Unit 4: Reading Comprehension

Strategies for Reading Comprehension Questions

1. Learn to skim passages for information. Skimming helps to find key words and answers to questions about proper nouns ( people’s names, place names ) because they are capitalized. Skim through the passage quickly. Do not read word-for-word. Try to read in phrases and sentences.

2. Reread the passage at your normal reading speed, scrutinizing each sentence to get its main idea. Underline the main idea. Also look for such “catch” words or phrases that indicate absolute meanings or certainties such as “always,” “absolutely,” “never,” “at all times,” “under all conditions,” etc. Also look for terms as “frequently,” “usually,” “sometimes,” etc. These terms often give you a clue to the answer.

3. To find the correct answer, look at all the choices and eliminate those that obviously have no connection with the passage. Even if the statement is a true statement in itself, but it does not answer the question, you must elminate it.

4. Skip difficult questions. You need to get to the other questions, amd you do not need to answer every question. You can always go back to work on difficult questions later. Circle unanswered questions to make them easy to locate. Sometimes by returning to a difficult question later, it makes it seem much easier to try to solve it.