ASVAB Reading Comprehension Study Guide Part 1

Reading Tips & Strategies

This first part of our ASVAB Reading Comprehension study guide provides tips and strategies for success on this portion of the test. It is part of our complete ASVAB Free Online Study Guide.

The purpose of the Paragraph Comprehension component of the ASVAB Test is to assess how well you can read and comprehend the information presented to you. Our ASVAB Reading study guide will give you some simple, straightforward advice about how to master these questions and get a high score.

Tip 1: Identify the obvious wrong answers

With most multiple-choice questions, there will be at least one answer choice that cannot be correct. This choice will likely be the opposite (or close to the opposite) of the answer, and will not be supported at all by the text. If you can identify the obviously wrong answer and eliminate one answer choice, you can increase your odds of finding the correct answer by 25%.

Tip 2: Look for matching phrases 

The correct answer is going to always refer to a specific part of the text, so try to identify the specific part immediately. Scan the answer choices and take a moment to check if each one is reflected in the passage. If an answer choice isn’t reflected in the text, it’s not going to be correct.

Tip 3: Look for qualifiers

Qualifiers are words like “always,” sometimes,” “never,” and “often.”

When you are looking at the answer choices, answers marked with absolute qualifiers, like “always,” and “never,” are often the wrong choice. If you think an answer with one of these qualifiers may be correct, look for the exact word or phrase in the passage. If a qualifier is absolute, it will have to be absolutely stated in the passage. That means that if any part of the answer is wrong, the answer is wrong.

The correct answer is more likely to use qualifiers like “sometimes” or “often” to leave the interpretation more open and general. Check the answer before you just pick it but gravitate towards answers that use these qualifiers.

Tip 4: Eliminate similar (or exact) answer choices

Only one answer choice can be correct, so if there are two answers that are incredibly similar, neither one of them can possibly be correct.

Tip 5: Pay attention to wording, and know what you are being asked

Look for words like “not” in the question because then they are asking you to pick the answer that doesn’t work.

Let’s put these ideas into practice with two examples:

Tip 1: Eliminate the obviously wrong answers

Which of these 4 answer choices is clearly wrong? The entire passage is about how leaders should be leaders in innovation. Additionally, the passage ends with the thought that leaders need to be prepared to deal with the emotions of the people who are experiencing the change.

Answer choice (A), “leaders should resist making changes that subordinates are likely to resist” goes against the nature of the passage and is therefore the answer you should immediately eliminate.

Tip 2: Look for matching phrases

We’ve already eliminated answer choice (A). Answer choice (B) suggests that innovation and change are different. Even if you don’t already know the definition of innovation (“positive change”), you can scan the passage and see that “innovation means change,” so that option is incorrect.

The same goes for answer choice (C), which is directly refuted by the sentence “Leaders must …learn everything there is to know about the change before it even takes place.”

This leaves answer choice (D) as our only possible answer, but let’s double-check it anyways. The answer mentions “panic” and “disorder,” so let’s scan the passage for those words or synonyms of those words. In the final sentence of the passage, the author mentions “chaos” and “fear,” which are similar to “panic” and “disorder.” Reading this sentence, we can see that it closely mirrors the meaning of answer (D).

Answer Choice (D) is correct.

Let’s try one more:

Tip 3: Look for qualifiers

The only answer choice with a qualifier is answer choice (B). “Most” may not be an absolute qualifier, but it is pretty close. Because of that, we are going to keep an eye on answer choice (B).

Tip 4: Eliminate similar (or exact) answer choices

While not exact, answer choices (A) and (D) both discuss the importance of counseling relationships. Because these ideas are very similar, (A) and (D) are likely wrong choices.

Tip 5: Pay attention to wording

Notice that the question here uses the word “not, which means we are looking to pick the answer choice that is not supported by the passage. Since (A) and (D) are similar, we can eliminate them. We already noticed that (B) has an almost absolute qualifier, meaning it probably isn’t supported in the passage. Skimming the passage, we can see that our instinct was correct.

 
Answer choice (B) is correct.
 

Now that you’ve read over Part 1 of our tips for success on the Reading Comprehension section of the ASVAB, put your skills to practice with the review quiz below.

Part 1 Review Quiz:

ASVAB Reading Comprehension Part 2 >>