Reading Comprehension Flashcards
7 cards from real CLT practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Reading Comprehension flashcards as text
A passage opens: 'It is a truth universally acknowledged…' The ironic force of this opening depends on the reader recognizing that:
Answer: What follows will likely challenge or subvert the supposedly universal truth
When an author signals 'universally acknowledged,' dramatic or verbal irony is often at work, priming the reader for a claim that proves narrow, contested, or satirized.
The CLT Reading section often includes classical or Great Books passages. What distinguishes a primary source from a secondary source?
Answer: A primary source is the original work or document; a secondary source analyzes or comments on it
Primary sources are original texts or evidence (e.g., Plato's Republic); secondary sources are works that interpret or discuss primary sources.
An author concedes an opposing point before refuting it. This move is called:
Answer: A concession and rebuttal
Acknowledging the strongest version of the opposing view before refuting it (concession and rebuttal) strengthens an author's credibility and persuasiveness.
A passage about virtue states: 'Courage without prudence becomes recklessness; prudence without courage becomes cowardice.' This sentence structure—where two elements are reversed in the second clause—is an example of:
Answer: Chiasmus
Chiasmus is a rhetorical figure in which the grammatical structures of two clauses are inverted (A-B, B-A), as in courage/prudence reversed to prudence/courage.
When a reader encounters an unfamiliar allusion to 'the Gordian knot,' the best strategy is to:
Answer: Use surrounding context to infer what problem-solving quality the allusion likely describes
Contextual inference is the correct strategy; the Gordian knot alludes to a seemingly impossible problem solved by bold, unconventional action.
A text features two speakers who disagree, and neither is labeled 'correct' by the narrator. This form is most characteristic of:
Answer: A Socratic dialogue exploring competing views
The Socratic dialogue format presents competing arguments without a narrator's verdict, inviting the reader to weigh the positions—a hallmark of the Platonic tradition.
The word 'equivocate' in a passage most nearly means:
Answer: To use ambiguous language to avoid commitment or to deceive
'Equivocate' comes from Latin aequi (equal) + vox (voice), meaning to use words with double meaning to mislead or avoid a definitive statement.