Reading Comprehension: Mapping, Question Types, and Traps
What the section measures
Reading Comprehension presents three science passages with roughly 50 questions in about 60 minutes. The passages are dense and factual, often drawn from research summaries or textbook-style prose. You are tested on main idea, explicitly stated detail, inference, tone/attitude, vocabulary in context, and application of the passage's logic to a new case.
Efficient approach
Skim for structure before detail: read the first and last sentence of each paragraph and jot a three- to five-word label for each one. That map lets you return to the right paragraph without rereading. Then work questions, using the map to locate evidence. For inference questions, the correct choice requires only a small, defensible step beyond the text; anything requiring a leap is wrong.
Traps
- Outside knowledge. A choice may be scientifically true but unsupported by the passage. Support must come from the text.
- Extreme wording. "Always," "never," and "proves" usually mark incorrect answers when the passage is hedged.
- Scope errors. A true statement about a subtopic that does not answer the question asked.
- EXCEPT questions. Reverse the logic: three choices are supported; find the one that is not.
Worked example
A passage says critics "have been quick to praise the finding, though the underlying data remain thin." A choice describing the author's tone as "enthusiastic" is wrong; the qualifier signals a measured, cautious tone. Match the answer's strength to the passage's own qualifiers.