All ISEE Lower Level Reading Resources
Take the Varsity Learning Tools free diagnostic test for ISEE Lower Level Reading to determine which academic
concepts you understand and which ones require your ongoing attention.
Each ISEE Lower Level Reading problem is tagged down to the core, underlying concept that is being tested.
The ISEE Lower Level Reading diagnostic test results highlight how you performed on each area of the test.
You can then utilize the results to create a personalized study plan that is based on your particular area of need.
All ISEE Lower Level Reading Resources
Is English not your favorite subject? Do you not often read for fun in your free time? Are you nervous about how you might do on the Reading Comprehension section when taking the Lower Level ISEE because of this, or for other reasons? The Reading Comprehension section of the Lower Level ISEE is widely considered one of the test’s most difficult sections, so you’re not the only one who’s apprehensive about it. By familiarizing yourself with how the Reading Comprehension section of the Lower Level ISEE is presented, the types of questions it asks, and some great resources that can help you study, you can equip yourself with the information that you need to prepare yourself for the Reading Comprehension section of the Lower Level ISEE in no time.
The Lower Level ISEE, or Independent School Entrance Exam, is the version of the exam traditionally given to fifth- and sixth-grade students. All of its graded sections, including the Reading Comprehension section but excepting the Essay, are made up entirely of multiple-choice questions. The Reading Comprehension section in particular presents five reading passages about contemporary life, literature, history, and science. The test asks five questions about the information each passage presents, so you are asked to answer twenty-five questions in total. To answer these questions correctly, you might need to identify the main or a supporting idea in the passage, make an inference, identify a word based on how the author uses it in the passage, or analyze the passage’s logic and organization, the author’s style or tone, or figurative language like similes and metaphors. You are given twenty-five minutes during which to read each passage and answer questions associated with it. They may not seem like a lot of time—it’s not! To do well on the Reading Comprehension part of the Lower Level ISEE, you need to make sure you’re reading quickly enough to get to all the questions, but not so quickly that you misunderstand or miss important information in a passage.
If you’re worried that you might be reading too quickly or too slowly to achieve your personal best score on the ISEE Lower Level Reading Comprehension section, you can use Varsity Tutors’ free ISEE Lower Level Reading Comprehension Practice Tests to measure how fast you’re reading. Every Practice Test consists of about twelve problems and corresponding passages like the kind you’ll find on the Lower Level ISEE Reading Comprehension section. You can choose to take Practice Tests that draw their questions from a variety of topics tested on the Lower Level ISEE, or focus on just one if you are having trouble with that topic and need to study it specifically. After finishing a Practice Test, Varsity Tutors’ website shows you lots of information about your results, including how quickly you answered each problem and detailed answers for every problem. If you miss a question, be sure to figure out why by reading the included explanation. This will help you to not make that mistake again in the future, perhaps when you’re taking the actual Lower Level ISEE.
You can also take advantage of another great way to evaluate your knowledge by completing a Full-Length Lower Level ISEE Reading Comprehension Practice Test. The practice tests’ extended format can give you a clear assessment of your pacing over the course of the test and your comprehension of the relevant concepts. The results page that follows each of the full-length practice tests includes the same insights as the results pages for concept-specific practice tests, like extensive explanations and links to more information on important topics. The complete practice tests give you the bonus of helping you as you build a custom ISEE review by showing you the skills in which you most need review. When you use this information to create a study plan, you can move on to using the other Learning Tools to review. You can then track your improvement by taking another Full-Length Lower Level ISEE Reading Comprehension Practice Test.
By practicing the types of questions that the Lower Level ISEE’s Reading Comprehension section will ask you, you can prepare yourself to do your personal best when taking the real Lower Level ISEE!
Our completely free ISEE Lower Level Reading practice tests are the perfect way to brush up your skills. Take
one of our many ISEE Lower Level Reading practice tests for a run-through of commonly asked questions. You
will receive incredibly detailed scoring results at the end of your ISEE Lower Level Reading practice test to
help you identify your strengths and weaknesses. Pick one of our ISEE Lower Level Reading practice tests now
and begin!
