How to win Matching Headings in three minutes per passage

Purpose over topic. Headings describe what the paragraph does, not just what it talks about. Train your eyes to name the function first.

The 7-step micro-algorithm

1. Skim the title and section headers to set context.
2. Read only the first line, last line, and one line in the middle.
3. Write a 3 to 5 word function label such as definition, contrast, cause, method, solution, limitation.
4. Shortlist 2 or 3 headings that match the function, not the keywords.
5. Prove the best heading with a one-line anchor from the paragraph.
6. Reject near matches that change scope or polarity.
7. Move on after 60 to 90 seconds. Tag L if low confidence and return later.

Signals that reveal function

• Definition: is, refers to, means, defined as
• Process: first, next, then, finally
• Cause or result: because, due to, therefore, leads to
• Contrast: however, whereas, on the other hand
• Limitation: but, a caveat, constrained by
• Policy: will require, the law now, the ban
• Future: expected to, likely to, by 2030

Universal Headings Pool (codes H1 to H20)

Use these for the practice set. On test day you will use the exam’s list, but the habit you build is the same.

• H1 Definition or scope of a concept
• H2 Historical background that shaped today
• H3 Cause and effect chain
• H4 Problem and its consequence
• H5 Proposed solution or remedy
• H6 Method or process overview
• H7 Contrast of two approaches
• H8 Advantage outweighs drawback
• H9 Drawback outweighs benefit
• H10 Example that illustrates a point
• H11 Evidence and data caveat
• H12 Unexpected side effect
• H13 Ethical or social concern
• H14 Innovation or pivot moment
• H15 Limitations of current knowledge
• H16 Measurement or classification challenge
• H17 Policy change or regulation shift
• H18 Economic trade off
• H19 Cultural or geographic variation
• H20 Future outlook or prediction

Practice rules for this Mega Set

• Time yourself: 40 to 60 seconds per paragraph.
• Write a 3-word function label before you pick a heading.
• Score yourself: 1 point for a correct heading, 0 otherwise.
• After each block of 10, mark your misses with a reason: scope, polarity, function, trap word, time.
• Target: 38 to 45 correct out of 50 after two weeks of practice.

Headings Mega Set II: 50 brand new paragraphs

Choose the best heading code from H1 to H20 for each paragraph.

