New York State Trooper

The Reading/Writing domain of the New York State Police Trooper Exam covers two of the twelve abilities the exam measures. Reading is the ability to understand written passages: their main ideas, their details, what they imply, and what their words mean in context. Writing is the ability to communicate information clearly; on the exam it is tested by asking which one sentence best summarizes a scenario. Troopers use both abilities every shift. They read directives, policy manuals, witness statements, and bulletins, and they write incident reports that supervisors, prosecutors, and courts rely on. No knowledge of law or police procedure is required: every answer can be found in, or reasoned directly from, the material on the screen. This section covers how reading items are built, how to find main ideas and details, how to make inferences, how to read the precise language of policies, and how to choose the best summary of an incident.

A reading item gives you written material, usually a passage of one or more paragraphs, and asks one or more questions about it. The material may be a description of an incident, an excerpt from a departmental directive, a training bulletin, or general informational text. You do not need prior knowledge of the subject. Everything required to answer is in the passage, and the exam rewards answers taken from the passage rather than from what you already believe about police work.

The cognitive section allows 1 hour 40 minutes for 65 questions, an average of about one and a half minutes per question. A passage that supports several questions takes longer to read the first time but repays that time on every question attached to it, so read it once carefully rather than skimming it several times.

Type	WhatItAsks	TypicalWording
Mainidea	Thecentralpointofthewholepassage	"The passage is primarily concerned with …" · "Which statement
		bestsummarizesthepassage?"·"Theauthor'smainpointis
		that " …
Supportingdetail	Aspecificfactstatedinthepassage	"According to the passage …" · "The passage states that …" · "All
		ofthefollowingarementionedEXCEPT " …
Inference	Aconclusionthepassagesupportsbut	"It can be inferred that …" · "The passage suggests …" · "Based on
	doesnotstate	thepassage itismostlikelythat " , …
Vocabularyin	Themeaningofawordasusedinthe	"Asusedinthepassage theunderlinedwordmostnearly ,
context	passage	means …" · "Which word could best replace …"
Applyingarule	Whatastatedpolicyrequiresina	"According to the directive , the trooper should …" · "Which	action
describedsituation ReadingApproachThatWorksonEveryPassage 1 Read the passage carefully, once Readatasteadypace Donotrush butdonotrereadsentenc		ispermittedunderthepolicy?" esyoualreadyunderstood	1

A Reading Approach That Works on Every Passage

Name the main idea before you look at the questions

Put the point of the passage into one sentence of your own. That sentence is your filter for main-idea choices.

Read the question stem exactly

Note words such as EXCEPT, NOT, most likely, first, and according to the passage. They change what a correct answer looks like.

Go back to the passage

Locate the sentence that answers the question. Do not answer detail questions from memory.

Eliminate clearly wrong choices

Cross out choices that contradict the passage, go beyond it, or answer a different question.

Check inferences against evidence

An inference must be supported by specific words in the passage, not by general knowledge.

Read vocabulary choices back into the sentence

The correct meaning is the one that fits this sentence, even if another choice is the more common meaning of the word.

The most attractive wrong answers are true statements that the passage does not make. If a choice sounds reasonable but you cannot point to the sentence that supports it, it is not the answer to a reading question.