Practicing Reading Comprehension

In Bangladesh, no specific types of question are followed in

answering a reading comprehension and examinees answer
the questions putting the same sentence from the reading
passage. The examinees get marks by answering this way
but the purpose of comprehension is not fulfilled. The
questions set in such comprehension are usually easy and
for the students of lower level and some questions are
comparatively tough and these questions are set for the
students of higher level. These different types of questions
not only help understanding English language but also help
acquiring ability to use English language. Some examples
of reading comprehension are given below with answer of
some questions so that the students can understand some
techniques of reading comprehension without memorizing.
 Concentration is a prerequisite for
comprehension
Reading Comprehension Skills:
Comprehension is a two-fold process; it
requires understanding of what is presented,
and reproducing it as comprehended. There is
a large demand on this skill in practical life,
and it can be developed with intelligent effort
like any other skill.
 Reading Speed
Speed Poor Reader Good Reader
Study reading 90-125 WPM 200-300 WPM
80 to 90% 80 to 90%
comprehension comprehension

Average reading 150-180 WPM 250-500 WPM

70% 70%
Comprehension Comprehension
800+ WPM
Skimming Can not skim 50% comprehension
 Reading Speed
The study reading speed is used for reading
material which deals with difficult arguments,
ideas, notions, etc. This kind of reading aims at
almost total comprehension and retention of what
has been read. The average reading speed is
the speed used for everyday reading of
newspapers, magazines, novels etc. The emphasis
in this kind of reading is on following the
writers line of thought. Skimming is the faster
reading speed.
 Reading Speed
The objective of skimming is only to get a
rough idea of what the passage is about. Thus,
some portion of the passage are left unread as
the reader mentally sift the material and reads
only the relevant portions. A good reader is
one who, keeping his purpose in mind, can
quickly attain the required speed.
 Reading Speed
The exercises given here should be read at the
study reading speed because they have been
designed to provide practice in the skill of reading
with near-total comprehension.
It is a wrong notion that when reading speed
increases, comprehension suffers. A slow reading
speed often produces listlessness and causes
distraction. While, it has been found that in many
cases comprehension improves with an increase
in speed.
 Reading Speed
To improve your reading speed try to cultivate the habit
of looking at larger groups of words and of moving
ahead faster. The wider your eye-span, the greater will
be your speed. Because of lack of guidance in the
stages, some people develop the habit of regression,
that is, going back to words they have read, moving
their heads from side-to-side, moving their lips, or
pointing at the words with a pencil, pen, or finger.
Other habits which slow down the reading speed are
vocalization (reading aloud) and sub-
vocalization(saying the words to oneself). Check
whether you suffer from any of these defects. If you do,
try to give them up quickly.
 Practical Hints
1. Read the passage to get its general meaning and the pause
for a while to recollect and determine what the writer is
trying to say.

2. Go through the passage once more and note down the

main points.

3. The time you spend in reading will be time well-spent.

4. In fact, if you have read the passage intelligently, you

have won half the battle.
 Practical Hints
5. You may come across words whose meaning
you do not know. Try to make a guess; very often
the context will help you arrive at the meaning.

6. Then read all questions given at the end of the

passage attentively and look for the answers one
by one.

7. The answers should be based on what is stated,

implied, or merely suggested in the passage.
 Practical Hints
8. Be precise in answering the questions. There is
no virtue in giving more than the required
information.

9. As far as possible your answer should be in

your words, and unless otherwise directed, in full
sentences.

