Comprehension
Comprehension is the reason for reading. If readers can read the words but do not understand or connect to what they are reading, they are not really reading. Good readers are both purposeful and active, and have the skills to absorb what they read, analyze it, make sense of it, and make it their own.
What are verbal comprehension tests?
Verbal comprehension tests assess a candidate’s ability to read a passage of information quickly, and identify relevant information from that passage. For example a question may require a candidate to scan through a passage of information regarding a current event, and the candidate will be presented with a list of statements which may or may not be correct, requiring the candidate to select which statement is correct/incorrect based on the passage above. This will be undertaken under timed conditions and the candidate will have to read the passage quickly, and answer the questions accurately.
IMPORTANT TIPS TO SOLVE COMPREHENSION
Reading Comprehension is generally designed to test your ability to read a passage and understand its contents and your ability to draw inferences on the basis of what is read. In other words, your ability to grasp the contents of the passage in a relatively short span of time is what is being tested.
Aspects to consider
- Read between the Paragraphs.
- Read for Main Idea and Primary Purpose of the passage.
- Write down the Main Idea and Primary purpose after each paragraph and create a thought flowchart.
- The Main Idea of the passage is the repeated idea in each of the Main ideas (of the paragraphs)
- The primary purpose is mostly the Primary purpose of the concluding paragraph.
Classify the passages, such as :
a. Explanatory (Mostly Science passages, explain one theory/phenomenon in detail)
b. Comparative (two or more point of views on a theory/topic. Doesn't go in much detail)
c. Argumentative (Subjective, opinionated. Mostly social science/business topics.Pros and cons of a topic with author's views on them)
- Paraphrase the text to simplify.
- Don't over read. Skip examples, dates, lengthy names, any details which can be referred in case something is asked explicitly.
- Don't go for choices which hold true only for one part of the author's argument.
- Don't go for choices which exaggerate the author's conclusion.
- Don't fill in the blanks yourself. Use only as much is there in the passage.
At the end of reading, ask yourself questions like:
What was the passage about?
What was author's motive in writing all this?
- Read quickly through soporific passages.
- Read the first question before the Passage.
- Use your Critical Reasoning techniques for reasoning/ inference/ strengthen/ weaken questions.
Apart from the above mentioned rules, there are certain things which you should keep in mind. In order to solve Reading Comprehension questions, you need to practice a lot and improve your grammar.
LearnFrenzy provides you lots of fully solved "Comprehension" Questions and Answers with explanation.