. An opinion belongs to a speaker, so do not present it as a fact.
- Decide. Supported, contradicted, or not stated.
If you cannot underline a line for any one part, that part is a guess.
Worked example
Depuis septembre, Camille va au collège à vélo. Elle met vingt minutes, alors que le bus prenait trente-cinq minutes. Sa mère trouve cela dangereux, mais Camille dit qu’elle se sent plus libre.
Test four statements against the text.
Statement 1: Camille arrive plus vite à vélo qu’en bus. Evidence: vingt minutes by bike and trente-cinq minutes by bus. 35 − 20 = 15, so the bike saves 15 minutes. Supported.
Statement 2: La mère de Camille lui interdit de faire du vélo. Evidence: the mother trouve cela dangereux, but nothing says she forbids it. Not stated. Camille still rides, which points the other way.
Statement 3: Le vélo est dangereux. Evidence: only the mother’s view, trouve cela dangereux. It is an opinion, not a fact the text confirms. Not supported as a fact. It is supported only as “the mother thinks so”.
Statement 4: Camille préfère le vélo. Evidence: se sent plus libre and she keeps riding. This fits, though the word préfère is never used. Reasonably supported, but it is an inference, so use it only if the question allows inference.
What mistake should I watch for?
Mistaken answer: “Camille’s mother forbids her to cycle, because it is dangerous.”
The student took a true detail (the mother finds it dangerous) and stretched it into something the text never says (a ban). The answer sounds natural, which is why it is tempting.
The correction is to cut the answer back to what is written: “Her mother thinks cycling is dangerous.” Add nothing the line does not carry. If your answer needs a word that is not in the evidence, take it out or find the line that supports it.
Check yourself
Théo habite à la campagne. Il se lève à six heures pour prendre le train de 6 h 40. Il trouve le voyage long, mais il aime lire dans le train. Il rentre à 17 heures.
1. Is this supported? “Théo prend le train le matin.”
Show answer
Supported. He gets up at six and takes the 6 h 40 train, which is in the morning.
2. Is this supported? “Théo n’aime pas le train.”
Show answer
Contradicted. He finds the journey long, but il aime lire dans le train. A long journey is not the same as disliking the train.
3. Is this supported? “Théo rentre avant 18 heures.” Which words are your evidence?
Show answer
Supported. Il rentre à 17 heures, and 17 is earlier than 18.
Where does this lead next?
With all four skills in place, try the reading for meaning practice set, where each question needs a different mix of them. If you keep marking opinions as facts, review separating an opinion from a stated detail first.
Careful checking is easier with someone asking “where does it say that?” in the moment. A teacher in online one-to-one French tuition can do exactly that with your answers.