Critical Reading Tutorial Types of Questions The critical reading questions can be grouped together by type. If you understand the type of question and its properties, it will be easier for you to come up with the right answer. To make it simple, we've outlined the six major types of questions, and for each question we've provided you with a set of strategies you can employ. 1) Main Point Questions These questions ask you what the main idea is behind the passage. Your job is pick the answer which best describes the main thrust of the material. 2) Particular Details These questions ask you about specific details in the passage and test your comprehension of exactly what the author is saying. Your job is to understand what the author states explicitly. 3) Inferences These questions ask you to deduce what the author means. To answer this correctly, you cannot rely on an explicit statement the author makes, but instead you must determine what the author's statements imply. 4) Attitude These questions ask you to identify the tone or attitude present in a passage. Your job is to grasp the emotional state of the author or characters in the passage and come up with the correct answer. 5) Meaning These questions ask you the meaning of specific words found within the passage. The meaning is usually context sensitive. So in order to determine the correct meaning, you have to understand the context in which the word is being used. 6) Organization These questions ask you to identify a passage's technique or method of organization. Your job is to recognize how a passage develops and what structures are used. Introductions Are Important The introductions typically appear at the beginning of the critical reading passages and are often italicized. A lot of test takers skip these introductions. Don't make this mistake. The introductions are a valuable tool. They provide you with an overview of what the passage will be about. This allows you to better absorb and understand the content when you read through it. Line Numbers Another useful tool is the lines numbers. They are often listed on the left-hand side of each passage. Questions often refer to specific line numbers. Don't ignore these numbers. It's much easier to locate a section of the passage using a line number than searching for a phrase or a key word. Whenever possible, use the line numbers to navigate the material, rather than trying to remember what you read and where you read it. The fact is that in many standardized tests the passages have grown longer over time, making line numbers an increasingly important tool. Focus on What You Know Whenever you're given a choice between two passages, always choose the one with familiar subject matter. You're much more likely to comprehend what a passage is about if you have some knowledge of the topic. If your hobby is computers and you see a passage about computers, you might want to tackle this one first. In the same vein, don't be afraid to skip over questions that are difficult or unfamiliar and focus on questions you know how to answer. This will help you gain insight into the passage. Then go back and answer the more difficult questions later, once you have a better understanding of what the passage is all about. Read First, Answer Second It's tempting to go straight to the questions before reading the passage. Many students feel this will save time. They think that if they have the questions in their head before reading the passage, they will spot the answers as they read. Don't fool yourself. Having the questions in your head only makes it more difficult to comprehend the passage when reading it for the first time. It's far better to approach the passage with a clear mind, instead of trying to juggle the questions, look for answers, and absorb the material all at the same time. You'll wind up saving far more time by simply reading the passage over, focusing all of your attention on the material, and then going through the questions, one at a time, and if necessary, referring back to the passage to clarify your understanding. Don't Worry About The Time Reading the passages can seem daunting. They loom large on the page, and you may feel that if you don't hurry up and get to the answers, you'll never finish the test in time. This is the wrong attitude. By rushing through the passages, you'll keep yourself from absorbing the material you need to know to answer the questions correctly. It's far better to slow down and focus on the material. Take whatever time you need to really understand what it is saying. As you begin reading the passage, a good strategy is to try and anticipate what it will be about. This puts your mind in the right gear. Be actively trying to decipher the passage as you would a puzzle. Don't think about anything else. If you do this, by the time you reach the end of the passage, you should be prepared to answer the questions. You'll find that by reading the passage carefully, you won't have to go back to answer many of the questions, and when you do have to return, you'll have a better idea of where to go and what the answer to the question will be. And most importantly, you won't have to reread the entire passage to get at an answer. In other words, you save time by spending time. So think of the time you spending reading as an investment that will payoff when you reach the question/answer phase. Answer Everything It's always best to answer all the questions about a passage. This said, it's okay to skip questions that are too difficult to answer. Just remember to come back to those questions before moving on to the next section. One thing you'll find is that by answering the easier questions first, you'll gain insight into the passage that may help you answer the more difficult ones later on. If