Natural Science Passages

A natural science passage explains how something in the natural world works, or how scientists worked something out: how a sand dune moves, how a firefly makes light, why a zebra might have stripes. The subject may come from biology, earth science, chemistry, physics or astronomy, but the passage is written for a general reader. The terms the questions depend on are usually defined on the page, and the questions don’t require outside science knowledge. If the passage doesn’t say or support it, it isn’t the answer.

The questions follow the shape of the writing. Some ask about a process: what happens, in what order, and what causes what. Some ask for a stated detail or number. Some ask what a hypothesis claimed, which observation supported it, and what is still unknown. A passage may include a graph or table, and a question may ask you to use it together with the text.

Reading has 36 questions in 40 minutes, about 67 seconds a question including the time you spend reading. Passages you’ll meet are usually fiction or memoir, social science, humanities or natural science. That grouping is Peakscor’s way of organizing practice, not an official breakdown, but passages built on science topics are common.

Questions on a science passage come from every Reading category. Key Ideas and Details, roughly half of the section, covers process, detail and sequence questions. Craft and Structure, about a quarter to a third, covers word meaning and paragraph purpose. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas, about a fifth to a quarter, covers evidence and questions that combine the passage with a graphic.