Introduction to Comprehension

The Four Major Communication Skills

Learning a language involves acquiring four major skills.

• Listening: Frequently used to receive instructions and process instructions
• Speaking: Used to communicate in a language effectively
• Reading: Used to understand and analyse literature written in a particular language
• Writing: Used to reproduce one‘s thoughts using words and writing formats effectively

These skills are commonly called LSRW skills and are collectively termed communication skills. Communication skills help to understand a particular language, process it and use it effectively. Let us examine the role of reading comprehension in acquiring Reading skills.

Reading Comprehension

What is Reading Comprehension?

Reading comprehension is the act of understanding what you are reading.

Reading comprehension involves

Guidelines to Read a Passage

Comprehension: Prose

• Read the passage thoroughly.
• Identify the main idea and the supporting details of the passage.
• Understand the first (introduction) and the last (conclusion) paragraph of the passage.
• Identify the theme of each paragraph.
• Identify the tone used in the passage.
• Understand the author’s purpose and viewpoint.
• Read the questions carefully.
• Understand what is being asked in the questions.

Comprehension: Poetry

• Read the poem thoroughly.
• Identify the theme and the rhyme scheme of the poem.
• Identify the figures of speech used.
• Read the questions carefully.
• Understand what is being asked in the questions.
• Identify the imagery used by the poet.

The answers that you provide to the questions asked show how well you have understood the given passage.

Types of Comprehension Passages

You may come across many types of passages while attempting the reading comprehension section in your paper.

Let us look at some sample passages.

Sample Comprehension Passages

Factual Passage

The first two years of life are a critical ‘window of opportunity’. In this period, it is possible to prevent the largely irreversible damage which follows early childhood undernutrition. There are 805 million undernourished people in the world today. That means one in nine people do not get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life.

Hunger and malnutrition are in fact the number one risk to health worldwide — greater than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Three-quarters of all hungry people live in rural areas, mainly in the villages of Asia and Africa. An estimated 146 million children in developing countries are underweight — the result of acute or chronic hunger. Causes: poverty trap, lack of investment in agriculture, natural calamities, war and displacement, unstable markets, and food wastage. Hunger leads to malnutrition, which in turn causes diseases. According to the UN’s Standing Committee on Nutrition (SCN), malnutrition is the largest single contributor to disease in the world.

Malnutrition at an early age leads to reduced physical and mental development during childhood. According to the World Bank, India ranks among the highest countries in child malnutrition. One of the major causes in India is gender inequality. Due to the low social status of Indian women, their diet often lacks both in quality and quantity. Women who suffer malnutrition are less likely to have healthy babies. In India, mothers often lack proper knowledge in feeding children, resulting in inadequate infant nutrition.

Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar have very high rates of undernutrition. Studies show that individuals from Hindu, Jain or Muslim backgrounds tend to be more malnourished than those from Sikh or Christian backgrounds. The Akshaya Patra Foundation runs the world’s largest NGO-run midday meal programme, serving over 1.3 million schoolchildren in government and government-aided schools in India. However, the challenge for all these programmes and schemes is how to increase efficiency, impact and coverage.

Comprehension Questions

Factual Passage: Questions & Answers

1. Q1) What are the causes of the presence of hunger in the world?
   A1) Poverty trap, lack of investment in agriculture, natural calamities, war and displacement, unstable markets and food wastage are the major causes for the presence of hunger in the world.
2. Q2) How does gender inequality lead to malnutrition in India?
   A2) Women in India have a low status because of which their diet often lacks both quality and quantity. This causes them to suffer malnutrition.
3. Q3) What role does the Akshaya Patra Foundation play?
   A3) The Akshaya Patra Foundation runs the world’s largest NGO-run midday meal programme serving freshly cooked meals to over 1.3 million schoolchildren in government and government-aided schools in India.
4. Q4) Where are the majority of the hungry people inhabited?
   A4) Three-quarters of all hungry people live in rural areas, mainly in the villages of Asia and Africa.
5. Q5) Which religious communities in India tend to be less malnourished?
   A5) According to studies, individuals belonging to the Sikh or Christian communities are less malnourished than those from Hindu, Jain or Muslim backgrounds.

