Reading: Main Idea, Inference, and Purpose
What the questions test
The Reading section asks you to work with short passages like the ones students meet in class - informational text, short fiction, and instructions. Questions fall into a few predictable categories: main idea, supporting detail, inference, vocabulary in context, sequence and organization, and author's purpose.
Main idea vs. detail is the most common trap. A choice can be factually true and still be wrong because it answers "what is one thing the passage says" rather than "what is the passage mostly about." Test a main idea by asking whether it covers the entire passage or only one paragraph.
Inference questions ask what the text implies without stating. Correct answers are tightly supported by the passage; wrong answers sound plausible but require outside knowledge or reach beyond the evidence. Watch for absolute words - always, never, all, none - which usually mark a wrong inference.
Vocabulary in context: return to the sentence, substitute each option, and keep the one that preserves the meaning. A word's most familiar meaning often does not fit.
Purpose answers usually sound like "to persuade," "to inform," "to entertain," or "to explain a process." Sequence questions hinge on transitions - first, then, after, finally - and cause questions on because, since, as a result.
Worked example
A passage describes how a school reduced lunchroom waste. The question asks for the main idea. One option describes the compost bin added in paragraph three. That is true, but it is a detail. The correct choice names the overall change: the school's effort to cut waste.
Rule of thumb: before choosing, ask "could this sentence be the title of the whole passage?"