you get absolutely stuck on one question and cannot answer it, even at the end, don't waste too much time endlessly rereading the passage. Instead, just pick an answer you feel is correct and move on. Notations Making notations is a popular approach. You may want to underline and circle key words and phrases as you read through the passage. While this can help you highlight particular ideas, don't overuse this technique. If you clutter up the passage too much with marks and scribbles, it will become difficult to read and the markings will actually distract you from the content. Thesis Sentence When you begin analyzing a passage, always keep an eye out for the thesis sentence. This is the sentence which articulates the author's main idea. Typically, the thesis sentence comes at the beginning of the passage. Make sure to read the first sentence very carefully. This is usually the thesis sentence, and it can tell you a great deal about where the author is headed with the paragraph and what you should be looking for. Often, the author puts forth an argument in the first sentence, and then goes on to support that argument throughout the rest of the passage. This is why it pays to read the first sentence over several times to make sure that you understand it before moving on. To spot the thesis sentence, look for words like "significantly," "furthermore," "importantly," "notably," and "moreover." These are flags that indicate a thesis sentence, or at the very least, a key idea. Whenever you encounter a flag like this, take time to digest the sentence and grasp its full meaning. This said, not all thesis sentences are obvious. In fact, many times the thesis sentence is implied, rather than stated directly. If you can't determine the thesis sentence, you may want to ask yourself the following questions: 1) What is the author really talking about? 2) What particular point of view is the author taking on this material? 3) What is the passage all about? Conclusion The next most important sentence in the passage is the conclusion. This is usually the last sentence of the passage, and it is here that the author sums up his/her thoughts, making a final point. It pays to read the conclusion several times over to make sure that you fully understand its meaning. This will be important when answering the questions. If you get stuck on a question, it may be wise to go back and review the first and last sentences of the passage, just to make certain that you grasp what they are trying to convey. This can help break a logjam on the questions. Key Words for Questions When answering the questions, a few key words pop up over and over again. It's smart to know what these words mean, so that you can answer the questions accurately. It can't hurt to memorize the following words and practice reading them in context: bolster = to support; of morale, theories, etc. clarify = make free from confusion or ambiguity; make clear delineate = determine the essential quality of depict = give a description of discredit = reject as false; refuse to accept elucidate = make clear endorse = be behind; support or vote for exemplify = clarify by giving an example of illustrate = clarify by giving an example of refute = overthrow by argument, evidence, or proof rebut = prove to be false or incorrect As you can see, above we provided you with the key words and their meanings as typically used on standardized exams. These words also have other meanings, but for our purposes, the definitions shown above are the most appropriate. Technical Terms Another set of words you should memorize are the technical terms used within the questions to describe the author's technique and/or style. Below we've shown the most common words used: abstract = summary of the main points of an argument or theory analogy = drawing a comparison to show a similarity antithesis = juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas argumentative = given to or characterized by argument assertion = act of affirming or asserting or stating something cite = make reference to evidence = knowledge on which to base belief explanatory = intended to explain or make clear expository = serving to expound or set fourth generalization = reasoning from detailed facts to general principles juxtaposition = positioning close together (or side by side) narrative = an account describing incidents or events persuasive = capable of convincing premise = set forth beforehand, often as an explanation rhetorical = concerned with effect or style of writing and speaking statement = a fact or assertion offered as evidence thesis = an unproved statement put forward as a premise Choosing a Title A common question in the critical reading section of a standardized exam is to ask the test taker to choose a title for the passage. This is more difficult than it sounds. Often the choices given all relate to the material, but the key is picking the most appropriate one. To accomplish this, you should think about the passage as a whole and ask yourself what it is all about? What point is the author trying to make? In other words, the title should encapsulate the theme of the passage. Many students make the mistake of picking a title that is too narrow. It seems to work, but it leaves out essential information. It's not enough to choose a title that represents the first three paragraphs but excludes the main point of the latter paragraphs. The title you pick cannot leave out a key idea made in the passage. On the other hand, some students are tempted to choose a title that is too broad. It also appears to make sense, but a broad title often is too vague or general to be the best choice. Your goal is to pick a title that sums up the entire passage and yet is specific in nature to the passage. A title that is so