Literary Passage

―Mum!‖ I shouted. “Are you okay?” I saw her little tent shuddering in the gale and listened closely for her response. Her voice was almost casual, “Oh, yes, I‘m fine.” That‘s my mother. It was the first night of our cycling trip through the interior of Iceland — a region so remote and inhospitable that for centuries, according to legend, it was abandoned.

The weather was decidedly hurricane-like, but Mum wasn‘t concerned. Months ago, I told her about my plan to pedal across Iceland. “It will be really difficult,” I said. “The roads are unpaved and often washed out, and the wind is blowing constantly — sometimes so hard that it pushes you off the road.” There was silence for a moment. Then she asked, “Can I come?” “Sure,” I replied. “But like the rest of us, you have to train to do two 160 kilometres a day back-to-back.”

“Wow,” she said, “I could never do that.” I had more faith in my mother’s physical abilities than she did. I’d seen her raise six children and put in long hours doing physical labour on our small farm.

“Sure you can,” I told her, “Start tomorrow.” What really concerned me was what I perceived to be her frustrating humility: I thought her too self-deprecating about her attractiveness just because she had not completed college. I felt she underestimated her attractiveness just because she was not the type to wear make-up or fancy clothes.

As I had grown into adulthood, the life I’d chosen seemed light years away from Mum’s quiet existence, still caring for her children and her children’s children. Sometimes, on a visit home, I’d describe some recent trip I’d taken, and her blue eyes would shine with interest.

So, I couldn’t help thinking this trek might revitalise Mum, who had started to slow down in her 50s. It might spice up what I saw as her humdrum life. And it might be a boost to her tentative and retiring persona.

Mum trained furiously, months in advance. As the trip roster was pared down to Mum, my good friend Allen and me, she stood as the most dedicated. Soon she was riding 80–100 kilometres per day, and was as strong a rider as Allen or I.

Literary Passage – Questions and Answers

Q1) Based on your reading of the passage, complete the following sentences.

1. The narrator describes the roads across Iceland as:
   The roads in Iceland were unpaved and washed out according to the author.
2. The narrator had faith in his mother‘s physical abilities as:
   The narrator had seen her bring up six children and carry out physical labour in the farm he grew up in.
3. The training to take the adventure trip on cycle included:
   The training included back-to-back cycling for 160 kilometres every day.
4. In his adulthood, the narrator realised that his life was:
   The narrator’s life was different from his mother‘s quiet existence.
5. Descriptions of his trips always:
   Aroused the interest of the narrator’s mother.
6. The narrator was sure that the trip would:
   Revitalise his mother’s life, spice up her humdrum routine, and build her confidence.
7. The narrator and his friend were sure about Mum‘s preparation when:
   She started riding 80–100 kilometres a day and proved to be as good as them.

Q2) Find words from the passage that mean the same as the following:

• Noticed / become aware of: Perceived
• To give new life: Revitalise
• Hesitant / not certain: Retiring

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Literary Passage (Poem) – Questions and Answers

Q1) Why is the speaker‘s daughter never alone?

The speaker‘s daughter is never alone because she always has a phone with her which keeps beeping, vibrating and emitting light all the time.

Q2) How does the speaker make sure that the assignments are completed?

The speaker is the mother of the ‘teenybopper’ and uses the cell phone to her advantage. Whenever her daughter’s school work is pending, the speaker calls her—even from within the same house—and asks her to complete the tasks.

Q3) Why can‘t the daughter make any excuse when she is asked for help by her mother?

The mother smartly texts the daughter about the help needed on her phone. That way, the daughter can’t claim she didn’t hear her mother, because the request is clearly written in the message.

Q4) How do you think cell phones have affected face-to-face communication?

Cell phones are convenient and easy to use, but they often limit the emotional depth of communication. Without face-to-face contact, it’s harder to perceive the other person’s true emotions and intent, making the interaction less personal and less effective.

Q5) Identify the figure of speech in: “If school assignments pile sky-high.”

Figure of speech: Hyperbole — an exaggerated statement to emphasize the large amount of assignments.

• Discursive Passage

It is important that you recognise the signs of stress in your behaviour, and be healthy enough to enjoy your success. Stress can strike anytime, in a fashion that may leave you unaware of its presence in your life. While a certain amount of pressure is necessary for performance, it is important to recognise your individual threshold. For instance, some individuals accept competition in a healthy fashion. Others collapse into weeping wrecks before an exam, or when comparing marksheets and finding their mates have scored better.

