Question 1Multiple choice
What is the main idea of the passage?
The TEAS Reading section
Reading is the first section: 45 questions in 55 minutes on short texts such as notices, labels, articles, arguments and stories.
| Questions | 45, of which 39 are scored |
|---|---|
| Time | 55 minutes, about 73 seconds a question |
| Topics | Key ideas and details, craft and structure, integrating knowledge and ideas |
| Formats | Multiple choice, select all that apply, ordered response and hot spot |
What the questions ask
- Key ideas and details: the main idea, a summary, a stated detail, the order of events, the next step in a set of directions.
- Craft and structure: the author's purpose, fact or opinion, bias, point of view and a word's meaning in context.
- Integration of knowledge and ideas: a supported inference, the strength of an argument, two texts compared, a text read with a table or chart.
How to win marks
Every answer is in the text. Point to the words that prove your choice before you pick it. A main idea covers the whole text; a true detail is a common trap.
Try 3 questions
Why do we yawn?
Everyone yawns, from newborn babies to older adults, and many animals yawn too. For a long time, people believed that yawning brings extra oxygen into the body. When researchers tested this idea by having people breathe air with more or less oxygen, the number of yawns did not change.
A newer idea is that yawning helps cool the brain. A deep breath of air and the stretching of the jaw may increase blood flow to the head. In one study, people yawned less often when they held a cold pack to their forehead. Scientists are still testing this idea, and yawning may turn out to have more than one purpose.
Free fruit for every student
Our school district should offer a free piece of fresh fruit to every student each morning. Hungry students cannot focus on lessons.
A district in our state began a morning fruit program three years ago. Since then, the school nurse's office reports fewer visits for stomachaches before lunch. The program costs about 40 cents per student per day.
Fresh fruit is the most delicious snack there is, and every child deserves it. The school board should vote yes at its next meeting.
Question 2Hot spot
Read these sentences from the passage. Select the sentence that states an opinion.
Two passages on taking notes
Passage 1: Take notes by hand
Writing notes by hand is slower than typing, and that is its strength. Because you cannot write down every word, you have to decide what matters and put it in your own words. That extra thinking helps many students remember the material later.
Passage 2: Typed notes have their place
Typed notes are fast, neat and easy to search. A student can add links, move sections around and share notes with a study group. The risk is copying a lecture word for word without thinking about it, so typists should pause to summarize each section.
Question 3Multiple choice
On which point would both authors most likely agree?
Next step
Questions people ask
Do I need outside knowledge for TEAS Reading?
No. Every answer can be found or inferred from the text in front of you. Bringing in your own knowledge is a common way to pick a wrong option.
How long are the TEAS reading passages?
They range from a single label or notice to articles of a few paragraphs, and some questions pair two short texts or a text with a table.