The Questions

As you already know, Reading points come from answering the questions, not simply reading the passages. This doesn’t mean that it
is not important to approach the passage strategically—it is. However, if you do not answer the questions correctly, the passage
hasn’t done you much good.

There are three basic question types in the Reading section: Main Idea, Detail, and Inference questions.

SUMMARIZING SENTENCES

A key strategy for Main Idea questions is to look for a choice that summarizes the entire passage—not just a detail that’s

mentioned once, not just a single paragraph, but the whole passage.

Main Idea Questions

A Main Idea question asks you to summarize the topic of the passage.

DON’T STRAY FROM THE TEXT

Detail questions are straightforward—all you have to do is locate the relevant information in the passage. The key strategy

is to research the details by relating facts, figures, and names in the question to a specific paragraph.

Detail Questions

A Detail question asks you to research information that is directly stated in the passage.

1. Which of the following best tells what this passage is about?

A. the history of American landscape painting

B. why an art movement caught the public imagination

C. how European painters influenced the Hudson River School

D. why writers began to romanticize the American wilderness

E. the origins of nationalism in the United States