Supplementary Reading and Rapid Reading
Supplementary Reading and Rapid Reading
These two parts test different skills and should be prepared separately. Puraka Odike (supplementary reading) carries longer narratives and asks about theme, motive and moral judgement; answers are short but must carry a reason. Vega Odike (rapid reading) is a speed task: skim, locate, answer in a word or phrase, and move on.
Rapid reading technique
- Read the question stems before the passage.
- Scan for capitals, numbers, kinship terms and quoted speech; answers usually sit beside them.
- Answer in the tense and person the question uses; a word or short phrase is enough.
- Do not translate the passage mentally - match word shapes and move.
Supplementary reading technique
- Track who wants what and who blocks it; motive questions follow that line.
- For moral questions, turn the ending into a general statement and support it with one incident.
- Keep note form; the marks are for content, not for sentence polish.
Worked example
Rapid-reading passage: 'The kambala was moved from the paddy field to the new track in 2018; the pairs, once seventy, fell to forty.' Question: how many pairs remained? Scan for a number near 'pairs'; the second number, forty, is the answer, and 2018 is a decoy. Question: why was the venue changed? If the passage gives no reason, write 'not stated'. Inventing a reason is the commonest loss in this part.
Traps that cost marks
- Over-answering rapid-reading items and running out of time.
- Copying a full sentence when a phrase is demanded.
- Confusing two similar character names in a supplementary passage.
- Missing 'not' and 'except' in the question stem.
- Padding a supplementary answer with plot summary instead of motive.