Reading Comprehension (Unseen Prose Passage)
What the unseen passage asks
The comprehension question in WBCHSE HS Arabic gives you an unseen Arabic prose passage - usually a short narrative or descriptive piece of eight to twelve lines - and tests whether you can extract information without a dictionary. Expect tasks such as: suggest a title, give the meaning of given words in Arabic/Bengali/English, answer short questions (لماذا؟ متى؟ أين؟ كم؟), complete a sentence, and mark true/false.
Procedure
- Read the passage once without stopping, then read the questions.
- Underline the clause each question points to; the answer is nearly always in one clause.
- Answer in a complete Arabic sentence, reusing the passage's own verb where possible - a single-word answer loses marks.
- For word meanings, work from the root: ك-ت-ب yields كتاب، كاتب، مكتبة، مكتوب; context decides which gloss fits.
- Track pronouns: هو/هي/هم usually refer to the last mentioned noun; identify it before translating.
Worked example
Passage sentence: «ذهبَ الطالبُ إلى المكتبةِ ليقرأَ كتابًا عن تاريخِ الأندلس.» Question: لماذا ذهب الطالب إلى المكتبة؟ Answer: ذهب إلى المكتبة ليقرأ كتابًا عن تاريخ الأندلس. Reasoning: the question asks for purpose; لِ + imperfect subjunctive (liyaqra'a) marks purpose, so the clause after it is the answer. Note the kasra on المكتبةِ - it is governed by إلى.
Traps
- Copying a whole paragraph instead of the requested clause wastes time and can bury the answer.
- Missing definiteness: كتابًا is "a book", الكتاب is "the book"; the question may hinge on this.
- For a title, write a short noun phrase, not a full sentence.
- Ignoring hamza in question words (أين vs إن) changes the meaning completely.