Reading Comprehension: Unseen Passage Strategy
The unseen passage tests whether you can extract main idea, supporting detail, inference, tone, pronoun reference and the meaning of a word as used in context. Passages are unfamiliar by design, so the method matters more than prior knowledge.
Working order
- Read the questions first, briefly, to know what to look for.
- Skim the passage once for the main idea - what changes between the first and last sentence?
- Scan for the specific details each question names.
- Answer in your own words where asked; quote only when the question says "quote".
Worked example with reasoning
Passage: "Krusna Chandra was the first in his village to send his daughter to school. Neighbours mocked him, and the headman warned him. Every morning he walked with her to the bus stop, and every evening he waited there. Two years later, three other girls from the village were in the same class." Question 1: The main idea is - (a) buses are unreliable, (b) one family's persistence changed a village's attitude, (c) the headman was unkind. Reasoning: (a) is a detail never stated; (c) is true but narrow; (b) covers the change from first sentence to last. Answer: (b). Question 2: mocked in context means - ridiculed, not "imitated". Reasoning: the headman "warned" him, so the tone is hostile; hostile imitation makes no sense.
Traps
- Choosing an option that is true in real life but absent from the passage.
- Confusing inference with fact - inference must be forced by the text.
- Ignoring extreme words (always, never) that make an option wrong.
- Giving a dictionary meaning that does not fit the sentence's tone.
- Writing full sentences when the question asks for a word.