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The ISEE Upper Level Reading section assesses your child’s abilities in the skills required for reading comprehension. It is an important test for those seeking to enter a private high school. They are tested on their ability to interpret linguistics, which are skills that should have developed throughout the lower and middle educational levels. The ISEE Upper Level Reading section uses passages drawn from sciences, humanities, essays, contemporary life, and other literature. With such a variety, your child will need to have the general skill for reading comprehension, rather than knowledge of the specific topic at hand. This allows this section of the test to truly assess their reading comprehension skills. With the increased difficulty in Upper Level Reading, it is important to devote some time to preparation ahead of the test by using Varsity Tutors’ Learning Tools like the Question of the Day.
The Learning Tools serve as viable study aids to help your child practice the concepts they have learned at school. Your child can use the variety of tools together or individually to create a study plan, and go from there. The Question of the Day is a valuable option that offers your child access to free daily test practice online. The Question of the Day is a timed question that is different each day, allowing you to determine how well your child understands the information that will be tested in the ISEE Upper Level Reading section.
With ISEE Upper Level Reading, your child will need to be able to focus on the key aspects of each passage. There are thematic elements, local organization, and other details that can make the difference in your child’s chosen answer. They will need to pay attention to each supporting idea, interaction between ideas, textual relationships, and other ideas that are less straightforward than in lower levels. You can help your child to prepare for these by encouraging them to study regularly and determinedly. Through ongoing practice, these skills can become second nature, readily accessed as they are needed. Your child can use the Learning Tools for precisely this level of practice.
The Learning Tools offer free ISEE Upper Level Reading section practice tests that your child can use to review information, practice concepts, and evaluate their preparation level. Through this, your child can further customize their study plan by addressing the areas that they need to work on most. In addition, they can use the flashcards to work on quick refresh, study in their free time, and identify any weak points. There are also full-length practice tests that are built to be similar to the real exam, and Learn by Concept, which offers a thorough review on each concept.
The Question of the Day uses passages pulled from contemporary life, history, science, and humanities essays. Your child may be asked to identify the supporting ideas, the main theme, the general idea behind the passage, any figurative language, infer the meanings behind conclusions, or draw a conclusion, as well as compare and contrast, make predictions, and discuss textual relationships. Further, they may need to compare the different themes for contradictions, or rewrite the summary in their own words. No matter what, your child can take their time, and answer the question when they are confident.
When it comes to studying for ISEE Upper Level Reading section, your child can use Varsity Tutors’ Learning Tools to strengthen their grasp on the concepts they will be tested on.
Question of the Day: ISEE Upper Level Reading
"Conservatism" by Matthew Minerd (2013)
In American politics, there is perhaps no word that is more over-simplified than “conservative.” Many people use this term as though it has a single meaning and expresses a single historical-political outlook. Nothing could be further from the truth. The development of American conservatism must be understood as a combination of a number of strands of ideology that often coexist with great tension and difficulty. Although there are many groups that are combined in this larger assortment, two examples will suffice to show the great diversity present in this seemingly simple group.
For instance, there are the “traditionalist conservatives,” who generally are concerned with preserving Western culture and tradition against the developments of modern thought and culture. In many ways, this type of conservatism is the most “conserving”; that is, traditionalists are primarily concerned with maintaining the “old order” of Western civilization and learning. Because of these concerns, the traditionalist conservatives are very wary of any kind of major governmental program that promises to bring a “new order” into existence. While not disagreeing with the idea of progress, these conservatives believe that any such changes should occur organically, in a natural manner over a period of years.
On the other hand, there are also the “libertarians," who are often classed as “conservatives” as well. They are surprisingly different from the traditionalist conservatives. The libertarians are primarily concerned with maximizing freedom and limiting the role of government in individual lives. In many ways, they represent the kind of modern individualism disagreed with by the traditionalists.
These two opposed groups are able to come together in the general notion of “conservatism” because of their shared attitudes toward the government, particularly the federal government. The traditionalists wish to limit the role of the federal government out of a fear that it will ruin traditional culture through radically new plans and agendas. The libertarians seek to limit it out of a desire to give individual citizens maximum freedom of choice and action. While these two branches of “conservatism” are in many ways opposed to each other, they somehow manage to coexist along with many other positions that are all called “conservative” in spite of similarly striking differences.
What does the underlined word “organically” mean in its context?
In a socially responsible way
Without artificial additives
In a lively way
Gradually
In a healthy way
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