COMPREHENSION

QUESTIONS
QUESTION TYPES

• Factual information
• Negative factual information
• Inference
• Rhetorical purpose
• Vocabulary
• Pronoun reference
FACTUAL INFORMATION QUESTIONS
As evident from the word ‘factual’, this type of questions
requires you to retrieve facts given in the passage.
Examples are who, what, where, when, how and why
questions.
 SKILLS

• Identifying important information and facts stated in a passage

• Locating a specific piece of information in a passage quickly
• Understanding the distinction between main ideas and supporting details
• Focusing on facts, details, definitions, or other information presented in
a passage
 STRATEGIES

• Look for transitional expressions to locate details such as examples, steps , time, reasons, or
results.
• Pay attention to examples descriptions that provide information and details.
• Eliminate choices presenting information that contradicts what is provided in the passage
• Answer the specific question being asked. Do not select an answer just because it is
mentioned in the passage.
• Do not include facts which are not given in the passage
 EXAMPLE QUESTIONS

• According to the passage, who/when/where/what/how/why …………?

• According to paragraph X, which of the following is true of ………?
• The author’s description of …….. mentions which of the following?
• According to paragraph X, ……….. occurred because …………
• According to the passage, why did X do Y?
 The Who, What, Where, When and How Questions
No Question Examples
1. The Who question is to identify a person/persons in the Who was responsible for the destruction of the
answer nuclear plant?
2. The Where question is to identify a place/places in the Where did his ill-fated army finally meet its doom?
answer
3. The When question is to identify or give a time as the When is the biggest time to transfer the rice
answer seedlings to the fields?
4. The How question is to identify a method or a process as the How did the people collect the money to support the
answer. street children?
5. The What question can be a bit tricky. Each what question a. What fact does this quotation tell you about
can have different requirement, depending on how it is pyramids?
phrased. It can even be a Why question in disguise! So the b. What are the main differences between frogs and
best way to deal with a what question is to analyze it and toads?
study its demands c. What sort of relationship did he want?
d. What happened later that showed how ineffective
he was as a leader?
e. What was the appearance of the rice field after
the massacre?
f. What was the reason for the chairman’s absence
from the meeting?
We relished every drop of coffee served with our meals until Harry stumbled
upon the cook’s well-guarded secret. He discovered, to our horror that she
used one of the boss’s socks as a strainer or filter. And it had to be the boss’
sock, and no one else’s. No other implement, in her opinion, was as effective
for the purpose, so neither threats nor punishment could dissuade her from
using it. And the only effect of confiscating the disgusting ‘strainer’ was that
was more of the boss’s socks would disappear from his drawer, only to
reappear in the kitchen at coffee brewing time!

a. What secret did Harry find in the coffee shop?

b. Why did the cook use one of the boss’s socks as a strainer?
c. What three methods were employed to try to stop the cook using the boss’s
socks as strainer?
NEGATIVE FACTUAL QUESTIONS
 SKILLS

• Recognizing incorrect information as well as information not mentioned in the

passage
• Identifying paraphrases that do or do not correctly summarize information from the
passage
• Verifying that the answer is true or false
 STRATEGIES

• Keep in mind that the correct answer either directly contradicts one or
more statements in the passage or it is not mentioned in the passage at all.
• Check your answer to make sure that you understood the question
accurately.
• The incorrect answer may spread across a paragraph or several paragraph
 EXAMPLE QUESTIONS

• All of the following are mentioned in paragraph X as ..... EXCEPT:

• According to the passsage, which of the following is NOT ........
• The author’s description of ....... Mentions all of the following
EXCEPT:
In contrast, women’s same-sex conversations include more reference to
feelings, relationships and personal problems. Some psychologists have
theorized that talk is essential to maintaining and nurturing female
relationship. In maintaining their relationships, women tend to engage in more
frequent conversations with their same-sex friends. In fact, almost half of the
women in a recent survey stated that they called their female friends on a
weekly basis just to chat.

According to the paragraph, which of the following is NOT true of women’s

conversation?
A. Women often discuss personal relationships.
B. Conversations are essential to female friendship.
C. Many females call their friends regularly.
D. Most women fear discussing their emotions.
INFERENCE QUESTIONS
Inference (n): a conclusion
drawn from evidence or
reasoning
Making an inference requires the reader to
combine prior knowledge and experience
with passage information. 
 SKILLS

• Perceiving ideas that are suggested but not directly stated within a passage
• Drawing conclusions based on information given within a statement or
section of a passage
• Determining logical implications of the author’s words
 STRATEGIES

• Ensure that your answer does not contradict the main idea of the passage.
• Do not choose an answer because it seems important or true. The correct
answer must be inferable from the passage.
• Check that you can defend your answer choice by referring to explicitly
stated information in the passage that points to the inference you have
chosen
 EXAMPLE QUESTIONS

• Which of the following can be infeed about …..?

