The capacity to read content, process it, and comprehend its importance or meaning is known as reading comprehension. An individual's capacity to understand content is affected by their features and cleverness, one of which is the capacity to make derivations. To read singular words, students utilize a lot of their preparing limit, which interferes with their capacity to comprehend what is read; if word recognition is difficult.

To comprehend means 'to understand and get a handle on'. To test a candidate's capacity to comprehend and hold the contents of a given passage, a comprehension test is implied. Type of questions: - Generally a long passage consisting of specific paragraphs is given, followed 10 to 15 questions based on it. The questions are based on:

• Theme of the passage
• On the basis of the given passage, select the correct or wrong statement.
• View of the author regarding the main point discussed in the passage.
• Antonyms or synonyms of some chosen words in the passage.

Tips of solving: -

• Read the passage carefully once and detect its theme.
• Note what questions are about.
• Answer the questions

NOTE: - In questions on Synonyms and Antonyms, remember that the answer is to be offered according to the sense in which the word has been used in the passage, not simply on the basis of its literal meaning.

1. Carefully read the passage and answer the given questions. (S.B.I.P.O. 1994) Today the import duty on a complete machine is 35% for all practical purposes, whereas the import duty on the raw materials and components ranges from 40% to 85%. The story does not end here. After paying such high import duties on components, once a machine is made, it suffers excise duty form 5% to 10% (including on the customs duty already paid). At the time of sale, the machine tools suffer further taxation, i.e., central sales tax or state sales taxes which range from 4% to 16%. This much for the tax angle. Angle. Another factor which pushes the cost of manufacture of machine tools is the very high rate of interest payable to banks ranging upto 22%, as against 4%-7% prevailing in advanced countries. The production of machine tools in India being not of the same scale as it is in other countries, the price which India’s machine tools builders have to pay for components is more or less based on pattern of high pricing applicable to the prices of spares. The above represents only a few of the extraneous reasons for the high cost of Indian machines. The machine tool industry in India has an enviable record of very quick technology absorption, assimilation and development. There are a number of success stories about how machine tool builders were of help at the most critical times. It will be a pity, in fact a tragedy, if we allow this industry to die and disappear from the scene. It is to be noted that India is at least 6000 km away from any dependable source of supply of machine tools. The government of India has always given a great deal of importance to the development of small scale and medium scale industries. This industry has also performed pretty well. Today, they are in need of help from India’s machine tool industry to enable them to produce quality components at reduced costs. Is it anybody’s case that the needs of this fragile sector (which needs tender care) will be met from 6000 km away? Then, what is it that the industry requests from the government? It wants level playing field. In field. In fact, all of us must have a deep introspection and recognize the fact that the machine tool industry has a very special place in the country form the point of strategic and vital interests of the nation. Most important, it requests for the govt’s consideration and understanding. 1. According to the passage, assembling imported components into machines proves ultimately (a) cheaper than importing complete machine (b) costlier than importing machine (c) more cost effective than importing machine (d) on par with the cost of imported machine (e) a very stupendous and unmanage-able task 2. According to the passage, all the following factors are responsible for high cost of Indian machines except (a) higher import duty on spares (b) excise duty (c) bank’s rate of interest on loans for manufacture (d) high profit margin expected by manufacturers (e) sales tax 3. If the bank’s rate of interest in India is made on par with that in advanced countries, the cost of manufacture of machine tools (a) may go up by about 4 to 7% (b) may increase by about 22% (c) may decrease by about 4 to 7% (d) may decreases by about 15 to 18% (e) will remain the same due to import duty 4. The availability of Indian machine tool industries’ help to small scale industry is most likely to result into (a) increase in the demand of imported machine tools (b) deterioration in the quality of components manufactured by them (c) further increase in the customs duty on imported machines (d) enhancement in the quality and quantity of their production at a cheaper cost (e) severe competition among the small and medium scale industries 5. Which of the following is true in the contest of the passage? (a) India’s machine tool industry has a praise worthy record of performance (b) In critical times, the machine tool builders allowed the industry to perish. (c) In the case of machines, the excise duty is levied only on the cost price. (d) India’s quantum of production of machine tools is more than of other advanced countries. (e) None of these Solution: 1.(a) 2.(d) 3.(d) 4.(d) 5.(a) 2. Carefully read the passage and answer the given questions. (Bank P.O. 1994) Although cynics may like to see the government’s policy for women in terms of the party’s internal power struggles, it will nevertheless be churlish to deny that it represents a pioneering effort aimed at bringing about sweeping social reforms. In its language, scope and strategies, the policy document displays a degree of understanding of women’s needs that is uncommon in government pronouncements. This is due in large part to the participatory process that marked its formulation, seeking the active involvement right from the start of women’s groups, academic institutions and non-government organizations with grass roots experience. The result is not just a lofty declaration of principles but a blueprint for a practical programme of action. The policy delineates a series of concrete measures to accord women a decision – making role in the political domain and greater control over their