1. Photogrammetry stitches overlapping photos to build accurate 3D models. It works by calculating depth from parallax and camera positions. Surveyors use it to measure cliffs, roofs, and roads without touching them.
2. Before uniform time existed, towns set clocks to local noon. Railways could not run reliable timetables until standard zones were agreed. The move from local to shared time reshaped daily life.
3. Excess fertiliser washes into rivers during storms. The nutrients feed algal blooms that block sunlight. When algae die, microbes consume oxygen and leave fish to suffocate in a hypoxic zone.
4. Overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics selects for resistant strains. Once established, these strains spread through clinics and farms. Routine infections then require longer stays and stronger drugs.
5. Bed nets treated with long-lasting insecticide cut malaria by separating people from night-biting mosquitoes. Communities that distribute and repair nets each season keep infection rates low with little equipment.
6. In a double-blind trial neither volunteers nor clinicians know who gets the active drug. A control group receives a placebo. The design reduces bias and isolates the true effect.
7. Students who type notes capture many words but often fewer ideas. Those who write by hand record less text yet process meaning more deeply. Each approach serves different goals.
8. Moving company systems to a reputable cloud service can cut outages, tighten security updates, and lower hardware waste. Training is required, but the reliability gains usually outweigh that upfront effort.
9. Large desalination plants provide fresh water to dry coasts, yet they discharge concentrated brine back to the sea. This heavier plume sinks and can harm bottom life near outlets.
10. The midnight sun is not about brightness but about tilt. In summer the pole leans toward the sun so daylight never ends for high latitudes. It is a simple case of geometry.
11. A headline study finds strong effects, then a larger replication shows the result is fragile. The first sample was narrow and the measure noisy. Bold claims require cautious reading.
12. Planting street trees to cool pavements also changes behaviour. Shaded routes encourage walking and longer stays, which can raise local sales. The cooling project ends up boosting commerce.
13. A school installed facial recognition to speed library loans. Parents questioned consent, data retention, and bias. Administrators paused the rollout until an ethics review could address those risks.
14. Cheap sensors and satellite links mean farms can dose water and fertiliser plant by plant. Precision control turns guesswork into data and marks a turning point for small growers.
15. Astronomers can map how galaxies move yet cannot see most of the mass that steers them. The invisible part is called dark matter. Its nature remains an open question.
16. Happiness surveys rely on self reports that shift with mood, wording, and culture. The scale from one to ten looks simple but is hard to compare across groups.
17. Bans on thin plastic checkout bags pushed shoppers to reusable ones. Litter fell and drainage blocked less often. Some regions later added a charge for thicker bags to avoid substitution.
18. A dam generates cheap electricity and buffers floods, yet it traps sediment and blocks fish migration. Downstream farms gain stability while fishermen lose a living. Choices carry costs.
19. Tea rituals vary widely. A quick glass in a roadside stall is not the same as a formal ceremony at home. The drink ties into place, class, and climate.
20. As sea ice shrinks, seasonal shipping lanes may open across the Arctic. Shorter routes could cut fuel use and change port hierarchies, though risk and insurance may slow adoption.
21. Biomimicry looks to nature’s designs for solutions. Velcro copies burr hooks, and termite mounds inspire passive cooling. The approach treats ecosystems as a library of tested ideas.
22. The spread of paper began in China with mulberry bark and rag, moved through the Islamic world, and reached Europe where mills multiplied books. Cheaper sheets changed who could read.
23. Drier forests and longer summers stack fuel for megafires. Lightning ignitions that once fizzled now run far, driven by hot winds. Smoke then worsens regional health for weeks.
24. Black roofs radiate heat at night less efficiently than lighter surfaces. Cities with dark materials cool slowly, which stresses residents who lack air conditioning and sleep poorly.
25. Vaccine doses fail if the cold chain breaks. Better insulated carriers and real-time temperature tags keep vials within the safe window during long trips to rural clinics.
26. Composting is controlled decay. Mix greens rich in nitrogen with browns rich in carbon, turn to add oxygen, and keep moisture steady. Microbes do the rest and yield soil.
27. Video classes allow flexible schedules and reduce travel, yet group energy can fade online. Seminars in person spark more informal questions. The best programmes combine both modes.
28. Telemedicine matches patients to clinicians quickly. Remote triage clears simple cases without a waiting room and can catch urgent signs early. Occasional misreadings exist but benefits dominate.
29. Herbal supplements promise vitality and focus. Some work for narrow uses, many do not. Interactions with medicines are underreported. Shoppers often pay for hope rather than proof.
30. Sea otters eat sea urchins. Where otters return, kelp forests rebound because grazers are kept in check. One predator stabilises an entire coastal habitat.
31. When analysts search many variables they will find a pattern by chance. If they report only the exciting result, readers are misled. Pre-registered plans reduce this risk.
32. Widening a traffic-choked road can speed cars for a month. Then trips that were postponed appear, routes shift, and congestion returns. Extra lanes invite extra driving.
33. Insects feel pain differently from mammals, yet farming billions raises welfare questions. Crowding, stunning, and slaughter methods are now under review to set humane standards.
34. Lithium iron phosphate batteries last longer and avoid cobalt. Energy density is lower than some rivals, yet price and safety make the chemistry attractive for buses and storage.
35. Earthquake warnings deliver seconds of notice, but precise day-ahead predictions remain out of reach. Faults interact in ways that models cannot yet pin down.
36. Reading tests look equal across languages, yet scripts place demands differently. A score of 28 can reflect distinct skills in alphabetic and character-based systems.
37. A carbon price shifts costs from the atmosphere to the ledger. Firms that emit less save money. Revenues fund rebates or clean projects and push markets to adjust.
38. Cash transfers reduce hunger quickly but can lower incentives to accept low-paid seasonal jobs. Families gain stability while some employers must raise wages to recruit.
39. Farmers in monsoon regions track planting by the arrival of steady rains and wind shifts. The same crop calendar fails in dry interior zones where irrigation rules.
40. Translation software now learns from massive corpora and adapts to domains. Medical discharge summaries today are cleaner than five years ago, and the pace of improvement is still rising.
41. A wetland is land that stays saturated long enough to support water-loving plants and soils. Marshes, bogs, and swamps filter water, slow floods, and shelter wildlife.
42. Paper money once represented metal stored elsewhere. Later it became fiat backed by trust in the issuer. That shift let economies grow faster than mines could.
43. Overgrazing removes plant cover that holds soil. Wind then strips topsoil and exposes hardpan. Springs that once ran year-round shrink to wet seasons only.
44. Tiny plastic fibres now show up in placentas and lungs. The doses are small and effects uncertain, yet researchers worry about inflammation and chemical loads over decades.
45. No-till farming leaves crop residues on the surface to protect soil. Yields may dip in year one but water retention improves and worms return as structure rebuilds.
46. Wastewater epidemiology samples sewage to estimate disease levels. Scientists filter, concentrate, and test for viral fragments, then model trends by district to guide clinics.
47. Health systems can screen by age alone or by personal risk. Age is simple and cheap. Risk scores aim at fairness but need data and can miss hidden factors.
48. Children who study in two languages take longer to settle in, then catch up and often surpass peers. Cognitive flexibility grows along with community ties.
49. Fast fashion rotates styles weekly and sells at prices that hide labour and waste. Landfills fill with nearly new cloth while dye drains into rivers.
50. Architects are testing wall skins that open and close with humidity, tiles that reflect heat on demand, and vents that learn from airflow. Buildings may adapt like organisms.

