Reading comprehension questions, with answers

The questions, with answers

1. 1Should you read the passage first or the questions first?

   In short: Glance at the question stems first, without the options, then read the passage once, carefully, and answer from what you read.

   Placement passages are usually short enough to read in full; the risk is reading passively and then rereading for every question. A quick look at the question stems first tells you what to watch for: a main-idea question means following the argument, a detail question means noting where facts sit, and a vocabulary question means marking the word. Leave the options for later, because all but one of them are written to mislead. Then read once, actively, noting in a few words what each part of the passage does, such as setting out a problem, a cause, an example or a conclusion. Answer from those notes and go back to the text only to confirm.

2. 2How do you answer a main-idea question?

   In short: Choose the option that covers the whole passage, and reject options that are true of one part only or claim more than the passage does.

   A main-idea question, also asked as the best title or the central point, wants the one statement that the whole passage supports. Wrong options fail in three ways. Some are too narrow: a true detail from one part of the passage, offered as if it were the point. Some are too broad: a claim about a whole field when the passage discusses one case. And some are outside the passage: a solution or an opinion that sounds reasonable but is never stated. To check, ask whether every part of the passage serves the option you picked. If a part would be left over, the option is too narrow; if the option needs claims the passage never makes, it is too broad or outside the passage.

3. 3How is an inference question different from a detail question?

   In short: A detail question asks what the passage states; an inference question asks what the passage makes certain or nearly certain, without outside facts.

   A detail question points to something the passage says: according to the passage, why did the plan fail? The answer paraphrases a sentence, so find that sentence and match it. An inference question asks what follows from the passage: the answer is not written out, but the text makes it certain or nearly so. The trap is treating an inference as a guess. The right option is usually a modest step from the text, while wrong options overgeneralise (turning some into all), reverse a relation the passage describes, or bring in something it never mentions. If you cannot point to the sentences that support an option, it is not an inference from this passage.

4. 4How do you work out the author's tone or purpose?

   In short: Read the author's word choices and what the passage does, whether it explains, argues, criticises or warns, and prefer measured options to extreme ones.

   Tone is carried by word choice: 'a careful plan' and 'a timid plan' can describe the same plan, one with approval and the other with disapproval. Purpose is what the passage is for, and the verbs in the options name it: to explain how something works, to argue for a position, to criticise a decision, to describe a trend. Read the first and last sentences, where authors usually set up and settle their purpose, and mark any sentence where the author judges rather than reports. Passages in placement tests tend to be measured and explanatory, so extreme options such as furious, contemptuous or ecstatic are rarely right, while critical, cautious or objective are common answers.

5. 5How do you answer a vocabulary question inside a passage?

   In short: Read the whole sentence around the word and choose the meaning it has there, which is often not its most common meaning.

   Passage vocabulary questions test meaning in context, and setters favour words with more than one sense. In 'the report raised a sound objection', 'sound' means well-founded, not a noise; in 'the firm will address the complaint this week', 'address' means deal with, not a postal address or a speech. Replace the word with each option and read the sentence again: the right option keeps both the meaning and the grammar of the original. An option that is a correct dictionary meaning of the word but does not fit this sentence is the usual trap, and the passage often has a nearby clue (a contrast, an example or a restatement) that settles it.

6. 6Why do wrong options in reading comprehension look so convincing?

   In short: Because they reuse the passage's own words while changing its meaning, through an extreme word, a reversed relation or a claim it never makes.

   Distractors are built from the passage's vocabulary, so an option that repeats a striking phrase feels right. Check the meaning, not the words. Extreme qualifiers such as 'always', 'never', 'only', 'all' and 'completely' are a common signal: they turn a claim the passage makes about some cases into one about every case. Reversals swap cause and effect, or who did what to whom. And some options are true in the real world but absent from the passage, which does not make them right. The correct option often paraphrases the passage in fresh words, which is why it can look less familiar than a wrong one.

7. 7How should you manage time on comprehension passages in a placement test?

   In short: Invest in one careful first read, answer the specific questions before the general ones, and move on when a check between two options does not settle the choice.

   Much of the time lost on comprehension goes into rereading, not reading. A focused first read with brief notes lets you answer detail questions by pointing and main-idea questions from the passage's structure. Answer the specific questions first, since you will know the passage better when you reach the main idea and the tone. If a section has several passages and the test lets you move between them, start with the one on a familiar subject. When two options remain, test each against one specific sentence; if that does not settle the choice, pick one and move on, because no single question is worth the time of two.