DAT Reading Comprehension: Scientific Passages 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: On the DAT Reading Comprehension section, what is the best initial strategy when encountering a dense scientific passage?
- Memorize every detail before answering
- Map the passage structure and locate key ideas, then refer back for specifics (Correct answer)
- Skip the passage and guess all questions
- Read only the first and last paragraphs
Correct answer: Map the passage structure and locate key ideas, then refer back for specifics
Mapping structure lets you locate details efficiently rather than memorizing everything.
Question 2: A passage states a hypothesis was 'not supported by the data.' What does this most directly imply?
- The experiment was fraudulent
- The collected evidence failed to confirm the proposed explanation (Correct answer)
- The hypothesis is permanently disproven
- The researchers made a calculation error
Correct answer: The collected evidence failed to confirm the proposed explanation
Lack of support means the evidence did not confirm the hypothesis, not that fraud or error occurred.
Question 3: When a question asks for the 'main idea' of a scientific passage, the correct answer usually:
- Focuses on a single supporting statistic
- Captures the overall central theme spanning the whole passage (Correct answer)
- Restates only the title
- Describes a minor counterexample
Correct answer: Captures the overall central theme spanning the whole passage
Main-idea answers encompass the entire passage rather than one detail.
Question 4: A signal phrase like 'in contrast' indicates the author is about to:
- Repeat the previous point
- Present an opposing or differing idea (Correct answer)
- Summarize the conclusion
- Define a technical term
Correct answer: Present an opposing or differing idea
'In contrast' signals a shift to a contrasting idea.
Question 5: If a passage describes a process in sequential steps, a question about 'what happens immediately after step three' is best answered by:
- Recalling general knowledge of the topic
- Locating the sequence in the text and reading the next described step (Correct answer)
- Choosing the most complex-sounding option
- Picking the final step in the process
Correct answer: Locating the sequence in the text and reading the next described step
Sequence questions require returning to the passage's described order.
Question 6: The word 'consequently' in a scientific passage most likely introduces:
- A cause
- A result or effect of the preceding statement (Correct answer)
- An unrelated example
- A definition
Correct answer: A result or effect of the preceding statement
'Consequently' signals a result following from a cause.
Question 7: An 'application' question on the DAT asks you to:
- Restate a fact verbatim
- Apply the passage's principle to a new or hypothetical situation (Correct answer)
- Identify the author's name
- Count the number of paragraphs
Correct answer: Apply the passage's principle to a new or hypothetical situation
Application questions extend passage logic to new scenarios.
DAT Reading Comprehension: Scientific Passages 2
On the DAT Reading Comprehension section, what is the best initial strategy when encountering a dense scientific passage?