9 SBI PO cut-off based Tips for Reading Comprehension

Tips for Reading Comprehension: You can take any competitive exam in India; the maximum weightage in English will always belong to reading comprehension. And for SBI PO, you must treat RCs with the respect they deserve.   

The preparation for reading comprehension assures 8-10 marks for the passage and indirectly affects your scoring ability for the entire English section.

Here are the nine must-follow Tips for Reading Comprehension

Focus on Keywords and not every single word

Many aspirants get glued to each word of the passage, which is not an effective approach. Many aspirants find reading RCs to be a boring activity. If such is the case, you should focus on keywords that give you an idea about the passage’s topic along with the crucial details of the passage. It’s better to eliminate unworthy sentences or phrases so that you can save time. All the speed-reading record-holders skip phrases and focus on all the important and relevant information.   

The Bottom-Up approach for solving Reading Comprehension questions

The “bottom-up” approach means that you will have a good look at the questions first, and then you will start reading the passage. The benefit of doing so is that you now read the passage to look for specific material rather than reading the entire passage without knowing the expected questions. Such a trick is very useful in saving a lot of time during the exam. RCs themselves are very time-consuming, but so are some of the other topics as well.   

Focus on building a good vocabulary

SBI clerk prelims might have had easy passages and synonyms or antonyms. But underestimating any of the SBI mains examinations is the most accurate instance of overconfidence. The difficulty level is to be expected for mains.   

You all are aware of all the general advice such as reading newspapers like Hindu, solving sectional or mini mocks, etc. But with vocabulary, what you need is periodic revisions. Constant repetition is one of the most important elements of any competitive exam preparation. So keep a target on new words you have to learn every day.   

Diverse your reading topics

If you only keep reading interesting topics or articles, you might face some difficulty in the exam. It’s better to cover all niches such as arts, politics, science, sports, editorial, social issues, etc. Doing so will make you habitual with any kind of passage put in front of you in any exam.  

Solve Mock Tests

Mock tests are highly laser-focused and designed in such a way that aspirants are delivered questions that actually appear in the actual exams. Getting an all-India rank is an extra advantage of giving mock tests.   

Restrict your impulses while solving a passage

It’s very much possible for us to apply our generalized logic or incomplete knowledge while answering the questions of the passage. This happens particularly when you don’t follow the bottom-up approach. Doing so can lead to wrong attempts and the extra burden of negative marking. So, stick to the script of the passage. If it says Sun rises in the south, you will have to believe it.   

Work on your reading speed

Start using a stopwatch to time your passage readings. You can calculate the number of words in the passage and then divide it accordingly by the time taken to calculate your per-minute reading speed. Doing so will make you aware of the reality. Reading speed increases with time and the calculation of reading speed helps you with keeping your tracks covered.   

Never lose your confidence while reading the passage

At times you can struggle while or in-between reading the passage. You might get stuck, or you want to read some of the lines again. Don’t panic in such situations. You haven’t lost time here as much as you think about it in your head. Just move on and keep going at it. Take a deep breath if you get tensed.   

Evaluate your learnings

All these tips aren’t the wordings of the banking exams bible. Experience is the best teacher if you do the correct and honest evaluation of your methods and attempts. It’s all about putting things into action, though. Having all the knowledge becomes secondary if one doesn’t take the necessary actions.   

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