Reading Comprehension topic of English section is the heart of
any competitive exam. You will get 10 to 15 marks in this section. There are two
useful methods and some tips to solve Reading Comprehension questions. Let's
start with basics. The word 'Comprehend' means 'to understand'. It is ability,
attitude and practice which help to go through a passage and answer the
questions based on it. to grasp the gist of the passage is the primary task for
which the aspirants need to have a sense of the language, locate meanings and
infer conclusions from the given context. One needs to have a positive attitude
and practice which is equally important. One needs to read, read and read a
lot. Everything gets easier with practice.
Taking a comprehension test, we know pretty well that we are
reading for information rather than for pleasure. Reading for information is a
skill which is needed to face all examinations.
Skimming & Skipping are the two words which are associated
with reading process. Skimming is looking for certain information in a specific
section in comprehension paragraphs. We skim the first two sentences that are
usually the topic sentences which will quickly tell us what the paragraph is
about. If we are skimming to find the meaning of a certain word or phrase, then
skim for the word or phrase and then read the sentences immediately before and
after the sentence in which the word or phrase is. This helps to get the
information needed. Skipping is not paying attention to the irrelevant
information given in the passage.
Reading comprehension - Two well known methods
SQ3R
Stands for Survey, Question, Read, Record and Review, Survey is similar to skimming. Question is nothing
else but using the 'WH' words like Who, What, Where, When, Why & another
word How. We try to find the answers for given questions very easily. Read the
passage, Record notes and finally Review.
ERRQ
ERRQ stands for Estimate, Read, Respond and Question. Rapid
reading techniques may be used to estimate the given text. Read the text
thoroughly and carefully, respond to the text and question things about the
text.
Reading is concerned with four factors, understanding,
comprehending, analyzing and responding. Understanding is nothing else but
decoding the information. Comprehending is identifying the central theme, main
idea, supporting details and patterns in the passage. Analyzing is evaluating
by distinguishing between relevant and irrelevant information and draw
inferences and conclusions. Response is the last step which completes our
reading process.
Taking a multiple choice question can be tricky. Typically there
are 4 or 5 choices but only one correct answer, to be a smart test taker you
need to follow a strategy.
First : need to eliminate
one or two choices to enhance your chance of getting the correct answer.
Second : need to keep
track of the time allotted to answer the questions. Don't spend too many
minutes on any one question.
Third : and most
important one is to answer multiple choice questions successfully. For this
before looking at the possible answers, read the question twice. Frame the
answer in your own words. Then, see what option best fits your answer. Ofcourse
you should read all possible answers before you choose. If you don't see
exactly what you are looking for, look for what closely matches your answer. Choose
the one that you believe best matches the question and the text given. Skip
questions you don't know and try them latter. If you don't have time, pick the
one your instinct tells you is correct (but beware of negative marking).
Points to Ponder:
o Read the question
o Answer first
without looking at the options
o Look at the options
and check it your answer in one of the given options
o if it is, mark and
move on
o if it is not, mark
it unread (in the case of online exam) or put an asterisk (in the case of
offline exam) and come back to it later
o Answer all the
questions you know the answer to first
o Go back to the
questions noted
o Go back to the text
and look for the choices and choose the correct answers
o If there is no
penalty and you can't find the answer then guess (as we've already mentioned
above, now a days almost every competitive exam has -ve marking in it. So its
better to avoid guessing)
Major mistake areas:
o If you don't read
the question carefully
o Not answer the
question in your head first before looking for the answers
o Not reading all the
possible answers
o Taking too much
time on one question
o Not looking for
answer in the text
o Changing the first
answer
Making inferences
is one of the most important strategy. An inference is something that is
deducted from evidence in the text. When you make an inference you interpret or
draw conclusions from what is not exactly said. It is a kind of reasoning which
leads to conclusion. To infer means to read between the lines. They are not
directly stated by the author, the reader will put together their knowledge
with the clues to produce questions that point towards a solution (you will
have to face these type of questions in IBPS and SBI PO Exams). When you are
reading, and if you get stuck on a word, skip it. Ask yourself whether the rest
of the sentence makes sense without it. Don't expect to know what every single
word means. But if you don't understand the author's message and you need to
understand what the word means, try these techniques.
1. Context clues : These are the
words around the word that you are trying to decipher.
o Example : Gita is a
vivacious girl, full of life.
o The strategy
adopted is 'restating' the word directly after the word. This makes the reader
understand the word very easily as in the above sentence. Vivacious means full
of life.
2. Some times the
author will give the definition in the next sentence.
o Example : Scrap books made of
archival paper are more durable. Archival paper will last forever because it is
acid free and won't fade or crumble.
o In the first line
the word archival is a stumbling block. But after we read the next sentence, we
understood that archival paper is a paper that can be preserved.
3. Authors also make
us understand a difficult word by giving the opposite meaning.
o Example : Jyothi was
defiant, but her twin sister was cooperative.
o In this sentence
defiant is a word which we may not know the meaning but as we can understand cooperative,
we can deduce the meaning of defiant as difficult to get along with.
We should remember
that answers must be based on and confirmed by the information given in the
passage and not by any outside source. Only in certain cases, the inference may
take us outside the boundary of the given passage, but even then it should be a
logical consequence of the information in the passage.
