1
READING
COMPREHENSION
It is perhaps not always realised that being educated in a large measure
implies a capacity for acquiring new understanding through reading and
integrating it with the knowledge already acquired. This process is what
we broadly call comprehension. On a more technical level, comprehension
wide range of
involves a
affair, it encompasses
skills and
interests. As truly multi-dimensional
a
a variety
of abilities with to
respect vocabulary,
grammatical and discoursal features, inferential processes and contextual
knowledge. According to Carrol, some of the factors operating in
comprehending a text are: remembering word meanings; following the
structure of a passage, finding answers to questions answered
explicitly
or in paraphrase; recognising a writer's purpose, attitude, tone and mood;
and drawing inferences from the context. This last factor needs special
notice since even the meaning of a word or a phrase in a stretch of discourse
may depend upon what has preceded it (textual or linguistic context), and
on the presuppositions as well as personal and cultural considerations,
relating to the writer (extra-textual or extra-linguistic context).
For proper comprehension it is also necessary to know what Wayne
C. Booth has called 'Rhetorical Stance:
The common ingredient that I find in all of the writing I admire... is
something that I shall reluctantly call the rhetorical stance, a stance
which depends on discovering and maintaining in any writing situation
a proper balance among the three elements that are at work in any
communicative effort: the available arguments about the subject itself.
the interest and peculiarities of the audience and the voice, the implied
character of the speaker.
The Rhetorical Stance
College Composition and Communication
It needs sustained training to be able to understand this 'Rhetorical
Stance. It should, however, not be forgotten that there is a more basic
E1mmnalONs
Competitive
English for
232 Would be inco
absence ofwhich
the
aboVe
stance
s purpOSe
which
hensible.
ma be all kinds
shill in the
wriler
the
to know to w.
Ilies in the
ability criticISe, to
delend, to promote,
arn, etC.
clanty.
to of a s style
writer's
of things to
of is the
clear perception
the
writer exDres
writer
A parallel
requireent
in which iin w h i c h aa expresses himself
and personal way
distinctivelh
original
identity. Tt
is not very different fferent from our
his unique telour
his voice on the
and thus
cstablishes
identity by hearing elephor
of a friend s ot ofsu
the tone
ognition
calls for a cIear
awareness
vhat
Yet another
requirement
attitude
towards his subject, his reade or
the writer's
It like the tone of
one reads. is
tone in writing is also oice
As the case of style. an
hoth. in
performs the same function - expressino
anger,
and it also
speaking respect, defiance, praise or
in
or exalted feeling,
indignation. gentle achieved through the manipulation
much more is
indifference. All this and
choice of words, peculiarities
of usage and
includes
of language which of speech, rhythm and even
structure and the use of images, figures
punctuation.
because it gives to new access
Reading is important not merely
effort, concentration and
knowledge. Being an active process requiring
deliberation. it is an aid to thinking. Not only this, anyone seriously
and extensive
interested in improving his writing cannot ignore good
and writing, as indeed
reading. The reason is not far to seek. Both reading
also thinking. involve similar problems of organisation, development,
expression (the last named quality being not involved in
logie and
thinking)
Prose discourse usually takes on four forms: 'narration, description,
exposition and argumentation. Each form serves a distinct purpose.
Narration tells a story by recounting an incident or event. Descriprou
paints pictures in words of an object, a person, a place, a state or a
process. Exposition seeks to inform, set forth, explain or clarity.
Argumentalion is concerned with matters involving differences of opin
and it secks to
persuade, for or against, a certain point of view.
Just all
as
writing has a discernible purpose behind it, so also it a
well-defined structure. Ordering, arranging, organising, developing th
material hand in of
according
structure which lend formal
to
recognised principles, result 1n
pa
erns
1antic
coherence to the Composition.
unity, grammatical cohesion anu
The search lor
structure can be at the highe
than-paragrapn unt
level (intra-vs. paragraph el
level or
Oa
at a
paragraph, senenCes should inter-paragraph structure). v*
flow smoothly, one
other. One
into the
the common deVIces for achinu ono anal
Reuding Comprehension 233
words or
phrases such as ne7, besides, then, however, thus,
indeed, in adlition, therefore., moreover, nonetheless, on the contrary, as
consequently,
rCSul. on the other hand, furthermore. Some of these can also be used
for connectng paragraphs. Or, such
phrases
and clauses as for example,
in concliusion, io sum up, W'e now see that, at last, can be used as inter-
paragraph transilional devices.
