Reading comprehension word meaning

This article is about human reading comprehension. For machine reading comprehension, see natural-language understanding. For the article on reading, see Reading.

Reading comprehension is the ability to process written text, understand its meaning, and to integrate with what the reader already knows.^[1][2][3][4] Comprehension specifically is a «creative, multifaceted process» dependent upon four language skills: phonology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.^[5]

Some of the fundamental skills required in efficient reading comprehension are the ability to:

• know the meaning of words,
• understand the meaning of a word from a discourse context,
• follow the organization of a passage and to identify antecedents and references in it,
• draw inferences from a passage about its contents,
• identify the main thought of a passage,
• ask questions about the text,
• answer questions asked in a passage,
• visualize the text,
• recall prior knowledge connected to text,
• recognize confusion or attention problems,
• recognize the literary devices or propositional structures used in a passage and determine its tone,
• understand the situational mood (agents, objects, temporal and spatial reference points, casual and intentional inflections, etc.) conveyed for assertions, questioning, commanding, refraining, etc., and
• determine the writer’s purpose, intent, and point of view, and draw inferences about the writer (discourse-semantics).^[6][7][8]

There are many reading strategies to improve reading comprehension and inferences, including improving one’s vocabulary, critical text analysis (intertextuality, actual events vs. narration of events, etc.), and practicing deep reading.^[9]
The ability to comprehend text is influenced by the readers’ skills and their ability to process information. If word recognition is difficult, students use too much of their processing capacity to read individual words which interferes with their ability to comprehend what is read.

Overview[edit]

Some people learn comprehension skills through education or instruction and others learn through direct experiences.^[10] Proficient reading depends on the ability to recognize words quickly and effortlessly.^[11] It is also determined by an individual’s cognitive development, which is «the construction of thought processes».

There are specific characteristics that determine how successfully an individual will comprehend text, including prior knowledge about the subject, well-developed language, and the ability to make inferences from methodical questioning & monitoring comprehension like: «Why is this important?» and «Do I need to read the entire text?» are examples of passage questioning.^[12]

Instruction for comprehension strategy often involves initially aiding the students by social and imitation learning, wherein teachers explain genre styles and model both top-down and bottom-up strategies, and familiarize students with a required complexity of text comprehension.^[13] After the contiguity interface, the second stage involves the gradual release of responsibility wherein over time teachers give students individual responsibility for using the learned strategies independently with remedial instruction as required and this helps in error management. The final stage involves leading the students to a self-regulated learning state with more and more practice and assessment, it leads to overlearning and the learned skills will become reflexive or «second nature».^[14] The teacher as reading instructor is a role model of a reader for students, demonstrating what it means to be an effective reader and the rewards of being one.^[15]

Reading comprehension levels[edit]

Reading comprehension involves two levels of processing, shallow (low-level) processing and deep (high-level) processing. Deep processing involves semantic processing, which happens when we encode the meaning of a word and relate it to similar words. Shallow processing involves structural and phonemic recognition, the processing of sentence and word structure, i.e. first-order logic, and their associated sounds. This theory was first identified by Fergus I. M. Craik and Robert S. Lockhart.^[16]

Comprehension levels are observed through neuroimaging techniques like functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). fMRI is used to determine the specific neural pathways of activation across two conditions, narrative-level comprehension, and sentence-level comprehension. Images showed that there was less brain region activation during sentence-level comprehension, suggesting a shared reliance with comprehension pathways. The scans also showed an enhanced temporal activation during narrative levels tests indicating this approach activates situation and spatial processing.^[17] In general, neuroimaging studies have found that reading involves three overlapping neural systems: networks active in visual, orthography-phonology (angular gyrus), and semantic functions (anterior temporal lobe with Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas). However, these neural networks are not discrete, meaning these areas have several other functions as well. The Broca’s area involved in executive functions helps the reader to vary depth of reading comprehension and textual engagement in accordance with reading goals.^[18][19]

The role of vocabulary[edit]

Reading comprehension and vocabulary are inextricably linked together. The ability to decode or identify and pronounce words is self-evidently important, but knowing what the words mean has a major and direct effect on knowing what any specific passage means while skimming a reading material. It has been shown that students with a smaller vocabulary than other students comprehend less of what they read.^[20] It has been suggested that to improve comprehension, improving word groups, complex vocabularies such as homonyms or words that have multiple meanings, and those with figurative meanings like idioms, similes, collocations and metaphors are a good practice.^[21]

Andrew Biemiller argues that teachers should give out topic-related words and phrases before reading a book to students, teaching includes topic-related word groups, synonyms of words, and their meaning with the context, and he further says to familiarize students with sentence structures in which these words commonly occur.^[22] Biemiller says this intensive approach gives students opportunities to explore the topic beyond its discourse – freedom of conceptual expansion. However, there is no evidence to suggest the primacy of this approach.^[23] Incidental morphemic analysis of words – prefixes, suffixes and roots – is also considered to improve understanding of the vocabulary, though they are proved to be an unreliable strategy for improving comprehension and is no longer used to teach students.^[24]

History[edit]

Initially most comprehension teaching was based on imparting selected techniques for each genre that when taken together would allow students to be strategic readers. However, from the 1930s testing various methods never seemed to win support in empirical research. One such strategy for improving reading comprehension is the technique called SQ3R introduced by Francis Pleasant Robinson in his 1946 book Effective Study.^[25]

Between 1969 and 2000, a number of «strategies» were devised for teaching students to employ self-guided methods for improving reading comprehension. In 1969 Anthony V. Manzo designed and found empirical support for the Re Quest, or Reciprocal Questioning Procedure, in traditional teacher-centered approach due to its sharing of «cognitive secrets». It was the first method to convert fundamental theory such as social learning into teaching methods through the use of cognitive modeling between teachers and students.^[26]

Since the turn of the 20th century, comprehension lessons usually consist of students answering teacher’s questions or writing responses to questions of their own, or from prompts of the teacher.^[27] This detached whole group version only helped students individually to respond to portions of the text (content area reading), and improve their writing skills.^{[citation needed]} In the last quarter of the 20th century, evidence accumulated that academic reading test methods were more successful in assessing rather than imparting comprehension or giving a realistic insight. Instead of using the prior response registering method, research studies have concluded that an effective way to teach comprehension is to teach novice readers a bank of «practical reading strategies» or tools to interpret and analyze various categories and styles of text.^[28]

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have been implemented in hopes that students test scores would improve. Some of the goals of CCSS are directly related to students and their reading comprehension skills, with them being concerned with students learning and noticing key ideas and details, considering the structure of the text, looking at how the ideas are integrated, and reading texts with varying difficulties and complexity.^[8]

Reading strategies[edit]

There are a variety of strategies used to teach reading. Strategies are key to help with reading comprehension. They vary according to the challenges like new concepts, unfamiliar vocabulary, long and complex sentences, etc. Trying to deal with all of these challenges at the same time may be unrealistic. Then again strategies should fit to the ability, aptitude and age level of the learner. Some of the strategies teachers use are: reading aloud, group work, and more reading exercises.^{[citation needed]}

Reciprocal teaching[edit]

In the 1980s, Annemarie Sullivan Palincsar and Ann L. Brown developed a technique called reciprocal teaching that taught students to predict, summarize, clarify, and ask questions for sections of a text. The use of strategies like summarizing after each paragraph has come to be seen as effective for building students’ comprehension. The idea is that students will develop stronger reading comprehension skills on their own if the teacher gives them explicit mental tools for unpacking text.^[28]

Instructional conversations[edit]

«Instructional conversations», or comprehension through discussion, create higher-level thinking opportunities for students by promoting critical and aesthetic thinking about the text. According to Vivian Thayer, class discussions help students to generate ideas and new questions. (Goldenberg, p. 317). Dr. Neil Postman has said, «All our knowledge results from questions, which is another way of saying that question-asking is our most important intellectual tool»^{[citation needed]} (Response to Intervention). There are several types of questions that a teacher should focus on: remembering; testing understanding; application or solving; invite synthesis or creating; and evaluation and judging. Teachers should model these types of questions through «think-alouds» before, during, and after reading a text. When a student can relate a passage to an experience, another book, or other facts about the world, they are «making a connection». Making connections help students understand the author’s purpose and fiction or non-fiction story.^[29]

Text factors[edit]

There are factors that, once discerned, make it easier for the reader to understand the written text. One is the genre, like folktales, historical fiction, biographies or poetry. Each genre has its own characteristics for text structure that once understood help the reader comprehend it. A story is composed of a plot, characters, setting, point of view, and theme. Informational books provide real-world knowledge for students and have unique features such as: headings, maps, vocabulary, and an index. Poems are written in different forms and the most commonly used are: rhymed verse, haikus, free verse, and narratives. Poetry uses devices such as: alliteration, repetition, rhyme, metaphors, and similes. «When children are familiar with genres, organizational patterns, and text features in books they’re reading, they’re better able to create those text factors in their own writing.» Another one is arranging the text per perceptual span and a text display favorable to the age level of the reader.^[30]

Non-verbal imagery[edit]

Non-verbal imagery refers to media that utilize schemata to make connections either planned or not, more commonly used within context such as a passage, an experience, or one’s imagination. Some notable examples are emojis, emoticons, cropped and uncropped images, and recently emojis which are images that are used to elicit humor and comprehension.^[31]

Visualization[edit]

Visualization is a «mental image» created in a person’s mind while reading text, which «brings words to life» and helps improve reading comprehension. Asking sensory questions will help students become better visualizers.^[29] Students can practice visualizing by imagining what they «see, hear, smell, taste, or feel» when they are reading a page of a picture book aloud, but not yet shown the picture. They can share their visualizations, then check their level of detail against the illustrations.

