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Comprehension
Comprehension

Generally, four kinds of comprehension skills are tested.

Factual questions: The learner is expected to remember, recall, and reproduce facts based
on specially designed fact-based wh questions.
Inferential questions: These are questions which test whether the learner can infer
meanings from the lines of the given passage and draw a vivid picture of the core message
of the passage.

Extra-polative questions: These are the questions which test whether the learner can
imagine new situations based on the text. These are generally open-ended questions.
Dictionary meaning and contextual meaning: These are questions of certain words of the
passage where the learner is tested not just for his/her understanding of the dictionary
meaning of the words but for his/her comprehension of the meaning embedded in the text.

A comprehension enhances the ability to read a text and understand its meaning.
Points to remember

First, read the passage carefully. Understand and underline the main points.
Read the questions based on the passage.

After you have read the passage, answer the questions you know. Skip the ones that you
find difficult and revisit them later.
Once finished, go back and ensure that your answers are the best possible answer to each
question.

A. Read the following extract carefully.
There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house, and the March Hare and the Hatter
were having tea: there was a Dormouse between them, fast asleep. The other two were using it
as a cushion, resting their elbows on it, and talking over its head. ‘‘Very uncomfortable for the
Dormouse,’’ thought Alice; ‘‘but since it’s asleep, I suppose it doesn’t mind.’’
The table was a large one, but the three were all crowded together at one corner of it: “No Comprehension
room! No room!’’ they cried out when they saw Alice coming. ‘‘There’s plenty of room!’’ said
Alice indignantly, and she sat down in a large arm chair at one end of the table.
‘‘Have some wine,’’ the March Hare said in an encouraging tone.

Alice looked all around the table, but there was nothing on it, but tea. ‘‘I don’t see any wine,’’
she remarked.
‘‘There isn’t any,’’ said the March Hare.

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