Reading Skills Tested on the PPST

The reading skills included on the PPST are divided into two broad categories:

• Literal Comprehension

• Critical Comprehension

The literal comprehension skills are directed at the actual words that appear in the passage. They are:

• Finding Main Ideas

• Recognizing the Primary Purpose of the Passage

• Recognizing Supporting Ideas in the Passage

• Recognizing How the Passage Is Organized

• Recognizing How Language is Used in the Passage

The critical comprehension skills are directed at the reasoning employed by the reader to go beyond the ideas of a passage and make certain inferences or conclusions about them. They are:

• Recognizing the Strengths/Weaknesses of Arguments

• Determining the Relevance of Evidence

• Distinguishing between Material Presented as Fact Versus Material Presented as Opinion

• Drawing Inferences and Recognizing Implications

• Identifying Assumptions

• Identifying an Author's Attitude

• Recognizing Similarities between the Ideas or Situations Described in a Passage and Other Ideas or Situations

• Making Predictions Based on Information Presented in a Passage

• Drawing Conclusions

• Applying Ideas Presented in Passages to Other Situations