In almost every language test, irrespective of the pattern, format, or the type, reading questions are designed to assess a range of comprehension skills, focusing on understanding inferences, opinions, attitudes, and the purpose of the text. Depending on the complexity of the test, here are the different types of questions you can expect:

• Direct Questions: These questions ask about specific points or opinions mentioned in the text. For example, you might be asked to identify a point made about a particular topic in a paragraph.

Direct questions are among the easiest of questions. These look at basic understanding of language. These questions are more common in tests like IELTS and less common in tests like the SAT and the GRE.

• Sentence Completion Questions: These require you to understand the purpose of including certain information or quotes within the text. For instance, you might need to complete a sentence that explains why a particular quote was used by the writer.

These are slightly more advanced questions. They test you on the ability to understand the structure of the sentence and the context. Grammatical accuracy becomes important in these questions.

• Reference Questions: These questions test your ability to identify what pronouns or other reference words refer to within the text. This could involve determining what a term like 'those' or 'they' is pointing to in a specific context.

These are an extension of sentence completion questions. These too look at your ability to understand structure. However, rather than looking at your ability to understand one sentence, they look at your ability to understand the flow of information 'between' the sentences, rather than within.

• Main Idea and Purpose: These questions ask you to determine the central point of a paragraph or the author’s aim in including specific information. This might involve understanding the main argument of a section or why certain data was presented.

These are also called Gist questions. These questions expect you to understand the full text, the context in which it appears and why the writer has presented this text. One common mistake people make is to confuse information with purpose. Information is what is given in the text, purpose is the reason why the information has been presented to you.

• Opinions and Attitudes: These questions require you to identify the viewpoints of the writer or others mentioned in the text on a particular issue. This involves interpreting how the writer or quoted individuals feel about the subject matter.

Depending on how the question is worded, these questions can fall among the most challenging of reading comprehension questions. In exams like the SAT and GRE, these questions expect you to consider multiple pieces of information and see how they work together to give us an understanding of opinion or attitude.

• Vocabulary in Context: These questions assess your understanding of how specific words or phrases are used within the context of the text. You might need to define a term based on how it is used in a particular section.

These questions are easy, if you understand the context. There is one common feature - in most of these questions, one of the answer choices is usually the actual, direct meaning of the word, and this option is rarely, if ever, the right answer. You can eliminate this option and see what fits best among the others.

• Cause-and-Effect: These questions ask you to understand the relationships between events or ideas presented in the text. For example, you might need to explain the reason behind a trend or the impact of a new finding.

Mostly in tests like OET, SAT, and GRE, these look at your understanding of ideas and relationships between events. Depending on the complexity, these questions can be very close to the the other question type - inferences.

• Inferring Meaning: These challenge you to draw conclusions based on the information provided, even if it is not explicitly stated. This could involve making educated guesses about implications or outcomes based on the text.

Each of these question types requires a different set of reading and analytical skills, emphasizing the need to understand both the explicit content and the subtler nuances of the text.