broad that it could work for a number of passages is clearly not a good choice. A common trick many standardized exams use to get you to pick the wrong answer is to take words directly out of the passage and use them in the possible titles. Answers which contain text taken directly out of the passage are usually, but not always, incorrect. Just be careful whenever you spot text from the passage appearing in a possible title. It's a red flag. Skimming Questions often ask about a specific phrase or line within a passage, and your job is to find the word or group of words within the passage that directly support the answer. A good technique for answering questions about details within a passage is to skim the passage with eye for key words found within the questions. This strategy is the best way to locate the exact information you'll need to answer the questions correctly. Here's how skimming works: 1) Identify key words in the possible answers. 2) Quickly run your finger down the passage, searching for words that either match the key words or are synonyms of the key words. 3) As soon as you find a match, reread the paragraph containing the key words, then go back to the question and see if the answer with the same key words really make sense. 4) Beware that sometimes the answers may contain key words in order to mislead you. It's not enough just to find a match. You have to make sure the material in the passage that the key words are pointing to makes sense as an answer. If you see phrases like "according to the author" or "according to the passage," you can be pretty sure that it is a detail question, and that it requires you to find out what is explicitly stated within the passage. This is when it's best to use the skimming technique. However, if the exam provides line numbers, then you might not need to skim. Skimming should only be used when the exam fails to provide line numbers as a reference. Mood and Tone Questions about the mood and tone of a passage require you to gauge what the author is trying to express in terms of feeling, values and/or pictures. The key to answering these questions correctly is knowing what words authors use to convey mood and tone. Often the words tie into the senses in some way, like aromatic or deafening or painful. Other times they express a mood like serene or tempestuous or carefree. The author may even use words like generous or kindhearted or parsimonious. Anything which leaves the reader with a sense of the author's attitude can be considered key words for expressing the mood and tone of a passage. When reading, keep an eye out for these words. They will give you a strong sense of the author's point of view and paint a mental picture of what the author is trying to get across. Strong imagery or descriptive phrases tend to help set the tone and mood of a passage, and these are what you should take note of when answering any questions about the attitude or tone of the passage. But how do you spot mood/tone questions? The best way is to look for the following key words, which tend to pop up whenever mood/tone questions are asked: aloof = remote in manner ambivalent = uncertain or unable to decide what course to follow brusque = marked by rude or peremptory shortness capricious = determined by whim rather than reason cautionary = serving to warn compassionate = share the suffering of condescension = lack of respect by patronizing the recipient cynical = believing the worst of human nature defensive = an attitude of defense detachment = avoiding emotional involvement didactic = instructive especially excessively disdain = lack of respect accompanied by an intense dislike disarranging = disturb the arrangement of dispassionate = unaffected by strong emotion or prejudice esteem = a feeling of delighted approval and liking fervid = characterized by intense emotion flippant = showing inappropriate lack of seriousness grudging = bear a grudge; harbor ill feelings hypocritical = professing feelings or virtues one does not have indifferent = marked by a lack of interest ironic = humorously sarcastic or mocking judicious = characterized by good judgment or sound thinking nostalgia = longing for something past objective = undistorted by emotion or personal bias optimism = the optimistic feeling that all is going to turn out well pedantic = marked by a narrow focus pessimism = the feeling that things will turn out badly pomposity = lack of elegance due to inflated self-importance pretentious = of a display that is tawdry or vulgar propensity = an inclination to do something prosaic = not fanciful or imaginative resigned = accept as inevitable sarcasm = witty language used to convey insults or scorn sardonic = scornful and mocking satirical = exposing human folly to ridicule skeptical = marked by or given to doubt trite = over familiar through overuse whimsical = determined by chance or impulse or whim wistful = full of longing or unfulfilled desire The above definitions tend to be the most common for mood and tone questions, but they are not the complete definitions. If you want a complete definition for each word, please use your dictionary. Multiple Meanings Most words have more than one meaning. Just look at the dictionary definition of the words on the word list we provide, and you'll see that there are meanings you've probably never heard of. In the critical reading section of many standardized exams, you might be asked to determine the meaning of a particular word based on the context in which that word is used. The key to answering correctly is understanding the discourse that surrounds the word and helps to determine its interpretation. A lot of students make the mistake of picking the meaning they know. The majority of times, this isn't the correct answer. The designers