Reading Comprehension Practice Tests...

If practice makes perfect, then what makes for good reading comprehension practice?

For those continuing from the previous page, let's remember the text and questions we are dealing with, shall we?

California Sea Lions feed on a wide variety of seafood including fish, shellfish and squid. They are excellent predators with a streamlined body and highly sensitive whiskers to detect food. California Sea Lions are highly sociable and gather in large numbers on beaches and coasts.

1. According to the text, California Sea Lions…

a. are playful

b. eat many different kinds of food

c. are found only in California

d. have highly sensitive whiskers to help identify each other

Remember, we've already eliminated two answer choices. C and D were either not mentioned in the text or what we called an opposite.

Now we must choose one of the two answer choices that are left.

As you read the question and then started reading the answer choices, choice A might have seemed like the right answer. But let’s look at this a little more closely, shall we?

Answer choice A seems to be the right answer because we all know that Sea Lions are playful. You’ve seen them in a circus or in a marine show doing tricks and having fun with their trainers, right?

But what does the question ask?

That’s right, "according to the text".

According to the text there is no mention of California Sea Lions playfulness. So answer choice A also falls under the category of ‘not mentioned’.

Be careful! Many times answer choices seem to be correct based on a general knowledge of the subject matter, NOT on what is written in the text. Such answer choices form common traps that you can avoid by reading carefully and by eliminating wrong answer choices.

Now we know the correct answer is B without even having to look at it.

How?

Because we have eliminated all of the other choices.

By learning, understanding and developing these reading comprehension strategies, your exam scores will definitely improve. As you practice these techniques more and more you'll see them save you valuable test time and help you avoid uneccessary traps.

In addition, you'll prove to yourself that they work for every reading comprehension text, not just the example I've shared with you here.

I wish you good success on your exams!

HOME