Reading and Comprehension
What this domain tests
Reading and Comprehension asks you to extract meaning from short passages: main idea, supporting detail, sequence of events, vocabulary in context, inference, and the author's purpose or tone. You must distinguish what the text says explicitly from what it only suggests.
Concepts to master
- Main idea vs. topic: the topic is what the passage is about; the main idea is the point the author makes about it.
- Stated vs. implied detail: some answers are directly quoted, others require combining two sentences.
- Inference: a conclusion that follows necessarily from the text, not from your own opinion.
- Context vocabulary: a familiar word may carry an unusual meaning in the passage.
- Sequence and cause: signal words such as first, however, therefore, and as a result mark logical structure.
Common traps
- True but irrelevant: an option that is factually correct yet does not answer the question asked.
- Extreme wording: options using always, never, or only usually overreach the passage.
- Half-right answers: the first clause matches but the second contradicts the text.
- Outside knowledge: tempting if you know the subject, but the question asks what the passage supports.
Rule of thumb
Read the question stem before the passage so you know what to hunt for, then return to the lines that answer it. Eliminate any choice you cannot defend with a specific sentence.
Worked example
Passage: "The city closed the riverside path for repairs in March. By June, foot traffic had shifted to the mill road, and two new cafes opened there." Question: What can be inferred? A likely answer is that the path closure redirected pedestrians to the mill road. Note that "two new cafes opened" is stated, not inferred, and "cafes opened because of the path" is a cause the passage never claims.