Reading Comprehension and Written Communication
What this domain tests
This domain tests whether you can read testimony, a rule, or a letter and extract the point quickly, then write it back clearly. Reporters summarize for their own files and correspond with attorneys and courts without distorting meaning.
Reading for structure
- Identify the claim, the support, and the qualifier. Words like except, unless, and provided that reverse meaning.
- Track pronouns across long colloquy: “he” may shift from the witness to counsel.
- Separate holding from dicta in a quoted opinion, and fact from argument in testimony.
Writing clearly
- Plain language, active voice, one idea per paragraph.
- In correspondence, use a Re: line with case name, index number, and date.
- Replace “pursuant to the foregoing, it is respectfully requested” with “Please send the certified transcript by March 3.”
Worked example
Original: “In the event that the transcript is not received by the undersigned prior to the scheduled date, it will be necessary for an adjournment to be requested.” Revision: “If we do not receive the transcript by March 3, we will ask for an adjournment.” The revision keeps the condition, the deadline, and the consequence while removing nominalizations. Meaning is preserved; only the packaging changes.
Traps
- Paraphrasing testimony as established fact in a case summary.
- Dropping a negative or a condition while condensing.
- Treating shall and may as interchangeable in procedural writing.