Practice Tests by Concept
isee_lower_level_reading-contemporary-life-passages
Questions: 15
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 10 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-ideas-in-contemporary-life-passages
Questions: 3
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 3 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-identifying-and-analyzing-details-in-contemporary-life-passages
Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 5 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-identifying-and-analyzing-main-idea-and-theme-in-contemporary-life-passages
Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 mins 47 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-identifying-and-analyzing-supporting-ideas-in-contemporary-life-passages
Questions: 3
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 3 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-language-in-contemporary-life-passages
Questions: 6
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 4 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-analyzing-the-text-in-contemporary-life-passages
Questions: 3
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 37 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-analyzing-tone-style-and-figurative-language-in-contemporary-life-passages
Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 55 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-determining-context-dependent-word-meanings-in-contemporary-life-passages
Questions: 4
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 mins 6 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-textual-relationships-in-contemporary-life-passages
Questions: 6
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 14 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-analyzing-cause-and-effect-in-contemporary-life-passages
Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 hrs 6 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-analyzing-passage-logic-genre-and-organization-in-contemporary-life-passages
Questions: 3
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 32 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-comparing-and-contrasting-in-contemporary-life-passages
Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 20 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-making-inferences-and-predictions-in-contemporary-life-passages
Questions: 3
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 4 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-history-passages
Questions: 17
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 6 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-ideas-in-history-passages
Questions: 7
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 8 hrs 3 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-identifying-and-analyzing-details-in-history-passages
Questions: 5
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 3 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-identifying-and-analyzing-main-idea-and-theme-in-history-passages
Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 mins 27 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-identifying-and-analyzing-supporting-ideas-in-history-passages
Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 mins 2 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-language-in-history-passages
Questions: 9
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 4 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-analyzing-the-text-in-history-passages
Questions: 6
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 6 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-analyzing-tone-style-and-figurative-language-in-history-passages
Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 13 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-determining-context-dependent-word-meanings-in-history-passages
Questions: 7
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 19 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-textual-relationships-in-history-passages
Questions: 3
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 hrs 11 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-analyzing-cause-and-effect-in-history-passages
Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 52 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-analyzing-passage-logic-genre-and-organization-in-history-passages
Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 1 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-comparing-and-contrasting-in-history-passages
Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 7 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-making-inferences-and-predictions-in-history-passages
Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 39 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-literature-passages
Questions: 36
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 5 hrs 23 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-ideas-in-literature-passages
Questions: 33
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 hrs 21 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-identifying-and-analyzing-details-in-literature-passages
Questions: 13
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 4 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-identifying-and-analyzing-main-idea-and-theme-in-literature-passages
Questions: 3
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 mins 54 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-identifying-and-analyzing-supporting-ideas-in-literature-passages
Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 23 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-language-in-literature-passages
Questions: 21
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 8 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-analyzing-the-text-in-literature-passages
Questions: 4
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 6 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-analyzing-tone-style-and-figurative-language-in-literature-passages
Questions: 4
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 25 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-determining-context-dependent-word-meanings-in-literature-passages
Questions: 8
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 11 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-textual-relationships-in-literature-passages
Questions: 21
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 31 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-analyzing-cause-and-effect-in-literature-passages
Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 mins 19 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-analyzing-passage-logic-genre-and-organization-in-literature-passages
Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 43 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-comparing-and-contrasting-in-literature-passages
Questions: 3
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 4 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-making-inferences-and-predictions-in-literature-passages
Questions: 6
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 5 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-science-passages
Questions: 12
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 13 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-ideas-in-science-passages
Questions: 5
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 mins 27 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-identifying-and-analyzing-details-in-science-passages
Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 30 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-identifying-and-analyzing-main-idea-and-theme-in-science-passages
Questions: 3
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 mins 21 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-identifying-and-analyzing-supporting-ideas-in-science-passages
Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 59 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-language-in-science-passages
Questions: 4
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 55 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-analyzing-the-text-in-science-passages
Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 4 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-analyzing-tone-style-and-figurative-language-in-science-passages
Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 49 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-determining-context-dependent-word-meanings-in-science-passages
Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 10 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-textual-relationships-in-science-passages
Questions: 3
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 26 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-analyzing-cause-and-effect-in-science-passages
Questions: 3
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 49 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-analyzing-passage-logic-genre-and-organization-in-science-passages
Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 34 secs
isee_lower_level_reading-comparing-and-contrasting-in-science-passages
Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 hrs 46 mins
isee_lower_level_reading-making-inferences-and-predictions-in-science-passages
Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 13 secs
All ISEE Lower Level Reading Resources