Most of the people say Reading Comprehension is just about understanding what we are reading. However, this never appeared this simple to me. I felt it was more important to comprehend much further than just understanding the passage. With the new paradigm shift in the question set up in competitive exams, more focus is the need of the day to crack them.
Below are some of the strategies that could be followed in order to get the answers right.
Steps to be followed:
Step 1: Read the passage.
Step 2: Read the questions.
Step 3: Categorize the questions.
Step 4: Answer the questions.
Step 1: Reading the Passage-
Reading the passage is the most important part because we should be fast and side by side we should be able to understand the passage too. We need to concentrate on 3 different things while reading the RC
I) Determine the main theme.
II) Capture the tone of the Author.
III) Remember the geography of the passage.
There are some principles that can be followed while reading the passage:
a) If a sentence consists of independent clause and dependent clause then the dependent clause can be dropped. For example: Let say there is a sentence, "As I was driving to office, I saw an accident." In this sentence, As I was driving to office is the independent clause and nobody would pay attention to this statement rather they would be interested in the next part. So, 'I saw an accident' (independent clause) is important. Therefore we can concentrate on the independent clause not bothering about the dependent part.
b) If we come across a compound sentence separated by that/which then we need to only concentrate on the part after that/which.
c) Examples can be neglected while reading the passage. We can revisit the example if we find any question on it. This is because examples can never be the part of main theme. Main theme is always supported by certain details and those details are supported by the examples.
d) Structure words are the most important in the passage. The structure words always form the link between the sentences. But, therefore, on the other hand, in short, however, thus ... are some of the structure words.
e) Never take the negative sentences into considerations. For example: Before trying to explain a computer the author has used some sentences like, "This is not a living object". These kind of sentences can be neglected. However this should not be followed for science passage.
f) If you find a complex statement with too much of complex content and the full stop would be after 4-5 lines, which we would be desperately looking for, then we drop the sentence. Because most of the cases the next line would be containing the summary of this complex statement and would be beginning with thus, therefore, or in short.
Step 2: Read the questions-
Questions have to be read in full.
Step 3: Categorize the questions-
There are 6 different types of categories under which the RC questions can be divided. Namely:
i) Main theme questions
ii) Description questions
iii) Structured questions
iv) Inference questions
v) Hypothetical questions
vi) Tone questions
Questions based on a passage will belong to any of the above categories or combination of the categories.
Step 4: Answer the questions-
How we can answer a particular question depends on the category to which it belongs. Below we will see how we can answer questions belonging to different categories.
i) Main theme questions- The main theme of a passage can be found from the below mentioned places:
-- 1st paragraph, 1st line
-- Last paragraph, last line
-- 1st paragraph, last line
-- 2nd paragraph, 1st line
* If the content of the 1st paragraph does not match with the content of the last paragraph i.e., the 1st paragraph is giving the background information then the main theme lies in the 2nd paragraph 1st line or last paragraph last line.
* The main theme lines are usually associated with structured words.
Common mistakes:
-- Choosing too specific or too generic statements.
-- Choosing examples. We should never forget the rule that examples can never be part of the main theme.
-- Adding value to what author has stated i.e. using the words of author or restating the author's statement.
ii) Descriptive questions-
-- Identify the correct line/lines from which the question has been picked up from.
-- Read the previous and next line of the identified line. Try to understand those lines and get the answer.
-- If you find a lot of pronouns in those lines then try to answer based on the line before and line after.
-- If still it is not matching to any of the answer options then we need to align our answers to the summary of the paragraph from which the line has been taken from.
Common mistakes:
-- Choosing an answer option which is aligned to the theme of the passage.
-- Choosing an answer option which is adding value to what the author has stated.
-- Choosing an inference answer option. (We will be discussing inference questions shortly)
Example question: According to the passage, which of the following ...
iii) Hypothetical questions-
The hypothetical questions generally calls for applying the concept given in the passage in a different scenario.
Generally the question types would be like:
* Where do you think this passage has been derived from?
-- The answers to this type of questions are more likely to be aligned to the main theme of the passage.
* What could be the title of the passage?
-- The correct answer option will have the main theme plus the subject matter (hero of the passage).
* Which of the following line can be the continuation of the last passage? or Which of the following lines can immediately follow the last paragraph of the passage?
-- We don't have to summarize the whole passage while selecting the answer. Neither the answer option should be aligned to the main theme of the passage. The answer should be aligned to the last 3 to 4 lines of the passage i.e. the nouns in the correct answer option will match with the nouns given in the last 3 to 4 lines of passage.
iv) Structured questions:
These kind of questions are not substance questions i.e. they are not asking about the meaning of the particular line or paragraph. For these questions style is important rather than the substance.
Basic example of structure question would be, "How do you think the passage has been organized?".
The different types of structure are:
-- Compare & Contrast structure: Compare is finding the similarities and contrast is the finding the dissimilarities. There can be only 1 line of comparison and n lines of contrasts but the structure is still compare and contrast structure. Similarly there can be n lines of comparison and 1 line of contrast and the structure will still be the compare and contrast structure.
