The iPad actually has quite a few options for text selection that I don't always see mentioned here, including a few that I don't think even 3D Touch iPhones have. There's the obvious one:
• Swipe with two fingers to move cursor.
But there's also
• Tap and hold with two fingers to begin selecting, then move fingers to expand selection, OR
• Tap once with two fingers to select single word.
• Double tap with two fingers to select sentence.
• Triple tap with two fingers to select paragraph.
While text is selected:
• Swipe left/up with two fingers to move left selection handle.
• Swipe right/down with two fingers to move right selection handle.
* Tap once with two fingers to exit selection and return to cursor mode.
The cursor position will return to either:
* The beginning of the previous selection, if you adjusted the handles to make your selection, OR
* The spot of the previous cursor, before you entered selection mode, if you selected text using the single/double/triple tap to select option and did not adjust the size of the selection.
I hope these are useful for some of you!
PSA: The iPad's keyboard gestures are more robust than you might think : apple
Seems to work, but takes some patience to practice.
Also on: