Reading Comprehension

What the official syllabus says

Paper 2: English (Main Examination), type of question 3:

READING COMPREHENSION: A reading passage to be given followed by short answer type questions. (Marks allotted: 70)

Topics in detail

Reading the passage

• Reading once for the overall theme and the writer's purpose, then a second time with the questions in mind.
• Finding the main idea of each paragraph and how the paragraphs are linked.
• Telling facts from the writer's opinions, and stated points from implied ones.
• Kinds of passages to practise: social issues, economy, environment, science and technology, history and culture, governance, and reflective or literary prose.

Kinds of questions

• Factual questions: what the passage states about a point.
• Inference questions: what can be concluded from the passage, or what the writer suggests.
• Main idea and title: the central theme in one sentence, or a suitable title.
• Tone and attitude of the writer.
• Meaning of a word or phrase as used in the passage.
• Questions asking for an explanation of a line or an expression in your own words.

Writing short answers

• Answering only from the passage, not from outside knowledge, unless the question asks for your view.
• Writing in your own words, in complete sentences, rather than copying long lines from the passage.
• Keeping each answer as short as the question allows, and answering every part of a question.
• Checking that each answer matches the question word: why, how, what, which.

Overlaps

Close reading of a passage is the first step of precis writing and of translation.