Answer key with micro-rationales

1 H1 definition by method.
2 H2 history of time zones.
3 H3 fertiliser to hypoxia cause chain.
4 H4 misuse leads to resistance consequence.
5 H5 nets as remedy.
6 H6 trial method overview.
7 H7 handwritten versus typed contrast.
8 H8 benefits outweigh training.
9 H9 brine harms outweigh gain nearby.
10 H10 example of axial tilt.
11 H11 replication caveat.
12 H12 cooling leads to commerce side effect.
13 H13 privacy concern.
14 H14 sensor pivot for farming.
15 H15 unknown dark matter.
16 H16 self-report challenge.
17 H17 bag ban shift.
18 H18 dam trade off.
19 H19 ritual variation.
20 H20 Arctic routes outlook.
21 H1 concept and scope.
22 H2 spread of paper history.
23 H3 dryness to megafires.
24 H4 hot nights consequence.
25 H5 cold chain fix.
26 H6 compost process.
27 H7 remote versus in person contrast.
28 H8 telemedicine net gain.
29 H9 supplement drawback.
30 H10 otters example.
31 H11 p-hacking caveat.
32 H12 induced demand side effect.
33 H13 insect welfare ethics.
34 H14 battery pivot.
35 H15 prediction limits.
36 H16 cross-script measurement.
37 H17 carbon price policy.
38 H18 labour trade off.
39 H19 monsoon calendars.
40 H20 translation outlook.
41 H1 wetland definition.
42 H2 money shift history.
43 H3 grazing to erosion.
44 H4 microplastics consequence still uncertain.
45 H5 no-till remedy.
46 H6 sewage testing method.
47 H7 screening contrast.
48 H8 bilingual benefits exceed early cost.
49 H9 fashion drawbacks dominate.
50 H20 adaptive buildings future.

