Comprehension

• Comprehension is the ability' to understand or grasp meaning from any type of written
material. It is the most important component of all content learning. Comprehension exercises
require a student to show an understanding of the information in the given passage.
• Students may be required to give or recognize synonyms for words in the passage, answer
questions about the content, infer implied meaning, rewrite sentences in different construction,
summarize the main ideas, or interpret charts or graphs. This ability is higher than the simple
remembering of material.
• Comprehension is the thinking done during, and after reading a passage. It is not something
that happens after reading. So, the passage must be read carefully, without hurrying through it.

TIPS FOR COMPREHENSION

1. Read the passage given carefully two or three times if necessary, till you understand clearly,
its subject or themes and what is said about the subject or main themes. Ask yourself, ‘what does
the author say about the subject’?
2. Read the questions one by one carefully, and find out whether you fully understand them.
3. Now take up the first question and find out to which part of the passage it refers to.
4. Then take up the other question and find out the parts of the passage they refer to.
5. Now write answers to questions in your own words.do not adopt the language of a given
passage, the answers should be brief and to the point. No attempt should be made to show one’s
knowledge by saying things that are not included in the original passage.
6. Revise your answers and examine them carefully to see that they are clear and complete. If
an answer is too long, you must further compress it by omitting unnecessary details or by
remolding sentences.
7. Correct all mistakes in spelling, grammar, and idiom and see that your sentences are properly
punctuated, let the answer be simple and direct. The ability to read properly and understand not
only the general sense of a given passage but its particular implications is becoming more
important in modern education.
Previewing

Previewing is a strategy that readers use to recall prior knowledge and set a purpose for reading.
It calls for readers to skim a text before reading, looking for various features and information that
will help as they return to read it in detail later. According to research, previewing a text can
improve comprehension (Graves, Cooke, & LaBerge, 1983, cited in Paris et al., 1991).

Why use it?

Previewing a text helps readers prepare for what they are about to read and set a purpose for
reading.

When to use it?

Previewing is a strategy readers use before and during reading.

How to use it?

When readers preview a text before they read, they first ask themselves whether the text is
fiction or nonfiction.
 If the text is fiction or biography, readers look at the title, chapter headings, introductory
notes, and illustrations for a better understanding of the content and possible settings or events.

 If the text is nonfiction, readers look at text features and illustrations (and their captions) to
determine the subject matter and to recall prior knowledge, to decide what they know about the
subject. Previewing also helps readers figure out what they don’t know and what they want to
find out.

Things to remember in Previewing

• What is it about?

• How is it organized?

• What’s important?
How to Preview?

Whatever your purpose is for reading a particular piece of writing, you should have three
objectives to meet as you read:

• to identify the author’s most important points,

• to recognize how they fit together, and
• to note how you respond to them.

You can preview different kinds of reading material. For example,

You might preview

1. The newspaper by reading headlines

2. A letter by looking at the envelope
3. A new book by reading the front and back cover Preview can help you make decisions. It
can help you decide:
4. Which articles to read in the newspaper

Look at the photo and the title of the reading. What will this reading be about?

Reading for the main idea,

• The main idea is the central or most important, idea in a paragraph or passage. It states the
purpose and sets the direction of the paragraph or passage.

• The main idea may be stated or it may be implied.

• When the main idea of a paragraph is stated, it is most often found in the first sentence of the
paragraph. However, the main idea may be found in any sentence of the paragraph.

• The main idea may be stated in the first sentence of a paragraph and then be repeated or
restated at the end of the paragraph.
• The main idea may be split. The first sentence of a paragraph may present a point of view,
while the last sentence presents a contrasting or opposite view.

To find the main idea of any paragraph or passage, ask these questions:

1. Who or what is the paragraph about?

2. What aspect or idea about the ‘who’ or ‘what’ is the author concerned with?

Paragraph one

It is often said that lightning never strikes twice in the same place, but this isn’t true. Go
ask the forest rangers. Rangers who spend their summers as fire-fighters will tell you that every
thundershower brings several bolts of lightning to their lookout stations.

(Notice that the first sentence tells what the paragraph is about; the sentences that follow support
the idea stated in the first sentence.)

Paragraph Two

Costs were low that year and the output high. There was a good person for each job and the
market remained firm. There were no losses from fire. All in all, it was the best year in the
history of the company.

(Note that the first three sentences give details to explain why it was the best year in the
company’s history.)

Paragraph Three

There are great numbers of deer around here. This whole area is a great country for hunters
and fishermen. There are bears, mountain lions, and coyotes. To the east, there are streams full
of trout, and there are ducks and geese.

(The author begins and ends with examples. The main idea is stated in the second sentence.)
Using context for vocabulary

Vocabulary in context refers to the sentences or the whole paragraph surrounding an unfamiliar
word. Context clues are used to make a good guess at the word’ meaning. There are six different
types of context clues:

 definition/restatement

 example

 synonym

 comparison

 contrast

 cause and effect.

