UPSC IAS exam preparation - English Comprehension - Lecture 1

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English Comprehension - 01

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Introduction

Reading is a multi-faceted activity. There is no single aspect to reading. If one is focussed only on the written word then he is just fulfilling only one aspect of reading. One has to bear in mind a lot of things while reading for effective understanding. Simple things like “how to read” and the “purpose of reading” influence its understanding.

While reading, the flow of ideas or the author’s point of view, the structure of the passage / article / chapter and style of writing have to be considered. All of these enhance the understanding of the text. Later on, all these prove helpful in arriving at the central idea of the passage. 

In this book, we will be covering the basic aspects of Reading - including the detection of central ideas (also called themes) of passages, the tones of passages, different types of passages as well as some interesting exercises to help you get started on the road to Reading Comprehension.

What is reading

Reading is plain simple reading for pleasure, without making any conscious attempt at remembering. ‘Reading Comprehension’, on the other hand, is reading for retention. The purpose of the latter kind of reading is to remember in order to reproduce.

What is reading comprehension

Reading Comprehension - as the name suggests - is understanding a written text. In other words it means “Reading to Comprehend”. In the Reading Comprehension section, the student has to understand the content of a given passage. In speech a person emotes a lot with his/her facial expression or gestures, but while reading printed matter these tools are not available to aid us in understanding the given text. Therefore, it requires a lot of concentration. In this section, a student is expected to understand the thought behind the passage. Hence it is not so much the words that have to be concentrated on but the inferences that can be made on the basis of the ideas presented in the text.

Why is Reading Comprehension necessary

Reading Comprehension is not a part of any course or career, as such. But it indirectly helps students in their course and careers. Reading Comprehension enables students to tap the thought and the theme without having to read chapters word by word. Efficient and effective reading can be achieved only through practice. What to read is equally important. For example, a lot of us read newspapers daily, but what we really read in it are the headlines that are just glossed over, cartoon strips, sports news – this is not serious reading. The editorials should be read as they analyse an issue. Reading should ideally initiate the reader into thinking. You could agree or disagree with what the writer is saying. You should read non-fictions along with pulp-fictions or the best sellers.

How to read

While reading you have to concentrate on thought units and not the visual span of attention. A thought unit is the mental span of attention. For example, observe the different ways in which the following passage can be read and which is the most effective way of reading.

How would you read the following passage?

Some Asians are blaming the West. The Western consensus in favour of globalisation lured them, they say, into opening their economies and pursuing export-led growth to satisfy the bottomless pit of Western consumer demand. They have been betrayed. Western financial incompetence has trashed the value of their investments and consumer demand has dried up. This explanation which absolves Asian governments of responsibility for economic suffering, has an obvious appeal across the region. Awkwardly, however, it tells only one part of the story. Most of the slowdown in regional economic growth so far stems not from a fall in net exports but from weaker domestic demand.

Those of you, at the start of your reading career might read it this way (Every thought unit is separated by a slash ‘/’ ).

Some / Asians /  are /  blaming /  the West. /  The  Western /  consensus /  in favour /  of globalisation /  lured /  them, /  they /  say / , into /  opening /  their /  economies /  and pursuing /  export-led /  growth /  to satisfy /  the bottomless /  pit /  of Western /  consumer /  demand / . They /  have /  been /  betrayed. /  Western /  financial /  incompetence /  has trashed /  the value /  of their /  investments /  and consumer /  demand /  has /  dried up. /  This /  explanation /  which /  absolves /  Asian /  governments /  of responsibility /  for economic /  suffering, /  has /  an obvious /  appeal /  across /  the region. /  Awkwardly, /  however, /  it tells /  only /  one /  part /  of the /  story. /  Most /  of the /  slowdown /  in regional /  economic /  growth /  so far /  stems /  not from /  a fall /  in net /  exports /  but from /  weaker /  domestic /  demand.

What you are doing is reading each and every word separately. Maybe a couple of words like a preposition + the word. This process is a very inefficient one as your eye has to move over every word and then stop. Move and stop. Repeatedly. The jerkiness in manner ensures that the time taken to read the passage is very long and the understanding is also quite poor.

Those of you who have been reading for some time now, might read the passage in the following manner: 

Some Asians are / blaming the West. / The Western consensus / in favour of globalisation / lured them, they say, / into opening their economies /and pursuing export-led /  growth  to satisfy /  the bottomless pit / of Western  consumer demand. / They have been betrayed. / Western financial incompetence / has trashed the value of / their investments /  and consumer demand / has dried up. /  This explanation which absolves /  Asian governments /  of responsibility for economic suffering, /  has an obvious appeal /  across the region. /  Awkwardly, however, /  it tells only one part / of the story./ Most of the  slowdown / in regional economic growth / so far stems /  not from a fall in / net exports /  but from weaker domestic demand.

