Reading Comprehension
What the passage actually says
Six passages, three questions on each, eighteen questions in twenty minutes — the last of the ATSA's seven subtests. Controllers work from written procedure as much as from a screen, and precision about what a text does and does not state is the point. The difficulty is not vocabulary but discipline: an option can be entirely true, and obviously sensible, and still be wrong, because the only question asked is whether this passage supports it.
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What to expect
- The passage on the left in a pane that scrolls, the question and five options on the right.
- Three questions on each passage before the next one.
- The wording of a passage shifts very slightly between its three questions, as it does in the real test.
- Answers are final — once you pick one you move on, with no going back.
- Every answer is explained afterwards in a paged review, beside the passage it came from.
What it measures
- Reading accurately under time pressure
- Telling what a passage states from what it merely suggests
- Holding a long passage in mind while testing options against it
Instructions
- 1Read the question before the passage. You are looking for one thing, and reading everything twice costs time you do not have.
- 2Judge each option against the passage, not against what you know about the subject.
- 3Watch for options that overstate a claim the passage makes carefully — always, only, never, every.
- 4A little over a minute a question is the budget. Answer and move on; you cannot come back.
Tips
- An answer that is true in the world but not supported by the passage is still wrong. That is the commonest mistake on this subtest.
- On a 'least likely' or 'NOT' question, find the four that ARE supported and take the one left over.
- Do not trust your memory of a passage from the previous question — the wording moves slightly, and the questions differ.
Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension items are answered from the passage alone. The wrong answers are true-sounding statements the passage does not support.
Passage: “The new sequencing procedure was introduced at Northfield in March. Controllers reported that arrival delays fell over the following quarter, although traffic volumes were also lower than in the same period the previous year.” Which of these does the passage support?