-- Cause & Effect structure: This structure is like a chain where a cause causes an effect and the effect now becomes the cause for another effect which in turn becomes for another and this continues... For example: Cause c1 causes effect e1. e1 becomes cause c2 for effect e2. The e2 becomes cause c3 for effect e3. Now what is the cause for effect e3? Is c3 the cause for e3? No!!! c1 is always the root cause for e3. We should always choose the root cause not the side effects.
-- State a position & give evidence: In this kind of structure where position is stated along with several evidences. In CAT exam several evidences would be mentioned however the state of the author will be missing and we have to find out what is the position of the author.
For example:
* 4 evidences are given where 3 are in the for of the topic and 1 will be against the topic. So in this the position of the author will be qualified support i.e, the position of the author is slightly weakened support.
* If all the 4 evidences are in for of the topic then the position of the author would be plain support.
* If 3 are against the topic and 1 will be in the support of the topic then the position of the author would be qualified criticism.
* If all 4 are against the topic then the position of the author would be plain criticism.
* If 2 are in favour of the topic and 2 against the topic then the position of the author is equi-vocal.
Note: Structure questions cannot be framed without structure words i.e. a line which has got a structure word then its essence must be captured in the right answer option.
v) Tone questions:
* Always avoid the strong tone answer option. They may not have evidence behind their support.
* Avoid ambiguous tone answer option.
* Avoid redundant tone answer option.
vi) Inference questions:
The correct answer option will be the conclusion drawn from the author's conclusion. In this type of question the answer option can be li'll bit outside the scope of the passage. However we should not go too outside the scope of the passage. We need to use process of elimination for choosing the right answer option. For eliminating the wrong answer option we can follow the below mentioned principles:
* Nouns in the wrong answer option will not match with the nouns given in the passage or the answer option will not have strong link with the passage.
* There will be lot of strong words or deterministic words in the wrong answer options.
Observations:
a) When the passage is simple then the questions would be difficult. Because the examiner would have set difficult questions after understanding the whole passage.
b) When the passage is complex then the questions are easy. May be because the examiner himself was not able to understand the passage. ;) (Just Kidding) The answers to these questions are more straight forward and can be found directly in the passage.
c) 2 to 3 questions of a passage are always simple.
d) A direct or indirect question can be found which would be based on the main theme of the passage.
Do's:
-- Read all the passages that comes in CAT exam.
-- Do not try to attempt all the questions based on the passage. Most of the times we try to answer all the questions in an RC just because we have read the whole passage. This should not be done. Categorize the questions and check which category questions you are most weak in and leave the questions.
Below are some of the strategies that could be followed in order to get the answers right.
Steps to be followed:
Step 1: Read the passage.
Step 2: Read the questions.
Step 3: Categorize the questions.
Step 4: Answer the questions.
Step 1: Reading the Passage-
Reading the passage is the most important part because we should be fast and side by side we should be able to understand the passage too. We need to concentrate on 3 different things while reading the RC
I) Determine the main theme.
II) Capture the tone of the Author.
III) Remember the geography of the passage.
There are some principles that can be followed while reading the passage:
a) If a sentence consists of independent clause and dependent clause then the dependent clause can be dropped. For example: Let say there is a sentence, "As I was driving to office, I saw an accident." In this sentence, As I was driving to office is the independent clause and nobody would pay attention to this statement rather they would be interested in the next part. So, 'I saw an accident' (independent clause) is important. Therefore we can concentrate on the independent clause not bothering about the dependent part.
b) If we come across a compound sentence separated by that/which then we need to only concentrate on the part after that/which.
c) Examples can be neglected while reading the passage. We can revisit the example if we find any question on it. This is because examples can never be the part of main theme. Main theme is always supported by certain details and those details are supported by the examples.
d) Structure words are the most important in the passage. The structure words always form the link between the sentences. But, therefore, on the other hand, in short, however, thus ... are some of the structure words.
e) Never take the negative sentences into considerations. For example: Before trying to explain a computer the author has used some sentences like, "This is not a living object". These kind of sentences can be neglected. However this should not be followed for science passage.
f) If you find a complex statement with too much of complex content and the full stop would be after 4-5 lines, which we would be desperately looking for, then we drop the sentence. Because most of the cases the next line would be containing the summary of this complex statement and would be beginning with thus, therefore, or in short.
Step 2: Read the questions-
Questions have to be read in full.
Step 3: Categorize the questions-
There are 6 different types of categories under which the RC questions can be divided. Namely:
i) Main theme questions
ii) Description questions
iii) Structured questions
iv) Inference questions
v) Hypothetical questions
vi) Tone questions
Questions based on a passage will belong to any of the above categories or combination of the categories.
Step 4: Answer the questions-
How we can answer a particular question depends on the category to which it belongs. Below we will see how we can answer questions belonging to different categories.
i) Main theme questions- The main theme of a passage can be found from the below mentioned places:
-- 1st paragraph, 1st line
-- Last paragraph, last line
-- 1st paragraph, last line
-- 2nd paragraph, 1st line
* If the content of the 1st paragraph does not match with the content of the last paragraph i.e., the 1st paragraph is giving the background information then the main theme lies in the 2nd paragraph 1st line or last paragraph last line.
