ISEE Reading Comprehension flashcards
ISEE Reading Comprehension · Build recall with a focused review session.
32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Main idea
- The central point that the entire passage develops and supports; it must account for all major paragraphs, not just one section.
- Theme
- A general insight about life or human nature revealed by the passage; it is broader than a summary of events and is often implied.
- Too-narrow distractor
- An answer choice that is true according to the passage but covers only one detail or paragraph, so it cannot be the main idea.
- Scope test
- A strategy for main-idea questions: check whether the statement covers the whole passage without adding unsupported claims.
- Explicit detail
- Information directly stated in the passage; the correct answer can be verified by locating the exact words or a close paraphrase.
- Keyword scanning
- A method for detail questions: find a distinctive word from the question in the passage, then read the surrounding sentences.
- Absolute language warning
- Words such as all, never, only, and always in an answer choice must be matched by equally absolute language in the passage.
- False combination
- A distractor that joins details from two separate parts of the passage to suggest a relationship the passage never states.
- Valid inference
- A conclusion that follows necessarily from stated evidence plus common knowledge; it is a small logical step beyond the text.
- Implied cause
- A cause-effect relationship the passage suggests through events or wording without stating it directly; a common inference target.
- Unsupported plausible choice
- An inference answer that sounds reasonable in real life but is not backed by the specific wording of the passage.
- Inference signal words
- Words such as suggest, imply, most likely, and probably that indicate the question requires a logical step beyond the text.
- Context vocabulary
- A question type asking for a word's meaning as used in the passage, which may differ from its most common dictionary meaning.
- Substitution test
- A method for vocabulary questions: replace the word with each answer choice and check whether the sentence remains logical and natural.
- Contrast clue
- A signal word such as but, although, or however that indicates a word's meaning is opposite to a nearby word or idea.
- Technical meaning
- A specialized sense of a word used within a subject area, which may differ from its everyday meaning in the passage.
- Author's purpose
- The reason the author writes: to inform, persuade, entertain, or explain; it is identified from the passage's overall effect.
- Tone
- The author's attitude toward the subject, revealed through word choice, imagery, and sentence structure rather than stated directly.
- Intensity match
- The requirement that an attitude choice match the strength of the passage's language, such as mildly concerned versus alarmed.
- Irony
- A device in which the author says the opposite of what is meant; detect it by a contrast between wording and content.
- Persuasive diction
- Emotional or evaluative word choice, rhetorical questions, and calls to action that signal an author's intent to persuade.
- Chronological structure
- Organization by time order, marked by transitions such as first, then, next, and finally; common in narratives and historical passages.
- Compare-contrast structure
- Organization that shows similarities and differences, marked by words such as similarly, unlike, both, and however.
- Cause-effect structure
- Organization that explains why something happened and what resulted, marked by because, therefore, as a result, and consequently.
- Paragraph function
- The role a paragraph plays in the passage, such as introducing a problem, providing evidence, or offering a counterargument.
- Rhetorical question
- A question asked for effect rather than for an answer, often used to engage the reader or emphasize a point.
- Analogy
- A comparison that clarifies an unfamiliar idea by showing how it resembles something more familiar to the reader.
- Paired-passage relationship
- The connection between two passages, such as agreement, disagreement, or one passage illustrating the other's general claim.
- Cross-passage response
- A question asking how one author would respond to the other; answer using only views expressed in the named passage.
- Point of conflict
- The specific issue on which two passages disagree; identifying it prevents overgeneralizing that the texts disagree on everything.
- Synthesis
- Combining details from two parts of a passage or from two passages to draw a conclusion neither part states alone.
- Dual-evidence requirement
- The rule that a cross-passage answer must be supported by evidence from both texts, not from only one of them.