Paragraph Comprehension is described by the ASVAB program as the ability to obtain information from written passages. On the computer form it is 10 scored questions in 27 minutes. The passages in the official samples run roughly 40 to 85 words.
The four questions they ask
- Stated fact. "According to the passage…" — the answer is in the text, often reworded.
- Implication. "The author implies…" — one short step beyond the text, never two.
- Vocabulary in context. What a particular word means as it is used here.
- Main purpose. Why the paragraph was written: to correct, to describe, to persuade.
A worked passage
Most people believe that the tongue has separate regions for sweet, salty, sour and bitter tastes. The familiar map of the tongue comes from a German paper of 1901 that was mistranslated and then copied into textbooks for most of a century. In fact, receptors for all of the basic tastes are spread across the whole surface of the tongue. Some areas are slightly more sensitive than others, but none is reserved for a single taste.
Question 1 — stated fact
According to the passage, taste receptors are: spread across the tongue. The third sentence says so almost word for word. A question of this kind is a search, not a judgment.
Question 2 — implication
The passage implies that the familiar tongue map is: a long-standing error. The passage never uses the word "wrong" about the map, but a mistranslation copied for a century, followed by "in fact", leaves only one reading.
Question 3 — main purpose
The author's main purpose is to: correct a common belief. Notice the shape of the paragraph: here is what people think, here is where it came from, here is what is true. That shape is the answer.
Question 4 — the trap
A wrong answer might read "the tongue cannot detect bitter tastes at the tip". It sounds technical and is the sort of thing one half-remembers. The passage does not say it. If the passage did not say it, it is wrong, even when it is true in the world.
How to work the subtest
Read the passage once, properly, before looking at the question. Skimming for keywords works on short passages and fails on the implication questions, which are the ones worth having.
Then answer in the passage's own terms. When two choices both look right, one of them is almost always slightly stronger than the text: "always" where the passage said "often", "proves" where the passage said "suggests". The ASVAB does not reward the bolder reading.
With twenty-seven minutes for ten questions you have more than two and a half minutes each, which is enough to reread. Use it — this is the one subtest where going back over the text is affordable.
How our questions are built
Sixty practice questions over twelve original passages of 60 to 95 words, five questions each, in the same mix of stated fact, implication, vocabulary and purpose. Each passage travels with its question, so you never have to scroll back to find it.
Twelve passages, sixty questions
Every answer explained against the sentence it came from. First five free, no account.