Reading between the lines of RC

Importance of RC

Reading comprehension is a must-ask set of questions in almost all competitive examinations. You are given a passage and asked to answer different kinds of questions based on it. Generally, the kinds of questions asked are below:

• Vocab based
• Theme based
• Fact-based
• Inference based

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Did it ever come to your mind the purpose of asking RC questions? Well, once you’re in your job, many-a-time you will have to read and understand the gist of reports, documents etc. And these activities need to be done quickly. You may need to take important decisions in a short span of time. That is where the importance of reading comprehension comes into the picture. RC questions attempt to check your competence in English in terms of vocabulary, grammar and logical consistency.

RC is difficult?

Compared to other questions, students find RC questions difficult and spend considerably more time on them. We have come up with some guidelines following which will definitely help you in answering this section like a pro.

Increase your horizon of reading

Success definitely takes a lot of effort. Read a lot of text on different subjects ranging from philosophy to science and don’t just read it. Go further in the passage only when you understand it. Try to understand the usage of new words as you come across them. It would further help if you summarise the idea of the passage and rewrite it. Occasionally, you can get your written article checked by a mentor. Moreover, this skill would help you in essay-writing test as well which is asked in some of the competitive exams.

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Read newspapers

As already stated in our previous articles, the importance of reading newspapers becomes vital for the success of any competitive exam. Reading the editorial page helps you with diverse topics and new words. You will obviously be more comfortable with reading and answering questions on a passage on carbon credits if you have already read it somewhere else and have an idea about it. Reading newspapers also helps you develop a perspective and stay on the top of current affairs.

Daily Practice

Practice an RC passage on a daily basis starting today. Initially, you can answer questions without any time limit. At this stage take as much time as you wish to read, re-read, & understand the passage and answer the answers. As you get a grasp on this skill, you can stick to time limits and analyse your performance. This practice will introduce you to a number of different kinds of topics as well as improve your RC skills.

Ace Reading Comprehension

Following the above three steps will definitely give you an edge in quickly understanding an RC passage and answering the related questions. Once you are inside the examination hall, you should scan the questions quickly and see if there is any question based on vocabulary or fact. If yes, you should answer that question first. Once done, you should read the passage with complete concentration looking out for examples, facts and figures, any unexpected sentence and the conclusion.

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Less time

Generally, students tend to solve RC questions once other kinds of questions have been solved. This leaves them with less time especially if the passage is a difficult one. Reading more on varied topics helps you have a good reading speed which can be a boon here. Who knows, if you are lucky enough, you can encounter an already-read passage in your RC. Also, beware of questions having words like never, always, everyone. These words try to generalize the scope of a question which might not tune with the passage.

Keep practicing

Practice is the key to mastering RC questions. Start solving one passage per day and spend some time reviewing the answers. Keeping the above points will definitely help you master these questions.

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