What the exam asks
In Read an Academic Passage, you read a passage of about 180–230 words and answer 5 four-option multiple-choice questions. Some questions are direct detail or vocabulary questions, but the tougher ones ask you to:
- infer something the passage supports but does not say directly
- explain why the author mentions an example, study, or sentence
- identify the relationship between ideas
- recognize how the passage or paragraph is organized
- judge the author’s attitude or certainty from wording
These questions are especially important in the harder second module of adaptive Reading, because they separate careful readers from fast but literal readers.
Core ideas
Inference means “supported, not imagined”
A correct inference is the most careful conclusion that fits the text.
Use this rule:
If an option:
- goes further than the passage,
- uses stronger language than the author,
- reverses cause and effect, or
- adds outside knowledge,
it is usually wrong.