General English, Part B: Comprehension, Translation and Precis

What the official syllabus says

Main Examination, Paper IV: General Hindi and General English

Unit II - General English (Total marks 70)

Part B - Comprehension, Translation & Precis Writing (30 Marks)

• Comprehension of an Unseen Passage (300 Words approximately)
  05 Questions based on the passage and Precis Writing (of the same passage) approximately 100 words.
• Translation of five sentences from Hindi to English.

Topics in detail

Comprehension of an unseen passage

• The passage: about 300 words, followed by five questions based on it
• Reading first for the central idea, then for details, and noting the paragraph each point is in
• Question types: facts stated in the passage, inferences, the meaning of a word or phrase in context, the author's view or tone, and a suitable title
• Answering in one's own words and in complete sentences, briefly and to the point
• Answering only from the passage, without adding outside knowledge or opinion
• Passages of general interest, such as society, governance, science, environment and the economy
• Vocabulary in context: the sense of a word in its sentence, and its synonyms and antonyms
• Answer length in proportion to the question; quoting a phrase only when the question asks for it

Precis writing (of the same passage)

• The task: a precis of the same passage in about 100 words, roughly one-third of its length
• Steps: read, list the main points, write a rough draft, cut it to length, write the fair version
• Keeping the central idea and the logical order of the original
• Leaving out examples, illustrations, repetition and figures of speech
• Usually written in the third person and in reported speech
• One's own words, no comment or opinion added
• Counting the words and staying close to the limit

Translation of five sentences from Hindi to English

• Five separate sentences, each to be translated into correct English
• Hindi subject-object-verb order changed to English subject-verb-object order
• Tenses: matching Hindi verb forms with English tenses (simple, continuous, perfect)
• Articles: Hindi has none, so a, an and the must be supplied correctly
• Hindi postpositions rendered by the right English prepositions
• The respectful plural of Hindi (aap, and plural verbs for one respected person) becomes singular in English
• Gender: Hindi verbs show gender, English verbs do not
• Questions, negatives, commands and the passive voice
• Idioms and proverbs translated by their meaning or a matching English expression
• Official words rendered by their standard English terms; spelling and punctuation checked
• Position of adjectives and adverbs, and joining clauses (the Hindi ki usually becomes that)
• Direct and reported speech in the Hindi sentence turned into natural English

Practice material

• Editorials and reports on public affairs, for comprehension and precis
• Parallel texts in Hindi and English, such as government press releases issued in both languages, for translation
• Timed practice: reading, five answers and a precis together, as in the paper

Overlaps

The Hindi side of these skills is General Hindi, भाग ब (precis of a Hindi passage and translation from English into Hindi). Wide reading for comprehension also feeds the Essay.