In the following section, you’ll get an in-depth look at the passages on the Reading Test through four sample passages covering each topic area. You should read these sample passages to gain familiarity with the types of passages on the test.

Our four sample passages are accompanied by descriptions of the question types you’re likely to encounter, along with examples of these questions and methods for answering the sample questions. Our goal in offering you these descriptions and examples is to increase your familiarity with the types of questions on the test. These descriptions are usually not heavy on suggested strategy. As we’ve said before, there aren’t many strategies you can use to answer individual questions on the Reading Test. The best thing you can do to prepare is to know what the test will ask you.

We’ve divided this section into two parts: Prose Fiction first, and the other three tests second. We’ve made this division because the Prose Fiction passage differs the most from the others in terms of how you read it and what you’re reading it for.