10. Check carefully the grammar, spelling, and

punctuation of what you write.
 Reading Passage A
Bed rest is bad for you. The reason, according to the
leading American health magazine Prevention, is that a
whole range of bodily functions begin to weaken after
as short a time as one day in bed. Muscle tissue starts to
break down, robbing the body of important minerals
and leading to substantial weakness in just a few days;
bones start to break down and lose calcium; the body is
unable to use food efficiently, heart and blood vessels
get weak after a couple of days, which can lead to a rise
in pulse rate and a drop volume; joint stiffness and
constipation are also common.
 Reading Passage A
Prolonged bed rest is not to be taken lightly,
says Dr. Benjamin Natelson, professor of
neurosciences of New Jersey Medical School.
And that is why doctors these days make every
effort to get patients up and moving as soon as
possible after heart attacks and operations.
 Reading Passage A
1. Polar questions (Yes No questions)
a) Is bed rest good for us?
Answer: No

b) Should patients be up and moving after heart

attacks and operations?
Answer: Yes
 Reading Passage A
2. Multiple choice questions (questions to which correct answers are to be
chosen out of a number of alternatives)
a) Prevention is a
I. book
II. Magazine
III. Disease
b) Calcium is a
I. Mineral
II. Vitamin
III. Carbohydrate
c) Rr. Benjamin Natelson is a professor of
I. Medicine
II. Surgery
III. Neurosciences
 Reading Passage A
3. Wh questions (questions which begin with
interrogative words: who, what, why, whether, and
how)
a) What happens when muscle tissue breaks down?
b) How does rest affect heart and blood vessels?
 Reading Passage A
4. Inference questions (questions to which answers
are not obvious, they have to be deduced/imagined)
a) What bodily functions are mentioned in this
passage?
b) How does physical activity help heart patients?
 Reading Passage A
5. what is the structure of the passage or how is the passage
organized?
Answer: The opening sentence is the topic sentence. It introduces
the topic, namely, bed rest is bad for us.
The second sentence gives the reason why bed rest is bad; rest
causes the bodily functions to weaken.
Sentence 3 which consists of a series of co-ordinate clauses
joined by semi-colons (;) gives details of the weakening of the
various bodily functions. These details support the topic sentence.
The second paragraph about doctors attempt to get patients up
and moving after heart attacks and operations follows from the
evidence mentioned in the first paragraph.
 Reading Passage A
6. Cohesion questions (questions about sentence
linkers)
And that is why doctors these days, etc
a) What does And signify?
b) What does that is why signify?
 Reading Passage A
7. Grammar Review
i) Adverbial clauses can often be replaced by participle phrases. Here is an
example from the text.
Muscle tissue starts to break down, robbing the body of important minerals

This could be rewritten with a full adverbial clause:
When muscle tissue breaks down, it robes the body of important minerals.
Directions: Now rewrite the following sentences, using participle phrases.
Make any other changes in sentences that you consider necessary.
a) When she slipped in the bathroom, she broke her ankles.
b) When he fell asleep, he snored his head off.
 Reading Passage A
7.ii) The relative pronoun which refers back to the preceding
noun or statement. Here is an example from the text.
.. Heart and blood vessels get weak after a couple of days
which can lead to a rise in pulse rate ..
Here which refers back to the statement in the main clause.
Directions: Now combine the following pairs of sentences,
using which. Make any other changes that you consider
necessary.
a) He failed in the exam. It made his parents very unhappy.
b) We cannot always expect success. We often forget this.
 Reading Passage A
8. Vocabulary: The following sentence occurs in the
text.
Bed rest is bad for us.
a) note the expression bad for us. Now fill in the
blanks in the following sentences with good for us or
bad for us.
I. Milk is .
II. Smoking is ..
III. Overeating is ..
 Reading Passage A
8. b) Change the following words as directed and
make sentences with them.
Weakness (into adjective), unable (into noun),
stiffness (into adjective), operation (into verb), lose
(into noun)
8. c) Make sentences with the following words as
directed without changing their forms.
Function (as verb), start (as noun), rise (as verb),
drop (as verb)
 Reading Passage A
8. d) The following adverbs appear in the text.
in just a few days; after of a couple of days; efficiently;
lightly
Use them in the blanks below:
I. His liver is not functioning ..
II. I will come to Dhaka ..
III. Symptoms should not be taken ..
IV. He was hospitalized after an accident. But he was
released ..
Thank You