Ever since you learned to read, you've been tested on your comprehension of written material, so it's no surprise that ReadingComprehension is the most familiar section in all of standardized testing. Medicine, law, archaeology, psychology, dentistry, teaching, business—the exams that stand at the entrance to study in these and other fields have one thing in common: Reading Comprehension passages. No matter what academic area you pursue, you have to make sense of dense, even unfamiliar prose, and business school is no exception. If you're looking to score a 100 percentile on the CAT or XAT, then you shouldn't expect to see too many easy Reading Comp passages. For the purposes of this thread, I have compiled for your test-taking pleasure a group of the densest, nastiest passages we could find. If you can ace these in a reasonable amount of time, it's safe to say that you have absolutely nothing to fear from Reading Comp questions come test day. My Planning for articles in this thread 1. Some basic techniques 2. Practice for every techniques discussed 3. Toughest Practice material in question format 4. Some dense reading material (for this I am dependent on you people. Search the editorial and other articles page of international newspaper like NYT, The Guardian (IIMs favourite) Wall Street Journal etc. 5. Analysis and explanation. Reading comprehension tests critical reading skills. Among other things, it tests whether you can: Summarize the main idea of a passage Differentiate between ideas explicitly stated in a text and those implied by the author Make inferences based on information in a text Analyze the logical structure of a passage Deduce the author's tone and attitude about a topic from the text In reading comp, you are presented with a reading passage (in an area of business, social science, biological science, or physical science), and then asked 3 - 6 questions about that text. You are not expected to be familiar with any topic beforehand—all the information is contained in the text in front of you. In fact, if you happen to have some previous knowledge about a given topic, it is important that you not let that knowledge affect your answers. Think of scope as a narrowing of the topic. Those questions illustrate the kind of thinking you'll need to do as you work through a . what narrower definition can we present that still describes all of the passage? Is there a comparison to another type of safety regulation? Is there a comparison between safety regulations in different historical eras? Is there an analysis of the regulations' histories? Or is the passage concerned only with a small aspect of the regulations—the ones pertaining to pregnant workers. as we'll see. what part of astronomy? Stars? Now. Expect to see 3 or 4 Reading Comp passages—in areas of business. and the author's voice. Look for the topic and scope of a passage. So what does CAT reading involve? Broadly stated.25 questions. no payoff in it either. If the topic is industrial safety regulations. They may not read well. though all will present a challenge. and. social science.Naturally. for example? Notice the questions in the previous paragraph. some passages will be easier than others. Usually we read to learn something or to pass the time pleasantly. but we left them that way for a reason. If it's a science passage. and natural science—and a total of about 15 . what branch of science is it about? If it's astronomy. we don't want to read for overall content—we want to read strategically. The passages will have a tone and content that one might expect from a scholarly journal. On the CAT. the author's purpose and passage structure. and the author's voice. the author's purpose and structure. There's just no time under strict test conditions to understand everything that's being said. THE 4 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF READING COMPREHENSION Here are the basic things that you need to succeed on Reading Comprehension: 1. you need to determine the topic. Neither of these goals has anything to do with the CAT. it involves reading to identify 3 general elements: topic and scope. Topic and Scope As you work through the first few sentences of a passage. Nor does reading for content. as to scope. . the passage looks as if it will discuss the effects of this migration on social thought. Baldly laying out the why and how of a passage up front isn't a hallmark of CAT Reading Comp passages. in order to set up the questions—to test how we think about the prose we read—the CAT uses passages in which authors hide or disguise their statement of purpose and challenge us to extract it. But what then? You still don't have a firm grasp of the passage.passage on Test Day. That's your job. of course. Second. Like most sophisticated writing. what's the topic? The migration of European intellectuals to the United States in the second quarter of the 20th century. and always have a structural plan for carrying out that purpose. . That's clear. what's the scope? Why the author is writing? First.. Authors always have a purpose. the prose you will see on the CAT doesn't reveal its secrets so explicitly. because that's the best way for the test makers to test how you think about the prose you read.. you have finished step 1. as the reader. though they don't often announce them. If you came across the following first sentence of a typical passage. what's the topic? Second. what's the scope? (How can we narrow the topic?) Well.. The CAT demands that you figure out the author's purpose and the passage structure. Once you have the topic and narrowed down its scope.. could you identify the topic and scope? The great migration of European intellectuals to the United States in the second quarter of the 20th century prompted a transmutation in the character of Western social thought. the test makers couldn't ask probing questions about them. if ideas were blatantly laid out.. First. So. .. And even more important (as far as the test makers are concerned)... Author's Purpose and Structure Almost every Reading Comp question hinges on your ability to step back from the text and analyze why the author is writing in the first place.. Topic Scope Purpose 4. CAT authors are nothing if not logical. Topic Scope Purpose 3. using what we know about topic and scope. ‘tennis babes’. Topic - . The idea that the human species could alter something as huge and complex as the earth’s climate was once the subject of an esoteric scientific debate. Don't you expect the author to first describe the migration westward and then explain what the "transmutation" was? (And