Comprehension

Comprehension:
The ability to understand what you hear or read is referred to as comprehension. It is an exercise that aims to improve or test one's ability to understand a language.

Tips to solve a comprehension:
• Read the questions first to get an idea about the passage.
• Read the passage as fast as possible.
• Engage with the paragraph to comprehend it.
• Mark important lines or parts of the passage to answer the questions. It will also help to understand the main idea of the passage or the tone or mood of the author.
• Try to translate a difficult line into a simple one using your own words and language. This will aid you in analysing the main idea of the paragraph.
• By thoroughly reading the line, you should be able to understand some of the unfamiliar words. The line's theme will help you understand what the words mean.
• Try to determine the main idea, tone or mood, inferential reasoning, and other details from the paragraph.
• Make no assumptions based on your personal beliefs.
• When in doubt, refer back to the paragraph.

Exercise

Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.

The choices we make on a daily basis—wearing a seatbelt, lifting heavy objects correctly or purposely staying out of any dangerous situation—can either ensure our safety or bring about potentially harmful circumstances.
You and I need to make a decision that we are going to get our lives in order. Exercising self-control, self-discipline and establishing boundaries and borders in our lives are some of the most important things we can do. A life without discipline is one that’s filled with carelessness.
We can think it’s kind of exciting to live life on the edge. We like the image of “Yeah! That’s me! Living on the edge! Woo-hoo!” It’s become a popular way to look at life. But if you see, even highways have lines, which provide margins for our safety while we’re driving. If we go over one side, we’ll go into the ditch. If we cross over the line in the middle, we could get killed. And we like those lines because they help to keep us safe. Sometimes we don’t even realize how lines help to keep us safe.
I’m not proud of this, but for the first 20 years of my life at work, I ignored my limits. I felt horrible, physically, most of the time. I used to tell myself “I know I have limits and that I’ve reached them, but I’m going to ignore them and see if or how long I can get by with it.” I ran to doctors, trying to make myself feel better through pills, vitamins, natural stuff and anything I could get my hands on. Some of the doctors would tell me, “It’s just stress.” That just made me mad. I thought stress meant you don’t like what you do or can’t handle life, and I love what I do. But I kept pushing myself, traveling, doing speaking engagements and so on— simply exhausting myself.
Finally, I understood I was living an unsustainable life and needed to make some changes in my outlook and lifestyle.

You and I don’t have to be like everyone else or keep up with anyone else. Each of us needs to be exactly the way we are, and we don’t have to apologize for it. We’re not all alike and we need to find a comfort zone in which we can enjoy our lives instead of making ourselves sick with an overload of stress and pressure.

1. What do you understand by ‘to live life on the edge’?
a. To live life with consciousness
b. To have a life full of enjoyment
c. To have a life full of dangers and risks
d. To live life in your comfort zone

2. What was the character of the author before he realised that he had been living an unsustainable life?
a. Negligent and reckless
b. Indecisive and purposeless
c. Patient and spontaneous
d. Indecisive and spontaneous

3. Which example did the author use to explain the importance of discipline and boundaries?
a. Safe driving
b. Lines on highway
c. Road accidents
d. Traffic rules

4. Which of the following can be the most appropriate title for the passage?
a. Enough is enough
b. Much too soon
c. Get a life
d. How much is too much?

5. The phrase ‘potentially harmful circumstances’ means ____________.
a. The circumstances that can be avoided
b. The circumstances that can be possibly dangerous
c. The circumstances are seldom dangerous
d. The circumstances that cannot be dangerous

6. What is the purpose of the author by this write-up?
a. To rebuke readers
b. To intimidate readers
c. To suggest readers
d. To question readers

7. What do you understand by the phrase ‘to get our lives in order’?
a. To organise our lives
b. To ignore our lives
c. To live our lives to the fullest
d. To control our lives

8. What is the meaning of the word ‘outlook’ as used in the passage?
a. A person’s regret in life
b. A person’s evaluation of life
c. A person’s experiences in life
d. A person’s general attitude towards life

9. What is the suggestion given by the author in the last paragraph?
a. Love what you do
b. Be yourself
c. Chase excellence
d. Be the best version of yourself

10. The author uses colloquial words such as “yeah” and “Woo-hoo!” Which of the following is NOT a colloquial word?
a. Guy
b. Hooked
c. Stress
d. Stuff

Answers

1. C
2. A
3. B
4. D
5. B
6. C
7. A
8. D
9. B
10. C