GED® RLA Test For Dummies®
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Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2015946516
ISBN 978-1-119-03005-8 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-03007-2 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-03006-5 (ebk)
You’ve decided to take the General Education Development (GED) test to earn the equivalent of a high school diploma. Congratulations! You’re about to clear a major hurdle standing between you and your educational and professional goals. But now you realize that you need extra guidance in reading and writing to tackle the GED Reasoning Through Language Arts test. Perhaps you took the test once or even twice and didn’t do so well. Perhaps you’ve done an honest self-assessment and now realize that English was never your favorite or best subject. Whatever the reason, you need to quickly review the essentials and practice answering questions like those you’ll encounter on the test. You want to know what to expect so you’re not blindsided on test day.
Welcome to GED RLA Test For Dummies — your key to excelling on the GED Reasoning Through Language Arts test. Here, you find everything you need to do well on the test, from guidance on how to improve reading speed and comprehension to how to analyze arguments. We also bring you up to speed on proper English conventions and usage and explain how to write a top-notch essay for the Extended Response portion of the test. Along the way, you find plenty of practice questions to reinforce your newly acquired knowledge and skills.
As we were writing GED Test For Dummies, 3rd edition (Wiley), we didn’t have the space to cover all four sections of the GED test in great detail. In that book, we provided a general overview of the GED test and two full-length practice tests that covered all four sections — Reasoning Through Language Arts (RLA), Mathematical Reasoning, Science, and Social Studies.
Knowing that each section of the GED test can be taken separately and that test-takers probably need more guidance in some subject areas than in others, we decided to develop a separate workbook for each section — four workbooks, each with a balance of instruction and practice. In this book, we focus exclusively on the GED Reasoning Through Language Arts test. Our goal is twofold: to prepare you to answer correctly any RLA question you’re likely to encounter on the test so that you receive a high score and to help you do well on your Extended Response essay.
We begin by giving you a sneak peek at the test format and an overview of what’s on the GED RLA test. We then provide a diagnostic test that presents you with RLA questions, which challenge your reading and reasoning knowledge and skills and identify your unique strengths and weaknesses. The diagnostic test and the self-assessment form following the test guide you to specific chapters for instruction and practice. When you feel ready, you can then tackle the full-length Reasoning Through Language Arts practice test in Chapter 9 and turn to Chapter 10 for answers and explanations. Check the answers even for questions you answered correctly because the answers do provide additional learning materials.
We wrap up with two Part of Tens chapters — one that presents ten tips to improve your reading speed and comprehension and another that helps you steer clear of ten common writing errors.
When we wrote this book, we made a few assumptions about you, dear reader. Here’s who we think you are:
If any of these descriptions sounds like you, welcome aboard. We’ve prepared an enjoyable tour of the GED test.
Icons – little pictures you see in the margins of this book — highlight bits of text that you want to pay special attention to. Here’s what each one means:
Whenever we want to tell you a special trick or technique that can help you succeed on the GED RLA test, we mark it with this icon. Keep an eye out for this guy.
This icon points out information you want to burn into your brain. Think of the text with this icon as the sort of stuff you’d tear out and put on a bulletin board or your refrigerator.
Take this icon seriously! Although the world won’t end if you don’t heed the advice next to this icon, the warnings are important to your success in preparing to take the GED RLA test.
We use this icon to flag example questions that are much like what you can expect on the actual GED Reasoning Through Language Arts test. So if you just want to get familiar with the types of questions on the test, this icon is your guide.
In addition to the book content, you can find valuable free material online. We provide you with a Cheat Sheet that addresses things you need to know and consider when getting ready for the GED Reasoning Through Language Arts test. You can access this material at www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/gedrlatest.
We also include additional articles at www.dummies.com/extras/gedrlatest that provide even more helpful tips and advice to help you score your best on the GED Reasoning Through Language Arts test.
Some people like to read books from beginning to end. Others prefer to read only the specific information they need to know now. Here we provide a road map so you can find your way around.
Chapter 1 starts off with an overview of the GED test and how to register for the exam. Chapter 2 brings you up to speed on what the Reasoning Through Language Arts test covers. Chapter 3 is a must-read — a diagnostic test followed by a self-assessment to target areas where you need the most guidance and practice. Based on your self-assessment, you’ll know which chapters to focus on in Part II of this book.
