3 Tips to Master Reading Comprehension- Read Fast & Score More

Reading Comprehension (RC) is one of the most asked topics in SBI Clerk Prelims. Generally, it is perceived as one of the toughest sections in the question paper and is often suggested to be dealt with in the end. Well, this section is not that difficult to deal with provided you start your preparation right away and do a lot of practice. There are still 1.5 months (approximately) to go for the Prelims and with the right preparation, you can definitely make the most of reading comprehension questions. But the important thing is to start right away and to practice at least 1 RC set on a daily basis.

Reading and at the same time properly comprehending the text sometimes become difficult especially when there are multiple contexts in a passage. Difficult words would further add to this problem. Sometimes it so happens that while reading even though you understand a sentence but miss the contextual addition of that sentence in the passage. At times, the passages seem to be boring to read and despite the fact that you are trying to concentrate on reading it, you miss to get the essence. Sometimes, the inter-related connection of words of a sentence are difficult to interpret and there are similar other issues.

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Issues will be there for everybody but with continuous and daily practice, you can master this art of reading, understanding and answering the questions based on the passage. To help you with this topic of reading comprehension, we have come up with 3 tips. Have a look:

Understand & Evaluate Your Reading Habits

At this juncture, it’s important to assess your reading habits. Pick an article, be it an editorial of a  newspaper or an online article or a book and start reading it. Keep noticing as you start losing your interest. How much time does it actually take before your attention starts to dilute? Make a note of the time and slowly increase it so as to get good control over your attention. Content also plays a key role in keeping you attentive but this is something you don’t have any control on. Nobody knows from which genre the passage will be asked and therefore you should be adept in dealing with nearly all types of questions. So it is strongly advised that you try your hands at reading good passages from dfiferent genres. Some of the genres are Fiction, Narrative, Non-fiction etc. You may feel your interest lost out while reading these different kinds of passages but here is where you need to keep your momentum intact. 

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Improve Your Vocabulary

Any Reading Comprehension passage will have a combination of vocabulary, context & interaction of words. You need to understand each piece of text on a continuous basis to get the overall idea the passage is trying to convey. If you face difficulty in understanding it because of difficult words, you need to improve your word-power. Sometimes it is possible to understand a word’s meaning by the context of the sentence but please keep in mind- this is not a foolproof way and may not work in all situations. To improve your vocabulary, we suggest you find and understand the contextual sense of the difficult words you come across when doing the reading activity mentioned in the first tip.

We make a note of the contextual sense of difficult words/ phrases used in The Hindu Editorials on a daily basis. As you go through your reading exercise, keep noting the difficult words and make flashcards that would help you in retaining the sense of the word. Revise the flashcards 2-3 times a week and quiz yourself on a frequent basis. Try using the new words in your verbal & written communication which will definitely help you in retaining their meaning.

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Read for Pleasure

Reading Comprehension is a section without which it’s really difficult to get success in banking exams. Why not make Reading Comprehension a fun activity? If you find a passage boring, move to a passage with a less difficulty level and try to connect with the text. Read some interesting books (probably some fiction or whatever interests you) which will take the pressure off from you. Gradually, move to the passages of banking prelims level and start reading as mentioned in the first tip. Doing this will definitely put you at ease with these passages and will help you understand the answers to questions related to the passage.

Follow these 3 tips to enhance your preparation for the Reading Comprehension section. Don’t forget to answer a Reading Comprehension set daily for effective practice. And take due time to review your attempts especially those which you have answered incorrectly. Remember: Practice is the best way to improve your reading comprehension skills and we have a lot of free quizzes at your disposal. Take these quizzes and let us know your feedback in the comments section below if these tips have proved useful in your preparation.

Wishing you Good Luck with your preparation!

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