Dear students, in 2017, English Section was the one that showed extreme variations in its pattern throughout the year in all sorts of banking examinations. With every other banking exam, one got to see a completely different set of questions in a different set of patterns. Now that the SBI Clerk Prelims Exam is approaching, many of you must be having a question on their minds if English Section will come up with a different pattern of questions to blow your minds once again. But students, to your aid, there are still a few conventional pattern questions that are always asked in these banking examinations, one of them being Reading Comprehension. Also, there is a sectional timing of 20 minutes for the English Section, you will have enough of time to do the reading comprehension questions that you usually tend to ignore. So, students, this article is especially intended to help you guys attempt a maximum number of questions from a Reading Comprehension in a minimum time period.
Let's discuss the type of questions that are generally asked from a reading comprehension. In SBI Clerk Prelims Exam, one can expect 10 questions based on RC, out of which, at least 5 questions will be passage based conventional pattern questions. These questions need a deep penetration through the passage, and hence, should be attempted in the end. Rest of the 4-5 questions will be based on either vocab or phrases. If the questions are vocab based, a few words will be given in bold and you will be asked to mark the synonyms or antonyms of the words as the correct option. And, if, the questions are based on phrases, a few phrases will be given in bold and you will be asked if there is an error in them or not and you will have to mark the correct option accordingly.
After having attempted the vocab/ phrases based questions efficiently, go for the passage based questions. While doing the passage based questions, try not to read the whole passage, try reading only the part that is related to the questions that are asked. Doing this will save your time and help you attempt the maximum number of questions in the minimum time. The questions may also be based on the tone/ attitude/ style of the writer. In such questions, one has to answer if the tone of the writer is persuasive, argumentative, controversial, complimentary, critical or laudatory. And you will only be able to answer such questions efficiently if you have a habit of reading different articles, so, if you haven't yet started reading them, do it right away. You may also be asked about the theme of the article or to give the article an appropriate title. Attempt such a question only if you are sure about the theme. If you aren't sure about the theme, then, reading the whole paragraph just to find the crux of it can prove to be very time consuming and you can choose to skip it for sure.
So, students, this is how you need to attempt a Reading Comprehension in order to bag the maximum marks form it. Mere reading through the tips and tricks won't help unless you yourself take an initiative of practicing real hard to ace the grades in the examination. You can practice the questions based on Reading Comprehension on Adda247 App. Also develop a habit of reading newspaper articles for to develop a habit of reading faster with a better understanding. We will also be providing Article based vocabulary from different newspapers that will prove to be beneficial for you all. Plan your strategy as per your strengths and weaknesses and start preparing for the SBI Clerk Prelims Exam right away.
This is by far the easiest type of RC question that appears in examinations. The reason for this is that the answer to these questions is given in the passage itself. The student does not have to analyse, evaluate or reason with the information provided in order to arrive at the right answer. Also known as factual questions , such questions have answers founded in fact,the facts being given in the passage itself.
The main difficulty in solving these type of questions is that the student must spend valuable minutes of his time in scanning the passage tolook for the answer. This can be especially problematic if the passageis very lengthy. However, passages that are lengthier than average are easier to comprehend. Also, the answer may not be given in the exact wording that the questionis asking.
Such questions could ask for any details such as numbers, dates, names, places, specific events,situational details explicitly mentioned in the passage. The question stemlooks somewhat like this:
'According to the passage,..'
'The author mentions which of the following?'
'The passage provides information that would answer which of the following questions?
Tips for Solving
Step 1: Read the entire passage before proceeding to the questions.
Step 2: Understand what the question is asking. Once you have read the passage,you will have a fair idea where in the passage the answer to the question lies.
Step 3: In the case that the passage is very lengthy, try to navigate your way through it by looking for keywords mentioned in the question. Thiswillnarrow down the amount of content you must scan to arrive at the answer.
Before we proceed to more difficult andlengthier passages,let us look at this easy example to understand this question type and how to solveit.
Example
Existential anxiety is so disconcerting that most people avoid it at all costs. They construct an inauthentic but comforting reality made up of moral codes, bourgeois values, nabits, customs, culture, and even - arguably - religion. The Harvard theologian PaulTiiiich and indeed Freud himself suggested that religion is nothing more than a carefully crafted coping mechanism tor existential anxiety.For Tillich,true faith consists simply in 'being vitally concerned with that ultimate reality to which I
give the symbolicalname of God.'
According to the passage,which of the following is !fl.le?
1) Freud believed that religion was nothing but a scam created by priests to make money.
2) Freud believed that religion was created by authority figures to deceive their subjects into submission.
3) Freud believed that religion was created by man to cope with existential anxiety.
4) Freud believed that religion was created out of man's fear of death.