Partner reading[edit]

Partner reading is a strategy created for pairs. The teacher chooses two appropriate books for the students to read. First, the pupils and their partners must read their own book. Once they have completed this, they are given the opportunity to write down their own comprehension questions for their partner. The students swap books, read them out loud to one another and ask one another questions about the book they read. There are different levels of this. There are the lower ones who need extra help recording the strategies. The next level is the average who will still need some help. At a good level, the children require no help. Students at a very good level are a few years ahead of the other students.

This strategy:

• Provides a model of fluent reading and helps students learn decoding skills by offering positive feedback.^[32]
• Provides direct opportunities for a teacher to circulate in the class, observe students, and offer individual remediation.^[32]

Multiple reading strategies[edit]

There are a wide range of reading strategies suggested by reading programs and educators. Effective reading strategies may differ for second language learners, as opposed to native speakers.^[33][34][35] The National Reading Panel identified positive effects only for a subset, particularly summarizing, asking questions, answering questions, comprehension monitoring, graphic organizers, and cooperative learning. The Panel also emphasized that a combination of strategies, as used in Reciprocal Teaching, can be effective.^[29] The use of effective comprehension strategies that provide specific instructions for developing and retaining comprehension skills, with intermittent feedback, has been found to improve reading comprehension across all ages, specifically those affected by mental disabilities.^[36]

Reading different types of texts requires the use of different reading strategies and approaches. Making reading an active, observable process can be very beneficial to struggling readers. A good reader interacts with the text in order to develop an understanding of the information before them. Some good reader strategies are predicting, connecting, inferring, summarizing, analyzing and critiquing. There are many resources and activities educators and instructors of reading can use to help with reading strategies in specific content areas and disciplines. Some examples are graphic organizers, talking to the text, anticipation guides, double entry journals, interactive reading and note taking guides, chunking, and summarizing.^{[citation needed]}

The use of effective comprehension strategies is highly important when learning to improve reading comprehension. These strategies provide specific instructions for developing and retaining comprehension skills across all ages.^[36] Applying methods to attain an overt phonemic awareness with intermittent practice has been found to improve reading in early ages, specifically those affected by mental disabilities.

Comprehension strategies[edit]

Research studies on reading and comprehension have shown that highly proficient, effective readers utilize a number of different strategies to comprehend various types of texts, strategies that can also be used by less proficient readers in order to improve their comprehension.

1. Making Inferences: In everyday terms we refer to this as «reading between the lines». It involves connecting various parts of texts that are not directly linked in order to form a sensible conclusion. A form of assumption, the reader speculates what connections lie within the texts. They also make predictions about what might occur next.
2. Planning and Monitoring: This strategy centers around the reader’s mental awareness and their ability to control their comprehension by way of awareness. By previewing text (via outlines, table of contents, etc.) one can establish a goal for reading: «what do I need to get out of this»? Readers use context clues and other evaluation strategies to clarify texts and ideas, and thus monitoring their level of understanding.
3. Asking Questions: To solidify one’s understanding of passages of texts readers inquire and develop their own opinion of the author’s writing, character motivations, relationships, etc. This strategy involves allowing oneself to be completely objective in order to find various meanings within the text.
4. Self-Monitoring: Asking oneself questions about reading strategies, whether they are getting confused or having trouble paying attention. ^[8]
5. Determining Importance: Pinpointing the important ideas and messages within the text. Readers are taught to identify direct and indirect ideas and to summarize the relevance of each.
6. Visualizing: With this sensory-driven strategy readers form mental and visual images of the contents of text. Being able to connect visually allows for a better understanding with the text through emotional responses.
7. Synthesizing: This method involves marrying multiple ideas from various texts in order to draw conclusions and make comparisons across different texts; with the reader’s goal being to understand how they all fit together.
8. Making Connections: A cognitive approach also referred to as «reading beyond the lines», which involves (A) finding a personal connection to reading, such as personal experience, previously read texts, etc. to help establish a deeper understanding of the context of the text, or (B) thinking about implications that have no immediate connection with the theme of the text.^[37][8]

Assessment[edit]

There are informal and formal assessments to monitor an individual’s comprehension ability and use of comprehension strategies.^[38] Informal assessments are generally through observation and the use of tools, like story boards, word sorts, and interactive writing. Many teachers use Formative assessments to determine if a student has mastered content of the lesson. Formative assessments can be verbal as in a Think-Pair-Share or Partner Share. Formative Assessments can also be Ticket out the door or digital summarizers. Formal assessments are district or state assessments that evaluates all students on important skills and concepts. Summative assessments are typically assessments given at the end of a unit to measure a student’s learning.

Running records[edit]

A popular assessment undertaken in numerous primary schools around the world are running records. Running records are a helpful tool in regard to reading comprehension.^[40] The tool assists teachers in analyzing specific patterns in student behaviors and planning appropriate instruction. By conducting running records teachers are given an overview of students reading abilities and learning over a period of time.

In order for teachers to conduct a running record properly, they must sit beside a student and make sure that the environment is as relaxed as possible so the student does not feel pressured or intimidated. It is best if the running record assessment is conducted during reading, so there are not distractions. Another alternative is asking an education assistant to conduct the running record for you in a separate room whilst you teach/supervise the class. Quietly observe the students reading and record during this time. There is a specific code for recording which most teachers understand. Once the student has finished reading ask them to retell the story as best they can. After the completion of this, ask them comprehensive questions listed to test them on their understanding of the book. At the end of the assessment add up their running record score and file the assessment sheet away. After the completion of the running record assessment, plan strategies that will improve the students’ ability to read and understand the text.

Overview of the steps taken when conducting a Running Record assessment:^[41]

1. Select the text
2. Introduce the text
3. Take a running record
4. Ask for retelling of the story
5. Ask comprehensive questions
6. Check fluency
7. Analyze the record
8. Plan strategies to improve students reading/understanding ability
9. File results away

Difficult or complex content[edit]

Reading difficult texts[edit]

Some texts, like in philosophy, literature or scientific research, may appear more difficult to read because of the prior knowledge they assume, the tradition from which they come, or the tone, such as criticizing or parodying.^{[citation needed]} Philosopher Jacques Derrida, explained his opinion about complicated text: «In order to unfold what is implicit in so many discourses, one would have each time to make a pedagogical outlay that is just not reasonable to expect from every book. Here the responsibility has to be shared out, mediated; the reading has to do its work and the work has to make its reader.»^[42] Other philosophers, however, believe that if you have something to say, you should be able to make the message readable to a wide audience.^[43]

Hyperlinks[edit]

Embedded hyperlinks in documents or Internet pages have been found to make different demands on the reader than traditional text. Authors, such as Nicholas Carr, and psychologists, such as Maryanne Wolf, contend that the internet may have a negative impact on attention and reading comprehension.^[44] Some studies report increased demands of reading hyperlinked text in terms of cognitive load, or the amount of information actively maintained in one’s mind (also see working memory).^[45] One study showed that going from about 5 hyperlinks per page to about 11 per page reduced college students’ understanding (assessed by multiple choice tests) of articles about alternative energy.^[46] This can be attributed to the decision-making process (deciding whether to click on it) required by each hyperlink,^[45] which may reduce comprehension of surrounding text.