This is obviously much better. You are now reading the words in clusters / phrases / groups. The reading speed will definitely improve and so will the understanding.

But is this the best way? Those of you, who have carefully cultivated a Reading habit,  would have actually gone a step ahead and be reading even larger chunks of words. They are, as we say, reading for ideas - not meanings of words or phrases. 

Some Asians are blaming the West./ The Western consensus in favour of globalisation / lured them, they say, into opening their economies /and pursuing export-led growth / to satisfy the bottomless pit of Western  consumer demand./ They have been betrayed. / Western financial incompetence has trashed the value of their investments / and consumer demand has dried up. / This explanation which absolves Asian governments / of responsibility for economic suffering, / has an obvious appeal across the region. /  Awkwardly, however, it tells only one part of the story./ Most of the  slowdown in regional economic growth so far / stems not from a fall in net exports /  but from weaker domestic demand.

This is how we expect you to read!

Once you know How to Read, the next step is to understand How to Read Better.

How to read better

1. Concentrate on the flow of arguments.
2. Try and understand the author’s point of view.
3. Look for the central ideas.

The key - if you may call that - to become a better reader lies in a process called ACTIVE READING. Most of us are Passive

Readers. Who are these Passive Readers? Well, these are people who simply absorb the written word. They are reading, but nothing of any value is happening in this activity. Many of you, while preparing for some not-so-favourite examination,  might have experienced this phenomenon. The book remains open before you, but your mind wanders. You are forced to REGRESS i.e. go back to the same part of the text over and over again in order to make some sense out of it.

An Active Reader, by contrast, reads with full attention and more importantly, assimilates the information by entering into a process of dialogue with the author as it were. He asks questions, makes notes - mental as well as written, reflects on what he has read.

Do you see the contrast? Can you say, who will understand the text better? This is what you would be expected to do.

To help you understand the Reading Process better, we will now take up some very interesting and fun-to-do exercises.

The first of these would deal with arranging Cartoons / Comic Strips.

Examples

Directions: Given below are some comic strips that have been jumbled up. That means these individual boxes are not in the proper sequence. The challenge before you would  be to arrange them in a logical sequence.

As you must have realised, we have done nothing else but a variation of rearranging jumbled up sentences, but with a significant difference. That difference is that here we had pictures / cartoons with us to guide us. There would be more such practice in the Reading Comprehension Practice Book that you have received as part of your Registration Packet.

Let us move on to a slightly different exercise - that of identifying Themes of Passages. Understanding the Themes of passages is a mandatory requirement while reading. The word Theme refers to the Central Idea or the Core Concept around which the author has built the entire passage.

To understand the Theme of passages it is very important for you to read the passage carefully - what we call “Reading Between the Lines”.

Learn to put yourself in the shoes of the author and ask yourself this one very important question: WHAT AM I TRYING TO SAY THROUGH THIS PASSAGE?

Directions: Given below are some short passages. Read them, and try and deduce as to what the author is trying to convey OR in other words, what the Theme of the passage is.

• Anand loves to play games. His favourite game is chess because it requires a great deal of thought. Anand also likes to play less demanding board games that are based mostly on luck. He prefers Monopoly because it requires luck and skill. If he’s alone, Anand likes to play action video games as long as they aren’t too violent.

What is the main idea of this paragraph? 

1. Anand dislikes violence.
2. Anand likes to think.
3. Anand enjoys Monopoly.
4. Anand enjoys playing games.

• Sonia is watching too much television. A toddler shouldn’t be spending hours staring blankly at a screen. Worse yet, some of her wild behavior has been inspired by those awful cartoons she watches. We need to spend more time reading books with her and pull the plug on the TV!

What is the main idea of this paragraph? 

1. Watching a lot of television isn’t good for Maria.
2. Books are good
3. All cartoons are bad.
4. Some cartoons are bad for Maria.

• Rajesh, I can’t eat or sleep when you are gone. I need to hear your scratchy voice and see your lovely toothless smile. I miss that special way that you eat soup with your fingers. Please come home soon!

What is the main idea of this paragraph? 

1. Rajesh, you have bad manners.
2. Rajesh, you should see a dentist.
3. Rajesh, I miss you.
4. Rajesh, I have lost my appetite

• Someday we will all have robots that will be our personal servants. They will look and behave much like real humans. We will be able to talk to these mechanical helpers and they will be able to respond in kind. Amazingly, the robots of the future will be able to learn from experience. They will be smart, strong, and untiring workers whose only goal will be to make our lives easier.

