Short answer

Direct questions answered with words lifted straight from the passage.

You answer with: Words and numbers copied verbatim from the passage
Typical group: 3–5 questions
Answer order: Follows the passage

The instructions, word for word as the test writes them

Answer the questions below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

What this task is

Plain factual questions. What, which, when, how many. The answers appear word for word in the passage. Nothing is testing your interpretation here. Location and precision are the whole game.

The questions follow passage order and usually cluster around concrete, findable details: names, quantities, materials, dates.

The traps

These are built in on purpose. Know them by name and half the danger is gone.

Answering from your head

The question looks like general knowledge, and you may well know a correct answer the passage does not contain. Only the passage's words score.

Over-answering

The question wants "clay". You write "traditional local clay" and hit the word limit. The shortest complete answer is the safe one.

What to do next time

Turn each question into a scanning target. "How many" sends you looking for digits.
Answer with the minimum span that fully answers the question, copied exactly.
Use the order. Each answer's position starts the search for the next.

Now meet it under a clock. Start a free mock. Every short answer question you get wrong comes back with the sentence that proves the answer, and the reason the trap was tempting.