Changes in external environment—like temperature, pollutants, humidity, and working conditions—lead to stress. In today’s competitive age, when one tries to surpass others, the imbalance between demand and resources causes psycho-social stress.

Stress is age-dependent: A child may be stressed by the loss of a toy or a parent’s scolding. An adolescent may feel devastated by academic failure. Adults, on the other hand, experience stress through the loss of a companion, job, or professional failure.

Symptoms of stress include: muscle tension, palpitation, high blood pressure, indigestion, hyperacidity, overeating, excessive drinking or smoking, reliance on tranquillisers, nervous blinking, dryness of mouth, and difficulty swallowing. Professionals may display perfectionism followed by depression and lethargy. Periodic mood shifts also indicate stress.

Questions

1. Q1) How do individuals handle competition?
2. Q2) How does external environment cause stress?
3. Q3) Does the age of a person have any impact on stress levels?
4. Q4) Find words from the passage which mean:
   • contaminant
   • sedative

Answers

1. A1) Different people deal with competition differently. Some accept it healthily. Others collapse under pressure.
2. A2) A change in the external environment such as temperature, pollutants, humidity, and working conditions leads to stress.
3. A3) Yes, stress varies with age: toys and reprimands for children, exams for adolescents, and job losses for adults.
4. A4)
   • Contaminant: pollutant
   • Sedative: tranquillisers

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• Factual Passage

Both alligators and crocodiles belong to the reptilian order Crocodylia. But they differ by family: Alligatoridae vs Crocodylidae. The term “crocodilian” includes alligators, crocodiles, and the lesser-known Gavialidae, which includes the gharial. In total, there are 23 species of crocodilians.

Their lineage goes back 240 million years, outliving dinosaurs by 65 million years. Crocodilians are amphibious, swimming at 20 mph and running at 11 mph. Their powerful tails propel them through water, while eyes atop their heads scan for prey.

Hunting habits: Crocodilians eat fish, turtles, monkeys, and buffaloes. Their spearing teeth are designed to swallow prey whole.

Their senses are top-notch: sharp eyesight above water, vertical pupils for night vision, sensitive slitted ears, and a keen sense of smell via nasal organs. They can even hear offspring from inside the eggs.

Questions

1. Q1) Complete the sentences:
   • Alligatoridae, Crocodylia and Gavialidae are subgroups of the main group ______.
   • The ______ died 65 million years ago.
2. Q2) Describe the eating habits of crocodiles.
3. Q3) How sharp are the ears of crocodiles?
4. Q4) Choose the correct alternative:
   • Crocodiles can stay:
     • Only in water
     • Only on land
     • Both on land and in water
     • None of the above
   • How do crocodiles have a keen night vision?
     • Because their eyes are situated atop their heads
     • Because they have sensitive ears
     • Because they have vertical pupils
     • Because they are top-notch hunters
5. Q5) Find words that mean:
   • To drive or push something forward
   • The science of classification
   • Descent from the ancestors
   • Outstanding

Answers

1. A1)
   • Crocodylidae
   • The dinosaurs
2. A2) Crocodiles swallow large chunks or entire animals whole, using their spearing teeth. Their prey includes fish, turtles, monkeys, and buffaloes.
3. A3) Their ears are so sharp that they can hear their offspring calling from inside their eggs.
4. A4)
   • Both on land and in water
   • Because they have vertical pupils
5. A5)
   • Propel
   • Taxonomy
   • Lineage
   • Top-notch

• Discursive Passage

The New Year is a time for resolutions. Mentally, at least, most of us could compile formidable lists of ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’. The same old favourites recur year in and year out with monotonous regularity. We resolve to get up earlier each morning, eat less, find more time to play with our children, do a thousand and one jobs about the house, be nice to people we don’t like, drive carefully, and take the dog for a walk every day. Experience has taught us that certain accomplishments are beyond attainment. If we remain deep-rooted liars, it is only because we have so often experienced the frustration that results from failure.

