Detail & Specific
Information
Master the art of locating precise details within GRE Reading Comprehension passages: the skill that turns close reading into correct answers.
What Are Detail Questions?
Detail questions ask you to identify specific information explicitly stated in the passage. Unlike inference questions, the answer is directly supported by particular words or sentences: you should be able to point to the exact lines that prove your choice correct.
Recognising Detail Stems
GRE detail questions use distinctive stem language that signals you should look for explicit evidence. Learn to spot these patterns instantly so you know exactly what type of reading work is required.
Why Detail Skills Matter
The Golden Rule of Detail Questions
Anatomy of a Detail Question
Detail vs Inference
| Detail | Inference | |
|---|---|---|
| Evidence type | Explicit: stated in text | Implicit: must be deduced |
| Typical stem | "According to the passage..." | "It can be inferred that..." |
| Answer quality | Close paraphrase | Logical consequence |
| Trap to watch | Looks right but adds info | Too extreme a leap |
| Time strategy | Quick: scan & match | Slower: reason & verify |
The 4-Step Method
Worked Example: Basic
"The Alvarez hypothesis attributes the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event to a massive asteroid impact. Evidence includes a worldwide layer of iridium-enriched clay dating to approximately 66 million years ago, consistent with debris from an extraterrestrial body."
Question: According to the passage, what evidence supports the Alvarez hypothesis?
Worked Example: Medium
"While early behaviorists insisted that only observable actions constituted legitimate data, cognitive psychologists argued that internal mental processes: perception, memory, and problem-solving: were not only real but measurable through carefully designed experiments."
Question: The passage states that cognitive psychologists believed internal mental processes were:
Worked Example: Hard
"The economic historian Deirdre McCloskey contends that the Industrial Revolution was driven less by capital accumulation or institutional change than by a shift in rhetoric and social attitudes that began to honor commercial innovation. She terms this cultural transformation the advent of 'bourgeois dignity,' arguing that it preceded and enabled the material advances typically credited to market forces alone."
Question: According to the passage, McCloskey's explanation for the Industrial Revolution emphasises:
The Five Trap Types
Common Mistakes
Signal Words Cheat Sheet
| Stem Phrase | Question Type | Your Move |
|---|---|---|
| "According to the passage" | Detail | Locate & paraphrase |
| "The author states that" | Detail | Find explicit claim |
| "The passage mentions X as" | Detail | Scan for X, read context |
| "It can be inferred" | Inference | Deduce from evidence |
| "The author would most likely" | Inference | Extend author's logic |
| "The primary purpose" | Main Idea | Summarise overall point |
Key Takeaways
Question 1 of 5
"Coral reefs support an estimated 25 percent of all marine species, despite covering less than one percent of the ocean floor. Their complex three-dimensional structures provide shelter, breeding grounds, and food sources for thousands of organisms. Marine biologists often refer to reefs as 'the rainforests of the sea' because of this extraordinary biodiversity."
According to the passage, why are coral reefs compared to rainforests?
Question 2 of 5
"The Rosetta Stone, discovered in 1799 by French soldiers in Egypt, bears an inscription in three scripts: hieroglyphic, demotic, and Greek. Jean-Francois Champollion used the Greek text as a key to decipher the hieroglyphs in 1822, ending centuries of speculation about their meaning. Crucially, the stone's decree was relatively mundane: a priestly proclamation affirming the royal cult of Ptolemy V."
The passage states that the content of the Rosetta Stone's inscription was:
Question 3 of 5
"Geothermal energy harnesses heat stored beneath Earth's surface. In regions with active volcanic systems, such as Iceland and New Zealand, geothermal power plants can tap directly into shallow hydrothermal reservoirs. In less geologically active areas, enhanced geothermal systems inject water into hot dry rock several kilometres underground to create artificial reservoirs."
According to the passage, how do enhanced geothermal systems differ from conventional geothermal plants?
Question 4 of 5
"Although Adam Smith is often credited as the founder of modern economics, his first major work was not about markets at all. The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) explored how human beings form moral judgments through sympathy: the ability to imagine oneself in another's situation. Smith argued that this capacity, not pure self-interest, was the foundation of social order."
The passage mentions The Theory of Moral Sentiments primarily to illustrate that Smith:
Question 5 of 5
"Recent neuroimaging studies reveal that bilingual individuals show greater grey matter density in the left inferior parietal cortex compared to monolinguals. Researchers attribute this difference to the constant management of two linguistic systems, which exercises executive control functions. Importantly, the studies found these structural differences even in individuals who acquired their second language in adulthood, challenging the assumption that only early bilingualism reshapes brain architecture."
According to the passage, the neuroimaging findings challenge which assumption?