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READING COMPREHENSION BASICS

 

READING COMPREHENSION

Reading Comprehension is generally considered as the most difficult section in the tests. What really becomes important in this context is the approach that one should take towards this section. This section consists of passages from different backgrounds and questions based on them. There are no fixed topics for the passages. These passages are usually extracted from standard newspapers, magazines and general literature. Questions can be of several types requiring a clear understanding of the written word. The best way to go about developing RC skills is to increase one’s reading speed. To develop your reading speed, the best and perhaps the only way is a regular reading habit. You must regularly read at least one standard English newspaper and several English magazines. In order to improve performance in this section diverse reading is very important as the tests generally contain passages from fields as diverse as history and life sciences. If one is totally new to the subject it becomes difficult to grasp the meaning of the passage. Therefore, attempting the RC becomes a time taxing process. You should try to keep track of topics in use as generally one of the passages focuses on them. Going through good magazines and books helps to a great extent. Reading of editorial section of the newspaper, preferably national and economic dailies, is a must. To begin with, you should realise your strengths and weaknesses and choose passages accordingly. It is quite natural that an individual is comfortable with certain themes or with some particular types of passages (i.e. descriptive, narrative, reflective, abstract, data-driven, analytical or a short story). You must keep your strengths in mind while choosing a passage. This manner of choosing and demarcating the passage / passages to leave out will be helpful especially if the RC is a weak section.  So the first aspect that needs to be analysed is the selection of the passages and the order in which the passages are to be attempted. As far as RC goes, it is a section where time allocation is of paramount importance. It is essential to keep track of the total time allocated to the section. You must also have a rough idea about the time that was allocated to each of the passages. You need to keep a check on whether you are devoting disproportionate amount of time to a particular passage or allowing a particular speed breaker question to fix you. Secondly, one needs to analyse the type of question. Questions could be those which fairly direct or which need a certain level of thinking or reading between the lines. Some such questions would ask you to comment on the tone, theme, author etc. Keep a check on your accuracy level for the particular type of question. Thirdly, one needs to stress that while reading a passage the emphasis should not be on memory but on understanding. It is very important to underline or mark some specific points and details using parentheses, other distinguishable marks and shorthand symbols. So obviously, a part of the analysis of this section would depend on the fact that you have correctly identified and segregated the relevant information. It may be useful to skim over the questions before one actually gets down to reading the passage. Fourthly, observe if you are able to understand what the author is saying and are comfortable with the material. Try to understand the central idea of each paragraph. Fifthly, the most common problem is of faltering concentration. It is therefore essential to understand your own concentration curve and why the concentration falters during a test. In most of the cases, concentration falters while approaching the end of passage. So if you could understand as to why you are making mistakes, then you would be able to find a way to minimize the errors you were making.

 

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CAPTIONS:- ARITRA SEN

Life always has a way of trumpeting its force onto men. My purple tinge adds colour to the entire process 

Have always spread myself among the masses to garner respect and attention 

 The bees have always been hard workers. Strive to assist the ones who believe in work and discipline. Facilitate change and encourage a dream

 

 Be who you are . Adorn your colours. Be different. Walk different. Love different. Accept change in diversity

The focus shall always stay intact

 

 There is always hope even in  the most darkest of places.  Diamonds are found even in    the poorest of corners, the  alleys and lanes. Dream ,  dream my child for you are a  diamond like no other

 The ever encompassing spirt if  nature- let it guide you. Fill  yourself with positivity to the core. Get up. Explore

 There is a lot of stuff to learn. Widen your horizons, breathe more, see more and be receptive. The longer you wait the more you see and the better you know. Patience moves mountains and each life has a story to tell

TYPE IN THE ABOVE TYPE QUESTIONS FOR CAT( COMMON ADMISSION TEST )

How to handle TITA questions when it 

comes to Parajumbles?

Well I know this portion gives all of us head-aches. It is a really dicey section when it comes to Verbal Aptitude. As it is, Parajumbles are tough with the options. 

Take them out and lol, it becomes a Super Saiyan God. 

Now but then again you can't just avoid them . You have got to solve them. I didn't find many articles till date stating in detail the mechanisms you need to employ to deal with these type of "googlies" . I am no expert but I had developed certain rules myself and it helped me a lot.

Frequent FAQ's

1. How to begin?

Ans:- Please be patient. Verbal aptitude development takes a lot of time. A single bad result doesn't mean that you are less talented. Work hard and you will get there. For TITA's have patience. A lot, in fact. Let me tell you why. It takes longer to solve without the options. You have to read each sentence. Gauge the structure. Decide on the connectors. Evaluate and then answer. If you are a beginner, don't be bogged down by some stalwart solving it in a minute. Take 5 minutes for all I care but solve it. Still wrong? Don't chuck. Try to find out why instead of leaving it completely.

2. Okay enough gyaan, what are the techniques?

Ans:- Yes, Yes techniques.  Mind you I am no expert and these techniques worked only for me. I am sharing it to give you a first-hand insight on how it can be done.

Example 1.

1). Despite posting healthy profits, Volkswagen shares trade at a discount to peers due to bad reputation among investors.

2). A disastrous capital hike, an expensive foray into truck business and uncertainty about the reason for a share buyback have in recent years left investors bewildered.

3). The main problem with Volkswagen is the past.

4). Many investors have been disappointed and frightened away.

5). Volkswagen shares trade at about nine times the 2002 estimated earnings, compared to BMW's 19 and are the second cheapest in the sector.

How I go through it. Read on.

1. Despite beginning word. Can be , cannot be. Hold this.

2. Disastrous hike. can be, cannot be. Hold this

3. Main problem. Must be something before. Eliminate.

4. Disappointed. Cannot be the opening. Reasons not stated .

5. Generic statement. introduction missing. eliminate

second phase.

