Reading Comprehension: Inference and Vocabulary
The largest strand and the trickiest: a dotted box exactly one step past the facts, and a word on a dial that the sentence rotates.
10 topics · 35 questions
Each topic is a path, not a menu: work down it in order and every question builds on the one above. Click any of them to watch the answer draw itself.
Inference: One Step Beyond What Is Stated
- How it worksHow do solid boxes for stated facts and a dotted box one step out keep an inference honest?
- Worked exampleFind what follows from: The restaurant kept its lights on but locked its doors every Tuesday at noon.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't the most interesting conclusion the one a reading test wants?
- Going furtherWhat changes when two separate facts must be combined before the inference appears?
- Ties togetherHow does an inference chain resemble the way a sentence forces one exact word into a blank?
Your turneasy1 of 3
For 16 years the corner bakery has kept its ovens lit and its windows bright on Tuesday mornings. At noon on that one day of the week the owner turns the lock, hangs no sign, and answers no knock. Deliveries still arrive on Tuesday afternoons, and the crates are gone by Wednesday. The neighbours long ago stopped asking. Which inference does the passage support?The Over-Reach: Two Steps Too Far
- How it worksHow do words like always, never, proves and only push a choice off the edge of the evidence?
- Worked exampleWalk me through why moths will win over-reaches a text saying some moths now jam bat sonar.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't a strong claim wrong simply because it is strongly worded?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Recording in 7 caves, researchers found that certain tiger moths answer a bat's hunting call with clicks of their own. The clicks arrive at the moment the bat is judging distance, and in those caves the bats' final strikes missed more often than they landed. Which statement stays inside the evidence?Comparing and Contrasting Ideas
- How it worksHow do you build a two-column table from a text that describes its subjects in separate paragraphs?
- Worked exampleFind the real difference between two reporters when one covered a single region and one the world.
- Going furtherWhat changes when a writer sets three things against each other instead of two?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Hale spent 16 years filing from one river valley, walking its towns until he knew which mill paid late. Osei filed from 33 countries in the same period, arriving after each crisis broke and leaving when the next began. Both wrote for the same paper, and both took its highest prize. What is the real difference between them?Interpreting and Analysing a Text
- How it worksHow do you read a quotation as evidence for the claim a writer set it beside?
- Worked exampleWalk me through why quoting three complaints from three decades shows problems that changed over time.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't the content of a quotation the same as the reason it was quoted?
Your turneasy1 of 3
To show that the objection had shifted rather than faded, the author quotes three letters to the same newspaper: one from 1964 complaining of noise, one from twenty years later complaining of parking, and one from last year complaining of rents. Why did the author include the three letters?Predicting What Happens Next
- How it worksHow does a pattern set up across three paragraphs let you extend it one step past the ending?
- Worked exampleFind what likely comes next when a text ends with moths jamming sonar and bats shifting frequency.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't the ending you would prefer the ending a writer has actually set up?
- Going furtherWhat happens when a writer breaks the established pattern deliberately in the final sentence?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Across 48 generations the bats hunted at one frequency and the moths learned to jam it. The bats shifted to a second frequency, and within a season the moths jammed that as well. The passage ends with the bats moving to a third. What does the pattern predict?Telling an Inference from a Stated Detail
- How it worksHow does the wording stated versus implied tell you which kind of answer to hunt for?
- Worked exampleWalk me through sorting four choices into stated and implied for a line about editors keeping women home.
- Ties togetherHow does the stated-versus-implied split mirror a definition clue against a logic clue in a blank?
Your turneasy1 of 3
In the 20 years she worked at the paper, editors assigned her only the household page, though she asked twice a year for the courthouse beat and had covered it without complaint during two strikes. Which choice is STATED in the passage?Vocabulary in Context: Most Nearly Means
- How it worksHow does a sentence rotate a word on a dial until only one of its meanings survives?
- Worked exampleFind what checked most nearly means in: The dam checked the river long enough for the town to flee.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't the commonest meaning of a word the answer just because it is commonest?
- Going furtherWhat changes when the tested word is an ordinary word doing an unusual job?
Your turneasy1 of 3
In line 31: The dam checked the river long enough for the town to flee. In line 31, checked most nearly meansWhen the Everyday Meaning Is the Trap
- How it worksHow do you cover the word, read the sentence, and fill the gap with your own word first?
- Worked exampleWalk me through choosing what novel means in: Her novel approach startled every engineer in the room.
- Common mistakeWhy doesn't a choice that fits the word on its own have to fit the sentence around it?
Your turneasy1 of 3
In line 31: Her novel approach startled every one of the 15 engineers in the room. In line 31, novel most nearly meansWorking Out a Word You Do Not Know
- How it worksHow do surrounding clues, word parts and charge combine into a working definition on the spot?
- Worked exampleFind what taciturn means from: Taciturn by nature, he answered every question with a single word.
- Going furtherWhat happens when the clue to a word's meaning sits in the next sentence rather than its own?
Your turneasy1 of 3
In line 32: Taciturn by nature, he answered each of the 11 questions with a single word. In line 32, taciturn most nearly meansWords with Several Meanings at Once
- How it worksHow does the part of speech a word takes in a sentence cut its possible meanings down first?
- Worked exampleWalk me through what bearing means in: The captain lost her bearing once the fog closed in.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't the meaning a word usually carries in science its meaning in an everyday sentence?
- Going furtherWhat changes when two meanings of the same word both make sense where it sits?
Your turneasy1 of 3
In line 30: The captain lost her bearing once the fog closed in and held for 9 hours. In line 30, bearing most nearly meansAP®, SAT® and PSAT/NMSQT® are trademarks registered by the College Board (PSAT/NMSQT® jointly with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation). ACT® is a registered trademark of ACT Education Corp. GRE® is a registered trademark of ETS. LSAT® is a registered trademark of the Law School Admission Council. MCAT® is a registered trademark of the Association of American Medical Colleges. ISEE® and SSAT® are registered trademarks of their owners. None of these organizations is affiliated with, or endorses, Jentoo.