University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center

College of Nursing

ENGLISH 2

Reading Comprehension
Reading Comprehension (also known as Critical Reading) questions test your ability to understand a passage and answer question on the basis of what is stated and implied in the passage. You need to read the passage first so that you can identify the main idea of the passage and appreciate features such as the author's tone and attitude as well as the organization of the passage. Scroll back to the relevant point in the text as you do each question. STRATEGIES FOR READING COMPREHENSION A Reading Comprehension type of test has two types of passage-based questions--short and long passages. For both types of passage-based questions, the key to scoring high is the ability to keep your concentration on the reading passage and then to understand what you have read. This test-taking strategy focuses on these two keys. Find What Type of Passage it is Is the passage from a report? A short story? Is it opinionated or factual? Before the actual passage is always a sentence or two about where the passage is from or who it is written by. Don't skip this information. This sentence will give you a feel for what you are about to read. Read Actively Don't read the passage just for the sake of reading. Read actively. Ask yourself questions while you are reading such as:

What is the author's main purpose? What is the passage's theme? What is the style of writing being used?

These are the types of questions that will be asked on the test, so you should be on the look out while you're reading. However, don't get caught up in the details. You can always refer back to the passage to answer detail-specific questions. Take Notes While You Read A common problem among students is that by the end of a passage they end up asking themselves, "What did I just read?" To help keep yourself focused on passages, take notes while you read. For starters, try writing a summary sentence after each paragraph.

Answering the Questions The main thing to remember is that the answer to all reading comprehension questions is in the passage! Every correct answer has evidence in the passage to back it up. If a question refers to a line in the passage, go back to the passage and read a couple lines above and below that line, and most of the time you'll find the correct answer. Remember it's not reading memorization. It's reading comprehension. UNDERSTANDING THE QUESTIONS Reading experts give many ways if thinking which lead to the comprehension of a selection. Nine of them are given as follows: 1. Subject matter What is the selection about? Is it clearly stated or implied? 2. Generalization Can you identify the essential points? Always bear in mind that supporting details must support each main idea. 3. Details What specific facts or opinions are used to clarify or prove the main thought? 4. Significance What message does the writer have for the reader? What does he or she want you to do or believe? 5. Conclusion What conclusion can be reasonably drawn from the generalization or the details of the selection, which the author has not explicitly stated or strongly implied? Would you be expected to make judgments of right or wrong? 6. Applications How can you apply the conclusions you make omni a selection to a new selection? 7. Tone and attitude What emotions or feelings do have as you read? What is the attitude of the author toward the subject matter? 8. Vocabulary in Context What is the precise or specific meaning of a word used in the selection? 9. Communication Techniques How are the ideas organized or developed? How are the generalizations related to each other? What level of language is used?

COMPREHENSION SKILLS Noting Details It is the factual type of reading comprehension in which the reader is directly concerned with remembering items within the passage. This calls for relatively slow and exacting type of reading. Always take note of significant details while reading like names, dates, and events. Other than that, details are significant according to the readers purpose. In common situations, significant details are those related to the central thought or theme of the selection. Pointers in reading for details: 1. Be definite about your purpose in reading 2. Read the passage slowly and carefully 3. Remember the details in relation to ideas you want to remember than as isolated bits of information and be able to distinguish main or big ideas from sub-ideas. Getting the Main Idea It is very similar to finding the most important thing an author is trying to say. The main idea of a paragraph is a general statement of the content of the paragraph. It is what the paragraph develops. It is the central thought of the paragraph. Pointers: 1. Find out what common elements or ideas the sentences share. This will be the clues as to what the paragraph is all about. 2. The presentational style may provide clues in finding the main idea. In some paragraphs, the main idea is placed at the beginning of the paragraph. In others, it may come at the end in the form of a summary statement. In some paragraphs, the main idea is indirectly given and you have to use other clues by the author in order to know it. 3. Remember that a well written paragraph is written about someone or something. The main idea is the important information about the topic. 4. A topic sentence may or may not contain the main idea. 5. See to it that the main idea statement is not so general that it suggests information that is not given in the paragraph. Inferring Oftentimes, the information you are looking for in what you read is not directly stated in the text. You still have to read between the lines. Reading between the lines requires a kind of sensitivity on your part so that you will be able to use some clues, link them to your own experiences and arrive at a new desired information. When you do this you do inferring. Inferring occurs when you mentally explore and take a position in relation to the facts and related details.

Making Generalizations Reading to generalize is a type of comprehension in which the important elements within a passage are related to one another so that they can be combined into a principle, generalization or conclusion. Formulating a generalization is in a sense a specialized form of summarizing. The reader needs to note specific instances and then decide whether the data presented are sufficient to warrant a significant conclusion. The reasonableness of a generalization may be checked by relating it to ones background knowledge that have been gained through firsthand experiences and previous readings. Pointers: 1. Know what topic is being discussed 2. Take note of the facts presented whether implied or directly stated 3. Find out how the sentences are related to one another in content 4. State a general idea that will include all the sub-ideas expressed in each sentence Predicting Outcomes Reading to predict outcomes is a kind of reading where the reader is made to identify an expected outcome or a probable consequence based on certain tendencies or trends observed. Just like in making a generalization, in order to predict outcomes, one must see the relationships between the given facts first. Then the reader foretells possible outcome. This skill is in effect an aspect of what is considered active reading in which the reader assumes an attitude of anticipation. This kind of thinking about the reading material requires an estimation beyond the data presented. Pointers: 1. Examine the available data and their relationships 2. Make conclusions or generalizations about the topics presented 3. Anticipate a possible outcome based on what you have read. Use your background knowledge in predicting an outcome. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW 1. Keep in mind the exact amount of time you have to complete the test so you can budget your time for the entire duration of the test. 2. Remember one question may only be worth one point, if you are not able to answer questions later because you have lost time you could lose more points! 3. Becoming nervous can make you lose your concentration and that leads to worse results. 4. First and last sentences of each paragraph are critical.

5. Find the right spot in a passage by using any line reference numbers that appear in the questions. 6. Answer questions on familiar topics before unfamiliar topics. 7. Read the passages before reading the questions. 8. Don't waste time memorizing details. Skip questions you don't know. Return to them after answering other easier questions. 9. Passage content usually comes from the Humanities, Social Science, Science, and Literal Fiction. 10. Some passages are presented in pairs. Read the brief introduction first to see how they relate. 11. You should base your answers to the questions solely on what is stated or implied in the passages. 12. Guess...if you can eliminate at least one choice 13. Spend more time on answering the questions than on reading the text. TEST TACTICS: 1. Read the text through quickly without stopping to check your understanding of individual words. The first reading is to get a general understanding of the text. 2. Read the multiple choice questions and answer. Skip any question that find too difficult. If you can not find something close to your original answer to the question, take a look at the text again. 3. After you have answered each question, return to the text to find a justification for each of your answers. 4. Return to the questions that you were not able to answer immediately and see if you can answer them now. 5. If you still have time, check all the answers that you have made making sure that they are what is really referred by the text.