Seven Types of English Comprehension Questions
What types of questions can you expect in your English Language Comprehension paper? My analysis of past years’ ‘O’ Level papers suggests that the questions can be generally categorised into seven types:
- The Factual Question
- The Inferential Question
- The Use Your Own Words Question
- The Language Use Question
- Writing down/Quoting a Word/Phrase/Sentence/Expression
- The Vocabulary Question
- The Summary Question
The Summary Question
Students attempt this question in different ways, and in due time you will also discover how things work out for you. However, I have written down some of the steps you need to consider when you do the summary question:
Step One (Gleaning the required information)
1. Read the question first, for doing so helps you focus on information you need to find from the passage. REMEMBER the question tells you precisely what to look for e.g. advantages and disadvantages of cellphones, and which paragraphs to find the information from e.g. paragraphs 3 - 7.
2. Now SCAN (read thoroughly) the passage and underline and number the points.
3. Since the points can be mixed up and may not be in a particular or set order, creating a key for identifying these points might prove beneficial. For example, you could use (A) for advantages, and (B) for disadvantages or (Ad) advantages and (D, or Dis) for disadvantages.
4. So as you read and come across a relevant point, you could underline the relevant information and number it as A1, A2, A3 . Following this method saves you a lot of time and you don't have to count the points repeatedly. You also don;t have to worry about how much more information still needs to be retrieved.
Step Two (Transferring the information)
In this part, you are required to transfer the information from the passage to the table given in the question paper.
1. You can 'copy and paste' the information you underlined in the passage, in the given table.
2. You are not required to write the information in your own words; however, there is no harm in doing so.
3.When copying information, please write it under the relevant heading.
4. Avoid lifting huge chunks of information, just write the relevant part.
5. You may write the information in complete sentences or in short phrases.
6.Remember, you are being judged for 'fishing' information from the passage, not its accuracy.
7. You are required to write a total of fifteen content points, two of which are already given for you.
8. You may write as many points as possible, but you may get a maximum of only 15 marks.
9. Try to balance the information in both the areas. If you write eight points under one heading, then write seven in the other. Or you could use a ratio of 9:6.
Part Three (Writing the summary)
1. In this part, you need to write the information you copied in the table, in your own words in not more than 160 words including the 10 stem words given.
2. The limit of 160 words is imposed strictly. All words are counted and the content in excess of 160 words is crossed out. However, you can write less, but no fewer than 135 words.
3. All the information should be written in the form of a paragraph.
4.IMPORTANT: The examiner assesses you for your sustained effort in writing the information in your own words. However, the examiner also knows that not every piece of information, expression or word can be replaced, so you can keep the original words from the passage if you feel changing them would interfere with the meaning.
The issue of exceeding the word limit
Sometimes, you might end up writing more than 160 words. If this happens, then check if you have done the following:
1. Written a point in a long sentence. For example, you might write 'When students move to another country they might find the culture of the new place difficult to adjust in because of different values and beliefs. This is a relatively very long sentence and can be rephrased in fewer words, for example 'Students experience cultural shock when they move to a new country' Count the words and see how many words have been cut down.
2. Explained a point.
3. Commented on a point.
4. Repeated a point.
IMPORTANT: Your primary concern is writing the information in 160 words. If you reach the word limit and have written between 12 - 15 points, that's good enough. YOU NEED NOT WRITE ALL THE POINTS IN THE SUMMARY.
Step One (Gleaning the required information)
1. Read the question first, for doing so helps you focus on information you need to find from the passage. REMEMBER the question tells you precisely what to look for e.g. advantages and disadvantages of cellphones, and which paragraphs to find the information from e.g. paragraphs 3 - 7.
2. Now SCAN (read thoroughly) the passage and underline and number the points.
3. Since the points can be mixed up and may not be in a particular or set order, creating a key for identifying these points might prove beneficial. For example, you could use (A) for advantages, and (B) for disadvantages or (Ad) advantages and (D, or Dis) for disadvantages.
4. So as you read and come across a relevant point, you could underline the relevant information and number it as A1, A2, A3 . Following this method saves you a lot of time and you don't have to count the points repeatedly. You also don;t have to worry about how much more information still needs to be retrieved.
Step Two (Transferring the information)
In this part, you are required to transfer the information from the passage to the table given in the question paper.
1. You can 'copy and paste' the information you underlined in the passage, in the given table.
2. You are not required to write the information in your own words; however, there is no harm in doing so.
3.When copying information, please write it under the relevant heading.
4. Avoid lifting huge chunks of information, just write the relevant part.
5. You may write the information in complete sentences or in short phrases.
6.Remember, you are being judged for 'fishing' information from the passage, not its accuracy.
7. You are required to write a total of fifteen content points, two of which are already given for you.
8. You may write as many points as possible, but you may get a maximum of only 15 marks.
9. Try to balance the information in both the areas. If you write eight points under one heading, then write seven in the other. Or you could use a ratio of 9:6.
Part Three (Writing the summary)
1. In this part, you need to write the information you copied in the table, in your own words in not more than 160 words including the 10 stem words given.
2. The limit of 160 words is imposed strictly. All words are counted and the content in excess of 160 words is crossed out. However, you can write less, but no fewer than 135 words.
3. All the information should be written in the form of a paragraph.
4.IMPORTANT: The examiner assesses you for your sustained effort in writing the information in your own words. However, the examiner also knows that not every piece of information, expression or word can be replaced, so you can keep the original words from the passage if you feel changing them would interfere with the meaning.
The issue of exceeding the word limit
Sometimes, you might end up writing more than 160 words. If this happens, then check if you have done the following:
1. Written a point in a long sentence. For example, you might write 'When students move to another country they might find the culture of the new place difficult to adjust in because of different values and beliefs. This is a relatively very long sentence and can be rephrased in fewer words, for example 'Students experience cultural shock when they move to a new country' Count the words and see how many words have been cut down.
2. Explained a point.
3. Commented on a point.
4. Repeated a point.
IMPORTANT: Your primary concern is writing the information in 160 words. If you reach the word limit and have written between 12 - 15 points, that's good enough. YOU NEED NOT WRITE ALL THE POINTS IN THE SUMMARY.
