Type Two: Details

Question: Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?

A. Why Permissive Parenting Is Problematic

B. Negative Outcomes from Authoritarian Parenting

C. Neither Authoritarian or Permissive: The Case for Parenting in the Middle

D. Parenting in the Twenty-First Century

Option A is not the correct answer to this question. You will notice that it does reflect

information that was presented in the passage, but the problems with permissive parenting

concern only part of the passage and not the entire passage, so this would not be the best title

because it would ignore several important ideas in the passage. Similarly, option B is not correct

because it also contains a description of part—but not all—of the passage. Option C is the best

answer because it incorporates the key concepts found in the entire passage. The problem with

option D is that it is too vague: it does not do nearly as good of a job as option C does in

describing what the passage is actually about.

TYPE TWO: DETAILS

Details are also known as supporting ideas. Remember that authors do not include information

at random but rather selectively choose details in order to provide evidence for the main idea.

A supporting idea might be a fact, a statistic, or a logical argument. When you are asked

questions about details, the question might be worded in one of the following ways:

Which fact is mentioned in the first passage but not in the second passage? Based on the passage, which of the following is true about decorative fans?

The passage lists all of the following as habits of expert swimmers except for which one? The author claims that one of the results of increased screen time for toddlers is what?

According to the passage, what is the result of increased sodium intake?

As you can see from these sample questions, correctly answering detail questions will require

you to read the passage closely.

Sometimes, when test takers realize that they will face detail questions, they decide to read the

passage so slowly and thoroughly that they are, in effect, attempting to memorize the passage.

But this is a very poor strategy. Remember that you can always go back to the passage to

answer the detail questions. So attempting to memorize every detail in the passage when you

read it is not a good use of your time, which is limited. Not only are you unlikely to be able to

memorize all of the details, but you will end up spending too much time on reading, and you

may run out of time to answer all of the questions. A better strategy is to read the passage at a

middle pace—don’t skim it, but don’t try to memorize it. Just try to get a general feel for what

is in the passage. Then, when you encounter a detail question, you will have an idea of where in

the passage the detail can be found, and you can look at the passage again to refresh your

memory. So remember: just because there are detail questions on the PRAXIS doesn’t not

mean that you should try to memorize all of the details as you read the passage. You can always

return to the passage later to check on the details.

Just like with the main idea questions, it isn’t enough for an answer choice to use words that

are in the passage. You need to be sure that the answer choice is a correct answer to the

question.

Let’s try a sample passage followed by a detail question.

If you think that democracy began in ancient Greece and then enjoyed a complete slumber until

the American Revolution, you are missing several interesting slices of world history. For

example, the emperor of the Habsburg Empire was elected by a group of seven electors, chosen

from various dukes, kings, and church leaders. This is not exactly direct democracy, but it serves

as an example of the variety of types of governments that have been instituted at various

points in time.

Question: Which of the following people would have been least likely to vote to choose the next leader of the Habsburg Empire?

A. a farmer

B. a duke

C. an archbishop

D. a king

The correct answer is Option A. The passage states that the electors were chosen from,

“various dukes, kings, and church leaders,” so Options B, C, and D are reasonable choices for

who might have had a vote, but a farmer, Option A, is not a reasonable choice. As you can see

from this example, it would not be a good use of your time to try to memorize who the electors

were and how many electors there were. That would take too long. Rather, you can return to

the passage to look up the information that you need once you realize that there is going to be

a question about who the electors were.

Let’s try another sample passage followed by a detail question.

While they tend to get combined into the category of computer languages, there are significant

differences between mark-up languages and programming languages. Mark-up languages

include HTML and CSS, which are used to design webpages. While these languages are

powerful, they do not include the key components of programming languages, such as

recursion and iteration. On the other hand, programming languages, such as Python, permit the

programmer to use complicated routines of recursion and iteration to accomplish a variety of

goals.

Question: Which of the following would, according to the passage, NOT be true of HTML?

A. It can be used to design a webpage.

B. It can incorporate recursion.

C. It is a computer language.

D. It is easy to learn.

The passage states that HTML can be used to design a webpage, so option A is incorrect. This is

one of those instances where it is crucial to notice the word “NOT” in the question. According

to the passage, HTML does not support recursion, so option B is the correct answer. The first

sentence of the passage groups HTML as a computer language, so option C is not correct. And

the passage does not say anything about whether HTML is or is not easy to learn, so option D is