Reading Comprehension and Text Analysis
Reading Comprehension and Text Analysis tests how precisely you can locate information, infer unstated meaning, and analyze how a text is built. Questions typically ask for main idea, detail, vocabulary in context, author's purpose, tone, and logical structure, so treat each stem as a task type rather than a generic instruction to understand the passage.
Core rules and concepts
- Evidence hierarchy: prefer explicit statements, then close paraphrase, then inference. An answer can be true in the world and still wrong if the passage does not support it.
- Structure mapping: label paragraphs as claim, evidence, counterpoint, or example; identify chronology, comparison, cause and effect, or problem and solution.
- Tone and purpose: derive tone from diction and syntax, not from the topic alone. Words such as 'merely', 'unfortunately', and 'warning shot' carry evaluative weight.
- Meaning in context: substitute each option into the sentence and check grammar and surrounding logic, not just the dictionary sense.
Worked example
Passage: 'The committee's report was not so much a blueprint as a warning shot.' Question: What does the author imply about the report? Reasoning: the 'not so much X as Y' construction downgrades X and foregrounds Y. 'Blueprint' means a detailed plan; 'warning shot' means a signal of risk intended to prompt action. Therefore the report warns rather than specifies a plan. An option saying it proposed a detailed plan reverses the contrast; an option saying it criticized the committee adds an agent not stated.
Traps that cost marks
- Choosing the most extreme option when the passage uses hedges such as 'may' or 'some'.
- Confusing the author's example with the author's main claim.
- Importing outside knowledge instead of using textual evidence.
- Matching a repeated word while ignoring the question's focus.