Each paragraph is built around a key idea contained in or
expressed
by what is usually called a topic sentence. All other sentences in the
paragraph generally support the topic sentence. Thought development
within aparagraph follows certain recognisable patterns. Prominent among
these are example, time arrangement, space arrangement, general and
specific, statistics, comparison and/or contrast, division or classification,
cause and etfect and
analogy.
Recent thinking about discourse analysis has led to a meaningful
distinction between a sentence and an utterance. The former is a
grammatical unit, the latter a communicative unit. There is no one-to-one
correspondence between the grammatical status of a sentence and its
communicative or utterance value. Thus, both 'Have a seat and Ill get
you a drink' and 'Move an inch and I'll knock your teeth in' are
imperatives but the communicative function of the former is giving a
suggestion, while that of the latter is holding out a threat. Intelligent reading
requires an awareness of the intonation that links a sentence function
with its utterance value.
Another useful aid to a good reader is to make him aware of two aspects
of connected writing. Sentences combine to form texts and the relations
between sentences are aspects of grammatical cohesion. On the other
hand, utterances combine to form discourse and the relations between
them are aspects of discoursal coherence. Thus, both the following
examples are coherent as discourse, but only the first one is a cohesive
text, with the second sentence linked to the first by ellipsis.
A: Can you go to Bombay tomorrow?
B: Yes, I can.
A: Can you go to Bombay tomorrow?
B: Indian Airlines pilots are on strike.
Another way of looking at the problem of comprehension is to treat it
on the basis of the dichotomy between what is called pure or simple
comprehension, on the one hand, and inferential and implicational
comprehension, on the other. The former requires a mere understanding
of the words in their normal syntax, the latter, besides a literal com-
prehension of the text, "an apprehension of the total situation described"
Examinations
258 English for Competitive
done by his pupils, and you will certainly find that the careless or
inattentive pupil is liable to be punished.
with fear?
. I n what way was learning associated
What were the peculiarities of the system which encouraged
competition among pupils?
What did the nineteenth century beliet in learning for its own
sake result in?
4 Discuss the three stages through which the methods of making
pupils learn developed'?
5. Which methods are practised in the modern classroom?
Since most major examinations contain multiple-choice questions on
passages for comprehension, we give below a number of them for your
practice. The first one has been properly discussed.
I. We in India have our own special problems. No one can
deny that some of them are of a serious nature and must
be attacked with vigour and determination. Our national
objectives have been defined clearly. We aim at
providing every citizen with the basic necessities and
complete freedom to lead a life of his or her own choice.
We aim to create a democratic society,
strong and free,
in which every citizen,
irrespective of his religious
beliefs, will occupy an equal and honoured place, and
be given full and equal opportunities for growth and
service. We aim at ending
untouchability and doing away
with the present inequalities of status and
wealth. We
are opposed to the concentration
of wealth in a few hands.
1. This
passage could most probably be a part of
(a) The Indian Constitution
(b) A book on
political science
(c) A speech
(d) A personal letter
2. According to the author, our national objective is to
(a) create
equal opportunities for all
(b) end economic
exploitation in the country
(c) promote individual
freedom and prosperity
(d) promote democracy,
3.
socialism and secularism
Pick out the wrong statement:
(a) The problems of Indians are
like anyone else's
(b) Some of our problems can
be handled only by strong people
(c) Our goal is to build an India free from economic exploitation
(d) There is no uncertaunty about our national objectives
T h e italicised word 1igour means
(a) foCe
(b)enthusiasm
(c) physical health
(d) forcetulness of language
The first item requires you to place' the given passage, i.c., to find
where. out of the four "places given, it is most likely to occur. Those
who are familiar with the Indian Constitution may find the use of in
'we
thepassage a distractor. The content of the passage and much of its
vOcabulary may mislead the candidates into choosing (b), which therefore,
act as a distractor. Misreading the tone of the passage, because
can again
of the use of the pronoun, may distract the reader to choose
first person
the overall
(d). One strong reason to choose (c) as the key, apart from
tone of the passage, is the repetition of 'we' throughout
the passage. Even
a rhetorical
the parallel constructions repeated in the passage give it
to writing. One
complexion which belongs more to speech than
has, therefore, to have the ability both to eliminate (for negative
reasons)
the right
the wrong response and to identify (for positive reasons)
response.
is that,
In item two, the principle governing the right option (key)
the parts individually and
whereas the whole can represent the parts,
whole. Thus, while each one of (a), (b)
separately cannot represent the
and (c) is not wholly wrong, none
of them is fully right. And since (d) is
to (d), which is the
and (c) are distractors in relation
fully right, (a), (b)
best response.
asks you to identify the wrong
Item three is slightly different. It
true while
which implies that three out of the four options are
statement, sentence 'No one can
is false. Option (b) is true because of the
only one
true as the last two sentences
determination'. Similarly, (c) is
.
