Basics
You are given a list of headings (usually labelled with Roman numerals i, ii, iii, iv…). Your task is to choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph or section in the text (labelled A, B, C, D…).
Key Characteristics:
There are always more headings than paragraphs. (e.g., 7 headings for 5 paragraphs).
The headings form a “bank” of options.
You write the Roman numeral (e.g., ii, v, vii) on your answer sheet.
The first one or two paragraphs may be done as examples, with their headings already crossed out from the list.
Core Skills
This is the heart of the challenge. A heading must summarize the entire paragraph’s purpose, not just one fact within it.
Main Idea: The central topic or argument the whole paragraph is building.
Supporting Detail: Examples, evidence, dates, names, statistics, or minor points used to illustrate the main idea.
Tips
Doing this task methodically saves time and prevents panic.
Step 1: SKIP THE PASSAGE. First, Read and Analyze the Headings.
Read every heading carefully.
Underline 2-3 important words in each heading. Focus on nouns and verbs that capture the core concept (e.g., “problems of early transportation,” “a solution for cost reduction“).
Think of synonyms for these words as you read. If a heading says “problems,” the passage might say “difficulties,” “drawbacks,” “challenges.”
Identify clearly different headings. Some will seem similar—note the subtle differences (e.g., “Causes of deforestation” vs. “Effects of deforestation”).
Step 2: Quickly Read the First Paragraph.
Read for the “gist” or “general message.” Don’t get stuck on unknown words.
Ask yourself: “What is the author’s purpose here? What is the overall point they are making in this paragraph?”
Mentally summarize the paragraph in 2-3 words.
Step 3: Go Back to the Headings List.
Compare your mental summary to the keywords and synonyms you underlined in the headings list.
Look for a conceptual match, not a word-for-word match.
Eliminate headings that are:
Too narrow: They only mention a specific example from the paragraph (a supporting detail).
Too broad: They describe a theme of the whole text, not that specific paragraph.
Wrong focus: The paragraph is about a cause, but the heading is about an effect.
Not mentioned: The topic of the heading isn’t discussed in the paragraph at all.
Step 4: Check the First and Last Sentences (The Topic Sentence Check).
In well-structured academic writing, the first sentence often introduces the main idea.
The last sentence often concludes or reinforces it.
If you’re unsure, see if your chosen heading aligns with these “anchor” sentences.
Step 5: Select the Heading and Move On.
Once you have your best match, write the numeral on your answer sheet.
Cross that heading out on the question paper. It cannot be used again (unless instructions say otherwise, which they almost never do).
Move to the next paragraph. The eliminated heading makes the list shorter and easier to manage.
Traps
The “Detail” Trap: A heading that perfectly matches one interesting fact/example from the paragraph, but misses the bigger point.
The “Too General” Trap: A heading that is true for the entire article, not the specific paragraph (e.g., “The history of flight” for a paragraph only about the Wright brothers).
The “Opposite” Trap: A heading that uses keywords from the paragraph but states the opposite idea.
The “Next Paragraph” Trap: A heading that introduces an idea that is only mentioned at the very end of the paragraph as a lead-in to the next paragraph. Don’t jump ahead.
The Development of Museums
A The conviction that historical relics provide infallible testimony about the past is rooted in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when science was regarded as objective and value free. As one writer observes: ‘Although it is now evident that artefacts are as easily altered as chronicles, public faith in their veracity endures: a tangible relic seems ipso facto real’. Such conviction was, until recently, reflected in museum displays. Museums used to look-and some still do-much like storage rooms of objects packed together in showcases: good for scholars who wanted to study the subtle differences in design, but not for the ordinary visitor, to whom it all looked alike. Similarly, the information accompanying the objects often made little sense to the lay visitor. The content and format of explanations dated back to a time when the museum was the exclusive domain of the scientific researcher.
B Recently, however, attitudes towards history and the way it should be presented have altered. The key word in heritage display is now ‘experience’, the more exciting the better and, if possible, involving all the senses. Good examples of this approach in the UK are the Jorvik Centre in York; the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television in Bradford; and the Imperial War Museum in London. In the US the trend emerged much earlier: Williamsburg has been a prototype for many heritage developments in other parts of the world. No one can predict where the process will end. On so-called heritage sites the re-enactment of historical events is increasingly popular, and computers will soon provide virtual reality experiences, which will present visitors with a vivid image of the period of their choice, in which they themselves can act as if part of the historical environment. Such developments have been criticized as an intolerable vulgarization, but the success of many historical theme parks and similar locations suggests that the majority of the public does not share this opinion.
C In a related development, the sharp distinction between museum and heritage sites on the one hand, and theme parks on the other, is gradually evaporating. They already borrow ideas and concepts from one another. For example, museums have adopted story lines for exhibitions, sites have accepted ‘theming’ as a relevant tool, and theme parks are moving towards more authenticity and research-based presentations. In zoos, animals are no longer kept in cages, but in great spaces, either in the open air or in enormous greenhouses, such as the jungle and desert environments in Burgers’ Zoo in Holland. This particular trend is regarded as one of the major developments in the presentation of natural history in the twentieth century.
D Theme parks are undergoing other changes, too, as they try to present more serious social and cultural issues, and move away from fantasy. This development is a response to market forces and, although museums and heritage sites have a special, rather distinct, role to fulfil, they are also operating in a very competitive environment, where visitors make choices on how and where to spend their free time. Heritage and museum experts do not have to invent stories and recreate historical environments to attract their visitors: their assets are already in place. However, exhibits must be both based on artefacts and facts as we know them, and attractively presented. Those who are professionally engaged in the art of interpreting history are thus in difficult position, as they must steer a narrow course between the demands of ‘evidence’ and ‘attractiveness’, especially given the increasing need in the heritage industry for income-generating activities.
E It could be claimed that in order to make everything in heritage more ‘real’, historical accuracy must be increasingly altered. For example, Pithecanthropus erectus is depicted in an Indonesian museum with Malay facial features, because this corresponds to public perceptions. Similarly, in the Museum of Natural History in Washington, Neanderthal man is shown making a dominant gesture to his wife. Such presentations tell us more about contemporary perceptions of the world than about our ancestors. There is one compensation, however, for the professionals who make these interpretations: if they did not provide the interpretation, visitors would do it for themselves, based on their own ideas, misconceptions and prejudices. And no matter how exciting the result, it would contain a lot more bias than the presentations provided by experts.
F Human bias is inevitable, but another source of bias in the representation of history has to do with the transitory nature of the materials themselves. The simple fact is that not everything from history survives the historical process. Castles, palaces and cathedrals have a longer lifespan than the dwellings of ordinary people. The same applies to the furnishing and other contents of the premises. In a town like Leyden in Holland, which in the seventeenth century was occupied by approximately the same number of inhabitants as today, people lived within the walled town, an area more than five times smaller than modern Leyden. In most of the houses several families lived together in circumstances beyond our imagination. Yet in museums, fine period rooms give only an image of the lifestyle of the upper class of that era. No wonder that people who stroll around exhibitions are filled with nostalgia; the evidence in museums indicates that life was so much better in past. This notion is induced by the bias in its representation in museums and heritage centres.