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Chapter 8

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16 views

Chapter 8

Uploaded by

Navendu prakash
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CHAPTER-8

UNSEEN PASSAGES OF COMPREHENSION

Revision Notes

Introduction
The word ‘Comprehension’ means, the ability to understand. A passage is given with some questions to test the
student’s reading skills. This exercise trains a student to read closely and to understand the ideas contained in it.
In the ICSE examination, this type of question carries 20 marks. The passage carries three types of questions:
(a) Vocabulary
(b) Short Questions
(c) Summary Writing

Guidelines
(i) Reading of the passage
(a) Read the passage quickly at first to get an overall view of what it contains. It is known as ‘skimming’.
(b) Re-read the passage slowly in order to understand it thoroughly. It is known as ‘scanning’.
(c) You may read the given questions before reading the passage slowly and carefully. You may underline the
line/lines containing the answer. It will later help you to write the answers quickly.
(ii) How to write the answers
(a) Vocabulary
A set of five words or phrases is picked out from the passage.
1. You are expected to explain each word or phrase in the context of the passage, i.e., the word or phrase as it
means in the passage and not its literal or dictionary meaning.
2. Read the sentence carefully as well as the sentence above and below it to understand its meaning completely.
3. You must also pay careful attention to the form and tense of the word. The answer must be given in the same
form and tense e.g.
(a) Abandoned (Note, it is in the past tense, so the answer must also be in the past tense) Ans: Left.
(b) Resounding (In the present continuous tense) Ans: Echoing.
4. It is not expected that you will know the meaning of every word given, but you can guess the meaning from
what is being written about it in the passage.
(b) Short Answer Questions
How to attempt the short questions in the passage?
1. Read the passage quickly to get a basic idea of what is being expressed in the passage.
2. Now go back to the beginning of the passage once again without reading the questions and read the passage
slowly so as to grasp each word and sentence clearly. Do not read the questions immediately after the first
reading as the mind is then diverted towards looking for the answers rather than understanding the passage
thoroughly. The passage usually contains hidden answers which are not visible on the surface. The answers have to be
deduced and this can only be done if the passage is comprehended properly.
3. Once you have comprehended the passage thoroughly, go through the questions. The questions usually have
more than one part attached to them. Make sure that each part is understood and attempted accordingly.
4. Now look for the answers in the passage. Care must be taken to see that a sentence is not lifted from the
passage. You must write the answers in your own words to gain full marks. Sometimes, you are asked to
quote the line in the passage which brings out the meaning of a particular word in the passage. Only in that
case, lifting is allowed. Write briefly and to the point.
(c) Summary Writing
How to write the Summary?
Summary writing requires condensing skills, and to make a good summary, you have to write it twice in the
number of words required.
Remember, you must not exceed the prescribed word limit. (Usually 50 words)
1. Read the questions carefully to understand which section of the passage is the answer required from, i.e.,
if it is required from the former half of the passage, the latter half of the passage or from the entire passage.
Usually, the question is expected to be asked from only a particular section of the passage.
2. It is suggested that use the Column technique to make a rough draft of the required answer. It is time saving
and will help you to keep within your word limit. Mark off 10 lines of your answer script and assign
five words to every line. Thus, you will get a grid of 50 blocks to fit in 60 words. You can do any kind of
corrections in this grid itself.
3. Make sure you have included all the relevant details that the question demands. Also check to see that you
have satisfactorily answered each part of the question.
4. Usually, articles (a, an, the) are not included in the counting of words, but just to be on the safer side, include
the articles also in the total of 60 words. Remember, your answer must not be less than 55 words and must
not exceed 65 words.
5. You may now rewrite the answer neatly which you have chalked out in the grid.

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