Study guide
The Reading Comprehension section presents dense single passages (often with four or so associated questions) and one set of paired Comparative Reading passages (labeled Passage A and Passage B), drawn from subjects such as law, science, history, and the arts. Question types recur predictably across passages: main point, function of a paragraph or sentence, inference, author's attitude or tone, and, for the comparative set, points of agreement or disagreement between the two authors. Because passages are long and dense, efficient reading strategy matters as much as logical precision.
Reading Strategy: Structure Over Detail
The single biggest efficiency gain in Reading Comprehension comes from reading for structure and function on the first pass rather than trying to memorize every detail, since most questions can be answered by returning to the relevant part of the passage once you know where it is. As you read, track what each paragraph is doing rather than only what it says: is it presenting a traditional view, introducing a complication or revisionist position, raising an objection, or offering a reply to that objection? Passages are frequently organized around a debate structure — an old view, a new view that complicates or revises it, and then a counter-objection with a response — and recognizing this skeleton early makes main-point and function questions almost mechanical. Underline or mentally flag the sentence that most resembles a thesis statement, typically the point where the passage pivots from describing an old position to advancing a new one, since this is usually the anchor for main-point questions. Resist the urge to slow down for proper nouns, technical terminology, or supporting examples on the first read; note only that a list of examples exists and where it is, then return to specific details only when a question requires them.
Main Point and Paragraph Function Questions
Main point questions ask for the passage's overall thesis, and the correct answer must capture the full scope of the passage, not just its opening position or a single supporting detail. A frequent wrong answer restates the traditional or 'old' view that the passage exists to complicate or revise, which a rushed reader may select simply because it appeared first and sounds authoritative; another frequent wrong answer inflates a supporting point from a single paragraph into the passage's central claim, mistaking a vivid detail for the thesis it was offered to support. The correct main-point answer typically balances both sides of a debate the passage presents, acknowledging a qualification or counter-consideration the passage itself raises, rather than stating the revisionist or new view in an unqualified, absolute form the passage never actually adopts. Paragraph (or sentence) function questions ask what a specific chunk of text is doing in the passage's overall argument, independent of its content; common correct functions include raising an objection and then reporting a response to it, supplying evidence for a claim made in a prior paragraph, or drawing a contrast between two named positions. The safest method is to describe the paragraph's job in your own words first (e.g., 'raises a counterargument, then answers it') and then match that description to the answer choices, rather than picking a choice merely because it references the paragraph's topic.
Inference and Author's Attitude Questions
Inference questions in Reading Comprehension follow the same 'must be true' or 'most strongly supported' standard used in Logical Reasoning (see Chapter 4): the correct answer must be directly supported by specific statements in the passage, not merely consistent with its general spirit or plausible given the topic. A common trap choice takes a real claim from the passage and adds a stronger, more sweeping qualifier the passage never uses ('decisively refutes,' 'incapable of any,' 'the single most important'), converting a supported claim into an unsupported one; another trap misattributes a view to the wrong party, such as attributing to the author a view the passage presents only as belonging to critics or to one side of a described debate. Author's attitude or tone questions ask you to characterize how the author (not any quoted party) feels about a position discussed in the passage, and the correct answer is usually a measured, qualified stance rather than an extreme one; passages rarely license 'unqualified enthusiasm,' 'open hostility,' or 'detached indifference,' since an author who bothered to present both a view and a serious objection to it is typically presenting a considered, partial endorsement rather than either extreme. Signals of author attitude include word choice ('revisionists,' 'complicates' vs. neutral description), which position is given the final or closing word in the passage, and whether the author characterizes an opposing objection as serious or as easily dismissed.
