Praxis Core Reading practice test (5713): free drill and question types
Praxis Core Reading (5713) is 56 selected-response questions in 85 minutes, about 91 seconds each. Passages run from a single sentence to about 200 words, including paired passages. Most states ask for 156. The free drill below is 12 original Reading questions at the real pace, with every answer explained.
- 56
- questions on the real test
- 85 min
- about 91 seconds each
- 156
- most common cut score
- 12
- questions in the free drill
Last checked · Counts from ETS's study companion for Core Reading (5713)
Free Reading drill: 12 original Praxis Core-style Reading questions at the real pace, then every answer explained. No sign-up.
12
questions
18:13
time limit
Free
every answer explained
By the LifeScore Editorial Team · Updated · How we check facts · How this is scored
What is on the Praxis Core Reading test?
Passages of four lengths (brief statements, short passages, long passages of about 200 words and paired passages) and questions in three ETS categories. There are no stand-alone vocabulary questions; word meaning is always tested in context.
| Category | Share | What it asks |
|---|---|---|
| Key Ideas and Details | About 35% | Main idea, supporting details, inferences and summaries |
| Craft, Structure and Language Skills | About 30% | Author's purpose, tone and attitude, how a passage is organized, the role of a sentence, a word's meaning in context |
| Integration of Knowledge and Ideas | About 35% | Evaluating arguments (assumptions, strengthen, weaken), comparing paired passages, reading data in tables and graphs |
The third category is where most points are lost, because argument questions reward a different kind of reading: you are not asked what the author said but whether the reasoning holds. Our mocks mix argument questions into every Reading part, short passages and passage sets alike.
Which Praxis Core Reading question types come up most?
Main idea, inference, author's purpose, word in context, and the argument family: assumption, strengthen, weaken and flaw. Each has a reliable method.
Main idea
Key ideas
Choose the option that covers every sentence, not just one. A detail is true but too narrow; a recommendation is usually not stated.
Inference
Key ideas
The answer must follow from the passage, not merely fit with it. If you cannot point to the words that force it, it goes too far.
Author's purpose and tone
Craft
Ask why the sentence or detail is there: to give evidence, to concede a point, to correct a belief. Tone comes from word choice, so quote the words.
Word in context
Craft
Cover the word, put your own word in the blank from the clues around it, then match. The dictionary meaning is often a trap.
Assumption, strengthen, weaken
Integration
Name the conclusion and the evidence, then find the gap between them. A weakener offers another explanation of the evidence; a strengthener closes the gap.
Paired passages
Integration
Decide the relationship before you read the questions: does Passage 2 agree, disagree, qualify or give an example?
What do Praxis Core Reading questions look like?
A passage and a question with five options, one of which is the answer you get from the most common slip. Three examples follow; the first is worked in full.
Praxis Core-style question 1 · Main idea
Which of the following best states the main idea of the passage?
- AA bus line planned for commuters turned out to improve student attendance.
- BMost students miss school when it rains.
- CPlanners should always consider students when designing bus lines.
- DThe county built the bus line to raise attendance.
- EAttendance in the county is higher than in neighboring counties.
Worked answer
A: A bus line planned for commuters turned out to improve student attendance.. Every sentence supports one point: a commuter bus line had an unplanned benefit for attendance. The passage says it was planned for commuters, so it was not built to raise attendance.
- Name the topic: the bus line and attendance.
- Find what the passage says about it: rainy-day absences fell to the dry-day level.
- Check the last sentence: the benefit was not planned. Only the first option keeps all of that.
The trap: Choosing "Planners should always consider students." It sounds reasonable, but the passage never recommends anything.
Praxis Core-style question 2 · Argument: weaken
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
- ATeachers with master's degrees are more often assigned advanced classes, whose students already scored higher.
- BA master's degree takes about two years to complete.
- CMany teachers say they would like to earn a master's degree.
- DThe state test was revised three years ago.
- ESome teachers without master's degrees are excellent.
