Reading Comprehension
Reading Comprehension on the SQU English Exit exam asks you to understand, interpret, and evaluate written texts. Expect questions on main idea, explicit detail, inference, vocabulary in context, author's purpose, and tone. Every answer must be defensible from the passage.
Core rules
- Preview the question stems before close reading so you know which details to track.
- Locate evidence for every choice; underline or mentally tag the sentence that supports it.
- For main idea, test whether an option covers the whole passage, not just one paragraph.
- For inference, choose the smallest logical step beyond the text.
- For vocabulary, substitute each option into the sentence and check nearby contrast or cause-effect cues.
Worked example
Passage: 'Although the library extended weekend hours, undergraduate use of the building fell by 12 percent. Staff suspect that online journal access, not disinterest in study space, explains the drop.' Question: Which option best states the main idea? A. Students no longer need study space. B. Longer hours did not raise building use, possibly because online resources replaced visits. C. The library should cancel weekend hours. D. Online journals are more popular than printed books. Reasoning: The first sentence sets up an unexpected result; the second supplies a suspected cause. B captures both. A overstates 'no longer'; C recommends action not stated; D introduces a comparison not made.
Traps
- Word-matching: an option repeats 'library' and 'hours' but reverses the logic.
- Extreme language: always, never, prove, and impossible usually signal distortion.
- True but irrelevant: a statement may be factually true yet not answer the question.
- Scope creep: answers that discuss the topic generally instead of the passage's claim.