Rule 1.Do not assume anything beyond what the author of the passage has written. This means that the candidate is not required to apply his/her general knowledge/awareness while answering RC questions. Stay strictly within the domain of the passage.
Rule2.
First attempt those passages whose subject-matter is familiar to you. Thereafter attempt those passages whose subject-matter is unfamiliar to you. For example, a commerce student is advised to first attempt passages related to economy, a science student is advised to first attempt passages related to technology, and so on. The importance of this rule is that “a work well begun is a work half done”. Hence, if you put your best foot first, you are likely to score well in the remaining passages (whose subject matter is unknown to you).
Rule3.
While reading the passage, underline the “keywords”. What are “keywords”? These are words like “if, hence, but, thus, in spite of, yet, although, etc.” These keywords are signal words which point out the various twists and turns that the passage goes through.
Rule4.If question asks you about a “Specific Detail”, locate where the “keywords given in the question” appear in the passage. Read that paragraph and only thereafter answer. At times, just reading a single sentence from passage may lead to the wrong answer.
Rule5.
If question asks you about “Synonyms/Antonyms”, be sure to read 1-2 lines before and after the sentence where the word occurs. This will give you the context and help you to arrive at the correct answer.
Rule6.
Some tricks for “Relatively Tougher Types” of RC question:
a)If question asks you to find the “Main Idea”, then read the opening and ending lines of each passage.
b)If question asks you to choose the “Title”, then choose a title which is neither ‘too specific’ nor ‘too general’ i.e. follow a middle path. Also, “Title” should express the central theme developed by the passage i.e. it should be comprehensive or it should include the ideas present in all the paragraphs in the passage.
c)If question asks you to find the “Tone/Mood of the passage”, then look out for words of emotion. These may be words like “smoothly, sure, probable, magnanimous etc.” that convey ‘Positive emotions/connotations’ or words like “roughly, grumbling, improbable, miserly, etc.” that convey ‘Negative emotions/connotations’.