1. check for possible linkages. 2 can go with 5. yes. 3 continues 12. So how do I arrange this?3. Rough check:- 25413. Read it . Not making sense. 4. Second check. :-13425. Read it. Makes sense . Maintains the flow. Type it.

OA:- 13425 

Second example:-

1). In 1979, Grenada witnessed the establishment of a socialist government by Maurice Bishop, which survived four years of US-engineered incursions.

2). This was duly appreciated, with some 7, 000 US servicemen being designated as heroes and given decorations.

3). This government was overthrown in an internal power struggle among left-wing groups and, within three weeks of the Bishop’s ouster and assassination, Reagan launched Operation Urgent Fury against Grenada, claiming that the invasion was "forced on us by events that have no precedent in the eastern Caribbean."

4). In the end Grenada, just like Cuba and Nicaragua, was no more than the Chomskian "threat of a good example" to other Third World countries in the region.

5). Around 2,000 US Marines "fought" for a week, destroying a mental hospital, killing 84 Cubans building an airstrip, and 400 Grenadians.

How I go through it. Read on.

Second technique:-

1. Look for pairs.

2. Okay searching. Read all the statements first. Okay. Done

3. 1 seems to go before 3. okay 1then 3. hold it.

4. Now, in sentence '2' US servicemen are appreciated but for what work. That work is described in sentence '5'.

 5. Okay now let's play:- 41352. and 13524

Second one makes better sense. Type it and you are done YaY!!

See it becomes easy ain't it. I have total 5 techniques. IF you wish to know more ping me. And please for the love of god attempt all the TITA questions. Nahi aah raha firbhi karo, negative nahi jayega. grin emoticon You can be Scrooge Mcduck for all I care and who knows you can get a +3 out of nowhere.

My two cents:-1. Read a lot. Book reading works. No matter who is saying otherwise. IT is only when you read do you gain proper insight and develop a pattern and structure in your head. IF you don't believe me, try it out for yourself.

2. Verbal takes time. A lot of time. You need to work very hard. There are no shortcuts or tricks for verbal. Just like you practise in the nets before scoring a ton, you gotta put in the hard work.

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READING COMPREHENSION

RC RC RC!!! :D

Well all of you are haunted by the term RC. Now it doesn’t take an expert to solve them –trust me- it is just like any other DI set , only hatke. :3 Employing some unorthodox techniques can help you in the long run. And most of these techniques aren’t that hard to gulp down, so read on:-

1) First, remove the fear that RCs are negative marks accumulators. Having said that the first mocks will make you hang your heads but it happens to the best of us so don't lose hope.

2) Read two editorials per day from www.aldaily.com and the newspaper Hindu. Download the apps- the guardian, hindu, knappily, newsbytes. It will help you not only with your RC's but also with your GK.

3) Try and read novels-good old classics should help.( We will be providing a list later on. Don't you worry. Chillax ;) )

Now the RC bit

1) If you don’t like the initial line of the RC don’t proceed then, solve it at the very end if you have time or leave it completely. This liking is similar to the feeling you get when you choose your girlfriend over another girl. Jokes apart, this is important. ( LOLMAX )

2) When you are reading your RC, stop looking at the clock, read slowly but steadily. If verbal is your weaker section then you must attempt 3Rcs to the bare minimum, so yes you have time. If you complete the other questions and have 35 min left for your RCs then you can knock off four of them completely.So don’t panic. It will require practice.

3) Don’t look here are there. Read it at a stretch and slowly. Put two fingers in your ears and read if possible but get the facts in your head.

4) After reading the entire passage summarize the gist in your head for about 30sec and then proceed to the other questions.

5) Read the question-each question at-least two times if not thrice. Try to understand what is being asked and get to the part of the passage from where the question loiters about. Read that part again. Don’t worry about the time. Two options shall be damn close. If you have clicked the obvious then stare at the screen and contradict yourself. If you can’t convince yourself to change the response click on that. Over time your pace increases. Don't try to be Usain Bolt at the very first race :3

6) Treat RCs as the father of critical reasoning questions. We aren’t afraid of ghosts, we are afraid of the dark. So change the term!!! Call the RCs ” Long CRs” It works. :D

7) If you have no idea regarding an answer even after following all the other steps, leave that question. -1 se behataar zero hain yaar. :P

Philosophy blogs:-BLOGMETRICS

8) For those who are lacking the appetite to solve RCs i suggest you to practise from www.rcprep.com. If you are really poor at solving RCs I suggest you to take 12min per rc and solve two of them correctly. matlab 7*3=21 is better than 6*3-7=11, if you get what I mean.

9) Last but not the least, as the saying goes : ” Shop till you drop. ” Practise till you literally drop. RCs are like DI , only a bit complex. They aren’t as straightforward as DIs and ajke din me sabhi googly hi daalte hain. So we should all get used to it :3

10) Always read the passage first and then answer the questions. But if you see that only 4 or 3 minutes are left and you have nothing else to do. Go look for the other passages and skim for direct factual questions like :” What does the author say when he meant this word? ” or ” What was the reason behind this” or “meaning of word”. Such questions you can solve easily if you find the part of the passage from where it is taken. Skim through the passage fast. The idea is to hold on to your nerves. Again nahi hua toh thik hain lekin -1 nahi chahiye. If you find out the part and if you are absolutely sure, then mark it. This is the only time when you should read the question first and the passage later

More such articles to come!!! And calm down, don't rush. Sab bhala hoga apka. Have confidence and phod phad do. There will be ups and downs but don't quit.

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