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11+ Retrieval Questions: Find Facts and Check Your Answers
Practise finding information in a passage with three worked examples, six original retrieval questions and explanations of every answer.
Retrieval means finding information that a text actually gives you. If a notice says that a workshop begins at ten, you can retrieve its starting time. You do not need to guess why the organiser chose ten.
This lesson practises precise fact-finding, including exceptions, two-part answers and instructions to use your own words. Read the original passage below, study the examples, then attempt the six questions before revealing their answers. These are independent learning materials, not official school questions or an admissions test.
Find the fact the question requests
Read the passage to understand its subject. Then identify what the question wants: a person, place, time, object or a reason explicitly stated in the text. Look for distinctive words and their equivalents. A question might say “starts” when the passage says “begins”.
When you locate a possible answer, read the surrounding sentence carefully. Check what pronouns such as “it” and “they” refer to. Copying a nearby number or name without understanding its role can give you the wrong fact.
Keep exceptions and conditions
A rule can have a limit. “Children may borrow any kit except the microscope” does not mean every kit can be borrowed. Keep words such as except, before, after and only attached to the information they qualify.
If the question requests two things, give two distinct things. If it asks for your own words, express the information differently without changing its meaning. If it asks you to copy a word or phrase, reproduce that wording accurately instead.
Original passage: The Saturday repair club
Paragraph 1. The repair club meets in the community hall on the first Saturday of each month. Visitors enter through the side door because the front steps are being repaired. Doors open at 9.30 am, but the demonstrations begin at 10 am. Leena puts a green sign beside the entrance so that newcomers can find it.
Paragraph 2. Each visitor may bring one broken household item, except electrical appliances. Volunteers can mend torn fabric and loose wooden handles. They cannot promise to repair everything. Visitors must remain with their belongings; the club has no storage space for items left behind.
Paragraph 3. At the welcome desk, Omar records each visitor’s name and the item they have brought. He gives them a numbered card. Visitors then wait near the windows until a volunteer calls their number. There are twelve seats in the waiting area, and four more beside the noticeboard.
Paragraph 4. The last repair starts at noon. Before leaving, visitors return their numbered cards to a red box on the welcome desk. Attendance is free, although donations towards materials are welcome. Last month, the donations paid for thread and sandpaper.
Retrieval is different from inference
You can retrieve the reason for using the side door because the passage supplies it. You cannot retrieve Omar’s feelings: the writer does not state them. A question about his feelings would need supported inference, and this passage might not provide enough clues for a useful conclusion.
Use only the passage for these questions. Repair clubs you have visited may follow different rules. Outside knowledge must not replace the details in this particular text.
Check your response
Point to the exact sentence supporting your answer. Then reread the question: have you answered the right time, place or person? A correct fact can still answer the wrong question. “9.30 am” is the opening time, not the demonstration time.
These questions have no official mark allocation. The model answers show the information required, and equivalent accurate wording is acceptable unless copying is requested. If you make an error, label it as a missing detail, a misunderstood instruction or an incorrect fact, then correct it from the text.
Worked examples
Example 1: When does the repair club meet?
- Find the sentence about when the club meets in paragraph 1.
- Keep both the day and its position within the month. “Saturday” alone is incomplete.
Answer: On the first Saturday of each month.
Example 2: Why do visitors use the side door?
- Locate “side door” in paragraph 1.
- Read the reason after “because”. Do not invent a reason about queues or parking.
Answer: Because the front steps are being repaired.
Example 3: Give two things Omar records at the welcome desk.
- Find Omar’s task in paragraph 3.
- Separate the two recorded details from the numbered card he gives out afterwards.
Answer: Each visitor’s name and the item they have brought.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Giving a plausible fact from outside the text instead of the stated information.
- Confusing opening time with the start of demonstrations.
- Dropping the exception from a rule.
- Giving one detail when two are requested.
- Copying a long paragraph without selecting the relevant answer.
Try it yourself
Write your response before opening the model answer. Equivalent accurate wording can be acceptable. Compare the meaning and evidence with a parent or teacher; this activity does not automatically grade your writing.
Your writing and review choices stay in this page session and are cleared when you leave or reload. They are not sent to our server or analytics.
Read the original passage alongside your answers
Paragraph 1. The repair club meets in the community hall on the first Saturday of each month. Visitors enter through the side door because the front steps are being repaired. Doors open at 9.30 am, but the demonstrations begin at 10 am. Leena puts a green sign beside the entrance so that newcomers can find it.
Paragraph 2. Each visitor may bring one broken household item, except electrical appliances. Volunteers can mend torn fabric and loose wooden handles. They cannot promise to repair everything. Visitors must remain with their belongings; the club has no storage space for items left behind.
Paragraph 3. At the welcome desk, Omar records each visitor’s name and the item they have brought. He gives them a numbered card. Visitors then wait near the windows until a volunteer calls their number. There are twelve seats in the waiting area, and four more beside the noticeboard.
Paragraph 4. The last repair starts at noon. Before leaving, visitors return their numbered cards to a red box on the welcome desk. Attendance is free, although donations towards materials are welcome. Last month, the donations paid for thread and sandpaper.
0 of 6 reviewed · 0 flagged to revisit
These are your review choices, not a test score or a measure of mastery. Retrying clears the written drafts of flagged questions and closes their model answers.
1. What time do the demonstrations begin?
Show answer and explanation for question 1
Model answer: 10 am.
Paragraph 1 distinguishes doors opening at 9.30 am from demonstrations beginning at 10 am.
Does your answer include the required information and support from the passage?
2. Which type of household item may visitors not bring?
Show answer and explanation for question 2
Model answer: Electrical appliances.
Paragraph 2 gives this exception to the rule allowing one broken household item.
Does your answer include the required information and support from the passage?
3. Where do visitors wait after receiving their numbered cards?
Show answer and explanation for question 3
Model answer: Near the windows.
Paragraph 3 states the waiting location. The noticeboard is mentioned for extra seats, but is not the location requested in this sentence.
Does your answer include the required information and support from the passage?
4. Explain in your own words why visitors must stay with their belongings.
Show answer and explanation for question 4
Model answer: There is nowhere at the club to keep things that visitors leave behind.
Paragraph 2 says the club has no storage space. This answer restates that reason without inventing a rule about theft.
Does your answer include the required information and support from the passage?
5. Where should visitors put their cards before leaving? Give both the container and its location.
Show answer and explanation for question 5
Model answer: In a red box on the welcome desk.
Paragraph 4 supplies both details. “At the desk” omits the container; “in a box” omits its location.
Does your answer include the required information and support from the passage?
6. Name the two materials bought with last month’s donations.
Show answer and explanation for question 6
Model answer: Thread and sandpaper.
The final sentence names these materials. Fabric and wooden handles are repair examples elsewhere, not the stated purchases.
Does your answer include the required information and support from the passage?
Sources and context
The questions and worked examples on this page are original practice material, not official past-paper questions. Exam requirements vary by school and entry year.