Reading Comprehension Question Types-Form

LSAT reading comprehension problems pretty much look identical to one another. Therefore, the only way to distinguish them is based on what they ask of the examinee. To put it very broadly, reading comprehension problems generally focus on one of two things, the form of the passage or the substance of the passage. It is important for examinees to understand that both form and substance questions will be asked of each passage that the examiner provides. This article addresses the reading comprehension problems that focus on the form of the passage.

Reading comprehension form questions typically require the examinee to step back from the passage and understand the satellite view of what is going on. As such, one of the most frequently seen reading comprehension form questions will require the examinee to state the overall point of the passage. Again, it is important for examinees to understand that these questions require the broadest view of the passage possible. Obstacles can appear because often passages are long enough and filled with many facts and independent conclusions. These smaller issues and conclusions can be confused with the main theme of the passage and distract the examinee from identifying the overriding issue. Additionally, examiners often tempt examinees with answer selections that appear correct, but are either slightly too focused, or slightly too broad. Because reading comprehension problems require selection of the best answer, the examinee must carefully choose the selection that appropriately reflects the overall point of the passage.

Another type of reading comprehension form question requires the examinee to identify the motivation for, or purpose of the passage. This may sound similar to the first type of reading comprehension form problem, and it is. Perhaps the best way to differentiate the two is that the aforementioned overall-point questions focus on the passage, while these motivation questions require the examinee to focus on the author of the passage. For example, if the overall point of a passage has been identified, the motivation for or purpose of the passage is typically seen in how the author gets to the overall point.

Other reading comprehension form questions require examinees to determine the specific purpose of a given paragraph. In answering these questions, it is imperative that the examinee first identify the purpose of the passage as a whole. This is critical because the specific purpose of a given paragraph can only be determined when the overall purpose of the passage is known.

Reading comprehension form questions also may require examinees to identify the author's stance on a particular point or player in the passage. These questions (and more specifically, the answer selections) typically require the examinee to determine whether the author is pro, anti, or neutral on a given thing. This is, however, an overly simplistic representation of the answer choices, which may include such statements as "guarded optimism." Having said this, it is still considered a good practice to begin by broadly categorizing the author's tone and then working on from there.

Finally, reading comprehension form questions include questions that require the examinee to understand the structure of the passage. These questions tend to be fairly straightforward. Unfortunately, they are among the least common reading comprehension question types.