Tips for Cracking English Comprehension in Selective Test

Reading comprehension is arguably the toughest section of the selective test. At least, that’s the feedback from the majority of the students. Also, students appearing for this exam find it challenging to prepare since they have no idea about what to study. Selective exams are taken to allow students to exhibit their problem-solving and critical thinking skills across a range of areas. This section is difficult to prepare because the questions are not from the school curriculum. Rather, it has questions with inner meaning and has a language that students need to comprehend. This is where the challenge lies.

Nevertheless, we understand your problem, so we have created this informative post to help you boost your marks in selective tests.

Tips to Ace the Comprehension Section in Selective Test

Here mentioned are the best tips that will help you in acing the reading comprehension section.

• Biographies: The selective test has reading comprehension questions that are mainly focused on the life events of personalities or historical events. This section can be tackled in the same way you handled the scientific articles. Biographical pieces usually contain a lot of dates, so you can highlight or mark them as it helps a lot in answering the questions. This part is easier than the other sections because the exact answer is already there inside the text. Inferential thinking is not required here.
• Scientific articles: Since these questions have technical terms, you must be attentive. Make a summary of each paragraph or highlight the main keywords. Usually, you don’t have to delve deep because they don’t ask you much about the technical aspects. So, don’t freak out if you see jargon or tough words. The article itself will give you contextual clues to find the right answer.
• Poems: This is the hardest section to crack since the questions have metamorphic meanings. Students have to figure out the literal sense of the poem and to do this, they need to focus on the title or read in between lines to figure out the exact meaning of the stanza. If poems are too difficult, try to figure out the answers by referring to the multiple choice options. Though the options are confusing and looks similar, sometimes the right answer may have keywords that will help in identifying the correct answer. The best way to become a pro in this section is to read as many poetries as you can from famous authors.
• Cartoons: This section looks easy, but you need to identify the actual meaning. That’s because you must identify the graphic’s main theme or hidden meaning. You need to have a keen eye for detail and should be well versed with techniques such as vectors, symbols, juxtaposition, etc.
• Cloze passages and extracts: These two sections of the reading comprehension test are by far the easiest and make solving answers a breeze. You can begin by creating short summaries of these passages and extracts. In cloze passages, students need to identify the missing sentence. You can find the flow of logic by referring to the before and after lines of the missing sentence. In the case of extracts, you need to read each extract very thoroughly. Two extracts may be on the same topic, but the idea can be completely different. Therefore, students need to understand the subtle difference between the two.
• Speeches: These are non-fictional texts, and students are required to comprehend the intention of the speaker. These speeches have a literal meaning, so whatever is written can be considered as-is. Also, look out for high-modality language as it gives an in-depth understanding of what the speaker is trying to say. You can try out selective trial tests for better understanding.

If you want to ace the selective test, we recommend you try selective sample tests as it gives you a holistic understanding of the question pattern, and you will also get familiar with comprehensions that are asked in the real exams. These tests not only help you boost your performance but also helps you in learning time management. Before appearing for the selective test, it is mandatory for all candidates to practice mock tests. These simulated exams will give you real exam like feeling which will boost your confidence significantly. Try out Selectivetrial’s practice exams as the question banks match the questions that are asked in the actual exam.