Reading Comprehension
Reading Comprehension
The Reading Comprehension domain tests how accurately you extract meaning from police-related prose: policy excerpts, incident narratives, community notices, and legal explanations. Questions ask for explicit detail, main idea, inference, vocabulary in context, and author's purpose or tone. Passages are short, but answer choices reward precise reading over prior knowledge.
Core rules
- Read the question stem first: it tells you whether to hunt a detail, summarize, infer, or define a word.
- Separate stated facts from inferences. A valid inference must be supported by specific words in the passage, not by what is usually true.
- For main idea, test each option against the whole passage; a detail option covers only one sentence.
- For vocabulary, substitute each choice into the sentence and check surrounding context.
- Watch scope words: all, only, never, must, may. One qualifier can make an otherwise plausible choice wrong.
Worked example
Passage: “Effective July 1, the city's overnight parking restriction on emergency routes expands from 2 a.m.–5 a.m. to 1 a.m.–6 a.m. Residents with a valid overnight permit may park on those routes but must display the permit face-up on the dashboard. Vehicles without permits will be cited; vehicles blocking a hydrant or driveway will be towed regardless of permit status.”
Question: Which statement is supported? A) Permit holders may park anywhere on an emergency route. B) A permit holder blocking a hydrant will not be towed. C) The restricted period increases by two hours. D) Permits must be hung from the rearview mirror.
Reasoning: C is correct. The old window is three hours (2–5); the new one is five hours (1–6), a two-hour increase. A overstates “may park on those routes.” B contradicts “regardless of permit status.” D contradicts “face-up on the dashboard.”
Traps that cost marks
Choosing a real-world truth the passage never states; confusing a supporting detail with the main idea; ignoring “EXCEPT” or “NOT”; picking an extreme answer; guessing vocabulary from its most common meaning instead of context.