GED language arts practice test: reading, grammar and the essay
Eight questions on reading, arguments and grammar, written by us, with the rule behind each answer. The real test lasts 150 minutes and ends with an essay.
1 of 8
The town library will close its downtown branch on Saturdays starting in June. The council says Saturday visits fell by a third over two years, while weekday evening visits rose. The saved hours will keep the branch open until 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Some parents object that Saturday is the only day their children can attend story time. What reason does the council give for the change?
Practice questions written by us from the published test topics. They are not real GED or HiSET questions, and this score does not predict an official score.
Prepared by Radif Partners · Method · fees and rules read on ged.com and hiset.org on October 22, 2026
Reasoning Through Language Arts is the longest GED subject: 150 minutes in three sections, with a 10-minute break between parts 2 and 3 and 45 minutes for one written essay, the extended response. ged.com lists three topics: reading for meaning, identifying and creating arguments, and grammar and language. Questions are multiple choice, drag and drop, select an area and drop-down menus. The subject passes at 145 on the 100 to 200 scale, like the others, and a score of 175 or more can be worth one college credit in humanities, depending on the college. The eight questions above are ours: two on a short news passage about a library schedule, then subject-verb agreement, commas after an introductory clause, word choice, judging which fact weakens a claim, spotting a sentence fragment and choosing a transition. Each one shows why the right answer is right and why the tempting wrong one is wrong, which is the skill the test rewards: reading closely, then deciding on evidence rather than on what sounds familiar.
Three topics, one skill
Reading for meaning asks you to find the main idea, details that support it, the order of events and what a word means in context, in both fiction and informational texts. Identifying and creating arguments asks you to separate a claim from its evidence, judge whether the evidence is enough and spot a fact that would weaken the argument. Grammar and language asks you to correct sentences in everyday documents. All three reward the same habit: go back to the text and point to the line that proves your answer.
How the essay works
The extended response gives you two short texts that disagree, for instance on a new rule or a public program. You must explain which side is better supported and why, quoting or describing evidence from both texts. A strong answer has a clear thesis in the first lines, two or three paragraphs that each examine one piece of evidence, and a short conclusion. Spend the first five minutes planning, and keep the last five to reread for missing words and run-on sentences.
Close to 145 in language arts? Check the gap
Your GED result
2 to retake
| Math | 150 · Pass |
| Language arts (RLA) | 141 · 4 points short |
| Science | 158 · Pass |
| Social studies | 140 · 5 points short |
An extra reading example
“The company says the new shift schedule will cut overtime costs. Employees note that last year’s similar change was reversed after three months.” Which statement is a fact used to question the company’s claim? The answer is the reversal after three months: it is a past event, not an opinion, and it suggests the plan may not last. The phrase “will cut overtime costs” is the claim being questioned, not evidence.
Scores and college credit
Language arts passes at 145 and is scored on its own; a high math score does not offset it. From 165 the score reaches College Ready and from 175, according to ged.com, it can be worth up to 1 college credit in humanities, fewer than the three credits available in math, science and social studies. The essay counts inside the language arts score; there is no separate essay pass mark.
How to practice the rest
Read short opinion pieces and news reports every day and ask two questions: what is the writer claiming, and what proves it? For grammar, rewrite your own sentences: find one long sentence a day and split it correctly. Time yourself writing a full essay at least twice before test day. The social studies questions use the same reading skills on historical texts, and the GED Ready test gives a likely-to-pass indicator for this subject before you pay for the real one.
Managing the long passages
Some passages run to several hundred words. Read the question stem first so that you know what you are looking for, then read the passage once at a steady pace without stopping on unknown words; their meaning usually becomes clear from the sentences around them. Go back only to the paragraph the question points to. This keeps time for the essay, which many test takers reach later than they planned.
Common traps
Answers that are true in real life but not stated in the passage are wrong on this test. Answers that repeat words from the passage are often traps too: they borrow the vocabulary but change the meaning. In grammar questions, read the whole sentence aloud in your head; the error is often several words away from the underlined part, as when a long phrase separates a subject from its verb.