The chapters in Part II are the meat and potatoes — instruction and practice that covers reading comprehension, argument analysis, Standard English language conventions, and writing:
When you’re ready to dive into a full-length practice test that mimics the real GED Reasoning Through Language Arts test, check out Part III. After the test, you can check your answers with the detailed answer explanations we provide. (But be sure to wait until after you take the practice test to look at the answers!).
If you need a break, turn to the chapters in Part IV, where you can find ten tips to improve your reading speed and comprehension and descriptions of ten writing errors to avoid.
Part I
For Dummies can help you get started with lots of subjects. Visit www.dummies.com to learn more and do more with For Dummies.
In this part…
Get oriented to the test format, question types, test scheduling, and scoring and find out what steps to take if English isn’t your first language.
Find out what’s on the GED Reading Through Language Arts test and the knowledge and skills it requires you to demonstrate.
Take a diagnostic test to identify your strengths and weaknesses and highlight the areas where you may need additional practice.
Prepare for the actual test day and find out what you should or shouldn’t do on the day(s) before and the day of the test, including during the exam.
Chapter 1
In This Chapter
Warming up to the GED test format
Checking out what’s on the GED RLA test
Registering for the test and choosing a test date
Completing the GED test when English is your second language
Understanding what your score means and how it’s determined
The GED test offers high-school dropouts, people who leave school early, and people who were educated outside the United States an opportunity to earn the equivalent of a United States (U.S.) high-school diploma without the need for full-time attendance in either day or night school. The GED test is a recognized standard that makes securing a job or college placement easier.
The GED test complies with current Grade 12 standards in the U.S. and meets the College and Career Readiness Standards for Adult Education. The GED test also covers the Common Core Standards, used in most states in the United States. These standards are based on the actual expectations stated by employers and postsecondary institutions.
The GED test measures whether you understand what high-school seniors across the country have studied before they graduate. Employers need better-educated employees. In addition, some colleges may be uncertain of the quality of foreign credentials. The GED provides those assurances. When you pass the GED test, you earn a high-school equivalency diploma. That can open many doors for you — perhaps doors that you don’t even know exist at this point.
You’re permitted to take the GED in sections, so you can take the Reasoning Through Language Arts (RLA), Math, Science, and Social Studies tests in separate testing sessions. This flexibility enables you to focus your studies and practice on one section of the test at a time, and this book supports your efforts to do just that.
Ready to get started? This chapter gives you the basics of the GED RLA test: how the test is administered, what the RLA test section looks like, how to schedule the test (including whether you’re eligible), and how your score is calculated (so you know what you need to focus on to pass).
A computer administers the GED test. That means that all the questions appear on a computer screen, and you enter all your answers into a computer. You read, evaluate, analyze, and write everything on the computer. Even when drafting an essay, you don’t use paper. Instead, the test centers provide you with an erasable tablet. If you know how to use a computer and are comfortable with a keyboard and a mouse, you’re ahead of the game. If not, practice your keyboarding. Also, practice reading from a computer screen, because reading from a screen is very different from reading printed materials. At the very least, you need to get more comfortable with computers, even if that means taking a short course at a local learning center. In the case of the GED test, the more familiar you are with computers, the more comfortable you’ll feel taking the computerized test.
Under certain circumstances, as a special accommodation, the sections are available in booklet format. Check with the GED Testing Service to see what exceptions are acceptable.
The computer-based GED test allows for speedy detailed feedback on your performance. When you pass (yes, we said when and not if, because we believe in you), the GED Testing Service provides both a diploma and a detailed transcript of your scores, similar to what high-school graduates receive. They’re now available online at www.gedtestingservice.com within a day of completing the test. You can then send your transcript and diploma to an employer or college. Doing so allows employers and colleges access to a detailed outline of your scores, achievement, and demonstrated skills and abilities. This outline is also a useful tool for you to review your progress. It highlights those areas where you did well and areas where you need further work. If you want to (or have to) retake the test, these results will provide a detailed guide to what you should work on to improve your scores. Requests for additional copies of transcripts are handled online and also are available within a day.
