ETS has created eight basic types of questions to test reading comprehension skills.

Below, we describe each of these eight question types and provide examples of each. The examples should familiarize you with the most common ways that ETS phrases its questions, and get you thinking about what sort of understanding each question tests.

Main theme, idea, or point questions—which we’ll call main idea questions—test your understanding of the entire passage. The questions do not provide line numbers or specific quotations to focus your search. Instead, they ask broad questions that focus on the passage’s primary issues. It is unlikely that you’ll see more than three main idea questions for a given passage. Often, though not always, main idea questions will be among the first few you encounter.

Main idea questions come in a variety of forms. Below are examples of the most common ones. We include answer choices with each example to give you a better idea of what the question will look like. You shouldn’t be able to answer these questions, since you haven’t seen the reading passage on which they are based. Don’t worry about that. Just study the questions and figure out what they’re asking and how you would have to read the unknown passage from which they came to answer them. If while reading the passage you remain alert to the sorts of general questions that the SAT is likely to ask, you probably won’t have to go back to the passage to answer such questions when you encounter them, thereby saving valuable time.

This type of question tests whether you understand how the author views the subject about which he or she writes. Attitude and tone questions will ask you for a description of the author’s feelings about the subject. As you read these kinds of passages, think to yourself about whether the argument the writer is making seems to support or attack his subject. Also pay attention to the language the author uses, which will help you to determine tone.

As you will see in the examples, the differences between the answer choices are sometimes slight. For example, you might have to choose between “anger” and “disapproval.” Both of these words imply that the author has negative sentiments about what the passage is discussing, so to answer this question correctly you have to determine the intensity of the author’s negative perspective. Is the author enraged, mildly disturbed, or strongly disapproving? If you have one answer choice that describes the author as feeling positive about his subject and one as feeling negative, then you know one must be wrong. If you are unable to figure out the definitive answer to this type of question, you may still have a good chance of eliminating some answers so that you can guess.

In this question, if you know that the author’s attitude toward these people is not negative, you can immediately throw out disgust as a possible answer, and possibly also (E) disbelief.

In this example, the negative answer choices (A) and (B) are direct opposites of the positive (C) and (E). You should definitely be able to eliminate at least two choices simply by determining whether the passage’s tone is positive or negative.

Questions on specific information ask you to find precisely that: specific information. The questions will indicate a section of the passage, usually through the use of line numbers, and ask a question about the information presented within that specific area. The specific information that these questions ask about varies widely, making it difficult to provide you with representative examples covering all possible forms. However, we will provide you with a few sample questions to help you get a feel for the type of information these questions are after.

Because these questions test specific information, you can eliminate an answer only if you know that the information it states is wrong. Sometimes you might be able to eliminate an answer simply because it seems rather flimsy. In the case of the first question, it seems unlikely that a restoration of a painting would suddenly illuminate the great skill of medieval painters, so (B) seems weak as an answer choice. Otherwise, there is no easy strategy for eliminating answers. However, because the answer choices state facts, you should be able to compare what they say with the facts discussed in the indicated section of the passage.

Questions on implied information are quite similar in form to those on specific information. Just as in specific information questions, these questions will identify and inquire about a particular section of the passage. However, whereas specific information questions ask about concrete information contained in the text, implied information questions ask about the less obvious information contained “between the lines” of the text. Often, you will be able to identify these questions through the use of words such as “inferred,” “implied,” “indicated,” or “suggested.”

Each of these examples asks you to discern information that is vital to the passage but that is not offered outright. As you might imagine, questions on implied information are therefore fairly uncommon in science passages, in which the author’s main goal is to be clear and specific. But in passages where the author tries to create a picture or portrait of something, information is often implied, since a straight retelling of facts can be boring.

As with questions on specific information, there is no distinct strategy to help you answer question choices. Some answer choices might simply seem weak to you, but that is a gut instinct more than a strategy. Your best bet is to go back to the passage and see how each answer fits with what the passage says.

These questions test your ability to look at particular lines in the text and identify the underlying assumptions. Alternatively, you might look at these questions as testing your ability to understand how particular lines fit into the larger arguments or themes in the passage. Argument questions are very common, so it pays to be ready for them. Because these questions are so dependent on passages, they vary widely. We will provide you with a number of examples to give you a sense of the types of issues these questions tend to address. Be aware that these examples give a glimpse rather than an exhaustive survey of this type of question.

Each of these examples asks you to look at information within the context of the passage and synthesize it into some paraphrased form that allows you to answer the question. The ability to paraphrase is an important skill in reading comprehension—the better you are at paraphrasing, the better you will be at answering these questions.

Technique questions test your understanding of the nuts and bolts of writing. These questions will ask about how everything from parenthetical statements to full paragraphs function in the passage. These questions might also ask you about the overall structure of the passage.

As you should be able to see from these three examples, structure and technique questions ask about the function of very small units in the paragraph, such as a single word or simple parenthetical statement, as well as larger units, such as the relation between entire paragraphs. Again, other than going back to look at the passage as you answer, there are no easy strategies for eliminating answers. The best way to study for this type of question—and for most reading comprehension questions—is to read widely, question yourself about what you read, and take a lot of practice tests to get the hang of it.

Words-in-context questions follow a very standard form. These questions will provide you with a line number and a word or short phrase in quotes and ask you about the meaning of that word in the context of the passage.

The majority of words-in-context questions look like this:

Unlike most other reading comprehension questions, you can approach these questions in a strategic way that will—at the very least—help you eliminate choices. When you see a words-in-context question, before looking at the answer choices, go to the line number of the passage indicated by the question. Then, turn the question into a sentence completion. Read the sentence that contains the word on which you’re being tested, but ignore the word itself. Come up with a different word or phrase to fill that space. Once you have your synonym in mind, go back to the question and compare your synonym to the answers. When you’ve found a match, you have your answer. In effect, you are building a sort of synonym bridge between the word in the passage and the correct word in the answer choices.

Using this bridge-building method is important because it can help you avoid the tricks embedded in the answer choices. Often, the answer choices will include words that are correct secondary meanings of the tested word. For instance, in the example above, satisfied and subject are both correct meanings of the word content. Remember that these questions are testing the word in context. By going back to the passage and approaching the sentence as if it were a sentence completion, you can take the context into account and make sure that you aren’t distracted by tricky answer choices. Also, by approaching the question as a sentence completion, you can use the sentence completion strategies you already know for eliminating answer choices even if you cannot come up with a definite answer.

Some words in context questions take different forms. The two most common are:

These modified forms should not affect your strategy for tackling the question. Be aware, however, that the answers may be phrases rather than words.

The final questions for the dual passage test your ability to understand the passages in relation to each other. The three most common types of question are:

Which statement best describes a disparity between the two passages?

How would the author of passage 2 react to the concept of “responsibilities of brotherhood” (line 65) described in passage 1?

Which piece of information in passage 2 provides the best support for the “value of friendship and cooperation” (line 80) referred to in passage 1?

While thinking about these questions, you can often uncover a clue to the answers by thinking of the general relation between the passages. For example, if you know the passages disagree completely, you can use that knowledge to assume that the author of passage 2 will feel negatively about the “illicit codes of honor” described in passage 1.