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Think of a Story Timeline (test taking tip)

A story timeline will help you with comprehension questions that refer to the following:

  • exposition (background, setting, character development)
  • rising action (plot)
  • conflict (problems)
  • climax (how the problem is resolved)
  • falling action (after the problem is resolved)
  • resolution (what happened to the characters)

Questions might be blunt:  Which of the following best describes the conflict?

Questions might be subtle:  What happened after the problem was resolved?

If you have a subtle question about the story, a story time line will help you determine which action the question is referring to, which action came first or which action caused another to happen.  Once you can determine the part of the story, you will be able to eliminate the obvious wrong answers.

Here’s a simplified story that will help us examine the story line:

There was a 12 year old boy in middle school in Richmond.  He had a best friend.  The boy’s parents decided to move to Hanover that summer.  The boy told his best friend how excited he was to move.  On the last day of school, the two boys had a fight.  In July, the boy moved. The two friends made up.  Even though they lived far apart, they were able to talk often and visit each other.

Question 1:

Where did the story take place?

  1. Richmond
  2. Hanover
  3. Middle School
  4. Far Apart

Hint:  The answer is 1) Richmond.  This question is asking about the setting.  By thinking of the exposition in a story timeline, you know that the setting is revealed close to the beginning of a story.

Question 2

What happened after the conflict?

  1. The boy’s parents decided to move.
  2. The boys went to the same school.
  3. The boys made up.
  4. The boys had a fight.

Hint: Based on your story timeline knowledge, you know the conflict is a fight at school, so the answer isn’t 4.  The answer isn’t 1 or 2 either because they happened before the conflict.  The answer is 3.

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Tags: Critical Thinking, How To, Reading, Test Taking by Debra
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Get Inspired to Write

At the beginning of a new assignment, staring at a blank page can be the worst part about writing.  If you’re suffering from writer’s block, watch this video to get inspired.

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Tags: Critical Thinking, Writing by Debra
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Headings and Headlines (test taking tip)

Headings and headlines are there to help you with main ideas.

They are extremely simplified summaries of the content of a particular selection of reading.

They quickly tell you whether you should continue in a particular section as you scan your article for specific information.

Headings and headlines are a great time-saver during a test.

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Tags: Reading, Test Taking by Debra
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Eliminate Specifics (test taking tip)

Eliminating Specifics is a good strategy to use when the question calls for the main idea.  Main idea questions are presented in a couple of different ways:

  • The author’s purpose is…
  • What is the main idea of this article…
  • The primary focus of this article is…

Look at this example:

Two Types of Upset

One type of upset (the stress is on UP) is when the underdog wins.  The underdog is the person, group, or team that is not expected to win.  For example, if you have been following American Idol Season 8, you might have thought, based on the media, that Adam Lambert would win.  Last night’s result, that Kris Allen (the underdog) beat Adam Lambert, was clearly an upset. The other meaning of upset, which is pronounced with stress on SET, describes how Adam Lambert fans feel about his coming in second.

The main purpose for this article is to show…

  1. Kris Allen won.
  2. Adam Lambert is better than Kris Allen.
  3. an example of an underdog.
  4. two meanings of the word upset.

If you chose #4 as the answer, you are correct.  You would eliminate #1 because it is only mentioned once.  #2 isn’t mentioned at all.  If your choice is between #’s 3 and 4, you should choose 4 because of the headline.

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Tags: Critical Thinking, Reading, Test Taking by Debra
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Parts of a Word (test taking tip)

Similar to how you can use verb tenses to help you answer a question, you can also use parts of a word (prefixes, suffixes, and roots) and parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective) to help you with definition questions.

You know imagination is a noun because of the (-ion) suffix, and unimaginative is an adjective meaning not imaginative.  Both have the same root image.

In the sample question:

What did the respected church leader deliver his congregation after the town suffered a natural disaster?

  1. benediction
  2. cohere
  3. beneficial
  4. incoherence

You should have chosen #1 because it’s a noun, it can be delivered, and you want to choose a noun that has a positive meaning, so #4 wouldn’t fit with the context of the word “respected”.