. Vigour is true because of the
the end of economic exploitation. Again (d)
imply left with option
Sentence 'Our national.. defined clearly'. Thus we are
elimination, we
it must be wrong by the above process of
(a). Though first
whether it is indeed wrong. The very
must double-check it and see
India have our own special
Sentence falsifies for it says: 'We in
it,
are not like those of others.
problems
problems', which implies that
our
So (a) is the key.
item. It merely wants you
to identify the
The last one is a vocabulary tart in which it is used. In
260 English for Competitive Examinations
it (d) is a real distractor because in some cases vigour does mean
forcefulness of language'. Moreover, it is somewhat close to (a). In a
different sense (c) becomes a strong distractor, for vigour is most
frequently associated with physical strength. The combination of 'vigour
and determination may mislead some to think that vigour means
enthusiasm. Obviously (a) is the key here.
You have thus seen that in a multiple-choice item different reasoning
strategies have to be employed in order to eliminate the distractors and
arrive at the key.
Dear Children.
I like being with children and talking to them and, even
more, playing with them. For a moment I forget that I
am terribly old and that it is a very long time ago since I
was a child. But when I sit down to write to
you, I cannot
forget my age and the distance that separates you from
me. Old
people have a habit of delivering sermons and
good advice to the young. I remember that I disliked this
very much long, long ago when I was a boy. So I
suppose
you do not like it very much either.
What, then, shall I write about? If you were with me,
I would love to talk to you about this beautiful world of
ours. about flowers and trees and birds and animals, and
stars and mountains and glaciers and all other wonderful
things that surround us in the world. We have all this
beauty all round us and yet we who
are grownups, often
forget about it and lose ourselves in arguments
our quarrels. We sit in our offices and our imagine that or
we
are
doing very important work.
Our
country is a very big country and there is a
deal to be done great
all by of us. If each
does his or one of us
her little bit, then all
this mounts up and the
prospers and goes ahead fast country
Thave tried to talk
to you in this
letter, as if you were
Sitting near me, and I have written more
than I intended.
JAWAHARLAL
(Abridged from
letter written by
a
eekly Children's Number) Jawaharlal Nehru for Shankar s
1. I like
being with children and talking to
playing with them." them and, even more,
The above sentence implies that
(a) Jawaharlal liked nothing better than playing with children.
(b) If Jawaharlal got an opportunity to play with children he did
not talk to them.
(cJawaharlal liked all the three things:
being with children,
talking to them. and playing with them. Of these, he liked
the last thing most
(d) Whenever Jawaharlal met children, he first played with them
and only afterwards talked to them.
2. 1f each one of us does his or her little bit, then all this mounts up
and the country prospers and goes ahead fast.
In the above sentence this refers to:
(a) our cOuntry
(b)the fact that our country is big
)the little bit that each one ofus does
(d) the fact that there is a great deal to be done by all of us
3. For a moment I forget that I am terribly old and that it is a very
longtime ago since I was a child".
Here terribly means
(a) that Jawaharlal is afraid of old age
6) extremely
children by his age
(c) that he wants to frighten
(d) that old age is a terrifying experience
habit of delivering sermnons and good advice
4 Old people have a
to the young."
Here the word sermong means O-Socr On YOu
(a) long speeches )o
CCmcNa A c
( moral fault-finding or warnings
in a church
(C) religious addresses
text
(d) quotations from a religious
5 The word glaciers in the second
sentence ofthesecond paragraph
ofthe letter means Lo aebV
(a) snow-covered peaks
formed by snow on
mountains, moving slowly
bmasses of ice,
along a valley
(c) valleys
formations of clouds in the sky
(d)
has attenmpted what
has
man
I. From the very beginning of the
don is different from the rest
