Academic Literacy Comprehension Flashcards
7 cards from real NBT practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Academic Literacy Comprehension flashcards as text
A passage discusses a study in which Group A received tutoring and Group B did not. Group A outperformed Group B. A critic argues that Group A students may have been stronger to begin with. This criticism questions the study's:
Answer: Internal validity
If pre-existing differences between groups could explain the outcome, the study's internal validity — its ability to isolate the effect of tutoring — is compromised.
In the sentence 'The government's austerity measures, while intended to reduce debt, disproportionately burdened low-income households,' the clause 'while intended to reduce debt' serves to:
Answer: Acknowledge the stated purpose before presenting a negative consequence
The 'while intended to' clause concedes the goal of the policy before contrasting it with its unintended impact.
Which reading strategy is most appropriate when you need to locate a specific statistic within a long academic article?
Answer: Scanning headings and numbers to find the relevant section quickly
Scanning — quickly moving the eyes across text to find specific information — is the most efficient strategy for locating a particular statistic.
An author writes: 'Not everyone agrees with this interpretation; critics have pointed to methodological flaws in the original study.' The author's primary purpose here is to:
Answer: Acknowledge that the claim is contested rather than settled
By noting disagreement and criticism, the author signals that the interpretation is debated, not universally accepted.
The word 'reductive' in academic discourse typically means:
Answer: Oversimplified in a way that distorts complexity
'Reductive' describes an explanation or argument that oversimplifies a complex issue, leaving out important nuance.
A student encounters an unfamiliar word in an academic passage. The most reliable immediate strategy is to:
Answer: Use surrounding sentences and context clues to infer meaning
Context clues from surrounding text are the fastest and most practical way to infer the meaning of an unfamiliar word during a reading task.
Read: 'Although the intervention showed promise in controlled settings, its effectiveness in real-world classrooms has yet to be empirically demonstrated.' The word 'empirically' most closely means:
Answer: Through direct observation and measurable evidence
'Empirically' refers to knowledge or proof derived from observation, experimentation, and measurable evidence.