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Tags: Reading, Test Taking, parts of speech by Debra
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The Process of Elimination (test taking tip)

slashthetrash

Here’s how Slash the Trash (or the more formal Process of Elimination) works:

Let’s say your question and choices are:

What are the two words closest in meaning?

  1. critical, musical
  2. critical, careful
  3. critical, important
  4. critical, criticize

In this example, you would slash 1 and 2 based on your knowledge of these words or on the context of a passage.  You would have to eliminate the options that make the least sense.  Once you eliminate (or slash) the trash, your chances of making a correct educated guess increase.

Source

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Tags: Critical Thinking, How To, Teaching Tips, Test Taking by Debra
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Replacing Technique (test taking tip)

The technique of replacing the choices with a word in the sentence is best combined with context clues to achieve the best result.  You can practice by using this example.  Replace the choices 1, 2, 3, and 4 with the word in bold to see which option makes the best answer.

For a person who had failed two final exams this semester, her friends said she seemed unexpectedly sanguine about graduating.

  1. morose
  2. depressed
  3. optimistic
  4. apathetic

Was she unexpectedly morose, unexpectedly depressed, unexpectedly optimistic, or unexpectedly apathetic?  #3 is correct.  You know this because morose, depressed and apathetic are expected emotions to have after failing.

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Tags: Critical Thinking, Reading, Test Taking, Vocabulary by Debra
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Context Clues (test taking tip)

Context clues are crucial to most reading comprehension questions.  In fact, they’re imperative to everything you will learn.  If you don’t know about this important technique, read this…

What does the word in bold mean?

  1. combined
  2. essential
  3. primary
  4. renovated

If you selected #2, you are correct.  How did you know this?  The same concept was repeated in three different sentences (crucial, imperative, and important).  All you have to do now is recognize that important and essential are closer in meaning than any other choice given.  If this doesn’t work, you could replace the word in question with each choices given until the closest one fits.

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Tags: Critical Thinking, How To, Reading, Test Taking, Vocabulary by Debra
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Skimming and Scanning (test taking tip)

Think of visiting the library.  How do you select a book you want to read? You don’t read the entire book and then say, “I think I will check this book out.”  Of course not!  You read the summary on the back or on the jacket, look at the title, read the chapter headings.  Maybe you judge a book by its cover.  By doing this, you can find out what the book is about before you even begin reading it.   You are skimming.

You know how to skim, but how will it help you on a test?  Skimming an article or a chapter involves looking at

  • headings
  • headlines
  • titles
  • introductions
  • conclusions
  • summaries
  • highlighted words
  • bold words
  • pictures
  • charts
  • graphs

Skimming saves you time on a test because sometimes the answer to a question is found by only by skimming.

Scanning an article or chapter requires that you have already skimmed or read it.  When you scan material, you are looking for specific information or details that will help you answer a question.

Use skimming and scanning together to decide whether to read an entire article or whether it’s unnecessary.

Try this activity…Don’t read the entire article to answer the question.  If you do, you’re doing it wrong.

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Tags: Critical Thinking, How To, Reading, Test Taking by Debra
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Read Between the Lines (test taking tip)

Reading between the lines requires a tool that everyone possesses:  imagination.

If this passage were on your test…

Even though Lillian is only 7, she likes to help her mom when she volunteers at the soup kitchen.  She scoops mashed potatoes on the plates and loves to talk to everyone.

…the question probably wouldn’t mention anything about Lillian’s actions.  You have to use your imagination to answer the question based on your impressions of Lillian, and not necessarily based on what the author says about Lillian.

Read this sample question:

Lillian’s personality can best be described as…

  1. insidious
  2. complicated
  3. gregarious
  4. frugal

The passage doesn’t mention any of these words.  However, you can infer that Lillian is social and outgoing based on her actions.  #3, a synonym of social and outgoing, is your best choice.

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Tags: Critical Thinking, How To, Reading, Test Taking, Vocabulary by Debra
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