Reading Comprehension of a Passage
Comprehension of a given passage means a comprehensive understanding of it and gives perfect answer of each required question. We are required to answer certain questions at the top of the passage to point out that we know it. To provide answer these required questions appropriately, we should
i. Read the passage carefully till we understand it well to respond the required question.
ii. Understand the given questions clearly.
iii. Answer the required questions in the similar tense, mood and person as used in the passage.
Almost everyone who struggles with Reading Comprehension on tests, he may be suffers from one or more of the problems. Those entire problems are results of the same bad habit: PASSIVE READING. The materials here are designed to assist you break this old habit. At least at long enough to take your exam and to develop a highly active or even interactive) approach towards the passages. But the sole thanks to break old reading habits and to develop new and better ones is thru practice. So in addition to reading techniques discussed here in detail.
Every Reading Comprehension question is meant to live one among two basic abilities:
Ø Your capacity and skill to remember what have you read?
Ø Your capacity and skills to understand or comprehend what have you read?
Your second capacity and skill may be a higher one, which therein it requires independent thinking on your part. Additionally important, herein you will find that the bulk of the questions are comprehension questions, not memory types of the questions, and it`s this fact that should drive your approach in reading the passages. In order to understand (Comprehend) a passage, you must be able to:
Identify the thesis (or main idea) and therefore the author`s primary purpose follow the author`s line of reasoning from paragraph to paragraph.
SOME COMMON READING COMPREHENSION PROBLEMS
Problem:
You are slow reader, so can`t finish in time.
Solution:
Focus on main ideas and overall structure rather than details.
Problem:
You can`t concentrate because you feel that ideas are scattered and terminologies used in the passage are unfamiliar to you. You waste lot of the time in searching the passage for information needed to reply to question.
Solution:
Ask yourself “Why the author has written this passage?” Dialogue with the writer each idea given in the passage.
Problem:
You feel difficulties in narrowing your answer choices right down to one clear best answer.
Solution:
Keep in mind the general theme of the passage and think like test maker.
TYPES OF QUESTIONS
If there is any key to success for Reading Comprehension Passages, it`s developing an active approach toward the understanding of the question sets. There are two types of questioned normally asked on the test.
Ø Detail and Contextual question: The questions based on a part of the passage.
Ø Main idea questions: The inferential questions based on main idea of the passage.
Detail question type is easy to deal. It involves your scanning of the passage text. Pick a question from the set and find the information regarding the question through scanning of the passage.
However, Main idea question type is somewhat based on your reading and comprehending skills. You can find the solution of the most idea question if you’ve got completely understood the general theme of the passage.
Tips:
Divide the whole passage in logical blocks each of which describes an idea. Always create logical links between different parts of the passage.
Ask yourself, what is the objective of the writer? Why he has written this passage? Never go beyond what is stated in the passage.
THE STYLES OF READING
Let`s refer to your frame of mind as you tackle a question set as your reading “mode” consider the four basic modes and corresponding approaches listed in Table below. They differed in the reader`s level of activity and basic strategy. You`ll learn in the pages that follow that only the interactive and the Question Driven modes are likely to help you improve your performance in Reading Comprehension.
THE STRAIGHT STYLE
This style supported a straight reading of entire passage. It involves three steps.
Ø Read the passage carefully from beginning to end. Underline what clicks you as being a crucial point.
Ø Respond to the questions in the order given in the passage. Go back to the passage as needed if you’ve got trouble answering an issue or remembering the relevant portion of the passage.
Ø Mark next to any questions you`re uncertain about it, hoping you`ll have time to reconsider the question at the end.
Practically this style is unsuccessful, because of
Ø Poor time management: it is often impossible to give equal time to each passage and each question.
Ø Incomplete Comprehension: reading the passage from beginning to end without interruption and with very little thought as to what particular information is most important in order to respond top the specific questions.
Very often, the test takers adopting this style make mistakes in main idea question.
THE INTERACTIVE STYLE
In this style, the test taker works back and forth between passage and questions. My students find that this is an effective style and this is the only style that actually helps them improve their overall performance to any significant extent.
This style involves three steps:
Ø Begin reading the passage immediately. Divide the entire passage into logical parts describing single idea.
Ø After reading the first part, scan the question from the question set. The first part will most certainly provide enough information for you to respond the first question for the set.
Ø Return to the passage and read the next part. Scan the question and answer subsequent Work on in a similar fashion and complete all paragraph.
You`ll have to practice this interactive style in order to be comfortable with it. Apply this style to the practice passages of this book until this style becomes second nature to you.