The Reasoning Through Language Arts (RLA) test is one long test that covers all the literacy components of the GED test. The 150-minute test is divided into three sections. First, you have 35 minutes on all content in question-and-answer format, then 45 minutes for the Extended Response (essay), followed by a 10-minute break, and then another 60 minutes for more general test items.
Time for the Extended Response can’t be used to work on the other questions in the test, nor can you use leftover time from the other sections to work on the Extended Response.
Here’s what you can expect on the RLA test:
The Extended Response item, also known as “the essay,” examines your skills in organizing your thoughts and writing clearly. Your response will be based on one or two source text selections, drawing key elements from that material to prepare your essay.
The essay is evaluated both on your interpretation of the source texts and the quality of your writing. You type on the computer, using a tool that resembles a word processor. It has neither a spell-checker nor a grammar-checker. How well you use spelling and grammar as you write is also part of your evaluation. You’ll have an erasable tablet on which to prepare a draft before writing the final document.
The question-answer part of this test consists mainly of various types of multiple-choice questions (also called items) and the occasional fill-in-the-blank question. Most items will be in the traditional multiple-choice format with four answer choices, but you’ll also see drag-and-drop and drop-down menu items. For details on the different question types, see Chapters 2 and 3.
These items are based on source texts, which are materials presented to you for your response. Some of this source material is nonfiction from science and social studies content as well as from the workplace. About 25 percent is based on literature. Here’s a breakdown of the materials:
You find a variety of problems in the RLA test, including the following:
Because the computerized GED test is new and still evolving as we write this book, be sure to check out the latest and greatest about the GED test at www.gedtestingservice.com.
If you can’t wait to get started practicing for the RLA test, you may skip to Chapter 3 to take a diagnostic version of the test or check out the chapters in Part 5 that cover the skills and knowledge required in greater detail.
To take the GED test, you schedule it based on the available testing dates. Each state or local testing center sets its own schedule for the GED test, which means that your state decides how and when you can take each section of the test. It also determines how often you can retake a failed section and how much such a retake will cost. Because a computer administers the test, many testing centers schedule an individual appointment. Your test starts when you start and ends when your allotted time is completed. The test centers are small computer labs, often containing no more than 15 seats, and actual testing facilities are located in many communities in your state.
You book your appointment through the GED Testing Service (www.gedtestingservice.com). Your local GED test administrator can give you all the information you need about scheduling the test. In addition, local school districts and community colleges can provide information about local test centers in your area.
Sending a specific question or request to the website may come with a charge for the service. To save money, you’re better off asking a person at your local testing center. That way, you don’t have to pay for the privilege of asking a question, and your answer will be based on rules and conditions specific to your area.
The following sections answer some questions you may have before you schedule your test date, including whether you’re even eligible to take the test, when you can take the test, and how to sign up to take the test.
Before you schedule your test, make sure you meet the requirements to take the GED test. You’re eligible to apply to take the GED test only if
If you’re eligible, you can take the GED test whenever you’re prepared. You can apply to take the GED test as soon as you want. Just contact your local testing center or www.gedtestingservice.com for a test schedule. Pick a day that works for you.
You can take all four sections of the GED test together. That takes about seven hours. However, the test is designed so that you can take each section separately, whenever you’re ready. In most areas, you can take the test sections one at a time, in the evening or on weekends, depending on the individual testing center. If you pass one test section, that section of the GED test is considered done, no matter how you do on the other sections. If you fail one section, you can retake that section of the test. The scheduling and administration of the test vary from state to state, so check with the GED Testing Service site or your local high-school guidance office.
Because the test starts when you’re ready and finishes when you’ve used up the allocated time, you should be able take it alone and not depend on other people. For you, that means you may be able to find locations that offer the testing in evenings or on weekends as well as during regular business hours. Even better, because you don’t have to take the test with a group, you may be able to set an individual starting time that suits you.
If circumstances dictate that you must take the paper version of the test, you’ll probably have to forgo the flexibility afforded by the computer. Check well in advance to see what the rules are for you.
You can also apply to take the test if you’re not prepared, but if you do that, you don’t stand a very good chance of passing. If you do need to retake any section of the test, use your time before your next test date to get ready. You can retake the test three times in a year without waiting, but after the third failed attempt you must wait 60 days. In most jurisdictions, taking the test costs money (check with your local testing center to find out specifics for your area). The GED Testing Service does offer a discounted retake up to twice a year, but these promotions change. Some states include free retakes in the price of the test. Check with the GED Testing Service or your state when ready about what special discounts may be available. To save time and money, prepare well before you schedule the test. Refer to the later section “Knowing what to do if you score poorly on one or more tests” for details.