Comparative Reading: Agreement, Disagreement, and Shared Assumptions
The Comparative Reading set presents two shorter passages, A and B, on a related topic, typically written from different or opposing perspectives, and asks how the two relate to each other rather than asking about either passage in isolation. Points-of-disagreement questions require finding a claim on which the passages take opposite positions; the trap answers are claims both authors would actually accept (often because one passage asserts the claim and the other simply never contradicts it, which is not the same as disagreement) or claims that are outside the scope of what either passage actually addresses. A reliable method is to identify each passage's core position in one sentence, then test each answer choice by asking whether Passage A's author would agree or disagree, and separately whether Passage B's author would agree or disagree; only a genuine, textually supported split counts as a real disagreement. Shared-assumption questions, by contrast, ask what both passages must presuppose for their (possibly opposing) arguments to work, and the correct answer is typically a claim so basic that neither author would think to state it explicitly, such as a definitional premise underlying both authors' use of a key term. Because the two passages are usually shorter than a typical single-passage stimulus, precise, close reading of each author's exact qualifications and hedges (such as 'in principle,' 'merely,' 'no longer in dispute') is essential, since these words frequently determine whether a claim is genuinely shared, genuinely disputed, or simply unaddressed by one side.
Time Management Across Passages
Reading Comprehension rewards a consistent per-passage pace, since a single passage read too slowly can cost the questions attached to a later, more approachable passage. A practical approach is to budget a fixed reading time for the passage (spent on structure and thesis, not memorization) and then move briskly through its questions, returning to the passage text for specific line or paragraph references rather than relying on memory for detail questions. Comparative Reading passages are typically shorter individually than a full single passage, but the questions frequently require synthesizing both texts at once, so it is often efficient to read Passage A fully, then Passage B fully, and only then attempt questions that require comparing them, rather than flipping back and forth mid-read. When a question stem gives a line or paragraph reference, always reread a sentence or two of surrounding context rather than evaluating the referenced line in isolation, since passage authors frequently use a referenced line to set up a qualification or contrast that appears in the following sentence. If a passage's subject matter is unfamiliar or technical, resist the temptation to reread it multiple times before attempting questions; the questions themselves, and the process of answering them, often clarify exactly which details matter.
Key terms
- Passage structure
- — The organizational skeleton of a passage (e.g., traditional view, revisionist view, objection, response) that underlies main-point and function questions.
- Main point question
- — A question asking for the passage's overall thesis, which must capture its full scope rather than one side of a debate it presents.
- Function question
- — A question asking what role a specific paragraph or sentence plays in the passage's argument, independent of its content.
- Author's attitude
- — The author's own stance toward a position or claim discussed in the passage, typically signaled by word choice, emphasis, and which view is given the final word.
- Comparative Reading
- — A Reading Comprehension format presenting two related passages (A and B) and asking about their relationship, such as points of agreement, disagreement, or shared assumptions.
- Point of disagreement
- — A claim on which two passages take genuinely opposite positions, as distinguished from a claim one passage asserts and the other merely never addresses.
- Shared assumption
- — An unstated premise that both of two passages must accept for their respective arguments to hold, even if the passages otherwise disagree.
- Line/paragraph reference
- — A question stem device pointing to a specific location in the passage, which should be read with surrounding context rather than in isolation.
Exam tips
- On your first pass through a passage, write a 4-6 word label for each paragraph's job (e.g., 'old view,' 'revisionist claim,' 'objection,' 'reply') rather than summarizing its content.
- Treat any main-point answer choice that states only the 'old' or traditional position, with no qualification, as a near-automatic wrong answer when the passage's structure is debate-based.
- For author's attitude questions, eliminate extreme-sounding choices ('unqualified,' 'hostile,' 'indifferent') first and look for the most hedged, qualified choice remaining.
- On comparative-passage disagreement questions, explicitly test both authors against each candidate claim; a claim only one passage discusses is not a disagreement, it's an omission.
- When a question references a specific line, reread at least one sentence before and after it; the answer often depends on a qualifying clause just outside the cited line.
- Don't re-read a dense or technical passage a second time before attempting its questions; use the questions to direct you back to exactly the sentences that matter.