Reading: Comprehension and Vocabulary in Context
What the questions actually test
Reading items cluster into a few repeatable tasks. Vocabulary in context asks what a word means as it is used in this passage, not its most familiar dictionary sense. Main idea asks you to sum up the whole passage in one sentence; supporting detail asks for information stated in the text; inference asks for a conclusion the text strongly implies but never states. Expect also sequence (what happened first or next), cause and effect, compare and contrast, author's purpose (inform, persuade, entertain, describe), fact versus opinion, and figurative language (simile, metaphor, personification).
Traps worth naming
- True but off-target. An option can be a true statement about the passage and still fail to answer the question asked. Read the stem twice.
- Topic versus main idea. "How volcanoes form" is a topic; a main idea is a full sentence making a claim.
- Extreme wording. Options containing always, never, all, only, or proves are usually wrong; sound inferences are stated with appropriate caution.
- Copy-paste bait. Wording lifted word for word from the passage is often the distractor, not the answer.
- Half-right answers. The first half fits and the second half contradicts the passage.
Rule of thumb
Before looking at the choices, cover them and answer the question in your own words. Then pick the choice closest to what you said. If two choices both seem right, one is usually too narrow (covers only part of the passage) and the other too broad (goes beyond the text); the correct one sits in the middle.
Worked example
Passage: "Mara practiced every morning before school, even on the days her fingers ached." A distractingly literal option - "She hurt her fingers" - is true but misses the point. The inference the text supports is that Mara is determined, because she continues despite discomfort.