IN THIS CHAPTER

Trying out types of questions

Looking at proven techniques for a better score

Getting a handle on practice questions

The Paragraph Comprehension subtest has the fewest questions of any of the ASVAB subtests. However, it’s one of the most important subtests of the ASVAB. The military uses this test (along with the Word Knowledge subtest; see Chapters 5 and 6) to compute your verbal expression (VE) score, which in turn is an important part of your AFQT score. (If you want to see how these scores combine, turn to Chapter 2.)

This subtest is nothing more than a reading comprehension test, much like many of the reading tests you took in school. You’re asked to read a short passage (a paragraph) and then answer one to four questions about information contained in that paragraph. Unfortunately, you probably won’t find the reading to be very interesting. No passages from Harry Potter or about spacemen shooting ray guns here. You’re more likely to read about the corn crop harvest rates in Nebraska or the principles of time management. The key is to stay focused. After all, you have to answer only 11 or 15 questions, depending on your version of the test, and the paragraphs aren’t that long.

A large percentage of military jobs require a solid score on this subtest. If you’re interested in which military jobs require you to score well on the Paragraph Comprehension subtest, I humbly recommend you head to your favorite book retailer and buy a copy of the best-selling ASVAB For Dummies (Wiley). You’ll be glad you did.

Tackling the Test Format: Types of Questions

The Paragraph Comprehension subtest requires you to read a short paragraph and then answer one or more multiple-choice questions about what you’ve read. These questions can generally be broken down into one of four types, which I like to call the treasure hunt, getting the point, dictionary, and deep thinking.

A new study has found that 21 percent of people arrested in the United States for driving under the influence were arrested again for the same crime within five years. The study, commissioned by the U.S. Department of Justice, analyzed recidivism rates for DUI between 2002 and 2007. During this period, there were more than 930,000 arrests for DUI. Of these, 195,300 — or 21 percent — were arrested again for violating DUI laws a second time within the established time frame. The study found that 34 percent of the repeat offenses occurred within six months of the original arrest.

Sometimes the answer isn’t so obvious, and you have to dig a little deeper to find the treasure. Take the following question, for example:

George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839–June 25, 1876) was a U.S. Army officer and cavalry commander in the Civil War and the American Indian Wars. At the start of the Civil War, Custer was a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and his class’s graduation was accelerated so that they could enter the war. Early in the Gettysburg Campaign, Custer’s association with cavalry commander Major General Alfred Pleasonton earned him a promotion at the age of 23 from first lieutenant to brigadier general of volunteers. By the end of the Civil War (April 9, 1865), Custer had achieved the rank of major general of volunteers but was reduced to his permanent grade of captain in the regular army when the troops were sent home.

The farmers’ market reopened the second weekend of May. Amid the asparagus and flowers, shoppers chatted about the return of temperatures in the seventies. Across the street, children (and their dogs) were playing Frisbee in the park. Finally, spring had come to town.

When skimming for the main point of a paragraph, start with the first sentence, and then read the last sentence. The main idea is often contained in one of these sentences.

In the 18th century, it was common for sailors to be pressed into service in Britain. Young men found near seaports could be kidnapped, drugged, or otherwise hauled aboard a ship and made to work doing menial chores. They were not paid for their service, and they were given just enough food to keep them alive.

One of the main reasons motorcyclists are killed in crashes is that the motorcycle itself provides virtually no protection in a crash. For example, approximately 80 percent of reported motorcycle crashes result in injury or death; a comparable figure for automobiles is about 20 percent.

Planning Your Attack

The best way to score well on the Paragraph Comprehension subtest is to improve your reading comprehension skills by following the advice I give in Chapter 7. However, you can also do a few things on test day to make sure you score as high as possible:

• Watch the time. As with all the ASVAB subtests, this test is timed. You have 22 minutes to read through and answer 11 questions on the CAT-ASVAB or 13 minutes for 15 questions on the paper version. This period is plenty of time, so you shouldn’t feel rushed. Don’t relax too much, though; you don’t have time for daydreaming, either.
• If you don’t know the answer, you may take an educated guess by using the process of elimination. On the paper version, you may guess freely at your discretion (hopefully, you won’t have to after reading this book). However, on the computerized test, you risk receiving a penalty for too many wrong answers at the end of the subtest. (Those clever test graders have figured out that means you’ve run out of time and have become desperate to finish.) If you need to guess, make sure to eliminate as many choices as possible before choosing your answer.
• Question first, read later. Your first instinct may be to read the entire paragraph before looking at the questions. However, many reading comprehension test experts recommend the opposite. If the question asks you to find specific information or discern the main idea of the paragraph, skimming or scanning (see Chapter 7) can save loads of time. Read the question first so you can best decide what reading technique to use.
• Take it one question at a time. Some passages have more than one question associated with them, but you should look at only one question at a time. If you’re taking the CAT-ASVAB, you don’t have a choice — and you can’t skip ahead and come back. You must answer a question to move on to the next.
• Understand each question. What is the question asking you to do? Are you supposed to find the main point? Draw a conclusion? Find a word that is nearest in meaning? Make sure you know what the question is asking before you choose among the answer options. This tip may seem obvious, but when you’re in a hurry, you can make mistakes by misunderstanding the questions.
• Read each answer option carefully. Don’t just select the first answer that seems right. Remember: On the Paragraph Comprehension subtest, one answer is often “most correct,” while others are “almost right.” You want to choose the “most correct” answer, not the “almost right” answer. And to do that, you have to read all the answers.
• Check your baggage at the door. Answer each question based on the passage, not your own opinions or views on the topic.
• Don’t choose ambiguous answer options. They’re incorrect 99.99 times out of 100. (Oh, heck, call it 100 times out of 100.) If an answer strikes you as not quite true but not totally false, that answer is incorrect. The people who wrote the questions put that choice there to throw you off. Don’t give them the satisfaction of falling for their trap!
• Always be cautious about never. For the most part, answer options that are absolutes are incorrect. Never, always, and related words are often a sign that you should select a different answer. Words like generally and usually are more likely to be part of the correct answer.

