Reading Informational Text
What the questions test
Informational passages ask for the central idea - the one-sentence point the whole passage supports - plus the details that back it up. You also need text structure: description, chronological/sequence, compare and contrast, cause and effect, and problem and solution. Signal words reveal structure ("however," "as a result," "first," "unlike").
Expect questions about author's purpose (inform, explain, persuade, entertain), point of view in nonfiction (whose voice, what bias), text features (headings, captions, graphs, sidebars), and argument: claim, reasons, evidence, and whether the evidence actually fits.
Traps
- Choosing a supporting detail as the central idea. Details answer "for example," not "mostly about."
- Confusing topic with central idea. "School start times" is a topic; "Later start times may improve teen focus" is a central idea.
- Ignoring text features that carry information the paragraph doesn't repeat.
- Accepting a claim whose evidence is off-topic, or an opinion dressed as a fact.
- Calling a passage persuasive when it only explains.
Worked example
An article describes research on teen sleep, quotes a doctor, and ends: "Many districts that moved start times later reported fewer tardies."
Topic: school start times. Central idea: starting school later may help students. Evidence: the sleep research, the doctor's quote, the tardy report. That final sentence is evidence, not the central idea - it supports the point rather than stating the passage's whole focus.
Rule of thumb: cover the passage, state the point in one sentence, then check that every paragraph connects to it. If one doesn't, your sentence is too narrow.