GED Reading Comprehension Practice

Reading questions dominate the RLA test, and most of them come back to one skill: supporting an answer with a specific line of text rather than a general impression.

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“The library stayed open an extra four hours a night that winter. Students filled every table, but so did people with nowhere warmer to sit. The board had planned the change for exam season; it kept the change for everyone.” What is the main idea of this passage?

Main idea versus supporting detail

The main idea is what the whole passage is about; a supporting detail is true but covers only part of it. Wrong answers on main-idea questions are usually accurate statements that are simply too narrow. Ask whether the choice accounts for the last paragraph as well as the first.

In informational passages, the main idea often sits in the final sentence rather than the first, because the writer builds toward it. Read to the end before choosing.

Inference without overreach

An inference is a conclusion the text supports but does not state outright. The GED keeps its inferences close to the surface. If a character checks a schedule four times, the supported inference is anxiety about being wrong — not that he hates his job, which would require information the passage never gives.

A useful test: could you defend the answer to someone holding the passage, using only what is printed? If not, choose something else.

Purpose, tone, and structure

Author's purpose questions usually resolve to inform, persuade, describe, or entertain. Loaded word choice and a clear position signal persuasion. Neutral reporting of facts signals information.

Structure questions ask how a passage is organized: chronological sequence, compare and contrast, cause and effect, or problem and solution. Signal words give it away — first and next mark sequence, however and unlike mark contrast, because and therefore mark causation.

Frequently asked questions

What kinds of passages are on the GED reading test?
About 75 percent informational, including workplace and historical documents, and about 25 percent literary fiction.
How long are GED reading passages?
Typically 400 to 900 words, with several questions attached to each passage.