PERT Reading cheat sheet

Topic is the broad subject (a word or phrase); main idea is the claim made about that subject (a full sentence). A question asking for the main idea requires a sentence, not a label.

Main idea location check, in order: last sentence of the introduction, first sentence after the introduction, the conclusion, then the first sentence of each body paragraph read as a set.

An implied main idea is confirmed only when at least two or three separate details point to the same unstated claim; a single detail supports an inference but does not establish a main idea.

A detail qualifies as supporting only if removing it weakens the main idea; details that are true but removable are minor and are excluded from summaries.

Valid inference test: the statement must be required by the text. If the passage could be true and the statement false, the statement is speculation, not an inference.

Sequence questions are answered by locating time markers (first, before, meanwhile, after, finally) and ordering events by those markers, not by the order sentences appear.

Cause-and-effect items: the cause answers why something happened, the effect answers what resulted. Reversing the two is the most common distractor pattern.

Summary criteria: covers the whole passage, contains no personal opinion, contains no examples or statistics used only as illustration, and is shorter than the original.

Four context-clue types and their signals: restatement (or, that is, in other words), example (such as, for instance), contrast (but, unlike, however), and cause-effect (because, therefore, as a result).

Denotation is the dictionary meaning; connotation is the emotional charge. Two words with the same denotation can carry opposite connotations, and tone questions usually turn on connotation.

Author's purpose is determined by what the text does, not by its topic: narrating events signals entertain or illustrate, listing reasons signals persuade, explaining a process signals inform or explain.

Tone is the author's attitude; mood is the reader's emotional response. Tone is identified from the author's word choice, mood from the effect of setting, imagery, and pacing.

Text structures and their signals: chronological (first, then, finally), comparison-contrast (both, unlike, whereas), cause-effect (because, leads to), problem-solution (the issue is, one remedy), description (spatial and sensory detail).

Figurative language identification: simile uses like or as; metaphor states one thing is another; personification gives human traits to nonhuman things; hyperbole is deliberate exaggeration; idiom is a fixed nonliteral phrase.

Point of view affects available information: first person limits the reader to one character's knowledge, third-person limited stays with one character, third-person omniscient can report any character's thoughts.

A shift in diction, sentence length, or punctuation inside a passage usually marks a shift in tone or purpose, and questions about structure often target exactly that turning point.

Argument anatomy: claim (the position), evidence (facts, examples, expert statements), reasoning (the link between evidence and claim). A weak link between evidence and claim is a reasoning flaw, not an evidence flaw.

Fact versus opinion test: a fact can be verified by an outside check and stays the same for all observers; an opinion expresses judgment, value, or prediction and cannot be verified.

Bias indicators: loaded language, only one side of evidence presented, no counterargument acknowledged, statistics cited without source, and emotionally charged examples standing in for proof.

Evidence quality is judged on three separate criteria: relevance (bears on this claim), sufficiency (enough to support the claim's strength), and credibility (source has appropriate expertise or experience).

Two-passage comparison sequence: state the shared topic first, then compare purpose, tone, scope, and the kind of evidence each author uses; differences in evidence usually explain differences in conclusion.

Primary sources are firsthand (diaries, letters, raw data, eyewitness accounts); secondary sources interpret or summarize primary material (textbooks, reviews, encyclopedia entries).

Common fallacies to recognize: ad hominem (attacks the person), hasty generalization (concludes from too few cases), false cause (assumes sequence proves causation), either/or (offers only two options), appeal to emotion.

Synthesis requires stating a relationship, not just listing both passages: agreement, partial overlap, direct conflict, or one passage extending the other.