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The ISEE contains a portion that focuses on Middle Level Reading. The section is made up of 25 questions separated amongst five texts. The questions task your middle school level child with determining the main ideas, making inferences, and identifying conclusions with these passages. The ISEE Middle Level Reading test review Learning Tools offer you the option to assess your child’s abilities in those areas. Your child is able to work with a variety of options, which all function as standalone study aids and work well together. One such valuable study aid offered by Varsity Tutors’ Learning Tools is the Question of the Day. This is a question that is changed on a daily basis using the practice tests that are based on the test itself. Whether you are using the tools to enhance your child’s learning at school or to help them study for the ISEE, your child can get free daily test practice.
When your child is studying Middle Level Reading, they should take some time to figure out what concepts they need to really improve in. If your child is spending time on material they are already solid in, they are wasting the time they could be using on the more important areas. By determining specific areas of weakness, your child would be able to spend less time overall studying, since they are only working on what they need. Of course, your child can use the Learning Tools to regularly look back and refresh on the material they haven’t been practicing as much.
Throughout the ISEE Middle Level Reading test practice, your child will look into contemporary life passages dealing with ideas, details, themes, supporting ideas, text analysis, tone, figurative language, style, relationships between texts like cause and effect, logic, organization, genre, compare and contrast, predictions, and inferences. They look at the same basic concepts in history, science, and humanities. With the Question of the Day, they will be tested on each of these concepts. Your child gets free daily test practice from a phone, tablet, or computer at any time of the day. In fact, they are given a full analysis based on their answer, which details their percentile, compares their right vs wrong, and thoroughly explains the reason for the answer.
Anytime your child isn’t sure of why they got the answer correct or incorrect, it is important to check the explanation at the bottom. It provides a detailed breakdown of the core concept, and how it applies to the problem or text at hand. If your child needs to study the concept further, you can choose other Learning Tools, such as flashcards, Learn by Concept, or the practice tests. These offer your child additional practice at each concept, and they can choose to use one tool or use them all for a comprehensive review.
With Varsity Tutors’ Learning Tools, you can reinforce the material that your child has learned in class, as well as keep their memory fresh without spending a dime. Your child can use the Learning Tools to practice for ISEE Middle Level Reading section as long as they need to, combining them to create a valuable study guide.
Question of the Day: ISEE Middle Level Reading
"The Meaning of 'Liberal Arts Education'" by Matthew Minerd (2013)
Many people use the expression “liberal arts education” but do not know much at all about the original meaning of such an education. It is often thought that a “true liberal education” is one that gives the student knowledge that is not pursued for “utilitarian values”—that is, knowledge that is not merely “for the sake of getting a job.” Sometimes, the expression “liberal education” is used to describe an education that is not a mere repetition of old beliefs, but is open-minded and “liberal” in this way.
To understand the original meaning of the expression “liberal arts” it is necessary to consider each part of the expression as it was used in its ancient and medieval senses. The word “liberal” was used to describe these “arts” insofar as they were not the “servile arts,” that is, “arts” in the sense of “artisan work.” In this regard, “liberal arts” were not a matter of “getting a job.” The word “art” still had a meaning that was related to “artisanship.” However, these “arts” were “liberal” because they were the “arts of reasoning,” that is, “the arts of the mind.” They were meant to be tools that prepared someone for more in-depth studies. Thus, they were not envisioned as “knowledge for the sake of knowledge.” Instead, they were the initial tools that enabled the young student to reason properly. This more ancient sense of the “liberal arts” is often missed or, at least, partially overlooked in contemporary discussions about them.
What is the purpose of the underlined sentence starting with “Sometimes, the expression . . .”?
To contrast the contemporary understanding of "liberal education" with the ancient understanding
To expand on the topic discussed in the sentence before
To provide a contrast for the first example provided in this paragraph
To state the thesis of this selection
To provide a second example of what some people think is meant by the expression "liberal arts education"
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