- CHAPTER 15

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READ ING COMPREHENSION

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Learning _·:.Ol>j~c,tives
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After reading.,t h:t~-~hapter, yb_u ' ll b.e "able to:

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* _learn~what,re adirtg comprehension is, --

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1!ow.:.t o ·attempt the comprehension based questions,
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15.1 Introduction
(Reading c~mprehension has gr~at importance in the fields of education .ind-profession. It
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s used to measure the reader's ability- of understanding the passage, command- over the
language, and ability of deriving inferenGe. It consists of a passage that follows certain
questions. The questions vary in quality and range. The reader needs to answer the questions
on the bas_is of his/her understanding of the p_assage. ln this chapter, we shall discuss the
strategi~s to answer t~ qu~stions and practice some passages)

15·2 Reading Comprehension

th e term 'com rehension' means 'An abilit to understand the meaning or importance of
so~et ing. _interpretation o a text. t 1s t e
~ t e go bility to rea a text and understand
its meaning.
· t 1s a process throug w ic t e rea er rea ds t h e text an d d enves
· the meaning
or const ructs the -meaning from the text. The process involves_
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extracting and constructing
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meanmg . simultaneously
. throug h mterac
• ' n and involvement with -the wn·t!e_n lan u °"
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It is more than the ability to read individual words and know what they mean. ~ e.

ords do not have same meanmg · aII th e t'me

1 · They have different
-- - - _ mea 111·ngs, 1n
. din
~ texts . The reader can derive another meaning ot tbe word, which is Know~
'constructing the meaning'. In the process, the reader goes beyond the meaning, e.xpl· . as
contained in the text, and adds something to that meaning, based on his/her own expe ~cttly
and ability to infer additional or deeper meanmg. nen~
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Com rehension is completely based on understanding of the reader. There are sp ..
traits that determine how successfully an individual will comprehen a text. These etct'.ic
include- prior knowledge of the subJect· matter, 1anguage sk'll 1 s, an d ab1hty
· · to ra1ts
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inferences. Comprehension is also affected by the quality of the reading material. ma e

15.3 Strategies to Answer the Questions

Reading comprehension is based on a passage which is followed by questions. The passage

can contain more than one paragraph. Each paragraph can be expounded with ideas
illustrations, and other references which support the central ideat.The reader should tr t~
find the central idea, contained in the entire text, and the sub ideas, that support t h ~
idea. The reader should approach the passage open mindedly. S/he should not infuse iili/
lierown assumptions, opinions and prejudices. S/he should understand the writer's point
of view to derive the same meaning as intended ~y the auth·or. · -
Answering the comprehension questions is a matter of skill. It requires planning,
concentration and constant practice. There are certain tips that can help a reader to answer
the questions. They are mentioned below:
1. The reader should first read the questions to have an idea what to look for in the
~assage. Some readers adopt_ the conservative approach. They rea t e passage
first.and then read. the questions. But this approach is time consuming because
the reader needs-to rea<:l-the passage again,.a ter rea mg-t e ques 10ns, an 1nen
start answering. It leads to the problem of Time Management.
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· After reading the questions, the reader should read the passage. S/he should mark
th
e key words and phrases that can help him/her to answer the question~.
3. ~~is not necessary that the reader should understand each and every word contained
th
m e passage. S/he should just find the gist (summary) of the passag~.,
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· . ;~e ;:d:~/hould answer the questions first which s/he finds easy to answ~
h Ph ld ._fi~ult on~~- S/he should try to answe·r the difficult ones afterwat<ls. Sd
e sd' ou I mark the probable answers of the difficult questions to avoid repeate
rea mg. t may save time.
5. The reader should co · • mind
ncentrate only on content. S/he
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should not let h~
 RearliragComprehension
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go away from the passage. S/he should not infuse his/her own views, and should

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answer according to author's point of view.
Usually, Reading Comprehensions are taken from scientific essays, or well known
fiction. The sentences can be complex to understand. If the reader is not from the
subject area, it would be difficult to comprehend the passage. The reader should
practice different types of passages to overcome this type of difficulty.
7. The reader should improve his/her vocabulary. If reader does not have a
good&ocabulary, s/he may stop at every new word in the passage. S/he may not be
able to understand the gist of the content.
8. The reade: should not coEY the sentence or phrase as it is in the answ~·- S/he
should wnte the answer,!1ccording to the question.
9. The answer should be brief. The reader should not g_<> beyond the content.