On the other hand, other studies have shown that if a short summary of the link’s content is provided when the mouse pointer hovers over it, then comprehension of the text is improved.^[47] «Navigation hints» about which links are most relevant improved comprehension.^[48] Finally, the background knowledge of the reader can partially determine the effect hyperlinks have on comprehension. In a study of reading comprehension with subjects who were familiar or unfamiliar with art history, texts which were hyperlinked to one another hierarchically were easier for novices to understand than texts which were hyperlinked semantically. In contrast, those already familiar with the topic understood the content equally well with both types of organization.^[45]

In interpreting these results, it may be useful to note that the studies mentioned were all performed in closed content environments, not on the internet. That is, the texts used only linked to a predetermined set of other texts which was offline. Furthermore, the participants were explicitly instructed to read on a certain topic in a limited amount of time. Reading text on the internet may not have these constraints.^{[citation needed]}

Professional development[edit]

The National Reading Panel noted that comprehension strategy instruction is difficult for many teachers as well as for students, particularly because they were not taught this way and because it is a demanding task. They suggested that professional development can increase teachers/students willingness to use reading strategies but admitted that much remains to be done in this area.^{[citation needed]} The directed listening and thinking activity is a technique available to teachers to aid students in learning how to un-read and reading comprehension. It is also difficult for students that are new. There is often some debate when considering the relationship between reading fluency and reading comprehension. There is evidence of a direct correlation that fluency and comprehension lead to better understanding of the written material, across all ages.^{[citation needed]} The National Assessment of Educational Progress assessed U.S. student performance in reading at grade 12 from both public and private school population and found that only 37 percent of students had proficient skills. The majority, 72 percent of the students, were only at or above basic skills, and 28 percent of the students were below basic level.^[49]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Sources[edit]

• Tompkins, Gail E. (2011). Literacy in the Early Grades: A Successful Start for Prek-4 Readers and Writers. Allyn and Bacon. ISBN 978-0-13-702787-3.

Further reading[edit]

• Heim S, Friederici AD (November 2003). «Phonological processing in language production: time course of brain activity». NeuroReport. 14 (16): 2031–3. doi:10.1097/00001756-200311140-00005. hdl:11858/00-001M-0000-0010-D0B5-7. PMID 14600492.
• Vigneau M, Beaucousin V, Hervé PY, et al. (May 2006). «Meta-analyzing left hemisphere language areas: phonology, semantics, and sentence processing». NeuroImage. 30 (4): 1414–32. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.11.002. PMID 16413796. S2CID 8870165.

External links[edit]

• Info, Tips, and Strategies for PTE Read Aloud, Express English Language Training Center
• English Reading Comprehension Skills, Andrews University
• SQ3R Reading Strategy And How to Apply It, ProductiveFish
• Vocabulary Instruction and Reading comprehension – From the ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading English and Communication.
• ReadWorks.org | The Solution to Reading Comprehension

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PRONUNCIATION OF READING COMPREHENSION

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Reading comprehension is a noun.

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Definition of reading comprehension in the English dictionary

The definition of reading comprehension in the dictionary is a text that students use to help them improve their reading skills, by reading it and answering questions relating to the text. Sometimes used as a test or examination of reading skills. A reading comprehension can be in the student’s own or another language.

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WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Reading comprehension

   Reading comprehension is the ability to process text, understand its meaning, and to integrate with what the reader already knows. Fundamental skills required in efficient reading comprehension are knowing meaning of words, ability to understand meaning of a word from discourse context, ability to follow organization of passage and to identify antecedents and references in it, ability to draw inferences from a passage about its contents, ability to identify the main thought of a passage, ability to answer questions answered in a passage, ability to recognize the literary devices or propositional structures used in a passage and determine its tone, to understand the situational mood (agents, objects, temporal and spatial reference points, casual and intentional inflections, etc.) conveyed for assertions, questioning, commanding, refraining etc. and finally ability to determine writer’s purpose, intent and point of view, and draw inferences about the writer (discourse-semantics).Ability to comprehend text is influenced by readers’ skills and their ability to process information. If word recognition is difficult, students use too much of their processing capacity to read individual words, which interferes with their ability to comprehend what is read. There are many reading strategies to improve reading comprehension and inferences, including improving one’s vocabulary, critical text analysis (intertextuality, actual events vs. narration of events, etc.) and practicing deep reading.

FreebaseRate this definition:3.8 / 18 votes

1. Reading comprehension

   Reading comprehension is defined as the level of understanding of a text/message. This understanding comes from the interaction between the words that are written and how they trigger knowledge outside the text/message.
   Proficient reading depends on the ability to recognize words quickly and effortlessly. If word recognition is difficult, students use too much of their processing capacity to read individual words, which interferes with their ability to comprehend what is read.
   Many educators in the USA believe that students need to learn to analyze text even before they can read it on their own, and comprehension instruction generally begins in pre-Kindergarten or Kindergarten. But other US educators consider this reading approach to be completely backward for very young children, arguing that the children must learn how to decode the words in a story through phonics before they can analyze the story itself.
   During the last century comprehension lessons usually consisted of students answering teachers’ questions, writing responses to questions on their own, or both. The whole group version of this practice also often included «Round-robin reading», wherein teachers called on individual students to read a portion of the text. In the last quarter of the 20th century, evidence accumulated that the read-test methods assessed comprehension more than they taught it. The associated practice of «round robin» reading has also been questioned and eliminated by many educators.

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1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of reading comprehension in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

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   The numerical value of reading comprehension in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

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1
reading comprehension test

Универсальный англо-русский словарь > reading comprehension test

2
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3
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Англо-русский синонимический словарь > reading

4
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Англо-русский синонимический словарь > Reading

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Универсальный англо-русский словарь > for reading with comprehension

6
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42) SAP.тех. значение возврата

Универсальный англо-русский словарь > RC

7
Rc

5) Военный термин: Raiding Cavalry, Raw Command, Reaction Center, Read And Cover, Reduced Configuration, Relative Coordinates, Remote Controlled, Required Capability, Requirements Contract, Research Command, Reserve Corps, Revenue Cutter, Riverine Craft, radar camouflage, radar control, radar coverage, radio code, radio control, radio-controlled, range command, range contractor, range control, range correction, reaction control, readiness count, reception center, reconnaissance car, record change, records check, recoverability code, recovery controller, recruiting center, reduced charge, regional center, regional commandant, rehabilitation center, rehabilitation counselor, reserve component, responsibility center, rifle caliber, road reconnaissance

6) Техника: Sigs Royal Canadian Signals, radio command, radio components, rate count, ray-control electrode, reaction coupling, reaction-coupled, reactor cavity, reactor coolant, read code, received common, recording controller, relay center, remote concentrator, request for check, resistance to current, resistance-coupled, resistive-capacitive, return on carry, rigid confinement, обозначение всенаправленных радиомаяков, оператор привода истребителей-перехватчиков на аэродром

19) Сокращение: Red Cross, Regional Command , Regional Commissioner, Regional Conflict, Required Capabilities, Roman Catholic, Rounds Counter, reactor compartment, rear connection, rear-connected, reconnaissance, Resistor-Capacitor circuit , Reception Centre

42) SAP.тех. значение возврата

Универсальный англо-русский словарь > Rc

8
rc

5) Военный термин: Raiding Cavalry, Raw Command, Reaction Center, Read And Cover, Reduced Configuration, Relative Coordinates, Remote Controlled, Required Capability, Requirements Contract, Research Command, Reserve Corps, Revenue Cutter, Riverine Craft, radar camouflage, radar control, radar coverage, radio code, radio control, radio-controlled, range command, range contractor, range control, range correction, reaction control, readiness count, reception center, reconnaissance car, record change, records check, recoverability code, recovery controller, recruiting center, reduced charge, regional center, regional commandant, rehabilitation center, rehabilitation counselor, reserve component, responsibility center, rifle caliber, road reconnaissance

6) Техника: Sigs Royal Canadian Signals, radio command, radio components, rate count, ray-control electrode, reaction coupling, reaction-coupled, reactor cavity, reactor coolant, read code, received common, recording controller, relay center, remote concentrator, request for check, resistance to current, resistance-coupled, resistive-capacitive, return on carry, rigid confinement, обозначение всенаправленных радиомаяков, оператор привода истребителей-перехватчиков на аэродром

19) Сокращение: Red Cross, Regional Command , Regional Commissioner, Regional Conflict, Required Capabilities, Roman Catholic, Rounds Counter, reactor compartment, rear connection, rear-connected, reconnaissance, Resistor-Capacitor circuit , Reception Centre

42) SAP.тех. значение возврата

Универсальный англо-русский словарь > rc

9
WRCT

Универсальный англо-русский словарь > WRCT

10
understanding

1. n объяснение, интерпретация; суждение

2. n понимание; сочувствие; чуткость, отзывчивость

3. n разум, рассудок, интеллект

4. n согласие, взаимопонимание

5. n договорённость, соглашение

6. n условие

7. n филос. рассудочное познание

8. a понимающий, разумный

9. a отзывчивый, чуткий

Синонимический ряд:

