Reading & Writing Overview
If you've already read our Overview > Reading & Writing section, this page will be fairly redundant. Feel free to skim through it.
What does it test?
In short, the Reading & Writing section tests your ability to read, comprehend, and analyze passages, and your ability to adhere to the standard conventions of grammar and sentence structure. To break it into a little more detail, here are the main skills it tests:
- Vocabulary
- Ability to read, comprehend, and summarize passages
- Ability to select text that best achieves stated goals
- Ability to adhere to the standard conventions of grammar and sentence structure
- Ability to interpret quantitative graphics and link its relevance to its associated text
- Ability to understand a variety of transitions words and phrases and apply them appropriately
We'll get into more detail on the various types of questions in the "Question Types" section, and then further break them down and the skills that apply to them in a separate page for each question type.
Format
The Reading & Writing section is broken into two 35-minute modules with 27 questions each. Every question will have its own short passage, usually no more than about 150 words, and will have 4 multiple choice options. Both modules are formatted similarly, but due to the adaptive nature of the test, one module will be more difficult than the other (depending on how you do on the first module).
Order of Questions
In the Reading & Writing modules questions are grouped together by question type, and the question types will always fall in the same order. It will always start off with a few "Words in Context" questions, and will always finish with some "Rhetorical Synthesis" questions, with many other types in between. We'll get into more detail on the exact question types and their order in the "Question Types" section.