SHSAT Reading Question Types

Reading points on the SHSAT Reading section 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 four basic question types in the SHSAT Reading section: Global, Detail, Function, and Inference questions.
 

Global questions either ask you to choose a correct summary of the passage as a whole or to identify key information and ideas within the passage.
To answer Global questions successfully:

• Identify the central idea or theme of the passage
• Do not reread the entire passage
• Use your Roadmap as a brief summary

Avoid these major wrong answer traps when answering Global questions:

• Out of Scope—the answer includes information that is not in the passage
• Misused Detail—the answer is a true statement from the passage, but it doesn’t answer the question
• Extreme—the answer takes a stronger position (often more positive or more negative) than the passage takes

Detail questions ask you to track down a piece of information directly stated in the passage, so you will not have to make any inferences as you answer these. Remember that you will not (and should not!) remember every detail from your reading of the passage. Your Roadmap can help you find the location of the detail in question; then, you should research the passage text to answer Detail questions.
You can recognize Detail questions because they will often use wording like “According to the passage/ author,” “The author states,” or “The passage makes clear.” These questions will almost never have phrases such as “The author suggests” or “The author implies,” which indicate an Inference question.
To answer Detail questions successfully:

• Use line references or specific phrasing in the question to find the relevant section of the passage
• Quickly skim through the relevant section to find specific evidence for your prediction; you should be able to put your finger on the exact information required to answer the question
• Rephrase the evidence in the passage in your own words to make a prediction and find a match among the answer choices

Avoid these major wrong answer traps when answering Detail questions:

• Misused Detail—the answer includes details that are directly from the passage but are unrelated to or do not answer the question
• Distortions—the answer includes details from the passage that are altered to be partially incorrect

Function questions ask about the purpose of a particular part of the passage. They can ask about the purpose of any of the following:

• a word
• a sentence
• a paragraph
• a detail
• a quote
• punctuation

To answer Function questions successfully:

• Focus on the author’s reason for including the cited feature
• Take note of any transition words, and read around the cited text to get context and an understanding of the author’s reasoning

Avoid these major wrong answer traps when answering Function questions:

• Distortions—the answer includes details from the passage that are altered to be partially incorrect
• Out of Scope—the answer includes information that is not in the passage

An Inference question, like a Detail question, asks you to find relevant information in the passage. But once you’ve located the details, you’ve got to go one step further: to figure out the underlying point of a particular phrase or example.
To answer Inference questions successfully:

• Look for clues that show how the author connects relevant details within the passage
• Consider how the author’s point of view limits the range of what could be true

Avoid these major wrong answer traps when answering Inference questions:

• Out of Scope—the answer includes information that is not in the passage
• Extreme—the answer is too extreme to reflect the author’s purpose
• Misused Detail—the answer is a true statement from the passage, but it doesn’t answer the question