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READING, , Reading, Comprehensions, , , , , , ‘Stent with Blloon Angioplonty, , , , , , , , , , , , , , Reading comprehension tests the ability to comprehend or to make meaning out, ofa written passage. CBSE has made quite a few changes in the pattern lately., This Chapter will explain in detail the new types of passages, along with lots of, solved examples to hone your Reading skills!, , , , Topic Notes, EES, , © Marking Scheme, , @ Tips and Tricks, , @ Type 1: Discursive Passage, , © Type 2: Factual Passage (case-based)
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Active or good readers are the ones who are able to note the structure, or organisation of the text, and create a, mental overview or outline, while also identifying the text's type. They are able to use their prior knowledge to, clarify the meanings of given words and phrases, predict about what might happen next and understand ideas, as they encounter them. Passive or poor readers, on the other hand, do not read with a specific purpose in mind., They get stuck on words which confuse them and are not able to use their prior knowledge to understand the text, completely. So, it is important for the students to become active readers in order to score well in reading section., , *Marking Scheme, , ln CBSE Class X, English Language and Literature Reading Section, two types of passages are asked of 10 marks, each:, , Discursive Passage (10 marks), , * One passage of 400-450 words to test inference, evaluation, and vocabulary skills., , * Ten out of twelve MCQ type questions to be answered., , * Skills tested: skimming, scanning, comprehending, eye for details, writer's opinion, etc., , Factual Passage (10 marks), , e One case-based passage of 300-350 words with visual input statistical data, charts, etc, to test analysis, and interpretation., , e Ten out of twelve MCQ type questions to be answered., , e — Skills required: ability, intuitiveness, and perception in order to engage in independent reflection and inquiry., , Tips and Tricks, , Passages can be energy-sapping, information-intensive, and mind-boggling at times! So, it is important to bear a, few things in mind while reading questions thereafter to sail through smoothlu., , 1. Emphasize on the main ideas of the passage is not necessary to understand the meanings of, all the words in the passage as meanings can be, , You just need to understand the main points of, 4 PB derived from the context as well., , the text, without worrying about comprehending, all the associated examples. While the detailsina 5 Do the easy questions (MCQ) first and the, reading passage are important, don't get carried tougher ones later, , over with reading examples, illustrations, and, so on. Being able to gauge the overall flow and, structure will help you analyse and answer the, questions., , Focus on the ones that you can answer easily., Go back to the tricky questions later. If you are, struggling with an incomprehensible question in, the exam, make sure you have the patience to, 2. Understand the overall flow of the text leave that specific question for the end., , Getting ahang of the flow, organisationalstructure 6, and the centralidea ofthe passageshouldbeyour, main priority. Do not try to memorise the text as, , The correct option always comes from within, the passage, , it will only waste your time and confuse you. For The right answer is always based on the, , factual or specific point questions, you can always information given within the passage. Any of the, , re-read the passage. options that is out of the scope of the passage or, , one which requires you to know something from, , 3. Read the passage first and the questions later your background knowledge is never the correct, It is vital that you read the passage first and then answer., , the questions. This will prepare you to focus on the, things you need to look for in the passage. Focus, only on the questions, and not on a particular part A passage may focus on one point for quite a bit, just to answer a question. of sentences and then change it towards the end, with trigger words like 'but' or ‘however’. This will, usually confuse readers who skim through the, While, having a good vocabulary is always an passage or rush through it in haste. So, itis always, added advantage, do not let it bog you down. It better to read the questions properly., , 7. Read the questions properly, , 4. Vocabulary can be derived from context, , This is the old pattern marking scheme based on last year's guidelines from CBSE but, still very useful for structuring of, answers purpose.
