The most common failure mode on the close-reading section is reading the whole passage carefully, then reading the questions, then re-reading the passage. That is twice the time and half the accuracy.
Skim the questions first — thirty seconds. Now read the passage with a pen, underlining every point that seems to answer one of them. When you get to a question, jump back to your underlines.
For questions about tone or authorial stance, answer in the vocabulary the passage itself uses. Examiners look for specific phrases from the text. Paraphrasing loses points even when the paraphrase is correct.
Never leave a subjective question blank. Even a weak answer that echoes one keyword from the passage earns a mark. Blank earns zero.