• Comprehension means to understand the text fully using one's intellect. A comprehension passage is a text used for testing the reader's ability to comprehend (understand) the meaning implied by the text and the theme of that particular passage.
• Questions based on a passage generally appear in chronological relationship to the passage. Usually, the first questions has the answer in the earlier paragraphs and so on, but if the answers are inferential, then the matter might have to be collected from various paragraphs and should be familiar with the entire passage.
Tips to know:-
How to read a passage for comprehension:
Following are a few guidelines that should be followed while attempting to comprehend unfamiliar passage:
1. Read silently. Do not read aloud.
2. Read the entire sentence together to make out the sense or meaning.
3. Read the passage thoroughly to determine the main idea before you look at the questions.
4. Don't panic about the words you do not understand.
5. Try to make out the meaning of the word you don't understand in context to the passage.
6. Go through the questions carefully and read that part which contains the answer again.
7.Answer must be relevant and to the point.
8. Write complete sentences as answers.
9. Try to write the answers in your own words, but if required, they can be copied from the passage.
10. Keep to the order in which the questions appear in the test paper.
I. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: Today we know about each and every part of the world. There is no land or sea that is not known to us. Man has explored every corner of the world and he knows all the ways and routes from anywhere to everywhere in the world. He can reach from one place to the other as safely, easily and quickly as he likes. He has maps to guide him and fastest means of transport to carry him.
But for ages, most of the world was unknown to man. To begin with, he lived in caves. Then he came out of caves and started making homes in little corners of forests or behind the hills. He was afraid of wild animals and also of the clouds and the winds. He offered prayers and sacrifices to gods who, he thought, controlled the clouds and the winds. But slowly, through long centuries, men began to explore what lay beyond their caves, hills and forests where they had their homes.
They went in their boats, first on the rivers and then across the seas. At first, they remained close to the shore and each new voyager went a little further than the previous one. To those early travellers, the earth seemed to be a vast, flat world. They feared what would happen if they reached the edge. They believed that if they sailed southward, the sea would become so hot and boiling that life would be impossible. Towards the north, they thought, it must be too cold for anything to live. Till only five hundred years ago, nearly all men believed this.
When some Portuguese explorers began to sail southward, their seamen revolted and refused to go further. They believed that the steaming waters of southern seas would boil them like potatoes.
When some clever men of those days said that the earth was not flat but a ball of sphere, people would laugh at them. 'How could there be people or trees on the other side of the world? they would say. Would men walk and trees grow upside down? And how could they stay on the other side? Surely they would fall off.'
On the basis of your understanding of the passage answer any 8 out of 10 of the following questions by choosing the correct option.
Q.1. we can travel as ___ as we like.
(A) safely
(B) easily
(C) quickly
(D) All the above
Q.2. The modern man can reach anywhere he likes with the help of
(A) maps to guide him
(B) fastest means of transport
(C) Both (A) and (B) above
(D) Neither (A) nor (B)
Q. 3. After leaving the caves, man started making little homes
(A) in corners of forests
(B) away from the forests
(C) on the tree tops
(D) above the hills
Q.4. Why would people not believe that the earth was not flat but round?
(A) If the earth were round, it would roll away like a ball.
(B) If the earth were round, people and trees the other side would fall off.
(C) If the earth were round, water would not stay at one place.
(D) If the earth were round, it would look like the sun and the moon.
Q. 5. Voyager is a person:
(A) who makes sacrifices in order to please gods.
(B) who goes about begging from place to place.
(C) who wants to explore new lands.
(D) making a long journey by sea.
Q. 6. What is the opposite of 'previous'?
(A) Last
(B) Next
(C) Immediate
(D) Simultaneous
Q. 7. Which word in the passage means 'rose in protest'?
(A) Revoke
(B) Revolt
(C) Refuse
(D) Fall off
Q. 8. The sacrifices were offered to gods by man because :
(A) most of the world was unknown to him.
(B) he was afraid of wild animals.
(C) he was afraid of the clouds and the winds.
(D) they controlled the clouds and the winds.
Q. 9. When some Portuguese explorers began to sail northward, their seamen revolted and refused to go further.
(A) True
(B) False
(C) Partially true
(D) Can't say
Q.10.Northern side was while southern side was
(A) hot, cold
(B) cold, hot
(C) steaming, freezing
(D) moderate, bearable
Answer key:-
1. D
2. C
3. A
4. B
5. D
6. B
7. B
8. D
9. B
10. B