For example;

1. The spy was hung at the gallows of his homeland fo his perfidious deeds.

( disloyal; treacherous; deceitful)

2. We always listen to my great-aunt because she is venerable, but we ignore my niece’s advice
because she’s only six.

(respected; esteemed; revered)

3. The teacher admonished her student for misbehaving during the lesson.

(reprimanded; cautioned; reproved)

Making inferences:
Making an inference involves using what you know to guess what you don't know or reading
between the lines. Readers who make inferences use the clues in the text along with their own
experiences to help them figure out what is not directly said, making the text personal and
memorable.

Why Is It Important?

Researchers have confirmed that thoughtful, active, proficient readers are metacognitive; they
think about their thinking during reading. They can identify when and why the meaning of the
text is unclear to them and can use a variety of strategies to solve comprehension problems or
deepen their understanding of a text (Duffy et al. 1987).

When we make an inference, we draw a conclusion based on the evidence that we have
available. When we make inferences while reading, we are using the evidence that is available
in the text to draw a logical conclusion. The writer or speaker does not come out and state the
answer to the question that we are asking of the text-rather, we have to use the evidence that is
there to make an informed statement to answer whatever question we are asking.

Examples of Inference:
• A character has a diaper in her hand, spit-up on her shirt, and a bottle warming on the
counter. You can infer that this character is a mother.
• A character has a briefcase, is taking a ride on an airplane, and is late for a meeting. You
can infer that this character is a businessperson.
• A character uses words like "stat" and "emergency" and "prep" and "operation." You can
infer that this person works in the medical field.

Referring to the passage

What’s the function?

Purpose of reference questions ask you to identify why the author referred to something in a
certain part of the text. In other words, what was the point of including the reference?

Examples:
 “The author refers to the ____ to...”*
 “The author’s reference to ____ (lines ____) serves which one of the following functions
in the passage?*

The task is to interpret the function of the reference

Strategies

Don’t overthink it! Unless the reference left you puzzled, you probably already understood the
author’s purpose as you made your way through the passage. Put another way, the purpose that
you automatically supplied in the process of reading is probably the correct one. So try to come
up with the answer in your own words first, and then select the choice that best matches
your prediction.

Read around the reference If the reference did leave you puzzled or if you need a refresher,
then go back and reread the immediate context around the lines. The author often will supply
all the cues you need to understand the purpose of any part of the text right around that text. If
that doesn’t quite work, move to the next strategy!

Review the first sentence of the paragraph The reference may well operate as support for a
claim made in the first sentence of the paragraph. It’s unlikely that there will be hints as to the
purpose of a particular reference two or three paragraphs away. If it’s still not clicking, review
the last sentence of the paragraph, and the last sentence of the preceding paragraph.

Make sure you understand the overall point the author is making. The reference may well
have been included by the author to directly support the main argument.

Top Tip: Most of the time, these references are to studies or other forms of evidence, and they
function simply to support a claim or position that the author makes/takes in the passage.
Again, this position may or may not be explicit, but the chances are good that you’ve absorbed it
during your first active reading of the passage.

SAMPLE PASSAGE
Space travel is by far the most expensive type of exploration ever undertaken by man. The vast
expenditure of money and human effort now being devoted to projects of putting the man into
space might well be applied to ends more practically useful and more conducive to human
happiness. It is a strange world in which tens of millions of pounds are spent to give one man a
ride around the earth at thousands of miles an hour, while beneath him in his orbit live millions
for whom life is a daily struggle to win a few coins to buy their bread and butter. The money and
effort that go into the development and construction of a single type of space-rocket would more
than suffice to rid several countries of such scourge as malaria or typhoid fever, to name only
two of diseases that medical science has conquered but which still persist in the world simply
because not enough money and effort are devoted to their eradication. Why should the richer
countries of the world be pouring their resources into space when poverty and disease on the
earth are crying out for relief? One could give a cynical answer to this question and assert that
man's expensive adventures into space are merely the by-products of the struggle between great
powers for prestige and possible military advantage.

QUESTIONS
(i) Why is it a strange world?
(ii) Why do malaria and typhoid still exist in the world? 
(iii) Why is the man pouring his resources into space?
(iv) Explain the meanings of the following words:
(a) Scourge (b) Eradication
(v) Suggest a suitable title for the passage.

ANSWERS
(i) It is a strange world because it does not do what it should do. It is wasting a lot of money and
effort on space exploration while millions of people on the earth are starving due to lack of
money and concern.
(ii) Malaria and typhoid still exist in the world because
(a) Scientists put more efforts on space exploration than on these diseases.
(b) The money needed to eradicate these diseases is wasted on space exploration.
(iii) Man is pouring his resources into space because
(a) He wants to gain prestige or a good reputation in the world.
(b) He hopes to get possible military and strategic advantages against others.
(iv)  (a) Scourge means a source of widespread dreadful affliction and devastation such as that
caused by pestilence or war. (b) Eradication means the destruction or extermination of every
trace of something.

(v) Suitable Title

Advantages and Disadvantages of Space Exploration.