Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension means understanding what a passage says and why each detail is included.

Label each paragraph: claim, evidence, objection or qualification. Summarise the argument before reading answer choices.

Read: “Meera carried an umbrella because dark clouds covered the sky.” Why did she carry it? 1. Find the reason word: because. 2. Look at the words after it: dark clouds covered the sky. 3. The sentence supports that she expected rain; it does not say rain actually fell.

Read the diagram from left to right: the sentence supplies evidence, which supports an explanation for the umbrella. The final box sets a boundary. Expecting rain does not prove that rain fell. For each answer, ask which words in the passage support it.

Passage: A city reduced fares and bus use rose. However, petrol prices rose during the same period. The author concludes that the fare policy deserves further testing, not immediate expansion. Main idea: the evidence is promising but does not isolate the effect of fares. Step 1: identify the observed rise. Step 2: notice the competing cause. Step 3: preserve the cautious conclusion. "Lower fares always increase bus use" goes beyond the evidence; "the policy failed" contradicts the qualified optimism.

Answer from the passage. Keep your outside knowledge separate. A tempting answer may repeat a true detail but miss the purpose of the passage. In CAT and GMAT, defend the answer using the text, not personal experience.

A passage says: "Our school planted trees near the playground. The trees provide shade, so students can play comfortably in summer." The main point is that trees make the playground more comfortable. "Trees should replace every building" goes far beyond the passage. "Students enjoy winter" is not stated at all.

A statement can be true in real life and still be a wrong answer. Before choosing it, point to the sentence that supports it. Words such as always, never, and everyone need especially strong support.

A fact is a claim that can be checked; an opinion expresses a judgment or preference. A writer can report someone else's opinion without endorsing it.

"The museum opened in 1990" is verifiable. "It is the finest museum" is a judgment unless a clearly defined ranking is supplied. Do not turn a quoted view into the author's own position.

Use the sentence and surrounding contrast to identify the intended sense of a word. Substitute each candidate meaning and check whether the argument still works.

In "the proposal was sound, though expensive", sound means well-founded, not noise. The contrast concerns cost, so a meaning about hearing does not fit.

Label each paragraph: claim, evidence, objection or qualification. Summarise the argument before reading answer choices.

Passage: A city reduced fares and bus use rose. However, petrol prices rose during the same period. The author concludes that the fare policy deserves further testing, not immediate expansion. Main idea: the evidence is promising but does not isolate the effect of fares. Step 1: identify the observed rise. Step 2: notice the competing cause. Step 3: preserve the cautious conclusion. "Lower fares always increase bus use" goes beyond the evidence; "the policy failed" contradicts the qualified optimism.

A tempting answer may repeat a true detail but miss the purpose of the passage. In CAT and GMAT, defend the answer using the text, not personal experience.

Read a passage to understand what its author claims, how each paragraph contributes, and which evidence supports the claims. Distinguish the author's position from an example, an opposing view or a quotation. Passage-based questions use the supplied text, even when outside knowledge suggests a different answer.

1. Build a short paragraph map: topic, main claim and role of each paragraph. 2. Read the question's exact task, including “except”, “incorrect” and limits such as “according to paragraph two”. 3. Locate relevant evidence and read the surrounding context. 4. Compare options for scope, certainty, cause and effect, and unsupported additions. 5. Return to the text when two options differ on a crucial word. Skimming finds the broad structure; scanning locates a particular fact or phrase. Neither replaces close reading of the evidence needed for an inference. Passage-first and question-first approaches can both work; compare them in timed practice. Slow down for a difficult argument or an unfamiliar word that changes its meaning. Question types For the main idea, cover the central argument rather than one example. A title should reflect that scope. For inference, choose what the passage warrants without importing a new premise. For tone, inspect evaluative wording and degree of certainty: critical, cautious and hostile are different. For paragraph function, explain how it supports, challenges or qualifies the argument. For vocabulary, substitute the candidate meaning in its actual sentence.

Passage: “A town added shade trees to two streets. Summer pavement temperatures on those streets fell. The council will study more streets before deciding whether to expand the scheme.” The main idea is that an initial cooling observation will inform further investigation. The author is cautious rather than certain that the same result holds everywhere. The passage supports a fall on the two studied streets; it does not prove trees were the only cause or that all streets cooled. “All towns must adopt this immediately” adds both an unsupported universal claim and a recommendation.

Do not choose an option merely because it repeats the passage's words. An example may be accurate but too narrow to summarise the whole passage. “Some” does not establish “all”, and an association does not alone establish causation. Dense vocabulary is not an independent scoring target: learn words in context and preserve comprehension under time pressure. Exact exam counts, passage lengths and question mixes vary; use the applicable official paper instructions rather than treating an old pattern as a permanent rule.