Reading Comprehension

Other Opinions (somewhat common) *Other Opinion Questions

The critic mentioned in the second paragraph would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements?... X's view differs from Y's in that... -as always the other opinions in question are related to the central issue of the passage -these are questions for which, most of the time, you should have a very good sense of what to expect in a right answer -pay particular attn to wording of the question, for it will give you insight into what to look for in right and wrong answers -RIGHT ANSWERS should be ones that you can do a fairly good job of anticipating --again because the opinions in question will generally be related to the main points of the passage, they should be fresh in your mind. Confirm right answer in text first for accuracy. -WRONG ANSWERS will commonly have one of two characteristics: 1. they will either represent the opposite of the opinion in question 2. they'll go beyond info in the text 3. wrong answers punish those who do not pay attn to spec details

Infer from...? (not common) *Detail Questions

The passage suggests that...Which of the following could we infer? The information in the passage is sufficient to infer which of the following? -inference questions are uncertain in terms of scope based on the question stem, it's unclear whether the inference is related to the passage as a whole or to one or two lines. -quick scan of answer choices to eliminate obvious wrongs -check each component of the most attractive choice or two against the text to make sure that various parts of the passage can be used to support the answer -RIGHT ANSWERS will require very little inference and the more specific the text in question, the less inference required. Right answers are far more typically inferences that fall in line with the thought processes most relevant to the text. -WRONG ANSWERS will require too much inference or they will give themselves away by misrepresenting the text. Use your understanding of the passage structure and detail to get rid of the obvious wrong choices before you do more subtle work of thinking about inferences that are or not reasonably supported.

Infer from a Detail (somewhat common) *Detail Questions

The passage suggests which of the following is true about the relationship between X and Y? In the second paragraph, the author implies that X is... -these questions are very similar to identification questions but the differences between the two are quite significant -questions that require you to infer from a detail require you to understand it contextually and correctly -for inference questions, the right answer will require an inference -RIGHT ANSWERS will not be directly stated in the text and no inference will be required. Right answers do not have the stringent burden of proof that Logical Reasoning answers do. You want an answer that is reasonable to infer based on the given text or nearly matches it. -WRONG ANSWERS are commonly easy to recognize because even for these detail questions, they misrepresent in some way the main thrust of the passage or the author's opinion. All wrong answers are ones that are not inferable. The right answer will jump out at you more than the wrong one. Confirm right..scan for wrong.

Contextual Definition (very common) *Structure Question

The phrase "X" as used in line Y most nearly means... In using the term "X", the author suggests that "Y" is considered to be... -thought process is very similar to thought process required for other structure questions -when asked to define a word or phrase, it is related to the reasoning structure of the passage -use understanding of reasoning structure as main guide -RIGHT ANSWERS will hopefully match, fairly closely, the thoughts you had in any case--this is especially helpful to know if you have trouble pre-phrasing an answer--the right answer should make sense in terms of the role that phrase or sentence plays relative to the passage as a whole -WRONG ANSWERS for these questions are created a few different ways. Authors put in answers that would match correct meanings in different contexts, and they put in answers that match the substance of other parts of the passage. As always, a strong sense of author intention and overall structure is extremely helpful here.

Find an Analogy (not common) *Detail Questions

The relationship between X and Y described in the passage is most like...As described in the passage, X is most similar to which one of the following? -Questions that ask you to find an analogous situation or relationship can either refer back to a secondary detail in the original passage, or to the main subject matter of the main passage. -RIGHT ANSWERS will not always be perfect. Sometimes you may have to pick the answer that does not have all the exact nuances that you felt the original component had. For the answer to be vague is acceptable for most difficult questions, though you shouldn't expect it to be the norm. -WRONG ANSWERS are what really define these answer choices. Each wrong answer choice will have something that is definitely flawed with it. -choose answers that best match the original scenario, avoid answers that go too far

Specific Author Opinion (common) *Author Opinion Question

Based on the passage, with which one of the following statements regarding X would the author agree? Which one of the following best describes that author's attitude toward X? -these questions concern things about which the author definitely has an opinion -hardest questions=author's opinion will be subtle; challenge is to dig the opinion out and understand it clearly before going into answers -RIGHT ANSWERS will typically involve ideas or issues that the author has. If the author's opinion is clear--expect answer to represent that. If answer is subtly--expect the answer to represent that too. -WRONG ANSWERS will often clearly misrepresent the author's opinion, and a strong understanding will often help you get rid of 3/4 of those answers quickly. More attractive wrong answers will: misrepresent the degree of the auth opinion, introduce info that is a bit different from the info presented in the passage. Eliminate one that goes too far or contains a detail not in the passage.

The last of the questions is designed to test your ability to understand the information presented in the text.

For some questions you can identify the answers within the text, for others you will identify info in text and make an inference.

Questions that ask about opinions are very much related to questions that ask about structure.

Opinion that author has or passage presents drives the purpose of the passage. Most common questions are author's opinion.

Author Opinion (very common) *Author Opinion Question

The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements? The author's feeling toward X (main subject) can best be described as... -author's view of the subject matter is always intrinsically tied in to the reasoning structure of the passage, and a strong understanding of the author's views is a necessary component of a strong read. -vague question stems can refer to the author's general opinion (more common) or a more specific opinion the the author holds (less common) -RIGHT ANSWERS will be broad and safe, and in general should match fairly closely to the thoughts you have in your own head. For a minority of passages, the author stays objective and has no opinion--impt to note when passages are written like this. Auth's opinion will be subtle and mitigated. -WRONG ANSWERS are very often on the complete opposite side of the fence--often it states that the author has the exact opposite opinion of the one he does. Other wrong answers will embellish and make more extreme author views--or discuss issues that are not discussed in the passage.

