Reading: Main Ideas and Textual Evidence

A reliable method

1. Read the question to identify the task.
2. Summarize the passage before looking at choices.
3. Locate the specific evidence supporting an answer.
4. Reject claims that are broader, stronger, or different from the evidence.

Example 1

A town library extended its opening hours on Tuesdays for a three-month trial. Evening visits increased, while morning visits changed little. The staff plans to repeat the trial during winter before deciding whether to make the hours permanent.

Which statement best expresses the main idea?

1. Every library should stay open all night.
2. An initial trial suggests demand for evening access, but the library wants more evidence before a permanent change.
3. Winter visitors always prefer mornings.
4. The trial caused a decrease in morning visits.

Answer B: An initial trial suggests demand for evening access, but the library wants more evidence before a permanent change.

The passage combines an encouraging result with a cautious next step. The correct answer includes both. The other choices introduce universal claims, an unstated winter preference, or a morning decrease that the text does not report.

Example 2

A field team compared seedlings under two shade conditions. In both plots, soil moisture and seed type were kept the same. Plants in light shade grew taller on average than plants in deep shade. The researchers limited their conclusion to the species and conditions studied.

Which detail most directly supports the claim that shade conditions were the intended comparison?

1. The team kept soil moisture and seed type the same.
2. Some plants can grow indoors.
3. Deep shade exists in many forests.
4. The experiment proves that every species grows best in light shade.

Answer A: The team kept soil moisture and seed type the same.

Holding the named factors constant helps isolate the comparison of shade conditions. The next two choices are outside information, and the final choice exceeds the stated scope.

Common mistakes

• An interesting true statement may still be unsupported by this passage.
• Words such as all, never, and proves require strong evidence.

Practice without the answer first

Practice 1

A historian found receipts showing that a workshop bought the same blue pigment in several different years. Letters from its owner described difficulty obtaining the pigment during one of those years. The historian concludes that the workshop maintained access despite occasional supply problems.

Which inference is best supported?

1. The pigment was inexpensive in every year.
2. The workshop never used any other color.
3. Supply difficulties did not completely prevent the workshop from purchasing the blue pigment.
4. The workshop manufactured all of its pigment.

Practice 2

Students surveyed cyclists who arrived at one park on Saturday morning. Most respondents favored adding bicycle racks there. The students note that their sample did not include people who avoid the park because it lacks racks.

What limitation do the students acknowledge?

1. No cyclist completed the survey.
2. The survey measured rack construction costs.
3. The survey included every resident of the town.
4. The sample may miss people whose views are relevant to the proposal.

Practice 3

Two old maps show a stream following different paths. A later engineering report describes work to straighten the stream between the dates of the maps. Although the mapmakers used different drawing styles, the report provides an independent explanation for the change.

Why is the engineering report important to the argument?

1. It supplies evidence beyond the maps for a real change in the stream.
2. It proves that drawing styles never affect maps.
3. It identifies the cost of every map.
4. It shows that the stream no longer exists.

All passages, questions, and rationales on this page are original Testinar skill practice. They are not official exam material or a complete timed section.