Difficulty Calibrator: Why This Passage Is Hard
Passages are hard for specific, identifiable reasons. Know the four difficulty factors, adjust your strategy before your first read, and turn hard passages into manageable ones.
The Four Difficulty Factors That Actually Matter
Most test-takers think passage difficulty is binary — either it is easy or hard. But RC difficulty analysis reveals something far more useful: passages are hard for specific, identifiable reasons. Once you know the reason, you can adjust your strategy before you have even finished your first read.
Vocabulary density — When a passage uses technical terms, jargon, or rare words, comprehension slows at the sentence level. Easiest factor to work around: you do not need to know every word, just which words are critical to the argument.
Argument complexity — Multiple viewpoints, nested claims, or reasoning where each step depends on the last. You are tracking three positions simultaneously.
Abstraction level — Ideas, theories, and concepts without concrete examples. A passage about epistemological implications is harder than one about why mirrors do not reverse left and right even with identical vocabulary.
Information density — How much content per sentence. Dense passages require slower reading and more working memory.
A passage can be hard for one factor and easy for the others. A science passage might have dense vocabulary but a simple argument. A philosophy passage might use simple words but have extremely abstract reasoning. Knowing which factor is driving the difficulty tells you exactly where to invest your reading time.
You have now completed the full RC Exam Prep toolkit. For the complete AI reading system, return to the AI for Reading hub.
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