Comprehension

1. Comprehension Unit 1

2. Part 1 ~ Types of Comprehension Questions • Direct Questions • Give direct answers • Answers will be stated plainly in the passage • Task: locate these answers after reading carefully what the question is looking for Adapted from O level Comprehension and Summary Writing Guide

3. Types of Comprehension Questions • Direct Questions Examples:- What was the main reason…- Give two examples…- Quote a sentence…- Explain how…- Write down one word/ an expression which shows… Adapted from O level Comprehension and Summary Writing Guide

4. Types of Comprehension Questions 2) Inferential Questions • Read between the lines • Answers cannot be found directly from the passage • Make your deduction • Infer the meaning or answer through given words or phrases from the passage • Even from your own general knowledge Adapted from O level Comprehension and Summary Writing Guide

5. Types of Comprehension Questions • Inferential Questions Examples:- explain clearly / explain the contrast… - suggest how… - what do you think… - why does the author suggest… - what impression… Adapted from O level Comprehension and Summary Writing Guide

6. Types of Comprehension Questions • Rephrasing Questions • Rewrite in your own words but keep the meaning • read the phrase or sentence in its context in the passage so that your explanation is appropriate to the situation Adapted from O level Comprehension and Summary Writing Guide

7. Types of Comprehension Questions • Rephrasing Questions Examples:- Explain the term /phrase /sentence… - Explain in your own words… Adapted from O level Comprehension and Summary Writing Guide

8. Types of Comprehension Questions • Vocabulary Questions • Explain word or phrase meaning • a certain word or phrase is chosen from the passage • You are required to give another word or phrase bearing the same meaning as the word Adapted from O level Comprehension and Summary Writing Guide

9. Types of Comprehension Questions • Vocabulary Questions Examples:- What does the word suggest about… - What picture do these words suggest?- What does the word ‘even’ suggest about… - What does ‘preserve the market’ mean? Adapted from O level Comprehension and Summary Writing Guide

10. End of Part 1

11. Part 2 ~ Interpreting Text (Thinking Skills) • Making an Intelligent Guess • sometimes, the answer to the question is not given directly in the passage • instead, clues are given from which you have to guess the answer • you are required to ‘read between the lines’ and make inferences – intelligent guesses • E.g. At last, the angry passengers were called to board the bus. • Question: Suggest why the passengers were angry. • (What would be the most likely reason for the passengers’ anger?) • Answer: The passengers were angry because the bus was delayed. Adapted from Score in Comprehension O Levelby Graeme Spencer

12. Interpreting Text (Thinking Skills) • Two Kinds of Inference • Logical Inference: based on definition • E.g. She cried as she stood beside the grave. • Question: Where was she when she stood beside the grave? • Answer: A cemetery(because a cemetery is where you find graves) Adapted from Score in Comprehension O Levelby Graeme Spencer

13. Interpreting Text (Thinking Skills) • Two Kinds of Inference • Empirical Inference: based on observation • E.g. She cried as she stood beside the grave. • Question: Why was she crying? • Answer: Because someone she cared for had died. (If you see someone crying near a grave, you would guess that this was the case.) • Also, remember that inference will always require an “own words” answer Adapted from Score in Comprehension O Levelby Graeme Spencer

14. End of Part 2