READING COMPREHENSION NOTES
READING COMPREHENSION
Comprehension Passage:-
According to Wren and Martin, comprehension exercise can be defined as a passage,
upon which question are set to test the students' upon which questions are set to test the
students' ability to understand the content of the given text and to infer information and
meaning from it. To put it in simple terms, reading comprehension is the act of understanding
what you are reading.
It mainly requires tow inputs from the reader, that is, vocabulary knowledge and text
the comprehension. In order to understand a text, the reader must be able to comprehend the
vocabulary used in piece of writing.
1- Identification of key ideas:- There are always certain key sentences that determine the
flow of the ideas in a passage. To make comprehension simpler, these sentences are
supposed to be identified during the first reading of the passage. The paragraph/s should
be read fairly quickly to get a general idea. It should be read again, a little slowly so as to
know the details. They key idea can also be underlined.
2- Summarize the paragraph:- While reading the passage, develop a habit of mentally
summarizing each paragraph and keep linking them as you proceed.
3- Determine sentence links:- Usually, the sentences within a passage are directly or subtly
linked. Here, practice helps a lot in identifying such links, failing which the major ideas
could be missed out.
4- Ask questions:- Why has the author mentioned this example? What is the purpose of the
second paragraph? This kind of reflection helps in developing a deeper perspective about
the main ideas.
Main Question Categories:-
These type of question are based on the passage as a whole; they are typical in nature
as they reflect upon the author's motive to write the passage.
Solution Approach:-
Usually, the answers to such type of question lie in the introductory of the first or both
the paragraphs is helpful.
1- Cause and effect words- as a result, therefore.
2- Time words- meanwhile, before
3- Contrast words- in contrast conversely
4- Addition words- also, in addition
5- Emphasis words- more important, remember
Exercise 1
Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, is known to have died an unhappy man. He saw his
wonderful invention being used, not in the service of man as he wanted it to be. Dynamite was being
used for purposes of war. The power of the atom-to-day replaces dynamite in this respect. It has all
the potential to destroy the world twice or thrice over. It has all the power to make this world a better
place to live in. It is our choice what we make of it.
What the atom can do for a better future for us tomorrow, has been demonstrated to us time
and again right in our own country. We have nuclear power stations that use a few tones of uranium to
generate enormous power that normally would have needed millions of tones of coal. Take the
Madras Atomic power project at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu. Its two reactors will together generate
heat enough to produce 410 MW (Megawatts) of power. As against some 40 tonnes of fuel needed to
run these reactors, a coal fired power station of this magnitude would have required several thousand
tones of coal to be hauled all the way from Bihar or Andhra over thousand and odd kilometers day
after day. From the used Uranium in this reactor we can separate Plutonium. A mixture of this
Plutonium and spent Uranium could again be used in what is called a fast breeder reactor as a fuel.
And that is not the end either. Because this type of breeder reactors would produce more of Plutonium
than is put in, then we have the phenomenon of a power house which generates more fuel than it uses.
From there, a third stage could also be seen. In this third stage, India's rich deposits of Thorium could
be used in the fast breeder to produce yet another Uranium based fuel for use in the third generation
reactor. In this way all that we need for taking care of our future electricity needs would be a few
thousand tonnes of Uranium and Thorium. This would suffice, theoretically at least, for the next 100
years or more.
Q.1 The atom has all the potential
(I) To make the world a better place to live in. (II) To destroy the world many times over.
(III) To establish world peace.
Codes:
(a) I only is correct (b) II only is correct
(c) III only are correct (d) I and III only are correct
Answer : (D)
Q.2 Which of the following is not true about the Atomic power project at Kalpakkam?
(a) It has four or five reactors
(b) Its reactors together generate heat enough to produce 410 MW of power
(c) It is associated with Madras
(d) It needs about 40 tonnes of fuel to produce an amount of power which a coal-fired power
station would have needed several thousand tonnes of coal to produce
(e) From the used Uranium in this reactor we can separate Plutonium
Answer : (A)
Q.3 The author in the passage implies all of the following except
(a) Atomic power can be used both for destructive and peaceful purposes
(b) Atom can build a better future for mankind
(c) exploitation of atom can revolutionize generation of electricity at most cheap rates
(d) India has registered good progress in the use of atom for generation of power
(e) India intends to put atomic power to the manufacture of atomic weapons some day
Answer : (E)
Q.4 From what has been stated in the passage it is not difficult to infer that?
(a) The world is sitting on explosive material waiting to be annihilated by atomic weapons of war
(b) The world has made phenomenal progress in the exploitation of atom for peaceful purposes
(c) Man's constructive genius is as powerful as or rather more powerful than his destructive genius
(d) Both (B) and (C)
(e) None of these
Answer : (D)
Q.5 The title that best expresses the ideas of the passage may be
(a) Alfred Nobel, the Great Inventor (b) India's Achievements in the Nuclear Research
(c) Production of Uranium and Thorium (d) Multifarious Uses of Uranium and Thorium
(e) Nuclear Power Stations in India
Answer : (E)
Comprehension Passage:-
According to Wren and Martin, comprehension exercise can be defined as a passage,
upon which question are set to test the students' upon which questions are set to test the
students' ability to understand the content of the given text and to infer information and
meaning from it. To put it in simple terms, reading comprehension is the act of understanding
what you are reading.