of standardized exams want to test you to see if you know the meaning of the word as it is used in the passage, not the most common meaning. That is why you should always go back to the passage and review the section where the word appears -- just to make certain you have the right meaning in mind before answering the question. Inference Questions Inference questions can be some of the most difficult to answer correctly because they ask you to draw your own conclusions based on what the author has said. This is similar to detective work. You have to comprehend the material and determine what it implies or states indirectly. When you encounter an inference question, it's a mistake to try and search through the passage to find out what the author explicitly said about the subject. That's not what the question is asking. Instead, you have to determine what was indirectly expressed about the subject and then infer what was meant by that. This involves looking for clues within the passage that can help you to deduce the correct answer. The key is to use your own judgment, not what the author explicitly states, to draw your conclusions. To do well on the critical reading section, you must be able to spot inference questions when they appear. The best way to do this is to look for key words that tend to show up within inference questions. Below are some of the most common key words: criterion = a basis for comparison deduce = conclude by reasoning; in logic derive = reason by deduction; establish by deduction excerpt = a passage selected from a larger work extrapolate = draw from specific cases for more general cases implication = something that is inferred imply = express or state indirectly inferred = draw from specific cases for more general cases likelihood = the probability of a specified outcome plausible = within the realm of credibility suggestive = tending to suggest or imply tentative = under terms not fully worked out or agreed upon Double Passages Double Passages tend to strike fear into the hearts of test takers. But don't panic. They're not as difficult as they might appear. The key to dealing with double passages is to take the following step-by-step approach: 1) First, carefully read the italicized lines introducing both passages. This will give you a good overview and allow you to anticipate what both passages are about. 2) Next, take note of the line numbers (if they are available). The line numbers typically continue through both passages. If one passage ends on line 37, the next one begins on line 38. This doesn't mean they are a single passage. They are still two separate passages. 3) Don't jump back and forth between the passages. This is a big mistake that many first-time test takers make. If you try to jump back and forth while reading them, you'll only wind up confusing yourself. Instead, start with the first passage and read it all the way through. Only when you're done and you feel you have a solid grasp of the meaning should you move on to the next step. 4) Do NOT go to the second passage. Instead skip ahead to the questions. You will notice that the questions are divided up by passages. The questions about first passage will appear first, and the questions about the second passage will appear next. You can often spot the division by looking at the line numbers. 5) Answer all the questions about the first passage. 6) Now go to the second passage and read it all the way through. 7) Answer all the questions about the second passage. 8) After the questions about the second passage are done, you will see questions that pertain to both passages. Answer these to the best of your ability, and if necessary, go back and reread or skim the passages. This strategy works best, and it will keep you from getting confused and bogged down. Sometimes the creators of standardized exams mix up the questions. For example, they may place a few questions pertaining to both passage right up front. Don't let this get in the way. Look at each question, and if it's not about the passage you just read, then skip it. Find all the questions about the first passage and answer them first -- even if they are out of order. Do the same for the second passage. Then go back and answer the questions pertaining to both passages. It's that simple. The only thing to watch out for whenever you skip a question is that you also skip ahead on your answer sheet. Some test takers forget to skip head on their answer sheets and they inadvertently fill in the wrong answers. The best way to avoid this type of mistake is to practice over and over, reminding yourself every time you skip a question to also skip ahead on your answer sheet -- until it becomes second nature. Positive Approach When writing both passages and questions, the creators of standardized exams take special care not to insult anyone. Remember, all types of people, with every possible type of religious beliefs and ethnic backgrounds, will be taking these exams. Consequently, the exams are designed not to disparage anyone's beliefs or ethnicity. If you keep this mind, it can help you answer the tone and attitude questions properly. For example, if a passage is about a particular group (whether it be Catholics, Native Americans, Muslims, African Americans or any other group), the text will never contain anything insulting or inflammatory. The creators of standardized exams always remove any reference, even in historical passages, that may be construed as prejudiced or offending. This means that when you are choosing an answer relating to an ethnic group or religion or minority, you can almost always be certain it is a positive or neutral statement. If you realize this, it can help you to quickly grasp the point of view of the author on many of the more complex passages.