1. sympathetic (adj.) accepting; considerate; generous; kind; kindly; patient; sympathetic; thoughtful; tolerant

2. agreement (noun) accord; agreement; arrangement; bargain; deal; pact

3. comprehension (noun) apprehension; awareness; cognition; comprehension; discernment; grasp; grip; handle; mastery; sharpness

4. meaning (noun) acceptation; import; intendment; intent; meaning; message; purport; significance; significancy; signification; sum and substance

5. mind (noun) intellect; intelligence; mentality; mind; reason; sense; wit

6. apprehending (verb) accepting; appreciating; apprehending; catching; compassing; comprehending; fathoming; following; grasping; having; knowing; make out; making out; reading; seeing; take in; taking in; tumbling to; twigging; understanding

7. assuming (verb) assuming; believing; conceiving; expecting; gathering; imagining; supposing; suspecting; taking; thinking

English-Russian base dictionary > understanding

11
realization

1. n осуществление, выполнение, реализация; претворение в жизнь

2. n осознание, понимание

3. n ком. реализация, превращение в деньги, продажа

4. n ком. получение, достижение

5. n ком. кино постановка, съёмка, производство

Синонимический ряд:

1. accomplishment (noun) accomplishment; achievement; actualization; attainment; consummation; culmination; fruition; fulfillment; fulfilment; getting there; reaching the goal; realisation

3. cognizance (noun) awareness; cognisance; cognition; cognizance; comprehension; consciousness; perception; recognition; sudden insight; understanding

4. reading (noun) execution; interpretation; performance; reading; rendition

English-Russian base dictionary > realization

12
pass

1. I

1) see people pass видеть, как проходят люди и т.д.; the road is too narrow for two cars to pass дорога слишком узка, и две машины по ней не разъедутся; let me pass пропустите меня; will you kindly allow me to pass разрешите /дайте/ мне, пожалуйста, пройти; I heard someone passing я слышал, как кто-то прошел мимо

2) let the remark pass не придавать значения замечанию и т.д., пропускать замечание мимо ушей; I don’t like it, but I’ll let it pass мне это не нравится, но я не стану обращать внимания /буду смотреть [на это] сквозь пальцы/; he should not have said it, but let it pass ему бы не следовало этого говорить, но бог с ним; we can’t let that pass мы не можем этого допустить

3) time passed время и т.д. прошло; а week passed миновала неделя; in the garden I don’t notice time passing работая в саду, я не замечаю, как идет время

4) all things pass нет ничего вечного; kingdoms and nations pass королевства и народы становятся историей; customs pass обычаи уходят в прошлое; the pain has passed боль и т.д. прошла /утихла/; the crisis has passed кризис миновал

6) it is not very good, but it will pass это не очень хорошо [сделано], но сойдет

strange things came to pass произошли /случились/ странные вещи; did you see what was passing? вы видели, что происходило /делалось/?

2. II

1) pass in some manner pass quickly быстро и т.д. проходить или проезжать мимо; pass first проходить первым ; pass somewhere pass to and fro двигаться /ходить/ взад и вперед; pass in and out входить и выходить; pass ahead проходить /двигаться/ вперед; pass on продвигаться дальше /вперед/, не останавливаясь

3) pass in some time the pain will soon pass боль и т.д. скоро и т.д. пройдет /исчезнет/

3. III

1) pass smth. pass the post office проходить или проезжать мимо почты и т.д.; pass an ocean пересекать океан и т.д.; pass a river переправляться через реку; pass a bridge переходить или переезжать мост; pass the mountains перевалить через горы и т.д.; the ship passed the channel пароход миновал канал; we passed our turning мы проехали наш поворот; we passed their car мы обогнали их машину

2) pass smth. not a word passed her lips она не проронила ни слова и т.д.; no food has passed her lips у нее и крошки во рту не было

3) pass smb. pass the visitors пропускать посетителей и т.д.

4) pass smth. pass these pages пропускать /опускать/ эти страницы и т.д.

5) pass smth. pass the salt передавать соль и т.д.; pass bad money распространять фальшивые деньги и т.д.; pass a forged note всучить фальшивый /поддельный/ вексель и т.д.; pass the ball передавать /пасовать/ или отбивать мяч || pass the chair сложить с себя обязанности председателя; pass the word передавать приказание

6) pass smth. pass a quiet night провести спокойную ночь и т.д.; pass the time проводить время

7) pass smth. pass a bill принять законопроект и т.д.; the new law passed the city council новый закон утвержден /принят/ городским советом

pass smth. pass a test выдерживать [проверочные] испытания и т.д.

9) pass smb. pass a student пропустить студента ; поставить зачет студенту; принять экзамен у студента; pass a group of applicants признать группу претендентов годной; pass a candidate утвердить кандидатуру; I am passing the whole class я ставлю зачет всему классу; the board of censors passed the play цензура пропустила эту пьесу и т.д.; pass the censor проходить цензуру и т.д.; he passed his medical coll. он прошел медицинский осмотр

10) pass smth. pass smb.’s understanding /smb.’s comprehension/ быть выше чьего-л. понимания; pass all bounds переходить все границы, не знать меры /границ/; his strange story passed belief в странную историю, рассказанную им, невозможно было поверить; the splendour of the palace passed anything before or since великолепие дворца затмило все виденное и дотоле и потом

4. IV

1) pass smth., smb. at some time pass the bank every day ежедневно проходить мимо банка и т.д.; have we passed the station yet? мы уже проехали станцию?; pass smb. just now только что встретить или пройти мимо кого-л.; pass smth. in some manner pass the dangerous section of the road successfully благополучно миновать опасный участок дороги

2) pass smb. somewhere pass smb. in впускать кого-л.; pass smb. out выпускать кого-л.

3) pass smth. somewhere pass a year abroad провести год за границей и т.д.; pass smth. in some manner pass a few hours profitably с пользой провести несколько часик; how shall we pass the time ? как нам провести /скоротать/ время и т.д.?

4) pass smth. in some manner pass a resolution unanimously единогласно принять резолюцию; pass a bill on the second vote принять закон и т.д. при повторном голосовании

5. V

pass smb. smth. pass him the salt передайте ему соль и т.д.

6. VIII

pass smth. doing smth. pass most of his time fishing проводить большую часть времени и т.д. за рыбной ловлей и т.д.

7. X

pass in some state usually in the negative his remark passed unnoticed /unobserved/ его замечание и т.д. осталось незамеченным и т.д.

8. XI

1) be passed somewhere all the people were passed over the river всех [людей] переправили через реку; the old coin was passed around the room for everyone to see старинная монета обошла всех в комнате, и все могли ее рассмотреть

9. XVI

1) pass by smth., smb. pass by the door проходить мимо двери и т.д.; pass between smb., smth. проходить между кем-л., чем-л.; the road passes near the lake дорога проходит недалеко от озера; he passed into the room он прошел в комнату; the poison has passed into his system яд проник в [его] организм; pass across the street переходить /пересекать/ улицу и т.д.; pass along the street идти /проходить/ по улице и т.д.; the current is passing along the wire ток проходит /идет/ по проводам; pass over an obstacle /over a hurdle/ брать препятствие; the cloud passed over the river туча прошла над рекой; pass under the arch of a bridge проходить под сводом моста и т.д.; pass through all Europe проходить через всю Европу и т.д.; а line passes through a given point линия проходит через данную точку; we were passing through the forest мы проезжали через лес, мы ехали лесом; pass out of /beyond, from/ smth. pass out of sight /from smb.’s view/ скрыться из виду, оказаться вне пределов /за пределами/ видимости; pass out of hearing выйти за пределы /оказаться за пределами/ слышимости; pass beyond the bounds of gravity выйти за пределы /оказаться вне пределов/ земного притяжения, преодолеть земное притяжение; he passed beyond the bounds of law закон на него более не распространялся; pass from smb. to smb. pass from person to person переходить от человека к человеку и т.д.; the letter passed from one to another until everyone had read it письмо переходило из рук в руки, пока все не прочли его; pass from smth. to smth. pass from one place to another переходить с места на место и т.д.; pass from house to house переходить из дома в дом и т.д.; pass from mouth to mouth переходить из уст в уста; pass between smb. many letters passed between them они написали друг другу множество писем, они обменялись многочисленными посланиями

2) pass across smth. a blush passed across her face у нее вспыхнуло лицо; а change passed over his face у него изменилось выражение лица; а smile passed over her lips на ее лице промелькнула улыбка; an idea /а thought/ passed through my mind у меня в голове промелькнула мысль

