Reading Comprehension
What the questions test
Reading comprehension on a firefighter exam asks you to extract meaning from policies, training bulletins, incident reports, and code excerpts. You must identify the main idea, locate supporting details, follow a sequence of events, interpret vocabulary in context, recognize cause and effect, and draw only the inference the text supports. Pay attention to qualifying words such as shall, may, before, after, except, and not; these words often decide the answer.
Traps to avoid
The most common trap is a choice that is true in real life but not stated or implied in the passage. Another is an extreme answer (always, never, all) when the passage is conditional. Distractors often repeat a keyword from the passage while reversing the relationship, such as swapping cause and effect or confusing a recommendation with a requirement. Do not let outside fireground knowledge override the text. When a question asks for the main idea, reject choices that cover only one detail.
Worked example
Passage: 'Company officers shall complete a personnel roll call within five minutes of arrival at an incident. If a crew member is unaccounted for, the officer shall notify the incident commander immediately and initiate a search.' Question: What is the main idea? A good answer: the passage establishes a roll-call deadline and the required action when someone is missing. A trap answer: 'Firefighters must always search alone' - not stated and contradicts safe practice. A detail-only answer: 'The deadline is five minutes' - true but too narrow to be the main idea.
Rule of thumb
Read the question first, then the passage; underline the sentence that answers it; choose the option that matches both the text and the question's scope.