Comprehension and Vocabulary: Unseen Passage Skills
Comprehension and Vocabulary uses an unseen Hmar passage. It tests whether you can locate stated information, infer what is not directly said, explain a word from context, and answer within the requested length. The vocabulary questions usually ask for a synonym, an antonym, or the meaning of a word as it is used in the passage.
Working through the passage
- Read once for the general situation: who is involved, where they are, what problem has arisen.
- Read the questions, then return to the relevant paragraph. Do not rely on memory for names, numbers, or reasons.
- Answer in your own words when told to do so. Copying a whole sentence often includes irrelevant material and can lose marks.
- For inference, combine a stated detail with a reasonable conclusion: “He had not eaten since morning” supports “he was hungry,” but does not prove “he was ill.”
Vocabulary in context
- Substitute each option into the sentence and test whether the paragraph still makes sense.
- Check the word’s part of speech. A noun answer cannot replace a verb.
- Look for contrast clues (“but,” “although”) and definition clues (a phrase that explains the word).
- Common Hmar feeling words should be learned in pairs: hlim “happy” and lungngai “sad/worried”; mawi “beautiful” and its opposite in context.
Worked example
A passage says that a man becomes lungngai after reading a letter about his son’s illness. The question asks for the meaning of lungngai. The context is bad news about a close relative, so “sad/worried” fits. “Angry” is possible in some contexts, but the passage gives no blame or quarrel; “tired” is wrong because the cause is emotional, not physical. The reasoning is contextual, not a dictionary guess.
Traps
- Copying the entire sentence instead of answering.
- Choosing the first dictionary meaning without checking the paragraph.
- Giving a synonym with the wrong part of speech.
- Writing two answers when one is asked for.
- Confusing what the passage says with what you think should have happened.
Key points
- Read for the general situation before answering detail questions.
- Return to the paragraph for names, numbers, and reasons.
- Inference must be supported by a stated detail.
- Test vocabulary options by substituting them into the sentence.
- Match the part of speech when giving synonyms or antonyms.
- Keep answers within the requested length.