Reading Comprehension (Unseen Prose and Poetry)
What this domain tests
An unseen Karbi passage in prose and a short poem, answered with no outside help. It tests literal comprehension, vocabulary in context, inference, and awareness of poetic device.
Core rules
- Read the questions first, then the passage; mark the line where each answer sits.
- Karbi verbs carry person and number agreement, so the subject is often recoverable from the verb form even when the noun phrase is dropped. When a question asks who did something, check the agreement marker before guessing.
- The language is verb-final: the element just before the verb is usually the object or an adverbial, not the doer.
- Negation is marked on or beside the verb; a single negative element flips the meaning of the whole clause.
- For poetry, name the device and then explain its effect. Repetition and parallelism build refrain in Karbi oral-style verse; simile and personification carry the image.
Worked example
Question: "The passage says the villagers did not cross the river that day. Why?" Step 1 - locate the sentence about the river. Step 2 - read the verb: it carries a negative marker plus past reference. Step 3 - the preceding clause supplies the cause (heavy rain). Answer: "Because of the heavy rain." The reasoning matters: the negative marker, not word order, told you the crossing did not happen.
Traps that cost marks
- Importing facts from the prescribed lessons into an unseen passage.
- Missing a negative marker and answering the opposite.
- Quoting a whole paragraph instead of the one clause asked for.
- In poetry items, naming a device without stating its effect.