Introduction

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.

About This Book

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.

Foolish Assumptions

When we wrote this book, we made a few assumptions about you, dear reader. Here’s who we think you are:

• You’re serious about earning a high-school diploma or GED endorsement for existing qualifications as quickly as you can.
• You’re looking for additional instruction and guidance specifically to improve your score on the GED Reasoning Through Language Arts test, not the Math, Science, or Social Studies test.
• You’ve made earning a high-school diploma and an endorsement a priority in your life because you want to advance in the workplace or move on to college.
• You’re willing to give up some activities so you have the time to prepare, always keeping in mind your other responsibilities, too.
• You meet your state’s requirements regarding age, residency, and the length of time since leaving school that make you eligible to take the GED test. (See Chapter 1 for details.)
• You have sufficient English language skills to handle the test.
• You want a fun and friendly guide that helps you achieve your goal.

If any of these descriptions sounds like you, welcome aboard. We’ve prepared an enjoyable tour of the GED test.

Icons Used in This Book

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.

Beyond the Book

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.

Where to Go from Here

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:

• Reading comprehension: The RLA test is essentially an open-book test in that it provides the content on which questions are based. That said, you have to be a very good and careful reader to identify the main ideas and pick out details from the reading passages on the test. In Chapter 5, we help you develop your reading comprehension skills.
• Argument analysis: The RLA test challenges your ability not only to read and understand the written word but also to evaluate arguments in terms of logic and supporting evidence. In Chapter 6, we explain how to pick apart arguments and separate fact from opinion.
• English language conventions: A significant portion of the GED RLA test presents you with writing errors in grammar, spelling, usage, punctuation, and other conventions and challenges you to choose the correction. In Chapter 7, we address the most common errors and explain how to correct them.
• Extended Response: Chapter 8 turns your attention to writing. Here, you find out what the Extended Response portion of the test is all about, how to compare two passages and determine which is most effective, and how to write an essay that clearly states your point of view and supports it with plenty of evidence in a well-reasoned persuasive essay.

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.