• The author of the passage implies that ……
• Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph X about …….?
• Based on information in paragraph X and Y , what can be inferred about
…?
• It is suggested in paragraph X that ……
As the journey to my new ‘home’ stretched hour after hour into the night,
I began to wonder if I might have been better off staying at home. The
cart offered hardly an ounce of comfort as its wheels jolted in and out of
the potholes in the muddy road, keeping me wide awake for fear of being
flung off the cart and into a muddy puddle.
At long last we arrived at the manager’s house. I was exhausted,
ravenous, and thoroughly dazed after my ‘ordeal’ of a journey, but my
heart sank when the manager merely surveyed me from top to toe, his
eyes filled with contempt, and then bellowed, ”Why on earth did you
have to come at such an ungodly hour?”

How do you think the author expected the manager to treat him upon his
arrival? (Give three possible answers.)
 The corpulent matchmaker minced her way to where my old grandfather was seated, and without standing
ceremony, launched into a long speech extolling her charge’s many virtues. She punctuated her performance
with frequent bouts of tittering, and ended it with a coy smile and an exaggerated fluttering of her eyelids. I
was left wondering if she was there to persuade my grandfather to marry her, instead of the timid young
peasant girl standing just outside the doorway, not daring to lift her eyes from her scruffy shoes, hands held
together as a sign of deference.
“And her education?” he asked.
“Education?” She repeated the word, as if it was an entirely unexpected question. “Uh … She knows a little
bit of reading … and a little bit of writing … but don’t you worry, Mr. Chen, it’s just a little bit of education.
A very, very little bit …,” I detected a note of rising panic in her voice. Then she added with a nervous
laugh, ”I assure you sir, in one or two years, she will have forgotten all of it!” and as if to demonstrate the
fact, she waved her red silk handkerchief dismissively in the air.

 From your reading of this passage, what can you tell about the matchmaker’s attitude to girls and
education?
RHETORICAL PURPOSE QUESTIONS
 SKILLS

• Determining why the author has presented a piece of information in a

certain place or way within a passage
• Understanding the role of certain statement in a passage
• Inferring the author’s intention in mentioning certain information
• Relating specific information to the main ideas of a passage in order to
understand the purpose of the information
 STRATEGIES

• Learn and understand the meaning of certain words and phrases often used
in described rhetorical purposes: definition, example, function, to
illustrate, to explain, to contrast, to refute, to note, to criticize
• Focus on logical links between sentences and paragraphs in a passage
 EXAMPLE QUESTIONS

• The author discusses ….. In paragraph X in order to

• Why does the author mention …… ?
• The author uses …. As an example of
Theme
In literature, the theme is the general idea that is expressed throughout the
piece. The theme of a poem is rarely obvious, and it may be difficult to
interpret the theme right away. However, by paying attention to certain
elements in the poem, it is easier to discern what the theme is.

The first element that can indicate theme is the title of the poem, as it
contains the first words the reader encounters. Therefore, it can supply
information about what the author wishes to express. Consider the poem “a
boa beneath a sunny sky,” by Lewis Carroll. This title suggests a peaceful
afternoon and happy times. From simply analyzing the title, the reader can
assume that the theme will involve a joyful, tranquil experience.
1. Why does the author discuss the title of a poem?
A. To demonstrate how to interpret a poem’s title
B. To explain how to find the theme of a piece
C. To provide an example of poems with long titles
D. To argue that the theme is rarely revealed in the title

2. Why does the author mention a peaceful afternoon and happy times?
A. To provide a theory about why the author changed the title
B. To refute a previous point about the creation of titles
C. To show what the title suggests about the poem’s theme
D. To note the masterfulness of the poet in describing the scene
VOCABULARY QUESTIONS
DEFINITION
SKILLS

• Identifying the meaning of individual words and phrases as

they are used in a specific reading passage
• Choosing the correct meaning of a word or phrase in order to
understand its relevance within a passage
 STRATEGIES

• Do not choose an answer only because it may be correct meaning of

the word or phrase; choose the meaning that is being used in the
passage
• Try rereading the sentence in which the vocabulary word appears,
substituting the answer choices for the word
Communication between humans is largely based upon language. Learning a new
language involves many different processes. One step is to learn and build vocabulary.
Vocabulary is comprised of the different words used by the speaker to express
themselves. Linguists recognize two different types of vocabulary: passive and active.

The word comprised in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. Learned
B. Used
C. Formed
D. Selected
REFERENCE QUESTIONS
SKILLS

• Identifying the relationships between pronouns and their

referents in a passage
• Determining to which person, place, or thing a pronoun refers in
the context of a passage
 STRATEGIES

• Ensure that your answer choice matches the same number (singular or plural) and the
person (first, second, third) as the pronoun being asked about.
• Try substituting your answer choice for the pronoun in the passage to see if your
choice is sensible.
• Since there is often more than one answer choice that may seem correct, read the
sentences around the pronoun’s sentence carefully to ensure you choose correctly
• Remember that the grammatical referent for a pronoun may appear in a preceding
clause or sentence
Before the United Nations came into existence, there was another organization with
similar goal called the League of nations. It was founded in 1919, shortly after
World War I. However, the League of Nations was not effective in enforcing its
resolutions. This and other limitations left world leaders wanting a different type of
international organization.

The word it in the passage refers to

A. The United nations
B. The League of nations
C. Goal
D. Existence