5) Freud believed that religion was created because man did not have an answer to every1hing.
Solution: The correct answer is 3. Since thisis a specific detailsquestion,the answer to it must be found in the passage.The line which authenticates the right answer is given in boldface.You can also look for the answer by trying to look for certain keywords mentioned in the question,for example,'Freud'.
Vocabulary
These questions differ slightly from the regular vocabulary questions that appearin the verbal section of examinations. This is because most of the times,the student is required not only to understand the literal meaning of the word, but the contextual meaning as well. The student may be asked to choose the phrase that best describes the meaning of a certain worel, or he might be asked to choose theoption that is a synonym or antonym of the given word. The question stem looks somewhat like this:
'The word,in the passage is closest in meaning to..'
'Which of the following phrases best expresses the meaning of the word..' 'The word,in the passage is opposite in meaning to..'
Main Idea
This type of RC question is the most common type appearing in examinations.It is advisable to read the entire passage in order to understand the main idea or focus of the passage.However,it is possible at times toget a grasp of the mainidea by reading the first two or three paragraphs,or the first line of each paragraph.However,to be on the safe side,try notlo attempt this quest on before youhave read the entire passage at least once.
There are severalvariations of this questiontype.Lei uslake a look at each of them.
1.Theme: This is the universal subject beyond which the passage must never venture.Itis also called the scope of the passage.
2. Centralidea/Main topic: This is the topic thatis being discussed in eac11paragraphof the passage.Keep in mindthat thisis sl ghtly different from the theme.The theme is broaderin range,whie the topic might bevery specific.Look carefully at the question to see what rtis asking.
3. Big picture:This quest on type asks the student to assess the overall content of the passage,rather than the specific details. 4.Thesis: This is the centralargumentthat the author is trying to make,and the stand takenby him in doingso.
TiQs for Solving
Step 1:Never attempt this questionbefore having read the ent re passage.
Step 2:Do not confuseIheme with main topic.Do not focus much on statistical data,specific detai s,examples,evidence andjargon,as these are not much usefulin trying o determine the theme or the central idea of the passage.
Step 3:The first and last paragraphs are particularly useful,and they introduce and condude the topic being discussed. Keep in mindthat the passage cannot have any information that goes beyond the theme. Every paragraphin the passage should be directly relevantlo the topic being discussed.The topic that appears common in every paragraphis likeylo be the central idea.
Step 4:Eil minate answer choices that go into the specifics of a certain aspect oithe topic. Choose the most suitable option fromthe remaining choices. Let us look at the example we have been solVinq so far.and trv to assess its theme and centra idea.
Tone
This is one of the toughest type of RC questions. Most students falter at grasping the tone oi the passage.The tone of the passage reffecls the author's attitude towards the topic being discussedin the passage. TIP.s for Solvi ng
Step 1:Read the entire passage first before attemptingthis quest on. Familiarize yourself with the subject matter,and the stance taken by the author towardsit.
Step 2:Ask yourself the following question:'What must the mood of the author have been like,whie he was writing the passage?' Whie reading,make a mental note of the adject ves, adverbs and interjections used by the author.Adjectives are words used to describe a noun or a nounphrase, adverbs are used to describe a verb or another adject ve,andinterjections are words that express emotion.Interject ons can be identified by an exclamation mark following them. Given belowis a table of commonly used interjections ,whichwill help you to understand how and when they are used.
Extension
This type of RC questions can have several var ations. Typically,the answers to such questions are not ound in the passage.Rather they require the student to analyse or evaluate the information and come up with the oest possiole answer.This is Why such questions can beintimidating or students who are not used readinglarge amounts of text.Some valiations of this type of question are:
1. Title of thepassage: The student is asked to read the passage and choose the most suitaole t tle orit from the options.While doingso,the student must take into consideration the theme.centra idea and tone of the passage.
2. Inferential questions: This is the most common valiation of this question type.The student is asked to answera question based upon his understanding and inference of theinformationgivenin the passage.
3. Application based questions: In this quest ontype,the studentis asked to predicl the autho(s response in a dfferent situation based on theinformation providedin the passage. TiQs for Solving
Step 1:Read the passage in order to familiarize yourseff with tts tone,theme and structure.Ths is help in trying to understand if the passageis a thesis,or an artide,or an extract from a oook.Deciding the title will
prove easy once you dothis.
Step 2:For inferential type of quest ons,eliminate answer choices that containstatements that cannot be certainly inferred fromthe passage.
Step 3: For application based quest ons,it is imperative that you understand the autho(s standpoint,opinions, and mood.Only this canhelp you to predict how the author would respond to a dfferent idea or situation.
Let us apply these concepts to the example we are dealing with.
