Comprehension: fix it
Every admission
test includes a section on passage comprehension, in which a test taker is
required to read, analyse and answer questions based on what is stated or
implied in the passage.
These questions are designed to test a
wide range of abilities pre-requisite to academic study at a higher level. Those abilities include:
- understanding the meaning of individual words, phrases and sentences with in the passage
- understanding the meaning and purpose of paragraphs and larger bodies of text
- distinguishing between specific details and meaty points
- summarizing a paragraph or an entire passage
- drawing conclusions from the given data
- reasoning out extended information
- understanding the structure of writing and organization of arguments
- identifying the author’s assumptions and opinions
- synthesizing various points coherently
- identifying strengths and weaknesses of a position
- developing and considering alternative explanations
- Gleaning the tone and tenor of the author
As this list implies, reading and
understanding a piece of text requires far more than a passive understanding of
the words and sentences it contains; it requires active engagement with the
text, asking questions, formulating and evaluating hypotheses and reflecting on
the relationship of the particular text to other texts and information.
Passages are generally drawn from the life sciences, arts, humanities and
everyday topics and are based on material found in books and periodicals, both
academic and nonacademic. Questions can
cover any of the topics listed above, from the meaning of a particular word to
assessing additional evidence that might support or weaken points made in the
passage. Mostly the questions are
standard multiple-choice questions, in which you are required to select a
single answer choice, and others ask you to select multiple answer choices........to be continued...in the next blog