Purpose of a Word or Phrase (very common) *Structure Question

The author most likely describes the theory as "X" in order to... The primary function of the reference to "X" is to... Which one of the following most accurately expresses the primary purpose of the sentence in lines X-X? -These word, clause, or sentence purpose questions, like general and paragraph purpose questions, are direct tests of your ability to see reasoning structure -identify relevant info and think about the purpose of that component relative to the passage as a whole -develop correct habits=eliminating incorrect choices becomes faster and more accurate than simply trying to identify correct choices -RIGHT ANSWERS should almost always match the substance of what you anticipated if you read the passage correctly and understood the purpose of the word/phrase correctly. The most common roles that answers play are related to main pts--supporting, opposing, showing an application, and so on -WRONG ANSWERS are all clearly going to be wrong for at least one of two reasons: 1. They will clearly misrepresent the role that the information plays 2. Or they will misrepresent the actual passage in some way (e.g. subject matter)

The most common questions are those that ask you directly about your understanding of the reasoning structure.

These questions test whether you can identify the main points, describe the organization of the passage, or recognize the tools that certain parts of the passage--whether they be individual phrases or entire paragraphs play.

Purpose of a Paragraph (common) *Structure Question

What is the main purpose of the fourth paragraph? The main purpose of the third paragraph is too... -questions similar to structure questions. -if you have strong initial read, you can anticipate right answer -think about how par relates to passage as a whole and to the paragraphs before and after it -have a clear sense of what to expect in the right answer before moving forward -RIGHT ANSWERS will match, in substance if not in wording, your understanding of how the par fits into the reasoning structure of the passage -WRONG ANSWERS are again the key to answering this type of question quickly and confidently. All wrong answers will be absolutely wrong--rep role in a clearly incorrect way or discuss something that isn't in the passage.

Illustrate (not common) *Other Opinion Questions

Which of the following is an example of X? Which of the following scenarios best illustrates the dangers mentioned by the critics? -unique among Reading Comp because they require you to be critical (they don't) but rather because they req you to relate your understanding to the answer choices. -RIGHT ANSWERS will illustrate the opinion or issue. The right answer will not go out on a limb and present an idea more strongly or more specifically than was presented in the text -WRONG ANSWERS will represent a misunderstanding of the original opinion. Common wrong answers will illustrate the opposite of the original opinion. Work from wrong to right to give you the best answer choice.

Strengthen/Weaken (somewhat common) *Other Opinion Questions

Which of the following, if true, would weaken the author's argument against X? Each of the following could be used as support EXCEPT: -these questions are unique in that they req you to use your reasoning ability -in order to see if an answer strengthens or weakens an argument, you need to first evaluate that argument or opinion critically. -have a clear sense of the argument or conclusion before going into the answers -RIGHT ANSWERS will clearly support or weaken an opinion presented in the text -WRONG ANSWERS will either play an incorrect role or unclear role relative to the opinion

General Organization (very uncommon) *Structure Question

Which one of the following most accurately describes the organization of the passage? -Typically the answers to these questions will break up a passage in terms of its paragraphs, and so you will want to review the purpose of each paragraph quickly before going onto the answers -RIGHT ANSWERS will represent each part of the passage accurately. They are written as a sequence of elements that roughly mimic the organization of the passage--go through list w/o uncertainty -WRONG ANSWERS are what define the question, just like they did the main point questions. They will clearly state the wrong purpose for at least one component of the passage. Eliminate wrong answers.

Main Point/Main Purpose (most common) *Structure Question

Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main idea of the passage? The primary purpose of the passage is to... -Looking for the answer that best represents the passage as a whole and best indicates why it was written -Mpt questions are the most common questions in the section and also the questions for which your initial read should best prepare you -par by par scan of each section if fuzzy -RIGHT ANSWERS are answers that best represent the entirety of the passage -WRONG ANSWERS are the key to your success on main point questions; Wrong answers are consistently easier to see as being incorrect. They typically have 1/2 issues: 1. they will take a narrow component of the passage and hold that up as the mpt 2. the answer will have an error, a detail that doesn't match, or goes beyond the info in the text. 3. really focus on "why" the answer choices are wrong

Identify the Detail (very common) *Detail Questions

Which one of the following statements about X is made in the passage? According to the passage, X is a factor in Y because... The passage contains information to answer which of the following questions? -these questions are designed to test two things: 1. your ability to identify information 2. your ability to understand it -run through the answer choices first and eliminate the obviously wrong choices (there will always be obviously wrong choice) -then go back to the text to try to match the one or two most attractive choices to the information in the text -RIGHT ANSWERS will very closely match the text. Notice the wording in all of these types of questions. The right answer will require no significant assumptions or inferences. -WRONG ANSWERS will often stray away from the text and most attractive wrong answer choices will stray in very reasonable ways.

What is the Scope of the question?

is it a question about the passage as a whole? or is it a question about just one sentence, phrase, or word in the passage?

The General Problem Solving Process (REFER TO THIS)

on page 511

What is the Genre of the question?

the reasoning structure of the passage, the opinions presented in the passage, or the information presented in the passage.