Friends,now a days in every competitive exam
The Student is expected to read the given passage, understand its
contents well and answer the questions given at the end of the passage.
All this to be completed in the limited time that is given.
There are two important skills you should develop to do well in reading comprehension. Those are,
- Reading Rate
- Understanding of the Passage
Lets have a look at each of them individually to get a clear
understanding, before we get into the techniques of attempting Reading
Comprehension.
The reading skill cant be evaluated on a number of words per minute scale, but reading rate can definitely be measured. A person who can read faster can answer more number of questions in the given time than a person with slower reading speed,
Other things remaining the same. It is this reading rate or your speed
of reading that you have to aim at improving. There is no overnight
solution to this. Constant and extensive reading will improve your
reading rate. Check your reading speed today (take any passage, count
the number of words, clock the time taken by you to read it and
calculate the speed in words per minute) and keep a record of it. Then,
keep checking your speed regularly and tabulate the same. Check whether
your speed has increased over time with practice. However, do not become
complacent if your speed has increased.
This brings us to the second point.. i.e., understanding of the passage.
A person may be able to read the passage much faster than others but if
he is not able to answer the questions pertaining to the passage, then
the speed is of no use at all. it is very essential to grasp the meaning
of the passage while reading. While you are reading, you should
constantly think, evaluate, reason out, judge and co relate with what
has already been read. A good vocabulary would enable you understand the
nuances and grasp the meaning of various issues discussed in the
passage. While an attempt can be made at pointing out various categories
of quesiotns that may be asked and give a variety of tips, you will
basically have to draw on the resources buitl by wide and extensive
reading and rely on your own vocabulary. No training will possible
regarding understanding and analysing the problem. However, we are going
to take you through an extensive set of tests followed by this article
to ensure that you get thorough practice in Comprehension Reading.
In addition to good vocabulary, also needed is the ability to zero in on the central theme of the passage. This can be developed with extensive reading practice as well as proper concentration at the time of reading the passage.
You should also consciously develop the habit of correlating each new
sentence read with the part of the passage already read and mentally
form a linkage of all ideas expressed in the passage while
simultaneously weeding out redundant statements.
The passage given in competitive exams (especially for bank exams) do not conform to any standards as regards the subject matter or the length of the passge.
While the subjects covered can be as wide ranging as Economy, Sciences
(like Botony, Zoology, Chemistry, Physics, Astornomy), Social Sciences
(like Pshycology, History, Politics, Sociology), Humanities (like
Literature, Art, Music) or Current Topics (Social, Political,
Economical), the student is not expected to have any prior knowledge of the topics given.
The passages will sometimes be very complex in nature while others will be simple in nature and easy to understand.
The questions themselves can pertain either to parts directly contained
in the passage or related to implications and inferences. Sometimes you
may be asked to comment on the tone of the passage or to choose a title
for the passage or to identify the main idea in the passage but you are
hardly ever asked for your
opinion on the passage.
What to read
first? The given Passage or Questions?
There are people
belonging to both schools of thought. But it is preferable to read the passage
first to get a grasp of the broad ideas the author is trying to communicate and
then take up the questions one by one. In the process of going through the
passage initially, underline key words and phrases as well as some important
points in the passage (for online exam you can’t mark anything so better keep
important words in your mind instead of writing anywhere). Then, when you go
through each question, get back to the relevant portion of the passage, read it
more thoroughly this time and then answer the question.
As mentioned , the following are the major categories of
questions that are asked :
- Main idea of the passage /
title for the passage
- Specific details basically
reproducing what is given in the passage
- Drawing inferences /
implications
- Determining the meaning of
words / phrases as used in the passage or by the author
- Application of the ideas
expressed in the passage to other situations
Where you have to
choose a title for the passage or identify the main them of the passage, check the opening and closing sentences of each paragraph particularly
the opening sentence of the first paragraph and the last sentence of the last
paragraph. At the same time, be wary about too specific or too broad choices in
the multiple choices given.
We are planning to
give you a number of practice tests on Reading Comprehension as this is one of
the crucial area of Competitive Exams. We hope these tests may enable you to
get sufficient practice in this important area. Please remember that in this
area, unlike in other areas like Maths or Reasoning where you will be able to
assess for yourself how much of new knowledge you have added on and how much of
improvement in speed you have achieved, there will not be such clear
indicators. However, performance in reading comprehension will improve only
with practice and that requires a lot of effort and determination on your part.
In addition to the online tests you take from this blog, you will have
to put in at least 45 minutes of reading practice per day to improve
your reading speed and comprehension. You need to take up serious
reading material for practice - News Papers Editorials, editorials in
general magazines like India Today or Business Magazines like Business
India or other articles in such magazines, general books on a wide
variety of subjects like Psychology, Sociology, Technology, etc. For
each article or part of a book that you are reading , go through the
process of reading, writing down from memory a few important points from
what you have just read and then checking back with the text whether
any important points got left out. This exercise done regularly over a
period of time will certainly help you improve your reading speed as
well as your ability to understand and retain what you read. But, as
already mentioned, only regular practice can help you in this regard.
All The Best...
That's all for now friends. In our next post we shall discuss some more
practical techniques to improve your reading speed. Happy reading :)
