Reading and Writing: how the section works

Reading and Writing comes first on test day, then a break, then Math. It has two modules of 27 questions, and each module gets 32 minutes on its own clock.

How you do on Module 1 decides whether you get the easier or the harder Module 2. Both versions have 27 questions in 32 minutes and run in the same order. What the adaptive second module means for you explains how that works.

Inside a module you can move between questions freely and change any answer. Once Module 2 starts, you can't go back to Module 1.

Every question has its own short passage, usually one paragraph, in the left pane. The question and its four choices sit in the right pane. Nothing carries over from one question to the next, so a passage you didn't follow costs you that one question and no more.

A wrong answer and a blank both score zero, so answer every question.

On the official practice tests, every module runs in the same order. The wording of the question tells you where you are, and each kind has its own lesson.

1. Words in Context opens the module, usually with four to six questions. The passage is a sentence or two with a blank (“Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?”) or an underlined word (“As used in the text, what does the word ‘X’ most nearly mean?”). See Words in Context.
2. Text Structure and Purpose asks what a passage or one part of it does: “Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?” or “Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?” Purpose and function choices start with “To” or “It.” See Text Structure and Purpose.
3. Cross-Text Connections gives you two short texts, labeled Text 1 and Text 2, and asks how they connect, as in “Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the underlined claimSomething a passage says is true, which the rest of it backs up or limits. in Text 1?” Some modules don't have one. See Cross-Text Connections.
4. Central Ideas and Details asks what the paragraph says: “Which choice best states the main ideaThe main point of a passage, which the rest of it supports.Read the lesson of the text?” or “According to the text, what is true about X?” See Central Ideas and Details.
5. Command of Evidence asks which finding, quotation, or piece of data backs up or weakens a claim. With text alone, you'll see “Which finding, if true, would most directly support the researchers' hypothesis?” or “Which quotation from [the work] most effectively illustrates the claim?” When the passage comes with a table or graph, you'll see “Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?” The two kinds come mixed together. See Command of Evidence (Textual) and Command of Evidence (Quantitative).
6. Inferences closes the reading questions. The paragraph stops at a blank, and the question is always “Which choice most logically completes the text?” See Inferences.
7. Grammar starts around question 15 or 16 and usually runs five to seven questions. Every one asks “Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?” so look at the choices to tell them apart. If the words stay the same and only the marks between them change, such as a comma becoming a semicolon, read Boundaries. If a verbA word for what something does or is, such as carry or seem., a pronounA word like “it” or “they” that stands in for a noun., an apostropheThe mark in “don’t” and “the crew’s log,” which stands for missing letters or shows ownership.Read the lesson, or the order of a few words changes, read Form, Structure, and Sense. The two kinds come mixed together.
8. Transitions asks “Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?” The choices are linking words such as “however,” and “for example,” each ending in a comma. See Transitions.
9. Rhetorical Synthesis closes the module. You get a student's bulleted notes and a goal, then “Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?” See Rhetorical Synthesis.

The number of each kind can shift by a question or two from test to test. Hard questions can show up anywhere in this section, so a hard first question doesn't tell you how you're doing.

Most passages are about science or history. These kinds have their own lessons, which help on any question that uses them:

• A passage so packed that you reach the end of a sentence and can't say what it said: Reading dense and technical passages.
• A story or play, under a note like “The following text is from a novel”: Reading literature passages.
• A poem, under a note saying who wrote it and when: Reading poetry. Some poetry questions show no poem at all, only a claim about one and four quotations from it.

Words in Context passages are often a sentence or two, so the module starts fast. The reading questions after them take the most time, and up to two minutes on one of those is fine. From grammar on, the questions go fast again, since each one turns on a single thing.

So the danger is spending so long on the reading questions that you reach the quick ones with no time left. Aim to reach question 14 with at least 16:00 on the clock.

If the clock reaches 12:00 and you haven't reached grammar, guess on the question you're on and click Mark for Review. Then click the question number at the bottom of the screen to open the question list, and jump to the first grammar question. Go back to the passages you skipped once you reach the end.

If you've read a passage twice (about 60 seconds) and still can't say what it means, pick the best choice you have left, flag it, and move on. With 2:00 left, put an answer in every blank.

Pacing each module has the full plan, and When to flag a question and move on covers leaving a question.

On every reading question, go in this order:

1. Read the one-line question in the right pane.
2. Read the passage, then say it back to yourself in one line.
3. Say the answer in your own words.
4. Read the choices.

If you can't say the passage in one line, find the sentence where you lost it and read that one again. A sentence you read straight past leaves a gap, and a wrong choice can fill it with something the passage never said. It'll feel right, too, since you have nothing to check it against.

The notes questions start differently. Read the goal in the question, then only the bullets that goal needs. The notes have no main point to find.

On a grammar question you don't need the whole passage. Look at what changes from one choice to the next, then read the sentence with the blank.

You can highlight or underline words in the passage. Select them, then pick a color or the underline from the small toolbar that appears. It helps most on long passages and on notes, where you're hunting for a few facts. Mark the main point, a turn like “however,” or the facts the goal needs. On a passage short enough to hold in your head, skip it.

You'll need some hard words, but you won't need to know the science or history behind a passage. A technical term is almost always explained where it appears. If one isn't, treat it as a name for whatever the passage says it is or does.

The harder words usually sit in the choices, with nothing nearby to explain them. These say what an author does:

These turn up in passages and choices alike:

“In 2023, rangers closed one trail in a state park to bikes. That summer they counted more ground-nesting birds along it than in any earlier summer. The rangers think the closure may have helped the birds.”

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

The right choice covers the whole paragraph. It says that after the trail closed to bikes, rangers counted more ground-nesting birds there, and they think the closure may be why. Each wrong choice below fails in its own way. To cross one out, you only need the word or phrase the passage doesn't back up.

Words like “all,” “only,” “never,” and “proves” need that same check, but they aren't wrong on sight. Sometimes the passage does say “only.” A choice can also be too weak. If the passage states something outright, a choice that softens it to “may” is wrong.

When you're down to two, read only the words where they differ, such as “some” against “most” or “may” against “does,” and check that word in the passage. If two choices say the same thing in different words, neither one is the answer, since only one choice can be right. Guessing and the answer eliminator shows how to cross choices out on screen.

Start with Reading dense and technical passages, since the reading lessons build on it. Then take the Reading and Writing skill lessons in the order above, which is the order you'll meet the questions. Cross-Text Connections uses a little of Inferences and Command of Evidence, so read its "Read first" links if those are new to you.

Boundaries and Form, Structure, and Sense each lead to shorter lessons on one rule at a time:

• Punctuation: Sentence boundaries and run-ons, Commas, and Semicolons, colons, and dashes.
• Words and word order: Subject-verb agreement, Verb tense and form, Pronouns, Modifiers, and Plurals and possessives.