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Discursive Passage, , Adiscursive passage is one that has less ambiguity and talks about dis-connected topics. These are often based on, a person's opinion which is generally argumentative, persuasive, or interpretative, with open-ended conclusions at, times. Students arrive at a conclusion through reasoning and intuition which can be challenging at times, as ideas, may not have a logical connection to one another., , Example:, Read the passage given below., , @, , 2), , Q), , 4), , Today |, Rabindranath Tagore, complete eighty years of my life. As | look back on the vast stretch of years, that lie behind me and see in clear perspective the history of my early development, | am struck by the, change that has taken place both in my own attitude and in the psychology of my countrymen - a change, that carries within it a cause of profound tragedy., , Our direct contact with the larger world of men was linked up with the contemporary history of the English, people whom we came to know in those earlier days. It was mainly through their mighty literature that we, formed our ideas with regard to these newcomers to our Indian shores. In those days, the type of learning, that was served out to us was neither plentiful nor diverse, nor was the spirit of scientific enquiry very much, in evidence. Thus, their scope being strictly limited, the educated of those days had recourse to English, language and literature. Their days and nights were eloquent with the stately declamations of Burke, with, Macaulay's long-rolling sentences; discussions centered upon Shakespeare's drama and Byron's poetry, and, above all upon the large-hearted liberalism of nineteenth-century English politics., , At the time, though tentative attempts were being made to gain our national independence, at heart we, had not lost faith in the generosity of the English race. This belief was so firmly rooted in the sentiments of, our leaders as to lead them to hope that the victor would of his own grace pave the path of freedom for the, vanquished. This belief was based upon the fact that England at the time provided a shelter to all those who, had to flee from persecution in their own country. Political martyrs who had suffered for the honour of their, people were accorded unreserved welcome at the hands of the English., , | was impressed by this evidence of liberal humanity in the character of the English and thus, | was led to, set them on the pedestal of my highest respect. This generosity in their national character had not yet, been vitiated by imperialist pride. About this time, as a boy in England, | had the opportunity of listening, to the speeches of John Bright, both in and outside parliament. The large-hearted, radical liberalism of, those speeches, overflowing all narrow national bounds, had made so deep an impression on my mind that, something of it lingers even today, even in these days of graceless disillusionment., , On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer any ten questions from the twelve that follow:, (A) What helped Indians to shape their ideas of, , the Englishmen? Context-based question, , (a) their advanced weaponry It is a direct question about the main idea of, (©) thelr literature the passage. Students need to skim through, , the passage in order to derive the correct, (©) their orders Ghewer, , (d)_ their administration, Choose the option that best captures the, , central idea of the passage from the given, quotes., , “Jai Hind” “People are trapped, —Netaji Subhash_ in history and history, , Chandra Bose” Is trapped In them” Theme-based question, , —James Baldwin This question talks about the central idea of the, (a) (2) passage encapsulated within a quote. Students, az —, = - have to understand the broader idea of the passage, ‘A nation's culture “History is who we ‘and choose from a set of quotes that best capture, resides in the hearts are and why we are the idea. Look for words which describe the entire, and in the soul of its the way we are.” passage in such questions., people.” —David McCullough, —Mahatma Gandhi, @ 4), , (@) (b) (2), , © @) @) 4)
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©, , ©, , ©, , G, , (H), , o, , What is the tone of the following context:, “a change that carries within it a cause of, profound tragedy”?, (a) boredom, , (©) tired, , (b) pain and loss, (d) cheerful, , Which of the following is relevant for the, title of the passage?, , (a) Proud to be Independent, , (b) Crisis of Civilisation, , (©) Happy Indians, , (d) The Civilized Englishmen, , Our was a hurdle in our quest for freedom., (a) distrust in the Englishmen, , (b) faith that they were good, , (©) belief, , (d) fear of the Englishmen, , Which of the following sentences makes the, , correct use of “vanquished”, as used in the, , passage?, , (a) The soldier successfully vanquished his, rivals., , (b) He tried to vanquish her fears., , (c) Be courageous to vanquish all evils., , (d) Vanquish your disease with this medicine, , Tagore felt that Englishmen deserved his, highest respect because of .., (a) their literature, , (b) their open-minded humanity, (©) their providing refuge to people, (d) their modern outlook, , , , Which word in the passage is closest in, meaning to ‘deep’?, (a) Perspective, (©) tragedy, , (b) profound, (d) psychology, , What do you understand from the line, “..., , attempts were being made to gain our, , national independence, at heart we had not, , lost faith in the generosity of the English, , race’?, , (a) Indians didn’t lose faith in the Englishmen, , (b) English race was selfish, , (©) Englishmen were full of words, , (d) Indians were fighting against generosity, , Tone of the Passage, , This is a commonly tested question with a, pretty straightforward answer which requires, you to read the entire passage and understand, the intention of the writer behind writing it. Try, to absorb the emotion depicted in the passage, and then answer the question., , Interference-based question, , This question asks you to think about the, passage and see which is the most befitting, title for it as a reader. For this, students must, grasp the central idea and choose the most, appropriate title from the ones given., , Fact-based question, , A particular fact from the passage is, highlighted here. Students are required to, identify the reason behind the incident in the, highlighted fact. Look for words which provide, evidence of that fact in the text in order to, answer it. Avoid the words which indicate, opinions of the writer and concentrate only on, the hard facts., , Vocabulary-based question, , In this, the dual meanings of a particular word, is asked. Do not worry if you do not know the, meaning of the word in such a question. You will, have to choose from a set of options, each set, having two meanings of the word, in reference, to the context., , Fact-based question, , This question is also an idea present in the, passage. Look for the facts which provide, you the confirmation of this information, being provided in the text for answering such, questions. Do not focus on the writer's opinion., , Vocabulary-based question, , Ittests the meaning of a particular word. Insuch, questions, do not panic if you do not understand, the meaning of the word in the first instance., Use the method of elimination to arrive at the, correct answer., , Context-based question, , It tests the understanding of the line from the, context of the passage. In such questions, it, becomes critical for you to understand what, the writer is trying to say in the entire passage, rather than skimming through only certain, portions of it. Sometimes information can be, present in a slanting manner using words such, as ‘but' and ‘however’ Read the passage with a, calm mind and then decide the meaning of the, line given from the context.
