Reading Comprehension: Locating, Inferring and Evaluating
What this domain tests
Reading Comprehension asks you to extract meaning from short to medium passages: main idea, specific detail, vocabulary in context, inference, tone, and the author's purpose. The passages are usually non-fiction - reports, explanations, persuasive pieces - so precision matters more than speed.
Concepts to master
- Main idea vs detail: the main idea covers the whole passage; details support it.
- Literal retrieval: answers located directly in the text, often paraphrased.
- Inference: conclusions that follow necessarily from stated evidence.
- Vocabulary in context: the meaning that fits the sentence, not the most common dictionary sense.
- Tone and purpose: is the writer informing, arguing, cautioning, or comparing?
- Structure: how paragraphs build - problem then solution, claim then evidence, cause then effect.
Traps that appear
- Options that are true generally but not in this passage.
- Overstated answers using words like always, never, all when the text says often or some.
- Vocabulary distractors matching a familiar meaning rather than the contextual one.
- Inference options that go one step beyond the evidence.
Worked example
Passage: "Although the town's new recycling scheme raised participation sharply in its first year, officials caution that the cost per household remains higher than the old system." Question: What is the officials' attitude? The word although signals a concession, and caution signals reservation: they welcome participation but flag cost. The best answer is supportive but concerned about expense, not "opposed to recycling". Rule of thumb: locate the sentence, then let signal words (although, however, therefore) steer your choice.