According to a recent newspaper report, an international team of astronomers studying nearly 446000 galaxies via the Hubble Space Telescope has confirmed that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. By utilising a technique known as "weak gravitational lensing" to observe how light is distorted by dark matter, researchers mapped the distribution of matter and the history of cosmic expansion, determining that an unknown force called "dark energy" has been driving this acceleration for the past two billion years. This study, which involved 1000 hours of observation and 600 Earth orbits by the Hubble telescope, marks the first time such measurements were successfully conducted using gravitational lensing alone, and it further reinforces the existence of an invisible web of dark matter that constitutes 80% of the universe.Which of the following BEST summarises the main idea of the text above?

Reading Comprehension — Preparation

This question tests your understanding of Reading Comprehension, a key topic in the English Language section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.

Reading comprehension (RC) questions give a passage followed by questions that test how well you understood it. Question types include the main idea or title of the passage, specific details, inferences, the author's tone and purpose, and the meaning of words as used in the passage. Passages cover topics such as the economy, science, environment, society and history. A good approach is to read the questions quickly first so you know what to look for, then read the passage actively, noting the main point of each paragraph. Answer only from what the passage says or clearly implies, never from outside knowledge. For inference questions, the right answer is supported by the passage even though it isn't stated directly. Options that are too extreme or go beyond the passage are usually wrong. Regular reading of newspapers and editorials is the best long-term preparation. Practise the reading comprehension passages below. Every question has an explanation pointing to the relevant line in the passage.