Reading Comprehension: Unseen Prose Passages
What the section tests
Reading Comprehension uses unseen prose passages. Questions ask for explicit information, inference, vocabulary in context, purpose, tone and a short summary. The passage, not your general knowledge, is the authority.
Core moves
- Skim once for gist: who, what, where, why, and the writer's attitude.
- Read the question stem and limit words; underline key nouns and qualifiers such as only, mainly, except.
- Separate stated fact from inference. If the answer is not printed, point to the clue that supports it.
- For vocabulary, substitute each option into the sentence and check fit, connotation and grammar.
- For tone/purpose, look at adjectives, verbs and concessions, not just topic.
- Answer in your own words unless quotation is requested.
Worked example
Passage: The council met under the neem tree. Though the elders praised the new well, they postponed repairs because the harvest had failed. Question: Why were repairs postponed? Reasoning: 'because' marks cause; the failed harvest, not lack of praise, explains delay. Answer: The harvest had failed, so repairs were not prioritised.
Traps
Copying a whole sentence when one clause is needed; importing outside facts; treating a suggestion as a stated fact; missing negation; and answering vocabulary by sound rather than context.