1. PRACTICE Reading Reading Basics Making Inferences Relating Ideas Main Idea Supporting Details Word Meaning Drawing Conclusions Author’s Approach Cause and Effect Comparative Relationships Sequence Copyright © 2012 Mary Kate Durkin and Chris Mikulskis AUTHOR’S APPROACH

2. Reading Authors have certain approaches in getting you to believe in their purposes: Make you sympathetic to their ideas Get your blood boiling Make you think about a cause Just plain make you feel something

3. Reading WHAT THESE QUESTIONS LOOK LIKE The author’s overall message in the passage is that she… The narrator’s point of view is that of… Which of the following did the author clearly intend to show through the writing of the passage? Considering the passage as a whole, which of the following best describes the narrator’s attitude toward [something]? Which of the following statements represents a conclusion drawn by the author of the passage? The author’s tone throughout the passage can best be described as…

4. Reading STRATEGIES TO WIN 1.If you can determine the author’s approach and discover the main idea, you have a very good chance of doing well on these inference-type questions. 2. You must read carefully in order to understand the approach and purpose of the author. 3. Look for words that can reveal the author’s purpose (for example, words like should, must, or we are often used when trying to persuade).

5. Reading