Reading Comprehension
Passage and question types
Passages are short and work-related: policy excerpts, memos, incident narratives, community notices. Questions ask for the main idea, a stated detail, an inference, a word's meaning in context, the author's purpose or tone, or a sequence/cause-effect relationship. A few flip the logic with EXCEPT, NOT, or "least."
Approach
Read the question stem first so you know what to hunt for, then read the passage marking the sentence that supports your answer. For main idea, the right choice covers the whole passage; a true statement about one paragraph is a detail, not the main idea. For inference, the step from text to answer should be small - if you had to supply a fact from outside, it is wrong. For vocabulary, cover the word, read the sentence, and substitute each option. For EXCEPT items, answer the reverse question, then pick the odd one out.
Traps
- True but unasked: a fact from the passage that does not answer the question.
- The echo: repeats the passage's wording but reverses or distorts the logic.
- Extreme wording: "all, never, only, must" where the passage said "some, often, may."
- Outside knowledge that is plausible in real life but unsupported by the text.
- Scope errors: right idea, too broad or too narrow.
Rule of thumb
Use the one-sentence defense: before you mark an answer, be able to point to the line that proves it. If your defense is "that's usually true," the answer is wrong.
Example: "Officers log each contact in the field system within 24 hours. Supervisors review logs weekly; any contact flagged for use of force is reviewed within 48 hours." Supported: "Use-of-force contacts get a faster supervisory review than routine ones." Unsupported: "All contacts are reviewed by a supervisor within 48 hours" (too broad) and "Supervisors log contacts in the field system" (reverses roles).