3) pass over smth. pass over smb.’s rudeness спускать кому-л. грубость и т.д.; pass over smb.’s faults закрывать глаза на чьи-л. недостатки; my advice passed entirely over his head он пропустил мимо ушей мой совет, не обратил никакого внимания на мой совет; he passed over the details он опустил подробности, он пренебрег подробностями; just pass over the first part of his letter опустите /пропустите, не читайте/ начало его письма

4) pass to smb., smth. pass to his heir переходить [во владение] к его наследнику и т.д.; pass from smb. to smb. the title to the house passed from father to son право на владение домом /на дом/ перешло от отца к сыну; pass to smth. pass ing to the next point /item/ переходя к следующему вопросу; pass into smth. pass into smb.’s hands переходить в чьи-л. руки и т.д.; he didn’t want the estate to pass out of his hands он не хотел, чтобы имение перешло в другие руки

5) pass into smth. pass into steam переходить /превращаться/ в пар и т.д.; pass into law становиться законом и т.д.; pass into history становиться достоянием истории; pass into a proverb становиться поговоркой, превращаться в поговорку; days passed into weeks дни складывались в недели; pass into nothingness превращаться в ничто, исчезать; pass into general use переходить в общее пользование и т.д.; pass into disuse выйти из употребления; pass into silence замолчать, смолкнуть; pass into oblivion быть преданным забвению, кануть в вечность; pass out of fashion /out of style/ выйти из моды и т.д.; pass out of existence прекратить существование; the book passed out of print весь тираж книги распродан /разошелся/; pass from /out of/ memory /from smb.’s mind/ pass from one state to another переходить из одного состояния в другое; pass from smth., to smth. pass from words to blows переходить от брани к драке и т.д.; pass from triumph to triumph идти от триумфа и триумфу: the weather passed suddenly from cold to hot холод неожиданно сменился жарой

6) pass through smth. pass through many trials пережить много испытаний и т.д., пройти через многочисленные испытания и т.д., we have passed through Ibis crisis мы пережили этот кризис; this book has passed through many editions эта книга выдержала много изданий

7) pass in smth. pass in an examination выдержать /сдать/ экзамен; he didn’t pass in geography он не сдал географию; pass without smth. he passed without a hitch он прошел гладко /без сучка без задоринки/

pass between smb. nothing passed between them между ними ничего не произошло; sharp words passed between them между ними произошла ссора, они поссорились /поругались/

9) pass for smb., smth. pass for a great scholar считаться /слыть/ большим ученым и т.д.; they could have passed for sisters их можно было принять за сестер; it might pass for silk это может сойти за шелк; it passes for slang это считается жаргоном; pass under the пате of… pass under the name of Black быть известным под фамилией Блэк

10) pass on smb., smth. pass on each contestant оценить каждого участника состязания, дать оценку каждому участнику состязания; pass on the authenticity of the drawing вынести суждение /высказать мнение/ по поводу того, является ли рисунок подлинником; the court dismissed the case without passing upon it суд отклонил иск без разбирательства дела

10. XX1

pass as smth. pass as an ancient relic сойти за древнюю реликвию и т.д.

11. XXI1

1) pass smb., smth. in smth. pass the man in the street пройти мимо этого человека на улице и т.д.

2) pass smth. across smth. pass one’s hand across one’s forehead провести рукой по лбу и т.д., pass a sponge over the blackboard провести губкой по доске и т.д., стереть губкой с доски и т.д.; pass a rope around /about/ the waist for support обвязаться веревкой для страховки; pass a rope round the barrel обвязать бочку и т.д. веревкой; pass a rope round smb.’s neck накинуть петлю на чью-л. шею || pass one’s eye over smth. взглянуть на что-л.; will you, please, pass your eye over this note? взгляните, пожалуйста, на эту записку; pass smth. through smth. pass a rope through a hole пропустить /протянуть/ канат через отверстие и т.д.; pass a thread through a needle вдеть нитку в иголку; pass smth. through a fine sieve просеять что-л. через тонкое сито; pass smth. between smth. pass one’s hand between the bars просунуть руку через решетку

3) pass smb. through smth. we’ll pass them through this gate мы их пропустим в эти ворота; they passed me through the customs меня подвергли таможенному досмотру

4) pass smth. to smb. pass a glass to your neighbour передавать стакан и т.д. соседу и т.д.; pass smth. round smth. pass the pie round the table обносить всех сидящих за столом пирогом и т.д.; he passed her letter over my head он передал ее письмо у меня над головой; pass smth. from smth. pass a book from the shelf подать книгу с полки; pass a ring from hand to hand передавать кольцо из рук в руки; pass with. out of smth. pass a suitcase out of a window передать чемодан через окне; pass smth. over smth. pass rumours all over the village распространять /разносить/слухи и т.д. по всей деревне

5) pass time in some place pass the winter in the south проводить зиму на Юге; pass time in smth. pass one’s time in idleness жить в безделье /в праздности/; pass time with smb. pass a week with the children провести неделю и т.д. с детьми и т.д.

6) pass smth. through smth. pass a resolution through a committee провести резолюцию и т.д. через комитет и т.д.

7) pass smth. on smb. pass sentence /judgement/ on a criminal выносить приговор преступнику и т.д.; pass smth. on smth. pass criticism /remarks/ on smb.’s paper делать критические замечания по чьей-л. работе; I can’t pass an opinion on your work without seeing it я не видел вашей работы и не могу высказать мнения о ней

12. XXII

1) pass smth., smb. without doing smth. pass the town without stopping проехать через город и не остановиться /не задержаться/ [в нем]; pass her without noticing пройти мимо нее, не обратив [на нее] внимания и т.д.; pass him without smiling пройти мимо него без улыбки; pass them without saying «hello» пройти мимо них, не поздоровавшись

2) pass smth. in doing smth. pass one’s time in reading проводить время за чтением и т.д.

13. XXIV2

14. XXIV3

English-Russian dictionary of verb phrases > pass

13
test

1. n испытание; проба, проверка; опробование

field test — полевое испытание; испытание в эксплуатационных условиях

bench test — заводские испытания, испытания в заводских условиях

test data — данные испытаний, эмпирические данные

2. n мерило, пробный камень; серьёзное испытание; критерий

trade test — профессиональные испытания, проверка мастерства

test dose — тест-доза, пробная, контрольная или опытная доза

3. n проверочная или контрольная работа; экзамен

4. n психол. тест

5. n хим. исследование; анализ; опыт, проба, реакция

blood test — анализ крови, исследование крови

6. n хим. пробирная чашка

7. n хим. хим. реактив

8. n хим. рел. отречение от признания папской власти и догмата пресуществления

9. v подвергать испытанию; испытывать, проверять; опробовать

sampling test — выборочный контроль; периодические испытания

proof test — испытание; приёмочное или проверочное испытание

10. v быть мерилом

11. v проверять, убеждаться

he wanted to test whether a small group of specialists could show greater productivity — он хотел проверить, сможет ли небольшая группа специалистов поднять производительность труда

12. v пробоваться

13. v обнаруживать определённые свойства в результате испытаний

14. v тестировать, проверять с помощью тестов

test program — тест; тестовая программа; программа испытаний

15. v экзаменовать; давать контрольную работу

16. v хим. подвергать действию реактива

17. v хим. производить опыты

18. v хим. брать пробу

19. n зоол. панцирь; щит; скорлупа

20. v юр. официально подтверждать

Синонимический ряд:

1. experimental (adj.) experimental; experimentative; trial

2. comprehensive (noun) catechisation; catechism; comprehensive; exam; examination; final; questionnaire; quiz; review

4. standard (noun) benchmark; criterion; gauge; mark; measure; standard; touchstone; yardstick

5. trial (noun) analysis; assay; check; essay; experiment; experimentation; inquest; inquiry; inspection; investigation; probation; proof; trial; trial and error; trial run

8. try (verb) analyse; assay; check; demonstrate; essay; experiment; inquire; prove; try; try out; verify

English-Russian base dictionary > test

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction

2. Comprehension Passages

2.1 Why are reading comprehension skills important?

3. Levels of Comprehension

3.1 Literal Level

3.2 Inferential Level

3.3 Evaluative Level

3.4 Applied/Appreciative Level

4. Let’s Summarize Four Levels of Comprehension

5. Reading Comprehension Passage Types (Based on Text Writing Style)

5.1 Factual/Expository/Informative Style

5.2 Literary Style

5.3 Narrative Style

5.4 Descriptive Style

5.5 Argumentative/Persuasive Style

5.6 Analytical Style

5.7 Abstract Style

6. Reading Comprehension Question Types

6.1 Big Picture Questions

6.2 Specific Purpose Questions

Check out Tan Print's English for NTA CUET (UG) 2022 which intends to cater to the principal needs of all the students preparing for the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) at the Undergraduate Level in the English Language. This book contains the practice material in a highly student-friendly and thorough manner.

