Main idea
Multiple Choice Question Types for Reading

 What is the topic of this passage?
 What is the main idea expressed in this passage?
 Which title best reflects the main idea of the passage?

Factual Questions  According to the passage, why did…
 According to the information in paragraph 2, where did…
 Which of the following is true, according to the author?

Negative factual
questions






Vocabulary
questions





Inference
Questions







Author’s purpose






Author’s attitude



Sentence
restatement

Reference
questions

 The author mentions all of the following in the passage EXCEPT …
 In the passage, the author does NOT provide a specific example of
…
 Which of the following is LEAST likely?
 According to the information in paragraph 3, which of the
following is NOT …

 Which of the following could best be substituted for the word
_____ in line 9?
 The expression “_____” in line __ could best be replaced by …
 The word “_____” in line ___ is closest in meaning to which of the
following?

 It can be inferred from the passage that …
 It is probable that…
 It can be concluded from the information in paragraph 2 that…
 In paragraph 4, the author implies that…
 Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
 From the information in paragraph 4, it can be inferred that…
 In the last paragraph, the author suggests that…

 Why does the author mention _____ in paragraph 2?
 Why does the author give details about _____?
 The author refers to _____ to indicate that…
 The author’s main purpose in paragraph 3 is to …
 The author refers to _____ to indicate that …

 What is the author’s opinion of _____?
 Which of the following most accurately reflects the author’s
opinion of _____?

 Which of the following best expresses the essential information in
the sentence below?

 The word _____ in line 4 refers to …
 The pronoun “it” in line 5 refers to …
 The phrase _____ in paragraph 4 refers to…
 The word ____ is a reference to …