READING COMPREHENSION

WHAT IS READING COMPREHENSION?

It is a process through which the reader draws meaning from a text, based on his or her knowledge, the nature of the text and the author’s message, the perceived purpose of reading, and the broader context in which the reading is carried out.

Reading comprehension strategies:

Make Connections:

Good readers notice pieces of text that relate to or remind them Of their lives, past experiences, prior knowledge, other books, articles, movies, songs, or pieces of Writing, events, people, or issues.

Visualize:

Good readers create pictures in their minds while they read. While reading, note places where you get a clear picture in your mind that helps you understand the text.

Ask Questions:

Good readers ask questions before, during, and after reading to better understand the author and the meaning of the text. Ask yourself:

What is the author trying to say?

What is the message of this piece?

Infer:

When the answers are “right here,” good readers draw conclusions based on background knowledge and clues in the text. Ask yourself:

I wonder why…

I wonder how…

I wonder if…

Determine Importance:

Good readers look for things that help them identify big ideas and why they are important. Look at text features for clues:

Titles and headings, Bold print, Pictures and captions, Graphs and charts, Chapter objectives and questions.

Synthesize:

Good readers combine new information from their reading with existing knowledge in order to form new ideas or interpretations.

Synthesis is creating a single understanding from a variety of sources.

Types of questions in reading comprehension:

Main Idea

Supporting Idea

Inference

Tone & Style

Passage Structure

Application

Logical Reasoning

Main Idea:

Main idea questions ask you to identify the "primary purpose" or "main point" of the passage. In order to answer these questions correctly, you must be able to identify the thesis of the passage and those ideas that support this thesis.

Common Questions:

Which of the following most accurately states the main idea of the passage?

The primary purpose of the passage is to

The passage is primarily concerned with which of the following?

The author of this passage is primarily concerned with

The main point made by the passage is that

Supporting Idea:

Supporting idea questions are often prefaced by "according to the passage" or "the passage states that". Most of the questions that fit into this category could be called "find the fact" as they rely on your ability to find a specific piece of information, often contained in two or three sentences.

These questions tend to be more difficult than main idea questions because they require a more detailed recollection of the test. If necessary, you can return to the text and quickly re-read a few sentences.

Common Questions:

According to the passage, a questionable assumption about x is that

The passage states that x occurs because

According to the passage, which of the following is true of x

The passage mentions each of the following EXCEPT

According to the passage, if x occurs then

Inference:

Inference questions are often prefaced by "the passage implies" or "the author implies", where "suggests" is sometimes substituted.

In some ways, inference and supporting idea questions are similar. They both require you to stick closely to the text and rely on specific facts. However, inference questions tend to go a tad further and ask you to make a very small logical conclusion that is strongly implied based upon information in the passage.

Common Questions:

The passage implies that which of the following was true of x

It can be inferred from the passage that

The passage suggests which of the following about x

The author implies that x occurred because

The author implies that all of the following statements about x are true EXCEPT

Tone & Style:

Tone questions ask you to identify the attitude or mood of a specific part of the passage or of the entire passage. Tone questions test your ability to recognize an attitude or disposition of the author, which is signaled by the use of a handful of trigger words. Never base your guess about the author's tone on a single word--this is not enough to define the tone of the entire passage.

Common Questions:

The attitude of the author of the passage toward x is best described as one of

The tone of the author is best described as

Passage Structure:

Passage structure questions ask you to determine the relationship between different parts of a passage. The key to this question type is understanding the relationship between each idea and paragraph. You must be able to separate ideas that support a thesis from the thesis idea itself. These questions are referred to by some as logical structure questions.

Common Questions:

One function of the third paragraph of this passage is to

The author uses the adjective x in line y to emphasize that

Which of the following best describes the relation of the first paragraph to the passage as a whole?

The author refers to x in line y primarily to

In the context of the passage, the word x (line y) most closely corresponds to which of the following phrases?

Application:

Application questions ask you to take information and conclusions in the passage and extrapolate them to similar situations or ideas. The key to this question type is the ability to identify the crux of an argument and see how it relates to a similar situation.

Common Question Tasks:

Mirroring: Select an action or idea not discussed in the text that most mirrors an action or idea discussed in the text

Predicting: Make a prediction based upon the information in the passage

Common Questions:

The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which of the following?

Which of the following statements would provide the most logical continuation of the final paragraph?

[an idea or action described in the passage] is most similar to which of the following?

Logical Reasoning:

Logical reasoning questions ask you to take information outside the passage and reason about how it will influence a point or sentence in the passage.

In some ways, these questions are similar to application questions as both require you to understand the thesis of the passage (if one exists) and the relationship between ideas in the passage. However, logical reasoning questions ask you to take outside information and apply it to the ideas in the passage (commonly to strengthen or weaken a point in the passage).

Common Questions:

Which of the following, if true, would best support x [where x is an idea or argument described in the passage]

The author's conclusion concerning x would be most seriously undermined if

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the explanation of x provided in the passage