Find the main idea, make inferences that stay within the text, and choose the evidence that proves a claim.
Goal: find the main idea, make inferences that stay within the text, and choose the evidence that proves a claim.
Help: do all of this alone or with your family. You do not need a tutor or teacher. The Forms score your answers, and the answer key explains every choice.
How it works: work down the page in order. When you reach a Stop here line, you are done for that day.
Get these ready:
Why it is built this way: a major review of study methods rated practice testing and spacing your study over time as the two most useful methods.
| When | What to do | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Sitting 1 | Try First Check, Part 1, then Game 1 | 30 minutes |
| Sitting 2, two or three days later | Replay Game 1, then Parts 2 to 4, then Game 2 | 30 minutes |
| Sitting 3, about a week after Sitting 1 | Replay Game 2, then Game 3, Part 5, and the Exit Check | 30 minutes |
| Return day, one to two weeks later | Replay one game, then retake the Exit Check | 15 minutes |
A family member does not need to know the answers. They can run the timer, read the game items out loud, and ask, "Which words in the text prove that?"
Answer all 5 questions before you read anything below. Mark how sure you are on each one. It is fine to miss some, because trying first helps you remember the answers later. When you submit, choose View score and read why each answer is right or wrong. Write your score on the My Scores tab of your tracker.
Trouble with the box? Open it in its own tab.
Got 5 out of 5? Skip Part 1 and go to Game 1.
A main-idea question asks what the whole text is about, in one sentence. Every sentence in the text should fit under it.
| Trap | What it means |
|---|---|
| Too narrow | It is true, but it covers only one detail. |
| Too broad | It is bigger than the text. The text does not make this large a point. |
| Too far | It goes beyond what the text supports. |
| Not in the text | The text never says this. |
| Opposite | It says the reverse of what the text says. |
Text. Bamboo grows faster than almost any other plant. Some kinds grow more than a foot in a single day. Builders in several countries now use it for floors and scaffolding because it is strong and replaces itself quickly.
| Step | What you think |
|---|---|
| Read the whole text. | Three sentences: it grows fast, how fast, and how builders use it. |
| Say the main idea. | Bamboo grows very fast, and builders use it because ... |
Your turn: finish the sentence in your own words. Then check the Worked Example section of the answer key.
Read the text, then name how the wrong choice fools you. Set the timer for 3 minutes, or play without it. Choose an answer for each item, then press Check.
Replay Game 1 and try to beat your score.
An inference question asks what must be true, or is likely true, based only on the text. An evidence question asks which fact or quotation proves a claim.
| Question | Ask yourself |
|---|---|
| Is this an inference? | Could someone point to a fact in the text for every part of my answer? |
| Is this evidence? | If this were the only thing I knew, would I believe the claim? |
| Am I unsure between two choices? | Which one adds something the text never said? Cross that one out. |
These are original practice questions. The Form asks how sure you are on each one, scores your answers, and explains every choice.
Trouble with the box? Open it in its own tab.
Prefer paper? Open the printable module doc and answer there.
Read the explanation for every choice, including the questions you got right. Write your score on the My Scores tab of your tracker. For each question you missed or rated 1 or 2, add a row on the My Mistakes tab. Each explanation names the sticking point to choose. Leave the Trap column blank for now.
Read the text, then decide how the statement relates to it. Set the timer for 3 minutes, or play without it. Choose an answer for each item, then press Check.
Replay Game 2 and try to beat your score.
Read the claim, then decide whether the evidence supports it. Set the timer for 3 minutes, or play without it. Choose an answer for each item, then press Check.
With a family member or friend: Take turns. One person reads a claim and a line of evidence, and the other says whether it proves the claim and why.
| Sticking point | Domain | Skill | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main idea | Information and Ideas | Central Ideas and Details | Easy |
| Inferences | Information and Ideas | Inferences | Easy |
| Evidence from a text | Information and Ideas | Command of Evidence | Easy |
No account, or the Question Bank will not open? Use the Practice links: central ideas and details; inferences; command of textual evidence, or the Khan Academy SAT Reading and Writing course.
Answer all 5 questions without your notes. When you submit, choose View score and read why each answer is right or wrong. Write your score on the My Scores tab of your tracker. Add any question you missed to the My Mistakes tab.
Trouble with the box? Open it in its own tab.
4 or 5 right: you are ready for your return day. 3 or fewer right: replay Game 3 and reread Parts 1 and 2 before your return day.
Set your return date. Pick a date one to two weeks from today. Write it on the Next Step tab of your tracker and on your calendar.
4 or 5 right: go to Module 4. 3 or fewer right: open the help for the questions you missed, then retake the Exit Check in a few days.
When you can, use the Student Question Bank: Information and Ideas, Central Ideas and Details, Inferences, and Command of Evidence, Medium. Answer 10 questions in 12 minutes. Add each miss to My Mistakes.