Which sentence from the paragraph expresses the main idea?

1. Someday we will all have robots that will be our personal servants.
2. We will be able to talk to these mechanical helpers and they will be able to respond in kind.
3. They will look and behave much like real humans.
4. Amazingly, the robots of the future will be able to learn from experience.

• Seeta and Geeta are twin sisters. They both have shoulder length black hair and they are both 5 feet tall. From this description you might think that the sisters are just alike, but they are very different. Seeta spends most of her time playing sports. Her favorite sports are badminton and table-tennis. She has gone to many championships and won many trophies, and was even said to be the school’s most valuable player. Geeta hates sports. She plays the violin and has played in many recitals and has won many awards. She loves writing and writes some stories for a children’s magazine. She has won many statewide writing contests. Seeta is a poor student, but keeps her grades up enough to barely pass. She isn’t interested in school. She doesn’t like to read anything, except for sports magazines. Geeta is a good student. She studies a lot and is at the top of her class. Geeta loves books and reads them all the time. Seeta is outgoing and loud. She is also very humorous. When someone is feeling down, you could count on Seeta to make them laugh. She usually wears jeans, a shirt, and she wears her hair up in her lucky cap. Geeta is quiet and shy. But she is a good listener. When someone tells her a problem, she tries to understand how they feel. Geeta wears skirts and sweaters and wears her hair up in a ponytail. The two sisters may have very different personalities, but they are best friends and very close.

What is the main idea of this passage? 

1. Geeta is very shy.
2. Seeta loves sports.
3. The twins look alike, but they have different personalities.
4. The twins are very different, but they are very close.

Let us now move on to a different area - that of locating Tones of passages. Tones, as you must have understood by now, are the emotions of the author as displayed through the medium of the written word. In your Reading Comprehension book, you have been introduced to substantial theoretical inputs on the tone, so here we will restrict ourselves to some exercises on identifying the same

• Some couples have decided that biological childbirth is not an option for them. Adoption gives these couples another choice. About 500,000 children are up for adoption in the United States every year. This is far fewer than the number of couples who want to adopt children. Only one couple in 30 may receive the particular child the couple wants. On average, couples spend two years on the adoption process. Some couples choose to adopt orphans or refugees from other countries. 

The tone of this passage can be described as  

1. Discursive
2. Analytical
3. Discouraging
4. Ruminative

• There are many benefits to reading out loud to young children. First, reading aloud creates a strong bond among the parent, child, and family. The time spent together becomes important family time, and the reading material becomes a shared experience, an opportunity for discussion. A child who is read to understands the purpose of the printed word. A child learns the connections among spoken, written, and printed words. She learns new words she couldn’t learn on her own, and she builds up a wealth of knowledge. In addition, a child who is read to learns how to listen and develops a love for excellence in thinking, speaking, writing, and reading. Being read to opens a child up to the joys of learning and the excitement of imagination.

The tone of this passage can be described as  

1. Academic
2. Pessimistic 
3. Comic
4. Anxious 

• Being my sister’s baby sister was no easy task. She knew all my breaking points, and she just seemed to love taking me over the edge. Our nightly bedtime ritual was a perfect example. Since we had to share a very small room, we had established several rules, which, by the way, she established and I abided by. One such rule was “last one in bed turns out the light.” Well, being a bit competitive, I usually made it between the sheets long before my slowpoke sister. Do you think she followed her own rule? Oh, no, she would smugly crawl into bed and leave the light blaring. Driven by the righteous need for justice, I would spend a good hour pleading with her to get up and turn off that stupid light. She would listen quietly and time her reply just as I reached a fevered, whiny pitch: “I can sleep with the light on.” Then she would turn over and pretend to be asleep. I know she wasn’t asleep. Because, oh, I tell you, she brought out all the red-faced, screaming worst in me. There is no way she went to sleep before my anger was spent. 

The tone of this passage can be described as  

1. Cold
2. Insulting 
3. Humorous
4. Analytical

• Given this experience, it is a surprise to observe that the so-called “Third Front” has once again brought Dr Kalam’s possible candidature into focus, given that he has shown no sign of being an “independent” President thus far. It is unfortunate that the President has allowed himself to become a pawn in a complicated political game, by suggesting that he might be willing to contest the election again, in a political first that would surely reduce his stature whatever the outcome.

The tone of this passage can be described as  

1. Appreciative 
2. Reproachful 
3. Spiteful
4. Mocking

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