What kinds of questions are on the GED Language Arts test?

Surprises cost time on test day. If you already know what each kind of question looks like and what it asks you to do, you can spend your energy on the thinking instead of on figuring out the screen. This post walks through every kind of question on the GED Reasoning Through Language Arts test, in plain words.

The question types

The GED student page lists multiple choice and other question types: drag and drop, select an area, and drop down.^[1] In all, you answer about 46 questions and write one essay.^[2]

Each type asks you to show what you know in a different way. Below is what each one looks like, with a tip for each.

Questions come in passage sets

Most of your work on this test starts with reading. Questions come in passage sets: each set has a text of 400 to 900 words and six to eight questions.^[3]

The texts are a mix. About three quarters of them are informational, such as nonfiction from science, social studies and the workplace, and about one quarter is literature.^[3] So expect to read articles and work documents as well as stories.

Multiple choice

Multiple choice questions have four answer options.^[3] On Language Arts, every multiple choice question is about a passage, and it is the only GED subject where that is true.^[3] That means reading the passage well is the heart of the multiple choice work.

A few habits help:

• Read all four options before you choose. Two may look good at first.
• When you are torn, go back to the passage. The right answer is the one the text supports.
• Watch for options that are true but do not answer the question that was asked.

You can try a multiple choice question right now: a free main idea question, with feedback on every choice.

Drop-down questions

Drop-down questions sit inside a passage. They are used mainly to test language skills such as grammar, usage and punctuation, much like editing a draft.^[3] Each editing passage has 4 to 5 drop-down questions, and each one tests one of 13 language skills.^[4]

A drop-down is a menu inside the text. You open it and pick the choice that makes the sentence correct and clear. A good habit is to read the whole sentence, and the sentence before it, with each choice in place. Then ask which version a careful editor would keep. If two choices both sound fine, look in the sentence for a clue that rules one of them out, such as a subject that is plural or a linking word that needs a certain kind of idea after it.

Drag and drop

A drag-and-drop question asks you to move pieces into place on the screen. For example, it might ask you to put events from a passage in order, by time or by cause and effect.^[3]

These questions reward a plan. Before you move anything, find the first and the last piece. Then place the pieces in between, one at a time, and check each one against the passage. If a piece seems to fit in two places, reread the passage around both spots and look for a time word, such as "later" or "before," that settles it.

Select an area, and charts

The student page also lists select an area as a question type.^[1] The 2019 official study guide used the name hot spot where today's page says select an area.^[5] If you see either name in study materials, it is the same kind of question.

The technical manual also describes chart questions with radio buttons, for example sorting an author's claims into those that are supported and those that are not.^[3] Think of this as one more way the test can ask you to sort ideas. The skill behind it is the same: read closely, then decide what the text supports.

The essay

The essay is one 45-minute task based on source texts that total no more than 650 words.^[3] Unlike the other questions, it asks for your own writing, so it needs its own kind of practice: reading the sources, planning, writing and checking, all under time.

How to get ready for every type

1. Practice each type at least a few times. The first time you see a drop-down or a drag-and-drop question should not be on test day.
2. Read both kinds of text. Spend time with articles and work documents as well as stories, since the test uses both.
3. For drop-downs, read the whole sentence. Do not judge a choice by the words in the menu alone.
4. For drag and drop, find the ends first. The first and last pieces are often the easiest to place.
5. Practice the essay under time. Write a full practice essay in 45 minutes, then look at what you would change.

Try the types for free

On OpenEssayMe, the free practice questions include multiple choice and drop-down questions, and every answer comes with feedback that explains each choice. For the full picture of the test, from timing to scoring, see our GED RLA test guide.