Self-diagnosis: why did you miss it

• Scope shift: You chose a heading that fits a sentence, not the whole paragraph.
  Fix: write a 3-word function label first.
• Polarity flip: You ignored but, however, except, nearly.
  Fix: underline polarity words before picking.
• Keyword trap: You matched nouns, not function.
  Fix: prove the choice with an anchor line that shows purpose.
• Time sink: You stayed over 90 seconds.
  Fix: pick best match, tag L, move. Return at the end.
• Near rivals: H8 vs H9 or H3 vs H4 confused you.
  Fix: ask which side the paragraph supports and whether it explains causes or highlights consequences.

Micro-drills that harden skill

Drill A: Function labelling sprints
Pick 10 random paragraphs from articles. Write a function word for each in 10 minutes. No headings yet, just purpose.

Drill B: Anchor-first practice
For any 5 paragraphs above, copy the one sentence that proves your heading. The proof must be a line, not a vibe.

Drill C: Rival chooser
List 5 pairs: H3 vs H4, H8 vs H9, H1 vs H15, H6 vs H5, H17 vs H18. For each paragraph, state why one wins and the other loses.

Drill D: Time-boxed rounds
Run items 1 to 10 in 8 minutes. Rest 2 minutes. Run 11 to 20 in 8 minutes. Keep short breaks to prevent fatigue drift.

Two-week rota to reach 40 plus out of 50

Week 1
Day 1: Items 1-25 at 60 seconds each. Log errors by label.
Day 2: Items 26-50. Revisit top two error labels with Drills A and C.
Day 3: Items 1-25 at 50 seconds each. Anchor-first for 5 misses.
Day 4: Items 26-50 at 50 seconds. Rival chooser on 5 close calls.
Day 5: Full 1-50 at 55 seconds. Target 34 plus correct.
Day 6: Rest 20 minutes, then re-work only your L-tagged paragraphs.
Day 7: Light review. Read the Universal Pool aloud and define each in your own words.

Week 2
Day 8: Full 1-50 at 45 to 50 seconds. Log scope and polarity misses.
Day 9: Replace 10 easiest with new paragraphs from newspapers. Keep the pool.
Day 10: Two timed halves, 1-25 then 26-50, 45 seconds each.
Day 11: Anchor-first day. Do only your 15 weakest and write proof lines.
Day 12: Simulated test: 50 items in 40 minutes. Aim 38 plus correct.
Day 13: Autopsy. Sort misses, write one fix sentence per label.
Day 14: Final pass at 45 seconds. Record your best score and lock the routine.

Quick fixes during the exam

• Read first, last, and one middle sentence. If they do not agree, choose limitation or contrast headings, not definition.
• When two headings seem right, ask which one the writer stresses more. That choice usually wins.
• If a paragraph is a list of steps, choose method or process even if the topic is romantic or dramatic. Function rules.
• Keep an H-M-L confidence tag. Sweep L items last. Change only with a new proof line.

Glossary of heading functions

• Definition: introduces what a thing is or its scope.
• Background: tells you where today’s situation came from.
• Cause: explains why something happens.
• Consequence: tells what happens as a result.
• Solution: offers a remedy to a stated problem.
• Method: explains how to do or study something.
• Contrast: sets two approaches or states against each other.
• Limitation: states uncertainty or gaps.
• Policy: refers to laws, bans, or official rules.
• Outlook: forecasts what is likely next.

One-page routine to keep on your desk

1. Title skim.
2. First, last, middle line.
3. Write a 3-word function label.
4. Shortlist.
5. Anchor line proof.
6. Decide in 60 to 90 seconds.
7. Tag L and move if unsure.

Use this Mega Set II often. The function-first habit you build here transfers directly to every Cambridge passage you meet next. When your eyes jump to purpose before nouns, headings become a quick, almost mechanical decision. Keep your timing honest, keep your anchor proofs, and let your score rise by design rather than by luck.