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(J) Choose the option that correctly states the Vocabulary-based question, , incaalna of libecal humankl’ cstmelcats Ittests the comprehension of a vocabulary item, the pisoae ¥ pee ‘again which you need to skim out from the, , passage. Look for the portion of the passage, , (a) Bondage which contains the idea and read the entire, (b) Freedom of choice sentence to get a deeper understanding of the, knowladae ofhi Hay andisoelat meaning of the idea ‘liberal humanity’ being, (©) Knowledge of humanity and society conveyed. Then choose the option closest to it, (d) allof the above while answering such a question., Fact-based question, (K) The terms ‘large - hearted’ and ‘radical This is a direct question about one of the ideas, liberalism’ are used for: sees in the PS ae for ve eee, 5 in the passage with the keywords or the, (@) Macaulay (b) John Bright synénume of those keywords’ mentioned in, (©) Shakespeare (d) Byron the question. From there, you will obtain your, answer., () What is the message conveyed in the last Theme-based question, paragraph of the passage? This question is about the message conveyed, (a) Lack of generosity in the English people through the passage and requires a holistic, , ‘i - i grasp of the ideas conveyed through the, (b) Liberalism of the Englishmen passage Re-reas the lose paraganh of the, , (c) Loss of humanity passage and choose the option which is the, (d) Loss of Indian pride most appropriate in such questions,, , Ans. (A) (b) their literature, , Explanation: Rabindranath Tagore tells us that the only way that people in those days could know, about the new visitors of their country was their mighty literature. Hence (b) is the correct answer., , 8) —O, Explanation: |n this passage, the author doesn’t talk about patriotism. So, (a) cannot be the answer., Rabindranath Tagore also doesn't talk about the history of mankind. Hence, (b) & (d) are also not the, answers. The answer here is (c) as in this passage Rabindranath Tagore tells us how Indian culture was, influenced by the mannerism and speeches of the white people., , (©) (©) pain and loss, Explanation: In the above passage, the change that Rabindranath Tagore talks about is the change, in culture and lifestyle of the Indian people since the arrival of the British. He feels that this change, is heartbreaking and is no less than a tragedy. He is not bored or tired. Nor is he cheerful. These lines, show his anguish. Hence, (b) is the correct answer., , (D) (©) Crisis of Civilisation, Explanation: The passage is not about independence (b) or the Indian People (b). In this passage,, Rabindranath Tagore expresses his agony over the cultural changes that have come around in Indian, culture due to colonial rule. He calls this as no less than a tragedy that the real flavour of Indian, civilization has been lost. Hence, the answer here is (b)., , © (b) faith that they were good, Explanation: It is clear from the passage that Rabindranath Tagore said that they "had not lost faith in, the generosity of the English race" He doesn't talk about the distrust or fear of Englishmen. So, (a) and, (d) are not the answers while (c) is also wrong. Hence, (b) is the right answer., , () @ The soldier successfully vanquished his rivals., Explanation: Vanquish means to defeat. All the sentences given above refer to defeating either the, enemy (a), fears (b), evils (c) or disease (d). But in the passage vanquished is used to refer to the defeated, side in the war of independence. Hence, (a) is the correct answer., , (G) (6) their open-minded humanity, Explanation: Rabindranath Tagore tells us that whatever the people in those days got to know about, the English men was through their literature. And whatever we learned from them was thought to, be modern. All this and the acceptance of fleeing political leaders from other countries made people, think that British were open minded and hence, they deserved the highest respect. So, (b) is the correct, answer.