economic status. Of especially fear reaching impact are the devolution of control of economic infrastructure to women, notably at the gram panchayat level, and the amendments proposed in the Hindu Succession Act of 1965 to give women coparcenary rights. An enlightened aspect of the policy is its recognition that actual change in the status of women can not be brought about by the mere enactment of socially progressive legislation. Accordingly, it focuses on reorienting development programmes and sensitizing administrations to address specific situations as, for instance, the growing number of households headed by women, which is a consequence of rural-urban migration. The proposal to create an equal-opportunity police force and give women greater control of police stations is an acknowledgement of the biases and callousness displayed by the generally all-male law-enforcement authorities in cases of dowry and domestic violence. While the mere enunciation of such a policy has the salutary effect of sensitising the administration as a whole, it does not make the task of its implementation any easier. This is because the changes it envisages in the political and economic status of women strike at the root of power structure in society and the basis of man-woman relationships. There is also danger that reservation for women in public life, while necessary for their greater visibility, could lapse into tokenism of become a tool in the hands of vote seeking politicians. Much will depend on the dissemination of the policy and the ability of elected representatives and government agencies to reorder their priorities. 1. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage? (a) Most of the government’s policies are formulated through participatory process. (b) There is need for stricter legislation. (c) The policy recommends reservation for women. (d) Domestic violence is in the rise. (e) Women already had coparcenary rights. 2. Which of the following is the most nearly the same in meaning to ‘callousness’ as used in the passage? (a) Prejudice (b) Insensitivity (c) Obliquities (d) Casual (e) Superiority 3. Which of the following is nearly the same in meaning to the word ‘delineates’ as used in the passage? (a) Discusses (b) Demarcates (c) Suggests (d) Outlines (e) Propagates 4. At which stage were the grass-root level organizations involved for the policy? (a) After the interim report (b) From the start (c) At the final stages (d) Not mentioned in the passage (e) None of these 5. According to the passage, which of the following is the basic block in the effective implementation of the policy? (a) Prevalent power structure in society (b) Inadequate legislation (c) Insensitive administration (d) Lack of political will (e) Male dominated law-enforcing authorities. Solution: 1.(a) 2.(c) 3.(e) 4.(e) 5.(d) 3. Carefully read the passage and answer the given questions. (Bank P.O. 1994) A leading Indian industrialist in a recent article on ways to strengthen India’s economy has drawn attention to the problems of inflation and industrial sickness among other things. One of the main reasons for industrial sickness in our country has been the fact that business and industrial managers, have not been able to look beyond the immediate future. They have been too preoccupied with their attempts to report favorable results for the current year – higher profits and larger dividends to the share holders. The planning horizon has hardly ever exceeded five years. Investments have been inadequate for new plants and towards diversification and expansions. Modernization and asset creation has seriously lagged behind. In business, growth is needed for survival; one has to grow if one does not want to be wiped out. This is particularly true today with liberalization of imports and increasing competition. More over, growth and higher employment creates larger markets both for industrial and consumer products. It was Henry Ford who brought home the need for the creation of a larger and a more stable middle class, that is, a larger number of people who can afford more and more of goods and services. Even after forty years of independence our industrialists have not been able to shed the petty shopkeeper’s mentality and our highly educated management has tagged along merrily and without concern. 1. The leading industrialist attributes industrial sickness mainly to (a) lacunae in five-year plans (b) preoccupations of managers with matters unrelated to business (c) higher profits and larger dividends to shareholders (d) lack of foresight among managers (e) inflation and other economic problems 2. According to the passage, growth and increasing productivity lead to (a) imposition of restrictions on imports (b) employment and thus provide an outlet to industrial and consumer products (c) encouragement to export of excess consumer goods (d) disproportionate surplus of commodities (e) none of the above 3. Why did Henry Ford stress the need for a more stable middle class? (a) They are mostly service oriented. (b) They do not have shopkeeper mentality. (c) They can afford to buy more and more expensive goods. (d) They are most unstable. (e) None of these. 4. ‘The planning horizon has hardly ever exceeded five years’ implies (a) Planning should not be for a period of less than five years. (b) The planning process is very time consuming. (c) The planners are not inclined to think of future. (d) Planning should take care of all probable ups and downs in the next five-year period. (e) Five – year period is too short for successful implementation of plants. 5. According to the passage, the net gains pursued by managers are at the cost of (a) Diversification, modernization and asset creation (b) Availability of markets for industrial and consumer products (c) Inflation and industrial sickness (d) Liberalization of imports and increasing competition (e) Higher profits and larger dividends to shareholders Solution: 1.(c) 2.(a) 3.(b) 4.(b) 5.