Surveying Sample Test Questions

Time for you to put all the great advice I provide in this chapter and Chapter 7 to good use. (You can see that I’m not usually accused of being too modest.) Quiz yourself on the following sample test questions to see whether your reading comprehension is up to speed. Read each short paragraph, which is followed by one or more questions regarding information contained in that passage. Make sure to read the paragraph carefully before selecting the choice that most correctly answers the question.

       First, stick to one excuse. Thus, if a tradesman, with whom your social relations are slight, should chance to find you taking coppers from his till, you may possibly explain that you are interested in Numismatics and are a Collector of Coins; and he may possibly believe you. But if you tell him afterwards that you pitied him for being overloaded with unwieldy copper discs, and were in the act of replacing them by a silver sixpence of your own, this further explanation, so far from increasing his confidence in your motives, will (strangely enough) actually decrease it. And if you are so unwise as to be struck by yet another brilliant idea, and tell him that the pennies were all bad pennies, which you were concealing to save him from a police prosecution for coining, the tradesman may even be so wayward as to institute a police prosecution himself.

—G. K. Chesterton

       Ethics are standards by which one should act based on values. Values are core beliefs such as duty, honor, and integrity that motivate attitudes and actions. Not all values are ethical values (integrity is — happiness is not). Ethical values relate to what is right and wrong and thus take precedence over nonethical values when making ethical decisions.

Questions 3 and 4 refer to the following passage.

       Although the average consumer replaces the tires on his or her automobile every 50,000 miles, steel-belted radials can last for 60,000 miles. However, they must be properly maintained. The tires must be inflated to the correct air pressure at all times, and tires must be rotated and balanced according to a routine maintenance schedule. The tread should be checked for correct depth regularly.

Questions 5 and 6 refer to the following passage.

       Some people argue that baking is an art, but Chef Debra Dearborn says that baking is a science. She says that if you follow a recipe carefully, assembling the ingredients accurately, cooking at the specified temperature for the specified period of time, your cookies will always turn out right. Chef Dearborn says the best baking is like the best experiment; anyone can duplicate it.

       Boiler technicians operate main and auxiliary boilers. They maintain and repair all parts, including pressure fittings, valves, pumps, and forced-air blowers. Technicians may have to lift or move heavy equipment. They may have to stoop and kneel and work in awkward positions.

       In June 2004, the city council passed a resolution requiring all residents to paint their address numbers on their homes using a bright color. This was done to assist firemen, police, and paramedics in finding an address during an emergency. In August, 300 residences were randomly sampled, and it was found that 150 had complied with the new ordinance.

Questions 9 and 10 refer to the following passage.

       The younger the child, the trickier using medicine is. Children under 2 years shouldn’t be given any over-the-counter (OTC) drug without a doctor’s approval. Your pediatrician can tell you how much of a common drug, like acetaminophen (Tylenol), is safe for babies. Prescription drugs also can work differently in children than adults. Some barbiturates, for example, which make adults feel sluggish, will make a child hyperactive. Amphetamines, which stimulate adults, can calm children. When giving any drug to a child, watch closely for side effects. If you’re not happy with what’s happening with your child, don’t assume that everything’s okay. Always be suspicious. It’s better to make the extra calls to the doctor or nurse practitioner than to see a child have a bad reaction to a drug. And before parents dole out OTC drugs, they should consider whether they’re truly necessary. Americans love to medicate — perhaps too much. A study published in the October 1994 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association found that more than half of all mothers surveyed had given their 3-year-olds an OTC medication in the previous month. Not every cold needs medicine. Common viruses run their course in seven to ten days with or without medication. Although some OTC medications can make children more comfortable and help them eat and rest better, others may trigger allergic reactions or changes for the worse in sleeping, eating, and behavior. Antibiotics, available by prescription, don’t work at all on cold viruses.

Answers and Explanations

Use this answer key to score the practice Paragraph Comprehension questions.

1. B. Mr. Chesterton is expounding on how sticking to one excuse may help you if you’re caught taking coins from the tradesman’s till.
2. C. The second sentence defines the word values.
3. C. If you used the scanning technique explained in Chapter 6, you would’ve found this answer quickly.
4. D. This example is a negative question that requires extra care in answering. A negative question asks you for something that is not true or not included in the paragraph. If you’re rushed or in a hurry, you can easily misread the question.
5. B. Although measuring is something you do when baking, it doesn’t “most nearly” mean the same thing as assembling. Putting together does.
6. C. The passage states that if you follow a recipe carefully, your cookies will always turn out right.
7. D. Although the passage doesn’t say, “This job requires a physically fit person,” the duties listed imply that it does. A person with management experience or keen eyesight may make a good candidate, but the passage doesn’t list these traits as requirements for the job. A person who isn’t mechanically minded may not have the knowledge necessary to maintain and repair boilers and all their parts. This leaves Choice (D), and it’s true that a person who is physically fit would be a good choice for the job.
8. C. The author didn’t specifically say that 50 percent hadn’t complied, but she included enough information in the passage that you can calculate it on your own.
9. A. The 11th and 12th sentences in the passage suggest that Americans probably medicate too much.
10. B. The passage states that making the extra calls to a doctor or nurse practitioner is better than giving the child a drug that causes a bad reaction. Although the other choices may be good advice, they aren’t stated or implied in the paragraph.