1. Introduction

Meaning : According to Oxford Dictionary of English

Comprehension : is a noun which means

1. 1. Formal – the ability to understand
   2. an exercise that tests how well you understand spoken or written language.

2. Comprehension Passages

The Reading Comprehension passages have academic content and style and include topics from a variety of fields including arts, sciences, social sciences, etc. It is the art of reading, understanding, and remembering what you read in any given piece of writing.

According to Wren and Martin, “a comprehension exercise can be defined as a passage upon which questions are set to test the students’ ability to understand the content of the given text and to infer information and meanings from it”. To put it in simple terms, reading comprehension is the act of understanding what you are reading.

As a part of reading comprehension passages, you need to very carefully go through a given passage, understand its meaning, notice the meaning of various contexts in which the sentences appear. You will then have to answer different questions that are based on the passage you read. If you are wondering how to understand comprehension passages, then here are some points.

• • Comprehension tests your vocabulary, so building a good vocabulary is important to understand passages.
  • You also need to have a good sense of the language in which the comprehension is written.
  • You need to develop the ability to identify meanings of phrases or words by reading the passage multiple times.

Reading comprehension passages assesses your intelligence in grasping the gist of the written text and infer your conclusions based on the context. Most of the questions in comprehension are directly related to the passage. A few of them will need you to find the contextual meaning of different words, and some of them will test your ability to find suitable vocabulary around them like antonyms, synonyms etc. of given words.

The main object of reading comprehension is to test one’s ability to grasp the meaning of a given passage properly and also one’s ability to answer a variety of questions like Multiple choice questions, short answer type questions, completion of incomplete sentences, filling the blanks with appropriate words and exercises based on vocabulary can also be set forth for the purpose.

In NTA CUET Reading Comprehension includes a passage followed by a set of 5-6 Multiple choice questions (MCQ’s) are asked based on written Text. Candidates have to answer questions on the basis of information given in the passage and not on the basis of their prior knowledge.

2.1 Why are reading comprehension skills important?

Reading comprehension is important for several reasons and can provide many benefits. Being able to effectively read can improve both your personal and professional life and can increase your overall enjoyment of reading. Knowing how to understand a text can help boost your knowledge in certain areas and help you learn new skills and information faster.

Additional benefits of good reading comprehension skills include:

• • Being able to understand, analyse and respond to documents and written communication in the workplace.
  • Improved your ability to write clearly and effectively.
  • The ability to comprehend and engage in current events that are in written form such as newspapers.
  • Increased ability to focus on reading for an extended period.
  • Better enjoyment of and motivation to read.

3. Levels of Comprehension

There are four different Levels of Comprehension you may experience with learning.

3.1 Literal Level

When you comprehend at this level you can recall/repeat what the text says: the things that are actually stated in the text. Readers can identify and/or recall relevant information explicitly stated in the reading selection by:

• • identifying a statement or sentence that best indicates the main idea of the selection
  • identifying directly-stated facts (e.g., important research data)
  • identifying details such as key words, phrases or sentences that explicitly state important information
  • identifying directly-stated opinions

3.2 Inferential Level

At this level you can explain what the text means: the meaning is drawn from the literally stated ideas. If the text says that Ram got into his new sports car, we can infer that Ram likes to be sporty and has money to spend on a car.

Readers use information stated in the text as clues to determine what is not stated, but implied. Readers derive meaning by

• • identifying implicit relationships (relationships not directly stated) such as cause and effect, sequence-time relationships, comparisons, classifications and generalizations
  • predicting probable future outcomes or actions
  • inferring an author’s unstated meaning by drawing conclusions based on specific facts, events, images, patterns or symbols found in selected readings
  • inferring the main idea of a selection when it is not explicitly stated
  • identifying unstated reasons for actions or beliefs based on explicitly stated information (clues)

3.3 Evaluative Level

At this level you are understanding ideas and/or information well enough to analyze, judge and critique information and ideas. You are also able to explain and support your judgment clearly.

At this level, you are able to justify a stance. You can set standards, rate, test, select and choose, decide, weigh according to, and etc. You can also…

• • judge whether the information used by the author to support a conclusion is accurate and/or credible and explain why you believe this is so
  • evaluate between conclusions that are based on facts and those that are based on opinions and prove why you believe this is so
  • decide on a stance on issues and situations and argue/prove/justify why your stance is correct

Example of a question to lead you to evaluate: Who was to blame for Chota Chetan’s troubles? Why do you think so?

3.4 Applied/Appreciative Level

You are able to comprehend author’s point of view, purpose, tone, and etc. based on clues in the text. This could be applied to determine author’s purpose, message and etc. for whole text or parts of texts, like a statement, quotes, reasons, examples, scenarios author may have included.

At this level, readers are able to reach conclusions about:

• • the author’s motivation or purpose for writing a passage based on evidence in the selection
  • the author’s hidden values and assumptions based on evidence/clues in the text
  • why the author included certain statements, quotes, reasons based on evidence in the text (what the hidden message is behind these)
  • author’s tone based on evidence in the text

4. Let’s Summarize Four Levels of Comprehension

Using the reading strategies of inferring, re-reading and consulting a reference we will deepen our understanding of how to effectively comprehend texts.

Level 1 – Literal – Stated facts in the text: Data, specifics, dates, traits and settings

Level 2 – Inferential – Build on facts in the text: Predictions, sequence and settings

Level 3 – Evaluative – Judgment of text based on: Fact or opinion, validity, appropriateness, comparison, cause and effect

Level 4 – Appreciative or Applied– Response to a text based on: Author’s language, values, imagery, style and purpose

An example of the four levels of comprehension.

Tumbling Cities

Cities and towns are made up of buildings that are often closely packed together. There are few open spaces so when an earthquake happens, buildings will collapse onto each other. Any strong vibration through the ground will cause damage. In an earthquake zone, buildings need to be built so they can absorb a shock – so they can shake or move just a little on their foundations. If this is not the case, then the walls and roofs of buildings will quickly dislodge, crack and finally break up and fall. On May 12, 2008, an 8.0 magnitude earthquake hit the Eastern Sichuan province in China. The closest large city to the epicentre, 60km away was Dujiangyan. It suffered major damage. Thousands of its buildings collapsed, including schools and hospitals. Overall, nearly 70,000 lives were lost. Rescue efforts were hindered due to landslides caused by blocked roads. More damage was done by aftershocks, which continued for weeks after the earthquake.

5. Reading Comprehension Passage Types (Based on Text Writing Style)

As the name states, writing styles is the way a writer chooses to express himself/herself through a piece of writing. But what exactly would be a writing styles for Reading Comprehension (RC) passage? Well, RCs differ in the way they are written. And a passage is written according to its purpose, audience and context. But the question is why it is important to identify the writing style of a passage?

Well, the author intends to convey some ideas and opinions through his/her writing style. You will know the kind of questions to expect and how to answer them correctly with a specific approach to each passage written in a particular style. Knowing about different writing styles is critical to developing a better understanding of RC passages. But, how do you think the various writing styles differ from each other? It does depend on some factors like structure, choice of words, expression and complexity of language. Generally, RC passages present information in the following seven writing forms:

1. Factual/Expository/Informative
2. Literary
3. Narrative
4. Descriptive
5. Argumentative/Persuasive
6. Analytical
7. Abstract

Now, let’s see how can you identify each writing style and devise your RC strategy accordingly.

5.1 Factual/Expository/Informative Style

Purpose:

The purpose of factual style of writing is to impart information to the reader in a logical and objective manner along with some facts and figures. Probably, such passages won’t really interest you if you are not in the habit of reading newspapers. News stories, instruction manuals, research papers and reports present information in a factual form.

While reading factual Style passages:

• • Facts and figures may tend to confuse you, so focus on the main points and purpose of the passage. Here also, you are advised to glance through the questions before reading the passage. This way, you will be able to make mental notes of the crucial information needed to answer the questions.
  • Most of the questions asked are direct and require you to identify the key points.

5.2 Literary Style

Purpose:

A literary text is a piece of writing, such as a book or poem, that has the purpose of telling a story or entertaining, as in a fictional novel. Its primary function as a text is usually aesthetic, but it may also contain political messages or beliefs. literary texts contrast with informational texts that have the purpose of providing information rather than entertainment. All literary genres of writing, such as story, poetry, Drama, etc., can be written to serve a wide variety of purposes. For example, literary text can be written to entertain, to inform, to amuse, to share knowledge, pass on culture, to advance culture, etc. Literature comes in many forms and sometimes these forms come with their own specific purposes.

