Reading Comprehension
Reading Comprehension
The reading comprehension subtest uses passages, often with health or science content, to test main idea, explicit detail, inference, vocabulary in context, sequence, and author’s purpose. The answer must be supported by the passage, not by your background knowledge.
Core rules
- Read the question first when the passage is long. It tells you whether to scan for a detail or reread for structure.
- Locate evidence. For detail items, find the sentence that answers the question and paraphrase it.
- Keep stated and inferred separate. A valid inference follows necessarily from the text; a plausible guess does not.
- Watch scope words. All, always, never, only are usually too strong unless the passage says so.
- Use paragraph function. A first sentence may introduce, a middle paragraph may compare, and a final sentence may recommend.
Worked example
A passage reports that a hand-hygiene campaign reduced unit infections from 18% to 11% but notes that no control unit was studied. Question: “Which conclusion is best supported?” The safest answer is that infections fell during the campaign, not that the campaign caused the fall. Without a comparison group, the passage supports association, not proof of causation.
Traps
Choosing an answer that is true in general but absent from the passage; mistaking an example for the main idea; overlooking a qualification such as in this sample; and selecting an extreme option when the passage is tentative.