When you’re actually ready to sign up for the test, follow these steps:
Contact your local GED test administrator to make sure you’re eligible.
Refer to the earlier section “Determining whether you’re eligible” for some help.
Return the application to the proper office, with payment, if necessary.
The fees vary state by state, so contact your local administrator or testing site to find out what you have to pay to take the tests. In some states, low-income individuals may be eligible for financial assistance.
Note: You can also do all of this online, including submitting the payment, with your computer, tablet, or smartphone. Go to www.gedtestingservice.com to start the process.
Never send cash by mail to pay for the GED test. Most local administrators have payment rules and don’t accept cash.
If you feel that you may have a special circumstance that prevents you from taking the GED test on a given day, contact the GED test administrator in your area. If, for example, the test is going to be held on your Sabbath, the testing center may make special arrangements for you.
When applying for special circumstances, keep the following guidelines in mind:
English doesn’t have to be your first language for you to take the GED test. The GED test is offered in English, Spanish, and French. If you want to take the test in Spanish or French, contact your local GED test administrator to apply. Individuals who speak other languages as their first language, however, must take the test in English. If that is you, you should take a test of your English skills before taking the GED test.
If English, Spanish, or French isn’t your first language, you must decide whether you can read and write English as well as or better than 40 percent of high-school graduates, because you may be required to pass an English as a Second Language (ESL) placement test. If you write and read English well, prepare for and take the test (either in English or in Spanish or French). If you don’t read or write English well, take additional classes to improve your language skills until you think you’re ready. An English Language Proficiency Test (ELPT) is also available for people who completed their education in other countries. For more information about the language component of the GED test, check out www.gedtestingservice.com/testers/special-test-editions.
In many ways, the GED test is like the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) comprehension test. If you’ve completed the TOEFL test with good grades, you’re likely ready to take the GED test. If you haven’t taken the TOEFL test, enroll in a GED test-preparation course to see whether you have difficulty understanding the subjects and skills assessed on the test. GED test courses provide you with some insight into your comprehension ability with a teacher to discuss your skills and struggles.
To pass, you need to score a minimum of 150 on each section of the test, and you must pass each section of the test to earn your GED diploma. If you achieve a passing score, congratulate yourself: You’ve scored better than at least 40 percent of today’s high-school graduates, and you’re now a graduate of the largest virtual school in the country. And if your marks are in the honors range (any score over 170), you’re ready for college or career training.
Be aware that some colleges require scores higher than the minimum passing score. If you plan to apply to postsecondary schools or some other form of continuing education, check with their admissions office for the minimum admission score requirements.
The following sections address a few more points you may want to know about how the GED test is scored and what you can do if you score poorly on one or more of the test sections.
Correct answers may be worth one, two, or more points, depending on the item and the level of difficulty. The Extended Response, the essay, is scored separately. However, the Extended Response is only part of the RLA and Social Studies sections. On each test section, you must accumulate a minimum of 150 points.
Because you don’t lose points for incorrect answers, make sure you answer all the items on each test. After all, a correct guess can get you a point. Leaving an answer blank, on the other hand, guarantees you a zero. The information and practice in this book provide you with the knowledge and skills you need to answer most questions on the RLA section with confidence and to narrow your choices when you’re not quite sure which answer choice is correct.
If you discover that your score is less than 150 on any test section, start planning to retake the test(s) — and make sure you leave plenty of time for additional study and preparation.
As soon as possible after obtaining your results, contact your local GED test administrator to find out the rules for retaking the failed section of the test. Some states may ask that you wait a certain amount of time and/or limit the number of attempts each year. Some may ask that you attend a preparation course and show that you’ve completed it before you can retake the GED. Some may charge you an additional fee. However, you need to retake only those sections of the test that you failed. Any sections you pass are completed and count toward your diploma. Furthermore, the detailed evaluation of your results will help you discover areas of weakness that need more work before repeating any section of the test.
One advantage of taking the GED test on a computer is that you can receive, within a day, detailed feedback on how you did, which includes some specific recommendations of what you need to do to improve your scores.
