What types of questions are commonly used in the RPT SOL to test understanding of a paired passage?

• A. Questions about the author's biography.
• B. Questions that compare and contrast themes, ideas, or perspectives, and require citing evidence from both passages.
• C. Math word problems.
• D. Questions about the visual design.

Answer: (B)

Paired-passage questions on the RPT SOL focus on comparing and contrasting ideas, themes, or perspectives across two texts, and they require citing evidence from both passages to support your conclusion. This tests your ability to synthesize information, see how different authors approach similar topics, and justify your answer with quotes or details from each passage. The other types of questions mentioned don’t fit this format—biography questions aren’t about cross-text analysis, math word problems belong to math, and questions about visual design don’t assess understanding across two passages.