* The main theme lines are usually associated with structured words.
Common mistakes:
-- Choosing too specific or too generic statements.
-- Choosing examples. We should never forget the rule that examples can never be part of the main theme.
-- Adding value to what author has stated i.e. using the words of author or restating the author's statement.
ii) Descriptive questions-
-- Identify the correct line/lines from which the question has been picked up from.
-- Read the previous and next line of the identified line. Try to understand those lines and get the answer.
-- If you find a lot of pronouns in those lines then try to answer based on the line before and line after.
-- If still it is not matching to any of the answer options then we need to align our answers to the summary of the paragraph from which the line has been taken from.
Common mistakes:
-- Choosing an answer option which is aligned to the theme of the passage.
-- Choosing an answer option which is adding value to what the author has stated.
-- Choosing an inference answer option. (We will be discussing inference questions shortly)
Example question: According to the passage, which of the following ...
iii) Hypothetical questions-
The hypothetical questions generally calls for applying the concept given in the passage in a different scenario.
Generally the question types would be like:
* Where do you think this passage has been derived from?
-- The answers to this type of questions are more likely to be aligned to the main theme of the passage.
* What could be the title of the passage?
-- The correct answer option will have the main theme plus the subject matter (hero of the passage).
* Which of the following line can be the continuation of the last passage? or Which of the following lines can immediately follow the last paragraph of the passage?
-- We don't have to summarize the whole passage while selecting the answer. Neither the answer option should be aligned to the main theme of the passage. The answer should be aligned to the last 3 to 4 lines of the passage i.e. the nouns in the correct answer option will match with the nouns given in the last 3 to 4 lines of passage.
iv) Structured questions:
These kind of questions are not substance questions i.e. they are not asking about the meaning of the particular line or paragraph. For these questions style is important rather than the substance.
Basic example of structure question would be, "How do you think the passage has been organized?".
The different types of structure are:
-- Compare & Contrast structure: Compare is finding the similarities and contrast is the finding the dissimilarities. There can be only 1 line of comparison and n lines of contrasts but the structure is still compare and contrast structure. Similarly there can be n lines of comparison and 1 line of contrast and the structure will still be the compare and contrast structure.
-- Cause & Effect structure: This structure is like a chain where a cause causes an effect and the effect now becomes the cause for another effect which in turn becomes for another and this continues... For example: Cause c1 causes effect e1. e1 becomes cause c2 for effect e2. The e2 becomes cause c3 for effect e3. Now what is the cause for effect e3? Is c3 the cause for e3? No!!! c1 is always the root cause for e3. We should always choose the root cause not the side effects.
-- State a position & give evidence: In this kind of structure where position is stated along with several evidences. In CAT exam several evidences would be mentioned however the state of the author will be missing and we have to find out what is the position of the author.
For example:
* 4 evidences are given where 3 are in the for of the topic and 1 will be against the topic. So in this the position of the author will be qualified support i.e, the position of the author is slightly weakened support.
* If all the 4 evidences are in for of the topic then the position of the author would be plain support.
* If 3 are against the topic and 1 will be in the support of the topic then the position of the author would be qualified criticism.
* If all 4 are against the topic then the position of the author would be plain criticism.
* If 2 are in favour of the topic and 2 against the topic then the position of the author is equi-vocal.
Note: Structure questions cannot be framed without structure words i.e. a line which has got a structure word then its essence must be captured in the right answer option.
v) Tone questions:
* Always avoid the strong tone answer option. They may not have evidence behind their support.
* Avoid ambiguous tone answer option.
* Avoid redundant tone answer option.
vi) Inference questions:
The correct answer option will be the conclusion drawn from the author's conclusion. In this type of question the answer option can be li'll bit outside the scope of the passage. However we should not go too outside the scope of the passage. We need to use process of elimination for choosing the right answer option. For eliminating the wrong answer option we can follow the below mentioned principles:
* Nouns in the wrong answer option will not match with the nouns given in the passage or the answer option will not have strong link with the passage.
* There will be lot of strong words or deterministic words in the wrong answer options.
Observations:
a) When the passage is simple then the questions would be difficult. Because the examiner would have set difficult questions after understanding the whole passage.
b) When the passage is complex then the questions are easy. May be because the examiner himself was not able to understand the passage. ;) (Just Kidding) The answers to these questions are more straight forward and can be found directly in the passage.
c) 2 to 3 questions of a passage are always simple.
d) A direct or indirect question can be found which would be based on the main theme of the passage.
Do's:
-- Read all the passages that comes in CAT exam.
-- Do not try to attempt all the questions based on the passage. Most of the times we try to answer all the questions in an RC just because we have read the whole passage. This should not be done. Categorize the questions and check which category questions you are most weak in and leave the questions.
Disclaimer: I do not claim this to be my own methodology neither I'm claiming this to be the best. However I felt this to be the best approach to get most of the answers right.
Trupti Ranjan Behera
Visit www.PupilGarage.com for more!!!
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