Readers construct meaning by connecting text with ______.

• A. Prior Experience
• B. Imagination
• C. Context
• D. Background Music

Answer: (A)

Readers make sense of what they read by tying new information to what they already know from life experiences. This prior knowledge acts like a bridge, helping you interpret unfamiliar words, infer characters’ motives, predict outcomes, and fill in details the text doesn’t spell out. When you recognize a situation, emotion, or setting from your own experiences, your brain quickly connects the dots, making the meaning feel coherent and meaningful.

Imagination can enrich reading, but it isn’t the primary source of meaning in most texts. Imagination explores possibilities, whereas connecting to prior experience anchors your understanding in what you’ve actually encountered or learned before. Context is related, since the surrounding details of a text shape your reading, but the emphasis here is on using what you already know from life to interpret the text. Background music, on the other hand, doesn’t play a role in how meaning is constructed.