No matter what score you receive on your first round of the section, don’t be afraid to retake any section that you didn’t pass. After you’ve taken it once, you know what you need to work on, and you know exactly what to expect on test day.
Chapter 2
In This Chapter
Getting familiar with the writing and grammar component of the RLA test
Developing your reading and comprehension skills
Gearing up to write an essay
Discovering strategies to help you succeed
The Reasoning Through Language Arts (RLA) test evaluates your skills in comprehending and applying concepts in grammar and writing. (Grammar is the basic structure of language — you know: subjects, verbs, sentences, fragments, punctuation, and all that.) Most of what you’re tested on (both in writing and grammar) is stuff you’ve picked up over the years, either in school or just by speaking, reading, and observing, but, to help you prepare better for this test, we give you some more skill-building tips in this chapter.
The RLA test is divided into three sections. You start off with a 35-minute question-and-answer section that focuses on writing and reading comprehension, and then you spend 45 minutes writing an Extended Response (the essay). After a 10-minute break, you finish with a 60-minute question-and-answer section that presents more questions on reading and writing. The length of the two question-and-answer sections may vary slightly, but the overall time is always 150 minutes, including the 10-minute break.
In this chapter, we provide all you need to know to prepare for the RLA test and its different components. From reading everything you can to practicing your writing, grammar, and spelling to improving your reading comprehension and speed, this chapter, along with those in Part II, equip you with what you need to nail the test.
Although the GED test doesn’t label question sets with the words writing or grammar, the concepts are worked into almost everything on the test. To pass this component of the RLA test, you need to demonstrate that you have a command of the conventions of Standard English. You need to know the appropriate vocabulary to use and avoid slang. Texting shortcuts may save you time while communicating with your friends, but they’re not acceptable in formal writing. You need to be able to spell, identify incorrect grammar, and eliminate basic errors, including such common errors as run-on sentences or sentence fragments.
To help you succeed, we provide insightful information in the following sections about what skills this part of the test covers, what you can do to brush up on those skills, and how the questions are presented. With this information in hand, you can be confident in your ability to tackle any type of grammar or writing question on test day.
The grammar and writing component of the RLA test evaluates you on the following types of skills related to grammar. Note that unlike the other GED test sections, this component of the RLA test expects that you know or at least are familiar with the rules of grammar. Just looking at the passages provided won’t do you much good if you don’t understand the basics of these rules already.
Punctuation: This area of writing mechanics includes everyone’s personal favorite: commas. (Actually, most people hate commas because they aren’t sure how to use them, but the basic rules are simple.) The more you read, the better you get at punctuation. If you’re reading and don’t understand why punctuation is or isn’t used, check with your grammar guidebook or the Internet.
A general rule: Don’t use a comma unless the next group of words is a complete sentence. For example: “As agonizing as it was to leave her friends, college was what she wanted.” College was what she wanted is a complete sentence and can stand alone, so using a comma here is correct.
Contractions: This area of writing mechanics has nothing to do with those painful moments before childbirth! Instead, contractions are formed when the English language shortens a word by leaving out a letter or a sound. For example, when you say or write can’t, you’re using a shortened form of cannot. In this example, can’t is the contraction.
The important thing to remember about contractions is that the apostrophe (that’s a single quotation mark) takes the place of the letter or letters that are left out.
Having a firm grasp of these writing mechanics can help you get a more accurate picture of the types of questions you’ll encounter on this part of the test. The chapters in Part II of this book help you master the basics.
The grammar and writing component consist of a set of questions, mainly multiple-choice but also drag-and-drop or other technologically enhanced question formats and the occasional fill-in-the-blank question. One type of question asks you to read, revise, and edit documents that may include how-to info, informational texts, and workplace materials. Don’t worry; almost all of the questions are some form of multiple-choice, which means you don’t have to come up with the answers all on your own. And the best part: Practicing for this component helps you understand the grammar and other language skills needed for the Extended Response. It even carries over to the other GED test sections.
To answer the questions in this part of the RLA test, read the information presented to you carefully. Reading the questions before reading the entire text is often helpful because then you know what to look for. And because you’re dealing with grammar, as you read each passage, you can ask yourself, “Can I correct this passage? If so, how?”