it probably will be in that order.) The author will never say. ‘brolly dollies’ . is "to explore how the arrival of European thinkers during the period 1926-1950 changed Western social thought. ‘Footie totty. could you identify the TOPIC . Topic Scope Purpose 2. SCOPE and PURPOSE (TSP) 1. "Here's why I write. Test yourself: TSP If you came across the following first sentence of a typical passage." And notice the implied structure of what will follow. we might say.these cliched images of women for whom the biggest decision of the day is a leg wax or a manicure still persist. Cyberspace is often thought of as a realm of freedom. As Asia faces the global economy of the future. it is necessary to take stock of the once arcane issue of intellectual property. we can easily deduce why the author is writing. even of fun. you won't be able to analyze why each piece— each paragraph and each detail—is there and how it's being used. His purpose." But unless you figure out why he is writing.So. but early eighteenth century England did just this. Visiting South Korea at the end of 1998 was rather like visiting a once-proud friend who has suddenly been engulfed by a profound identity crisis. Topic Scope Purpose – 7. Warhol was one of the few artists of his time to acknowledge the capitalist nature of art capitalism. The story of jazz is a miniature history of the modern mind. Topic Scope Purpose 8. Topic Scope Purpose 6. Perhaps more than any other single experience. the Irish migrations of the nineteenth century have captured the modern popular imagination as the most disturbing. Topic Scope Purpose 11.Scope Purpose 5. indeed by some accounts the most tragic. The growth of the new nationalism and social and political ‘particularism’ – summarized by Michael Walzer in 1992 as ‘the new tribalism’ – is one of the most profound ‘crises’ in the familiar sphere of political culture at the end of the twentieth century. It is a leap to go from writing poems about ruins to making ruins to represent poems. The overwhelming majority of people who develop problems with . chapter in the recent history of human relocations. Topic Scope Purpose 9. Topic Scope Purpose 10. since it highlights an aspect of her literary interests very different from the traditional picture of the ‘poetic’ novelist concerned with examining states of reverie and vision and with following the intricate pathways of individual consciousness. pricing — all these inexorably belong to the arsenal of devices by which a modern company competes. To teach is to create a space in which obedience to truth is practised. Dalloway has regularly been ignored by the critics. Montana Scalp’s provocative statement about her intentions in writing Mrs. Topic Scope Purpose 12. development of new products. It was late October.anorexia nervosa and bulimia – regardless of nationality or social class – are female. Innovations. styles. packaging. Topic Scope Purpose 13. Topic Scope Purpose 15. Topic Scope Purpose 17. Topic Scope Purpose 16. to extend the lines and expand the markets of existing products by adding new features. Science does not grow by simple accumulation. Topic Scope Purpose 14. Now for the more conservative approach to the Grandmother Paradox: time travelers don’t change the past because they were always a part of it. . and the lights had been dimmed in the Beckman conference center at the University of California at Irvine. With its dimpled aluminum facade and TV-screen-shaped windows. which reacts with sea salt to create an even tougher limestone layer. a gaming company. A bunch of statements of fact. It's the opinions/interpretations that the Reading Comp passages are built on.The chief technology officer of Total Entertainment Network (TEN). Let's say you come upon a paragraph that reads: The coral polyps secrete calceous exoskeletons. Beijing’s trendy taverns generally have two distinct sets of patrons. Topic Scope Purpose – Author's Voice An important part of critical reading is distinguishing between factual assertions and opinions/interpretations. Topic Scope Purpose 19. while the algae deposit still more calcium carbonate. Talk with ever-voluble Sun Microsystems Inc. was demonstrating how a group of players in cyberspace could match wits in an animated shoot-’em-up called Quake. Topic Scope Purpose 20. which cement themselves into an underlayer of rock. CEO Scott McNealy. right? But don't focus on these facts. and you should pay the most attention to them.” He believes it because of his own experience. Topic Scope Purpose 18. Pittsburgh’s Alcoa Building once exemplified the power and pizzazz of the classic corporate skyscraper. Keep reading until you get to the more "abstract" author's point: . and you may hear one of his favorite quips: “Conventional wisdom doesn’t contain a whole lot of wisdom. his view-to tell you what accounts for the "amazing renewability of coral reefs. The questions are going to test your command of the author's views. keep it to yourself. as an active reader. The phrase this accounts for should tell you. __________________________________________________ _____________________ Read More To master understanding on whether an author is speaking in his own voice or is recounting another persons opinion. . Your response to this sentence should be: "Okay. But." Attacking a passage is what critical reading is all about: stepping back from the sheer factual content. and try to skip past the sentences that are purely factual or simply there for support. read music or book reviews. __________________________________________________ _____________________ Consider how different this sentence is from the earlier. It indicates the author's personal interpretation. In this situation. Be on the lookout for sentences in which the author's voice is coming through. and looking for the evidence that must be provided. "I believe this to be proven cause-and-effect. What should grab your attention is the following sentence: All of this accounts for the amazing renewability of coral reefs despite the endless erosion caused by wave activity. You're forcing the author to defend. "that's the author talking. how so? Where's your evidence?" In other words.Why he's writing on the topic of coral reef formation. figuring out the author's views on a topic and how she arrived at them. more factual one. and you can only get in trouble by imposing your own opinions." The same goes for the word amazing. that's irrelevant." saying. If you find that you don't personally agree with the author's viewpoints. you are demanding support for the author's opinions.