It mainly requires tow inputs from the reader, that is, vocabulary knowledge and text
the comprehension. In order to understand a text, the reader must be able to comprehend the
vocabulary used in piece of writing.
1- Identification of key ideas:- There are always certain key sentences that determine the
flow of the ideas in a passage. To make comprehension simpler, these sentences are
supposed to be identified during the first reading of the passage. The paragraph/s should
be read fairly quickly to get a general idea. It should be read again, a little slowly so as to
know the details. They key idea can also be underlined.
2- Summarize the paragraph:- While reading the passage, develop a habit of mentally
summarizing each paragraph and keep linking them as you proceed.
3- Determine sentence links:- Usually, the sentences within a passage are directly or subtly
linked. Here, practice helps a lot in identifying such links, failing which the major ideas
could be missed out.
4- Ask questions:- Why has the author mentioned this example? What is the purpose of the
second paragraph? This kind of reflection helps in developing a deeper perspective about
the main ideas.
Main Question Categories:-
These type of question are based on the passage as a whole; they are typical in nature
as they reflect upon the author's motive to write the passage.
Solution Approach:-
Usually, the answers to such type of question lie in the introductory of the first or both
the paragraphs is helpful.
1- Cause and effect words- as a result, therefore.
2- Time words- meanwhile, before
3- Contrast words- in contrast conversely
4- Addition words- also, in addition
5- Emphasis words- more important, remember
Exercise 1
Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, is known to have died an unhappy man. He saw his
wonderful invention being used, not in the service of man as he wanted it to be. Dynamite was being
used for purposes of war. The power of the atom-to-day replaces dynamite in this respect. It has all
the potential to destroy the world twice or thrice over. It has all the power to make this world a better
place to live in. It is our choice what we make of it.
What the atom can do for a better future for us tomorrow, has been demonstrated to us time
and again right in our own country. We have nuclear power stations that use a few tones of uranium to
generate enormous power that normally would have needed millions of tones of coal. Take the
Madras Atomic power project at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu. Its two reactors will together generate
heat enough to produce 410 MW (Megawatts) of power. As against some 40 tonnes of fuel needed to
run these reactors, a coal fired power station of this magnitude would have required several thousand
tones of coal to be hauled all the way from Bihar or Andhra over thousand and odd kilometers day
after day. From the used Uranium in this reactor we can separate Plutonium. A mixture of this
Plutonium and spent Uranium could again be used in what is called a fast breeder reactor as a fuel.
And that is not the end either. Because this type of breeder reactors would produce more of Plutonium
than is put in, then we have the phenomenon of a power house which generates more fuel than it uses.
From there, a third stage could also be seen. In this third stage, India's rich deposits of Thorium could
be used in the fast breeder to produce yet another Uranium based fuel for use in the third generation
reactor. In this way all that we need for taking care of our future electricity needs would be a few
thousand tonnes of Uranium and Thorium. This would suffice, theoretically at least, for the next 100
years or more.
Q.1 The atom has all the potential
(I) To make the world a better place to live in. (II) To destroy the world many times over.
(III) To establish world peace.
Codes:
(a) I only is correct (b) II only is correct
(c) III only are correct (d) I and III only are correct
Answer : (D)
Q.2 Which of the following is not true about the Atomic power project at Kalpakkam?
(a) It has four or five reactors
(b) Its reactors together generate heat enough to produce 410 MW of power
(c) It is associated with Madras
(d) It needs about 40 tonnes of fuel to produce an amount of power which a coal-fired power
station would have needed several thousand tonnes of coal to produce
(e) From the used Uranium in this reactor we can separate Plutonium
Answer : (A)
Q.3 The author in the passage implies all of the following except
(a) Atomic power can be used both for destructive and peaceful purposes
(b) Atom can build a better future for mankind
(c) exploitation of atom can revolutionize generation of electricity at most cheap rates
(d) India has registered good progress in the use of atom for generation of power
(e) India intends to put atomic power to the manufacture of atomic weapons some day
Answer : (E)
Q.4 From what has been stated in the passage it is not difficult to infer that?
(a) The world is sitting on explosive material waiting to be annihilated by atomic weapons of war
(b) The world has made phenomenal progress in the exploitation of atom for peaceful purposes
(c) Man's constructive genius is as powerful as or rather more powerful than his destructive genius
(d) Both (B) and (C)
(e) None of these
Answer : (D)
Q.5 The title that best expresses the ideas of the passage may be
(a) Alfred Nobel, the Great Inventor (b) India's Achievements in the Nuclear Research
(c) Production of Uranium and Thorium (d) Multifarious Uses of Uranium and Thorium
(e) Nuclear Power Stations in India
Answer : (E)
