By John Phoenix
The Paragraph Comprehension subtest has 15 ASVAB questions with a total time limit of only 13 minutes which works out to about 51 seconds per question. There are four types of question and the subject matter will quite often be unfamiliar by design.
Be prepared to address the following ASVAB question types:
Main Idea
Details
Inference
Vocabulary in Context
The passages could be long or short and more than one question will often apply to a single passage. Even fast readers need to employ some sort of strategy for the greatest chance of success in the Paragraph Comprehension subtest. I consistently recommend the following approach which seems to pretty well and is not hard to execute.
Step 1: Read the Question First to find out exactly what they are asking for. This will indicate what type of question it is and allow you to employ further strategy as described below.
Step 2: Read the Passage.
Step 3: Consider the Answers. You should look for disqualification clues as you go. If an answer is extreme or seems to contradict the passage it is usually incorrect. Words like always or never are typically good disqualification words.
Main Idea Questions
Very often you will find the main idea stated in the first or last sentence. If you notice words like but, however, nonetheless, yet and although the idea is usually changing direction. These are called "contrast clues" and the main idea is typically found soon after in the passage.
Detail Questions
The correct answer in a detail question is most commonly a paraphrase of something you find in the passage. Do not over analyze and do not look for the main idea. You should be able to easily disqualify a few of the answers because they will be contradictory or extreme.
Inference Questions
If by reading the question first you discover that you have an inference question, this is a good indication that you need to read the passage very carefully. You must rely solely on the information in the passage and not what you think you know about a subject or how you feel about as subject. The answer is there but not in plain sight. Stick with the facts and what is directly implied in the passage.
Sometimes, the tester will trick you into thinking you have an inference question when it is really a detail question by asking you what is implied while the answer is explicitly stated within the passage.
Vocabulary in Context Questions
The correct answer will be a word that replaces the word in question without changing the meaning of the sentence. As you are reading, think of your own words that might work in the sentence. See if a similar word is one of the answer choices. Also look for words that are the opposite of what you are thinking so you can disqualify those choices. The answer may come to you through process of elimination.
Tips for Slow Readers
If you are a slow reader, you could be in trouble on the Paragraph Comprehension subtest. The techniques I described earlier will certainly help you and probably improve your score on this section but you are going to have to increase your reading speed to do well on this section.
You should set aside an hour per day for recreational reading. You can read a magazine, the newspaper, books or internet articles. It does not matter so much what you read as how often you read. You may even try exercises like paraphrasing articles or having a friend ask you some details about an article after you read it.
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Article Source: Asvab Questions - Part 2 - Paragraph Comprehension
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