While reading literary Style passages:

• • A good idea for such passages is to go through the questions before reading the passage. This will save time and help you spot the required answers easily since most of the questions asked from these passages are direct.
  • Do not get distracted by figurative language used in the passage. Instead, try to stay focused on understanding the contextual meaning and answer the vocabulary-based questions accordingly.

5.3 Narrative Style

Purpose:

Narrative style of writing is one of the easiest to identify since these passages are written in form of a story. The author intends to narrate some events or personal experiences through such passages. Novels, anecdotes, autobiographies, histories, etc. are mostly written in a narrative style. Any narrative passage requires you to imagine the scenes and setting and understand the characters to connect with the plot.

While reading Narrative Style passages:

• • Try to identify the main ideas conveyed in the beginning, middle and the last.
  • While reading the passage, try to extract the underlying message that the author wants to convey through the story.
  • Also, the tone of the author will help you understand the emotions he/she is going through while narrating the story. Both direct and indirect questions may be asked from these passages.

5.4 Descriptive Style

Purpose:

Descriptive passages intend to describe a place, person, thing or event in a great detail. Such passages generally include a lot of adjectives, adverbs and metaphors so as to paint a picture of that particular thing in the reader’s mind. Suppose you visit a popular tourist place, how will you explain the beauty of it? Here, you would need to adopt a descriptive style. Most of the tourist guides, journals, magazines and poetry are written in a descriptive way.

While reading Descriptive Style passages:

• • A good idea for such passages is to go through the questions before reading the passage. This will save time and help you spot the required answers easily since most of the questions asked from these passages are direct.
  • Do not get distracted by figurative language used in the passage. Instead, try to stay focused on understanding the contextual meaning and answer the vocabulary based questions accordingly.

5.5 Argumentative/Persuasive Style

Purpose:

The author writes in an argumentative way so as to convince the reader of some particular beliefs and opinions regarding a subject. In other words, such passages cite instances, justifications and facts to support a stand taken on the given topic. You must have come across advertisements that tend to influence you to buy some products or services. Well, most of the advertisements, reviews and complaint letters are written in a persuasive form.

While reading argumentative/persuasive style passages:

• • Understand the author’s point of view regarding the subject being discussed. This way you will also be able to comprehend the implicit information and answer ‘the author agrees/disagrees’ questions well.
  • This style of writing often uses continuity words like ‘in the same way, likewise, additionally,’ These serve as an indicator of the examples used by author to justify his/her stand.
  • The tone and organization of the passage also helps to answer the indirect or inferential questions.

5.6 Analytical Style

Purpose:

Unlike the argumentative form, the analytical style of writing presents arguments and examples for examining the topic from all angles. The difference between the two is the way a group discussion varies from a debate. Suppose you are asked to tell the pros and cons of a particular product or decision, how do you present it? Here comes the role of analytical form of writing. You will be required to present justifications in favour of as well as against the subject. Even the movie reviews usually adopt an analytical style of writing. Some of the newspaper editorials, technical reports and magazine articles portray the given subject in an analytical way.

While reading analytical style passages:

• • Identify the central theme of the passage and the ideas build-up around it.
  • In these passages, you will frequently come across contrast words like however, nonetheless, despite, but. Such words are used to present arguments and counterarguments on the given topic.
  • Focus on the relevant points and do not focus too much on minor details. You are likely to be asked inferential questions from such passages. So, try to formulate your opinion while reading the passage.
  • A good idea to master such passages would be to read about latest happenings and discuss it among your friends so as to analyse from various aspects.

5.7 Abstract Style

Purpose:

The last kind of writing is called abstract style. As the name says, the abstract style of writing is adopted in passages which deal with abstract topics like that of philosophy. An interesting example of this would be the fantasy books that we all have loved in our childhood days. Such passages do not state all the information explicitly. Abstract style of writing generally encompasses non-material concepts that may be represented in a symbolic way.

While reading abstract style passages:

• • Look for the tone and structure of the passage to figure out the author’s message in the passage.
  • Such passages may appear complex and demand a second reading to understand their essence and meaning.

Reading Comprehension Passage Types (Based On Content)

Reading Comprehensions (RCs) can be classified into five categories according to the particular areas of study to which they belong. These different passage types and the right strategy for each of them have been discussed below:

1. Social Science Passages: These passages are from historical, geographical and political arenas. Mostly, these passages are enjoyable to read and are not too dense.

• • • A lot of inferential questions are asked from these passages to check your reading and comprehension abilities. Generally, the answer can be inferred by also reading the line before and after the one referred to.
    • Some of the questions are straightforward and you can spot the answers directly from the passage statements.
    • Get acquainted with these kinds of passages by reading editorials and articles from newspapers like The Hindu, magazines like Competition success Review (CSR), websites of environmental journals etc.

2. Business & Economics Passages: These are based on important economic theories and business events. You need to be aware of the basic language and concepts of business and economics.

• • • Questions posed from these passages will be easy to answer since they are not too indirect, but the passage may appear complicated to you if you are completely unaware of business/economics terminology.
    • Work on your business knowledge and economics vocabulary to enhance your understanding of these passages. You are not expected to be an expert in this field but be aware of the fundamentals.
    • Enhance your knowledge with the help of newspapers like The Economic times and magazines like Business today, Business world etc.

3. Science-based Passages: These passages deal with subjects that belong to sciences- biology, chemistry, medicine, technology and mathematics. These passages present a lot of facts, and may appear boring.

• • • Do not get confused by their technical jargon and focus on the main ideas being presented by the author of the passage.
    • Most of the time, questions asked from these types of passages are easy to understand and answer.
    • If you find such passages complex to follow, go through science-based columns of newspapers/websites of The Hindu, The Guardian, Washington Post and magazines like Discover, Safari, Scientific India etc. and international science journals.

4. Liberal Art Passages: These passages are related to philosophy, sociology and psychology. Generally, these passages are very dense and demand intense focus for comprehension.

• • • The questions based on these passages focus on the overall picture, and check your overall understanding of the ideas presented.
    • You need to identify the underlying idea to answer the questions correctly. The contextual meaning plays a vital role here.
    • Considering the abstract language of these passages, it is recommended that you read articles from websites of Indian journal of arts, international journal of liberal arts etc.

5. Latest Political & Current Events-based Passages: These passages are the easiest to understand.

• • • Though these passages appear simple yet they pose some tricky inferential questions. These passages can be accompanied by both direct/factual questions as well as indirect ones.
    • If you keep track of the current happenings of the world, you will be able to follow the author of the passage well.
    • While reading editorials of newspapers like The Hindu, understand the structure and the indirect conclusions of the passage. This will help you comprehend the RC passages in the exam easily and in a short time.

The passages may be from more than one area or may be given in combined form. Practice is the key to become a master in all types of passages. Read articles from varied topics and issues and practice different types of RCs regularly. Lastly, diverse reading will make you familiar with the above-mentioned types and also enhance your reading speed and comprehension abilities.

6. Reading Comprehension Question Types

Based on the comprehension questions from the past CUET (NTA) exam papers, we have identified by number of different question types. Generally, we can classify the different question types into two broad categories: big picture questions (based on the whole passage) and specific purpose questions (based on some specific element of the passage). These two categories along with their sub-categories are discussed as follows:

6.1 Big Picture Questions

These questions refer to the broad overview of the passage and check your overall understanding of the passage. These are mostly asked in the following forms:

6.1.1 Main Idea Question

This relates to the central idea/theme of the passage. E.g.

• • Which of the following most accurately states the main idea of the passage?
  • Which of the following best states the central idea of the passage?
  • The gist of the passage is:
  • Which of the following is the principal topic of the passage?
  • Summarize the passage in one line.

6.1.2 Primary Purpose Question (or Subject of the passage Question)

This refers to the most important and emphasised point of the passage. E.g.

• • The primary purpose of this passage is to:
  • The primary focus of this passage is on which of the following?
  • The main concern of the passage is to:
  • In the passage, the author is primarily interested in:
  • The passage is chiefly concerned with:

This question type can also be asked for a specific paragraph (e.g. The primary purpose of paragraph 3 is) instead of the whole passage.

6.1.3 Title Question

By title, we mean the heading that would be most suitable for the passage. The title should be built around the central idea of the passage. E.g.

• • The most apt title for the passage is:
  • Select the most suitable title for the passage from the following:

6.1.4 Structure & Organization Questions (Logical structure Questions)

Structure/Organization is the pattern that the author follows to convey his notions about the given subject. E.g.

• • Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?
  • The structure of the passage can be outlined as:

The questions may also refer to a particular paragraph of the passage:

• • Which of the following best describes the organization of the first paragraph of the passage?
  • One function of the third paragraph is to:

6.1.5 Questions based on author’s tone

To better understand a passage, a reader should identify the author’s attitude, or tone. Evaluating tone gives readers a better understanding of the author’s argument and purpose for writing.

The author’s tone is closely associated with the writer’s purpose. The writer will use a certain voice to convey the main idea and purpose of a passage. That voice often reveals the author’s attitude toward the subject.

Eg. Compare the passages below:

Passage (i)

The treadmill began to whirl, and I gripped its handlebars as the belt started moving me backwards. All I could do now was run — or begrudgingly barrel forward — toward an outdated screen that showed me the terrain I was supposed to be running on. It was made of red squares stacked up, one on top of another: the higher stacks were supposed to be steep hills, and the lower ones, valleys. I tried to picture them as burning coals to see if that would make me speed up or at least feel like this exercise was somehow connected to nature — even one of its cruel parts.

How would you describe this author’s attitude towards the treadmill?

Passage (ii)

The treadmill began to whir, and my heart sped up faster than the belt could go. Instead of pressing “select” on my remote control to escape into a TV show, I had just selected “Power Run.” A sleek screen with a simple set of red lines showed me the terrain on which I was running. Those red lines looked like a pulse, and they got me to run farther and faster than I could ever run when I’m outside, worried about weather, cars, or other people. It may not have looked like I was going anywhere that night, but I had just broken out of a ten-year slump.

How would you describe this author’s attitude towards the treadmill?

In Passage (i), the author must have a negative view of running on a treadmill.

How do we know that?

Consider the specific details, comparisons and word choices the author uses.

Specific Details that the Author Chose to Include

“treadmill moving me backward” — Why did the author choose to mention that it moved him/her backward?

Comparisons

imagining that the red squares as burning coals — That does not sound pleasant.

Word Choice

“begrudgingly”

“outdated”

“… run — or barrel forward” (emphasis added)

“… one of its cruel parts” (emphasis added)

> All of these verbs, adverbs, and adjectives have negative connotations.

Words to describe the author’s tone include sardonic, pessimistic, and critical.

In Passage (ii), the author must have a positive view of the experience.

How do we know that?

Consider the specific details, comparisons and word choices that the author uses.

Specific Details that the Author Chose to Include

I had just selected “Power Run.” — The phrase shows ambition and confidence if the outcome is positive.

“ I had just broken out of a ten-year slump.” — The author ends by explaining the positive impact this workout had on her life.

Comparisons

“heart sped up faster than the belt could” — intense!

“red lines looked like a pulse” — shows energy or liveliness

Word Choice

“farther and faster” — benefits of running inside

“sleek” — author’s positive opinion of the screen on the treadmill

> These adverbs and adjectives show a positive view of the subject’s progress and one of the treadmill’s main features.

Words to describe the author’s tone include exuberant, enthusiastic, and excited.

Other common descriptions of an author’s tone include adjectives like cynical, depressed, hopeful, wistful, sympathetic, cheerful, outraged, positive, angry, sarcastic, ironic, solemn, vindictive, and intense.

6.2 Specific Purpose Questions

These questions refer to some specific element of the passage and check your scanning skill of finding specific information from the passage. These are mostly asked in the following forms:

6.2.1 Fact-based/Specific Detail/Target Questions (Direct Questions)

These questions intend to ask you to identify the correct/incorrect facts. E.g.

• • According to the passage,….
  • The passage states that:
  • Which, out of the following, is true/false?
  • Which _____ has not been cited as ______?
  • According to the author, what is ______?
  • By a ______, the author means…….
  • “According to the passage, _______?
  • Which factor has not been cited _______?

6.2.2 Inference Question

Inferences are the indirect conclusions of the passage. They are not directly stated in the passage. E.g.

• • It can be inferred from the passage:
  • It cannot be inferred from the passage:
  • The passage uses ______ to imply that ______”
  • What can be inferred when the author states_____?”
  • The sentence, ‘_____’, implies that

This question type can also be constructed from a specific portion of the passage.

6.2.3 ‘Must be true’ Question

These refer to the direct and logical conclusions that follow from the passage. E.g.

• • • According to the passage, which one of the must be true?
    • According to the passage, which one of the must be false?
    • According to the passage, which one of the following would the author agree with?
    • According to the passage, which one of the following would the author disagree with?

This question type can be constructed from a specific paragraph instead of the whole passage.

6.2.4 Paraphrase Question

These questions essentially ask you to explain the meaning of a particular statement in other words or in different words than that given in the passage. E.g.

• • The following extract, “……….”, can be paraphrased as:
  • “………” can be rewritten as:

Paraphrase refers to ‘Express the same message in different words/Rewording for the purpose of clarification’.

6.2.5 Vocabulary Question

These questions test your vocabulary- ask you the meaning of a word/phrase/synonym or the opposite of the word/antonym. The contextual meaning of the word holds more importance here. E.g.

• • Identify the meaning of the word, “…………”, in the given context.
  • In the passage, the phrase ______ refers to
  • In the sentence, _________, what is the meaning of ‘______’?

Let’s see the two types of vocabulary question

(i)  Vocabulary in Context

These questions are basically testing the students’ vocabulary. However, do not forget that many words have multiple meanings. Identify the correct usage of the words based on the way they are used in the passage (that’s why it’s called “in context”).

Examples:

1. 1. 1. Which word/phrase has the opposite meaning as…?
      2. Find the words that have similar meanings to the following words…

(ii) Applied Vocabulary

Different from the vocabulary in context questions, these questions are usually tougher as it requires the students to analyse and use their own words to describe a situation or characters accurately.

Examples:

1. 1. 1. How would you describe the atmosphere in the classroom when the teacher stepped in? (e.g. tense, relaxed)
      2. How would you describe Mr. August’s character in the passage? (e.g. serious, friendly)

6.2.6 Application Questions

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

Students learning to read typically focus on the words themselves and the letters, sounds, meaning and pronunciation. However, when early literacy skills are finally mastered, the next step is comprehension. What is comprehension? Comprehension is the ability to draw meaning from text.

What Is Reading Comprehension?

The most general definition of reading comprehension explains that it is the skill of making meaning from whatever text is read. Said another way, reading comprehension isn’t simply knowing what words you have read, it’s the ability to look at what these words say and to figure out what they mean.

When students first embark on their career as readers, they are working on a variety of challenging skills. They need to recognize words, identify them and be aware of their meaning. If they are unaware of their meaning, they will need to rely on context clues to supply hints.

Reading comprehension also encompasses the ability to understand words and their meaning in a variety of contexts. For example, being able to identify satire.

Research has demonstrated that reading isn’t simply the transfer of information. Rather it is transactional, wherein the reader brings his or her life experience and understanding up to that point to the text. From there, he or she co-constructs meaning from whatever is being read, based on prior knowledge.

How Is Reading Comprehension Taught?

Educators and people with young children who are just entering the school system are likely familiar with the question, «What are the four types of reading?» The four main types of reading are skimming, scanning, intensive and extensive.

Skimming is the most superficial type of reading. It’s a quick glance at the material, generally to see if any of the words contained therein spark interest or recognition. Comprehension when skimming is generally very low. Scanning is slightly more rigorous and is generally done when a reader is searching for something specific within a body of the text.

Intensive Reading

Intensive reading is where comprehension begins to get stronger. This is not a search for cursory information or to get the «gist» of a piece of writing. Intensive reading requires that the readers read every word in the piece, including ones they may not know and seek to understand what is being communicated.

Intensive reading is required when the reader is going to be responsible for reflecting on what he or she has read, either in writing or in speech. Extensive reading refers typically to reading that is taken on for pleasure. In this case, the impetus for meaning-making is wanting to understand what the text has to say.

Why Is Reading Comprehension Important?

Students who excel in reading comprehension often have successful academic careers. This is because reading is such a critical part of overall learning. If a child struggles with reading comprehension he or she will likely read less and thus will absorb less in the way of vocabulary, ideas, differing perspectives and other nuances.

A limited vocabulary can mean a limited scope for thought and imagination. The result is that students demonstrate limited intellectual curiosity and do not have the self-motivation required to read on their own.

Challenges for Comprehension

When answering the question, «What is comprehension?» educators should also consider the challenges for communities with limitations. The challenges of reading comprehension are especially acute for students with learning disabilities, attention deficit issues or other special needs.

For these students, a question like, «How do you use forbidden in a sentence?» can be exceptionally difficult to answer, seeing as it relies upon an understanding of vocabulary, sentence construction and syntax. Teachers who teach special needs populations should be encouraged to seek out as many methods for reading comprehension as possible.