1 · Inference: one small step
An inference is a conclusion the passage supports without stating it. "Mara checked the clock for the fourth time and drummed her fingers on the desk" supports the inference that she is impatient or anxious.
The right answer is a small step from the text. A choice that needs a big leap, predicts the future, or uses words like "always" and "never" is usually too far.
2 · Prove it
Even an inference answer needs evidence. You should be able to point to the words that support it.
Wrong choices are often possible but unsupported. "Could this be true?" is the wrong test; "Does the passage show this?" is the right one.
3 · Vocabulary in context
"As used in line 7, arresting most nearly means …" The answer is the meaning in that sentence, and the test often picks a word whose usual meaning does not fit.
Cover the word and put in your own: "The painting's arresting colors made visitors stop and stare" means striking, not "taking into custody".
4 · The author's purpose
For the whole passage, ask what the author is trying to do: inform, explain a process, argue a point, compare two things, tell a story, or describe a person or place.
For one detail ("Why does the author mention the 1906 earthquake?"), ask what job it does in its paragraph: an example, evidence for a claim, a contrast, or a turning point.
5 · Tone and attitude
Tone is how the author feels about the subject, shown through word choice. "Ingenious" and "remarkable" signal admiration; "so-called" and "merely" can signal doubt or criticism.
Informational passages are often objective or appreciative. Extreme tones like "outraged" or "despairing" are rarely right unless the language is just as strong.
6 · Figurative language
Similes ("like a lantern"), metaphors ("the city was an oven"), and personification ("the house groaned") make comparisons. The question usually asks what the comparison suggests: an oven-like city is unbearably hot.
In poems, read each line for its literal meaning first, then ask what the image adds: a feeling, a change, or a contrast.
7 · How a passage is organized
Common patterns: problem and solution, cause and effect, compare and contrast, a claim followed by evidence, events in time order, or a common belief followed by a correction.
Signal words help: "however" marks a turn, "as a result" an effect, "for example" evidence, "at first … later" a change.
8 · On the ISEE
For every reasoning question, find the part of the passage it is about before you look at the choices, and decide what you think. Then choose the answer closest to your idea.
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