Most of us fail in our efforts at self-improvement because our schemes are too ambitious and we never have time to carry them out. We also make the fundamental error of announcing our resolutions to everybody so that we look even more foolish when we slip back into our bad old ways. Aware of these pitfalls, this year I attempted to keep my resolutions to myself. I limited myself to two modest ambitions: to do physical exercise every morning and to read more in the evening. An all-night party on New Year’s Eve provided me with a good excuse for not carrying out either of these new resolutions on the first day of the year, but on the second, I applied myself assiduously to the task.

The daily exercise lasted only eleven minutes and I proposed to do them early in the morning before anyone had got up. The self-discipline required to drag myself out of bed eleven minutes earlier than usual was considerable. Nevertheless, I managed to creep down into the living room for two days before anyone found me out. After jumping about on the carpet and twisting the human frame into six uncomfortable positions, I sat down at the breakfast table in an exhausted condition. It was this that betrayed me.

The next morning the whole family trooped in to watch the performance. That was really unsettling but I fended off the taunts and jibes of the family good humouredly and soon everybody got used to the idea. However, my enthusiasm waned, and the time I spent at exercises gradually diminished. Little by little, the eleven minutes fell to zero. By 10 January, I was back to where I had started from.

Questions

Q1) What is the New Year a time for?

• (i) enjoying parties
• (ii) sending greetings
• (iii) making resolutions
• (iv) watching TV programmes

Q2) For how long did his physical exercise last?

• • eleven minutes
• (ii) eleven hours
• (iii) eleven days
• (iv) eleven months

Q3) Why did the writer not carry out his resolutions on New Year’s Day?

Q4) Where did the author do his exercise?

Q5) How did the author’s family members treat his resolution?

Q6) Find a word in the passage similar in meaning to

• • ‗attentively‘
• • ‗happen again and again‘

Q7) Why is it a basic mistake to announce our resolutions to everybody?

Q8) Why, according to the writer, most of us fail in our efforts for self-improvement?

Answers

A1) (iii) Making resolutions

A2) (i) eleven minutes

A3) The writer could not carry out his resolutions on New Year‘s Day because he was partying all night on New Year‘s Eve and he couldn‘t wake up in the morning to exercise.

Q4) The author exercised in his living room.

Q5) The author‘s family seemed to be quite amused by his resolution. They trooped into the living room to see him twist his body and threw taunts and jibes at him which the author found very unsettling.

Q6) Find a word in the passage similar in meaning to

• • assiduously
• • recur

Q7) It is a basic mistake to announce our resolutions to everybody because we come across as foolish to everyone when we are unable to accomplish them.

Q8) Most of us fail in our efforts at self-improvement because our schemes are too ambitious and we never have time to carry them out.

Literary Passage

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said:—Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter’d visage lies, whose frown And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp’d on these lifeless things, The hand that mock’d them and the heart that fed. And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!” Nothing beside remains: round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Questions

Q1) The poem is set in .

• The wilderness
• An ancient land
• A palace
• A desert

Q2) The expression on the face of the statue is one of .

• Admiration
• Anger
• Despair
• Contempt

Q3) Find words from the passage that mean

• • Face: Visage
• • Mock: Sneer

Q4) What was the sculptor able to read well?

Q5) ‘The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.’ Whose hand and heart has the poet called in this line?

Q6) ‘Nothing beside remains.’ What does the narrator mean when he says these words?

Q7) What is your impression of Ozymandias as a king after reading the poem?

Q8) Identify the figure of speech in the line The hand that mock’d them and the heart that fed.

Answers

A1) The poem is set in a desert.

A2) The expression on the face of the statue is one of contempt.

A3)

• • Face: Visage
• • Mock: Sneer

A4) The sculptor was able to read the feelings of Ozymandias and sculpt them perfectly on his statue.

A5) The sculptor‘s hands and heart are being called in the respective line. The sculptor must have copied the inner feelings of Ozymandias while making the statue.

A6) When time comes, everything has to meet its end. Thus, the trunkless legs and a shattered visage is all that one can see of the once grand statue in the vast desert.

A7) The poem suggests that Ozymandias may have been a cruel and an angry king who was a tyrant who ruled with an iron fist.

A8) The figure of speech in the line The hand that mock’d them and the heart that fed is synecdoche, part for the whole.