Guidelines for reading comprehension

1. Read the whole passage through once to get a general idea of what the passage is about. Do

not worry if you come across unfamiliar words. Sometimes, it is not necessary to understand

every word you read.

2. Do read the passage a second time, if necessary. The second reading helps you take in the

details and improve your understanding.

3. Read the questions carefully. Use cue words in the questions to help you answer the

questions. These can be the “wh” words (what, when, where, why, who, whose, how) and

action verbs (identify, find, list).

4. Questions sometimes contain words found in the passage. Use these words to help you

identify the part of the passage where the answer can be found.

5. You do not have to answer questions in complete sentences (look at the sample answers

given).

6. You can lift words, clauses or sentences from the passage to answer questions. You do not

have to use your own words unless you are told to do so. Moreover, there is a danger

in paraphrasing – you might alter/distort the meaning expressed in the passage and hence

lose precious marks.

7. For questions on vocabulary, if you are asked for a word, then give only ONE word and

nothing else. Make sure you spell the word correctly. If you are asked for a phrase, then give

the relevant phrase. If you copy the sentence where the word or phrase are found, you must

indicate the chosen word or phrase by underlining it or putting it within quotation marks.

8. Some questions require you to use your own words and you must do so.

9. Do pay attention to the tense (and sometimes pronoun) used in the questions when

formulating your answers.

Pitfalls to avoid

1. Do not give more than the required information. Sometimes, students copy chunks from

a passage, giving two or more sentences. This only highlights their weakness – failure to

understand the question and/or text.2. Do not give two or more answers to a question. Some

students write down all the possible answers to a question just to be on the safe side.3. Do not

waste time paraphrasing answers unless you are asked to do so.

Summary writing

The question on summary writing is based on the same text used for reading comprehension.

This should be a boon as you would be familiar with the text after several readings. Despite

this, many students are not comfortable dealing with summary writing. Their fears stem from