English Language Proficiency: Comprehension, Precis and Composition
English Language Proficiency is tested through comprehension, precis and composition in one paper. The examiner is checking whether you can read a dense official or editorial passage, compress it without distortion, and write controlled formal prose.
Precis rules
- Reduce to the stated fraction, commonly one-third of the original, and declare the word count.
- Use your own words; retain the central argument and its logical order; drop illustrations, statistics and repetition.
- Keep it in continuous prose, one paragraph, third person, with no quotation and no opinion.
- Preserve the tense and register of the original.
Comprehension
Answer in complete sentences and in your own phrasing, using only the passage. When asked for a word's meaning 'as used in the passage', give a synonym that fits the context, not the dictionary's first sense.
Composition
Plan before writing: the directive ('discuss', 'examine', 'comment') determines the shape. Use a short introduction with a clear thesis, one paragraph per point with a topic sentence, and a conclusion that answers the question rather than summarising.
Worked example
A 300-word passage argues that small states survive by 'issue-based coalitions rather than permanent alliances'. The precis must state the claim (small states gain leverage by cooperating on specific issues), the reason (permanent alignments freeze options) and any qualification. At one-third that is about 100 words: three sentences, no mention of the passage's example about a fisheries dispute, no added judgement about Sri Lanka's foreign policy.
Traps that cost marks
- Exceeding the precis limit, or declaring the wrong word count.
- Lifting whole sentences and calling the result a precis.
- Inserting your own opinion where the task says 'in your own words'.
- Writing an essay with no paragraph breaks, or ignoring the word limit in either direction.
- Basic errors of agreement, article use and tense, which weigh heavily in a paper of this kind.