The six kinds of question types, each of which defines a specific task:

• Global-asks about the passage's main idea, the author's primary purpose, or the passage's overall organization

TYPICAL GLOBAL QUESTION STEMS

-The central claim of the passage is that

-Which choice best summarizes the passage?

-The main purpose of the passage is to

-Which choice best describes the developmental pattern of the passage?

-Which choice best reflects the overall sequence of events in the passage?

• Detail-asks about something explicitly stated in the passage

TYPICAL DETAIL QUESTION STEMS

-According to the passage, which of the following is true of developmental psychology?

-The author indicates that people value solitude because

-In the second paragraph (lines 14-27), what does the author claim are key questions the study must answer?

-The passage identifies which of the following as a factor that influences economic growth?

• Inference-asks for something that follows from the passage without having been stated explicitly in it

TYPICAL INFERENCE QUESTION STEMS

-Based on the passage, the author's statement "in response, the Federal Reserve will often lower interest rates" (lines 21-22) implies that

-Which concept is supported by the passage and by the information in the graph?

-Based on information in the passage, it can reasonably be inferred that

-The authors of both passages would most likely agree with which of the following statements?

• Command of Evidence-asks you to cite the support offered in the passage for the correct answer to the previous question or for a given statement

TYPICAL "COMMAND OF EVIDENCE" QUESTION STEMS,

-Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?

-Which choice best supports the claim that the new policy is unlikely to curtail water pollution?

• Function-asks about the purpose of a piece of text-why the author included it or how the author has used it

TYPICAL FUNCTION QUESTION STEMS

-The sentence in lines 35-37 serves mainly to

-The main purpose of the fourth paragraph (lines 42-50) is to

-How do the words "must," "necessary," and "imperative" in the third paragraph (lines 35-49) help establish the tone of the paragraph?

-The author uses the image of an explorer overlooking a valley (lines 23-28) most likely to

-The sentence in lines 74-78 ("After ... rest") primarily serves which function in paragraph 7?

• Vocabulary-in-Context-asks you to define a word as the author used it in the passage

TYPICAL "VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT" QUESTION STEMS:

-As used in line 55, "platform" most nearly means

-As used in line 29, "substantial" most nearly means