How To Improve Comprehension Skills for Exams

How to attempt comprehension for SSC CGL

What is a comprehension?

The word comprehension’ actually’ means ‘grasping with intellect’ and ‘understanding.’

A passage is given and then there are some questions that follow the passage. The questions that follow are varying in quality and range. The questions test the ability to read a passage comprehend its meaning, criticize its strength and weaknesses. Students have to show that ability by selecting the correct answer from among the choices supplied.

A comprehension passage contains a number of paragraphs. Every paragraph has a central idea. It is expounded with ideas and illustrations and other references. The key sentence that gives the central idea of the paragraph may be at the beginning, middle or end of paragraph.The student should approach the passage with an ‘open mind’ There is no place for the reader’s own opinions, assumptions and prejudices. The crux of the problem is just to understand the writer’s point of view. According to the’ difficulty of the passage reading speed should also be fast.’

Tricks to attempt the questions

Step by step method is useful in solving the questions.

Step 1: The very first step is to read the questions quickly. This gives some idea of what you should be looking for as you read the passage.

Step 2: The second step is to read the passage.The questions that have got located in your subconscious after reading the questions earlier will help you come to pick up anything that is relevant or important .

Step 3: Once you have read the questions and have started reading the passage, make sure you highlight any headings, phrases, keywords etc that can help in answering the questions. This method will help you save a lot of time, searching through the passage again.

Step 4: Again reread the questions one at a time. You will get some idea of the location in the passage of material that Answers the questions. If you have no idea as to the location of material that answers the questions, go on the next question.Come back to it after you have answered the other questions.

Step 5: Reread the question carefully that is still unanswered and try to find the reason. They may be analytical in nature which requires the analysis of a certain part of the passage.

Step 6: A good knowledge of vocabulary is always helpful in attempting a comprehension.

How to attempt comprehension for SSC CGL: Useful recommendation regarding comprehensions.

I recommend you to attempt the comprehensions at the end.I am saying this because if you are not able to understand in the middle of the passage, your time will be wasted.Many candidates spend too much time to read passages. If you are also one of them, it is better to skip comprehensions in the beginning and keep it for the end.
Answer the idioms,synonyms,antonyms,direct/indirect speech etc which are not time consuming at all.Close test and comprehension are the most time consuming and should be attempted last.

I strongly recommend you to read articles in news paper like Hindu and study the structure of the sentence mainly the grammar part and word meaning as much you can and note it down some where.After 2 month you will feel that your comprehension skills were drastically improve.Readers this thing helps me its will help you also.Read all the things that you have written before the exam day.

Revision is very important for English.

PASSAGE for practice

In the past 50 years, doctors across the world have accepted the practice to prescribe antibiotics at the first sign of a trivial infection or treat patients with a handful of antibiotics. These days it is not uncommon to see practitioners prescribing multiple an­tibiotics without arty real indication or relevance for such a combination of drugs. Antibiotics have traditionally been known as miracle drugs, but there is growing evidence that they are overworked miracles, especially in countries like ours where there is easy access to drugs across the counter, including antibiotics. We cannot think of a return to pre-antibiotic days. Yet the unbridled use of these agents is inexorably propelling us in that direc­tion.

1.         Antibiotics are called ‘Over worked miracles’ because

(a) they performed miracles

(b) they are hardly used

(c) they are over-used

(d)  they exhausted their miracles

2.         ‘We cannot think of a return to pre-antibiotic days’ means

(a) Antibiotics became indispens­able

(b) We must go back to pre-anti­biotic days

(c) We cannot stop using antibi­otics

(d) We can stop using antibiot­ics

3.         The passage tells us that

(a) the antibiotics work miracles

(b) the antibiotics are available at the counters

(c) the use of antibiotics is un­controllable

(d) antibiotics are used indis­criminately

4.         The passage discusses the use of:

(a) drugs in general

(b) miracle drugs

(c) antibiotics

(d) combination of different drugs

5.         These days it is not uncommon to prescribe antibiotic means

 (a) It is rare to prescribe antibi­otics

(b) It is a common practice to prescribe antibiotics

(c) It is not a common practice to prescribe antibiotics

(d) It is compulsory to prescribe antibiotics

Answers

1.c

2.c

3.d

4.c

5.b