This study examined the nature of reading comprehension to determine if the process is best described as a unitary ability or in terms of multiple skills that can be identified and measured. Test items were constructed to measure each of the comprehension skills selected for investigation: (1) remembering word meanings, (2) inferring word meanings from the context, (3) understanding content stated explicitly, (4) weaving together ideas in the content, (5) making inferences about the content, and (6) recognizing the author's purpose and point of view. After trial testing, the items were analyzed and a final form of the test was administered to 369 fifth grade pupils who were slightly above average in intelligence and general reading achievement. The results of the analysis of the intercorrelations among the skill measures indicated that the coefficients ranged from .61 to .75. These findings indicate that the subtests were not assessing separate unique aspects of reading comprehension and that one factor, tentatively identified as general reading comprehension, accounted for nearly 73 percent of the total test variance. Thus, the results support the theory that reading comprehension is a unitary ability. (Author/TO)