(d) 4. Carefully read the passage and answer the given questions. (Bank P.O. 1995) Amnesty International's charge that 'tens of thousands' of political prisoners, including prisoners of conscience, are languishing in Indian jails and that prisoners are routinely tortured in this country has to be seen in a much wider context than the organisation's annual report cares to do. In its overall appraisal of 151 countries, Amnesty has accused 112 of torturing prisoners, 63 of harboring prisoners of conscience, 61 of resorting to political killings and 53 of detaining people without a trial. Of these apparently overlapping categories, India seems to have been excluded from the list of the 61 which undertake political killings. The report has however, pointed out that scores of people in India die of torture in police and military custody and that many also simply disappear. Clearly, only a thin line separates the 61 charged with political murder from the rest. Before coming to such conclusions, however, it may also be necessary to classify the various countries according to their political systems. Torture by the security forces and killings at the behest of the government make no difference to the victims whether they are in a democratic country or a totalitarian one. It is also nobody's case that a democratic country is less culpable than a dictatorship in the event of human rights violations. But the point perhaps still needs to be made that torture or 'disappearances' represent a failure of the system in a democracy in contrast to being an integral part of state policy in a country ruled by an autocrat who is answerable to no one. India may be guilty of keeping 'tens of thousands' behind bars and of the other human rights abuses mentioned by qualitatively different place from a totalitarian country. It is in this respect that Amnesty has been lass than fair. It has chosen to ignore the distinctions between the good, the bad and the ugly. The openness of Indian society will be evident to anyone who spends half an hour in one of its chaotic market-places or visits the law courts or watches a political rally or reads a newspaper or strikes up a conversation with any person on the roads. There is no sense of fear in India, as in a dictatorship. There is also scope for securing relief from the heavy-handed behaviour of the authorities, even if the human rights commission has not yet lived up to expectations. Unless such points are recognised, Amnesty's assessment will seem to be a dry recital of statistics which may pillory India simply because of its larger population. Mercifully, Amnesty nowadays at least notes that the terrorists also indulge in human rights violations and that India has to cope with several insurgencies fomented by a country where the military does not always seem to be under the control of the elected government. True, there is much that is the way the terrorist challenge is activating the self-correcting mechanism within a democracy and not merely on painting a grim, even biased picture. 1. In the report, India has been excluded from which of the following categories of violating human rights? (a) Torturing prisoners (b) Detaining without trial (c) Political killings (d) harbouring prisoners of conscience (e) None of these 2. Which of the following is not true in the context of the passage ? (a) India is guilty of some human rights abuses (b) Amnesty International appraised all the democratic countries (c) There is overlapping of cases in the categories of human right abuses (d) India was one of the countries appraised by Amnesty International (e) The report notes that the terrorists also violate human rights 3. According to the passage, through which media of forum Amnesty International has hurled the charges? (a) Seminar on Human rights (b) Its Regional Meet (c) Its annual Report (d) Its International Meet (e) None of these 4. The author of the passage (a) agrees with the report (b) disagrees with the report (c) disagrees that conditions of prisons in India is bad (d) supports the totalitarian approach (e) disagrees with report on terrorists 5. The Amnesty Internationals report is based on the information of how many countries ? (a)63 (b) 112 (c) 131 (d) 115 (e) None of these 6. The author suggests classification of various countries on the additional dimension. Which of the following is that dimension ? (a)Economic progress (b) Human rights (c) Industrial Progress (d) Political systems (e) None of these Solution: 1.(c) 2.(b) 3.(c) 4.(b) 5.(e) 6.(b) 5. Carefully read the passage and answer the given questions. (Section Officers, 1993) Democratic societies from the earliest times have expected their governments to protect the weak against the strong. NO ‘era of good feeling’ can justify discharging the police force or giving up the idea of public control over concentrated private wealth. On the other hand, it is obvious that a spirit of self-denial and moderation on the part of those who hold economic power will greatly soften the demand for absolute equality. Men are more interested in freedom and security then in an equal distribution of wealth. The extent of which Government must interfere with business, therefore, is not exactly measured by the extent to which economic power is concentrated into a few hands. The required degree of Government interference depends mainly on weather economic powers are oppressively used, and on the4 necessity of keeping economic factors in tolerable state of balance. But with the necessity meeting all these dangerous and threats to liberty, the powers of Government are on a unavoidably increased, whichever political party may be in office. The growth of Government is a necessary result of the growth of technology and of the problems the go with the use of machines and science. Since the Government in our Nation, must take on more powers to meet its problem, there is no wait to preserve freedom except by making democracy more powerful. 1. The advent of science and technology has increased the (a) Freedom of people (b) Tyranny of the political parties (c) Powers of the Government (d) Chances of economic in equality 2. A spirit of moderation on the economically sound people would may the less privileged (a) Unhappy with the rich people (b) More interested in freedom and security (c) Unhappy with their lot (d) Clamour less for absolute equality 3. The growth of Government is necessitated to (a) Make the rich and the poor happy (b) Curb the accumulation of wealth in few hands (c) Monitor science and technology (d) Deploy the police force wisely 4. Era of good feeling in sentence 2 refers to (a) time of prosperity (b) time of adversity (c) time without Government (d) time of police atrocities 5. Tolerable state of balance in the last sentence may mean (a) An adequate level of police force (b) A reasonable level of economic equality (c) A reasonable amount of Government interference (d) A reasonable check on economic power Solution: 1.(c) 2.(d) 3.(a) 4.(a) 5.(c)