5 Tips for Reading Comprehension Preparation

Reading Comprehension has been an indispensable part of banking exams and SBI Clerk Prelims is no exception. Some aspirants find this section a really challenging one wherein they get lost with the flow of the passage and sometimes they face difficult inferential questions. Well! whatever is the case, reading comprehension topic is something, without answering which it’s very difficult to clear the English Langauge section. In SBI Clerk Prelims’ English Language section, there will be 30 questions that should be answered in 20 minutes. Out of these 30 questions, 8-10 questions will be of Reading Comprehension. Answering the RC questions correctly and within time can not only help you clear the sectional cut-off but it can also boost your overall score. Take a Mock Test now to see how well do you answer reading comprehension questions.

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We are sure that your preparation for the English Language section would be going on in full swing. If you are struggling in the RC section, we have come up with 5 ways that will definitely help you in your preparation. Let’s have a look:

1. Stop if you feel confused

If you are reading a passage and suddenly stop understanding what’s going on, stop right over there. Without looking at the passage, try to summarize whatever you had learnt in this passage. Once this is done, you can look at the passage again to verify if whatever you have summarized is correct. Now, read the next sentence slowly and try to connect it with what you just summarized. Keep reading and repeat this process whenever you get stuck. For sure, this is a time-consuming process but it will surely reap benefits in the long run. The more you will summarize it in your own words, the better you will understand the passage.

In the initial stages, you will repeat these steps many a time but slowly you will imbibe the practice of reading the passage carefully. Once you master this trait, your performance when dealing with RC questions will improve dramatically.

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2. Read it aloud

While reading, at times you hit a mental block when despite reading several times, you are unable to get the gist of the passage. The reason can be awkwardness/ complexity of the sentence, yourself getting bored/tired etc. At such times, you should try reading the passage aloud and see if you can comprehend it. Reading aloud helps you focus on the text and will most likely help you in understanding the text. If this doesn’t work, take a break of 10-15 minutes and try again. Slowly and steadily, you should be able to comprehend the given passage.

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3. Read the previous section again

Sometimes, despite making several attempts, you are unable to understand what is going on. Try skimming the previous text so as to get some context. This will help you revise the idea of the passage you have read till now and may help you understand the current context. Visiting the previous paragraph again may help you in recalling what you might have forgotten which can be a complicated phrase, characteristics of a person/entity etc. Not just that, reverting to the previous part will help you reinforce the gist of whatever has been said until now.

4. Read/Skim the upcoming section

At times, reading in a completely linear fashion might make the passage difficult to understand. You may like to skim the upcoming section to get a hint of what’s going to happen. Probably some term is explained later on, or some other gap is filled. The point is that you need to try moving backwards and forward and see how much it helps you. The basic idea is to understand the current sentence irrespective of the fact whether you read the previous or upcoming section. 

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5. Talk to Your Friend or Yourself

Also known as rubber duck debugging, this is an effective way of understanding the difficult part of an RC passage. Start talking to an imaginary friend or to yourself about what has been discussed till now, what you are getting stuck at and why you are getting stuck. Explain the problem in your own words, and this trick should help to a great extent in understanding the incomprehensible part. This may sound ludicrous but it works for many people.

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The Final Word

Understanding a Reading Comprehension passage can be difficult for some aspirants. We are sure that the above ways will help them to understand a passage in a better way. Do a lot of practice and take mock tests to see how well do you perform in controlled circumstances. We provide free quizzes on reading comprehension topic on a frequent basis. These daily quizzes are meant to sharpen your reading comprehension skills. And when you practice along with using the above skills, your speed and accuracy will definitely improve. This is all from us in this article. If you have any question or feedback, you can share them in the comments section below.

Wishing you Good Luck with your preparation!