Show the worked answer
A: Teachers with master's degrees are more often assigned advanced classes, whose students already scored higher.. The argument assumes the degree causes the higher scores. If degree-holders teach students who were already stronger, the score gap may have nothing to do with the degree.
- Find the conclusion: pay for every teacher's master's degree.
- Find the evidence: degree-holders' students score higher.
- Look for another explanation of the evidence: class assignment is one.
The trap: "Some teachers without master's degrees are excellent." True of a few teachers, but it does not touch the average gap the argument relies on.
Praxis Core-style question 3 · Vocabulary in context
As used in the passage, "perfunctory" most nearly means
- Athorough
- Bdone with little care or effort
- Cangry
- Ddelayed
- Egenerous
Show the worked answer
B: done with little care or effort. The colon introduces the evidence: two lines, a thank-you and no answers. That describes a reply made with minimal effort.
- Find the clue after the colon: two lines, no answers.
- Put your own word in the blank: "minimal."
- Match it: "done with little care or effort."
The trap: "Angry." Nothing in the letter is hostile; it is just thin.
These are written for this page and are not in any mock. More are on Praxis Core sample questions.
More Reading practice
Four drills of Reading, four full mocks with new passages, and every answer explained.
The Praxis Core Pass Pack gives you 4 full mocks on the real clock, 12 drills of 12 questions for the sections that cost you points, and a predictor that turns your mocks into the odds of reaching your target. One payment, no subscription, and your free score stays free.
Prep courses for these tests usually cost $19 to $129. The Praxis Core Pass Pack is US$39 (£29), once.
- 4
- timed mocks
- 12
- topic drills
- 1
- score predictor
How should I pace the Praxis Core Reading test?
At about 91 seconds a question, answer brief statements in under a minute and bank the time for long and paired passages, which carry several questions each.
- Read the question stem first on a long passage, so you read with a purpose.
- For a paired passage, read Passage 1, answer its questions, then read Passage 2.
- Do not reread a whole passage to check one answer; go to the line that decides it.
- There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so never leave a blank. Mark and return if you are stuck.
- Our drill runs 12 questions in the time the real test gives them (about 18 minutes), so you feel the pace.
What are the most common Praxis Core Reading mistakes?
Choosing options that are true in the world but not stated, picking a detail as the main idea, and treating a correlation in an argument as proof of cause.
Wrong options on Praxis-style reading are built from predictable slips: an extreme word ("always," "never," "only"), a reversed relationship, a detail from the wrong paragraph, or a reasonable opinion the passage never expresses. Read every option looking for the word that makes it wrong.
On argument questions the classic slip is accepting that because two things happen together, one causes the other. Ask what else could explain the evidence. That single habit wins most weaken and assumption questions. The Praxis Core Writing and Math pages cover the other two tests the same way.
How should I practise for Praxis Core Reading?
Take the free drill, sort every miss by question type, and then practise the type you miss most with untimed questions before going back to the clock.
Keep a short log: question type, why the right answer is right, and which word made your choice wrong. After two or three drills the pattern is usually obvious, and it is usually one or two types. The free Praxis Core practice test then tests Reading alongside the other two, and the plan is in how to pass Praxis Core.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions are on Praxis Core Reading?
What score do I need on Praxis Core Reading?
Are there vocabulary questions on Praxis Core Reading?
Is Praxis Core Reading the hardest test?
Reach your Reading cut score the first time
Four Praxis Core-style mocks, four Reading drills and every answer explained, for one payment.
The Praxis Core Pass Pack gives you 4 full mocks on the real clock, 12 drills of 12 questions for the sections that cost you points, and a predictor that turns your mocks into the odds of reaching your target. One payment, no subscription, and your free score stays free.
Prep courses for these tests usually cost $19 to $129. The Praxis Core Pass Pack is US$39 (£29), once.
- 4
- timed mocks
- 12
- topic drills
- 1
- score predictor