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READING COMPREHENSIONREADING COMPREHENSIONREADING COMPREHENSIONREADING COMPREHENSION

TYPES OF QUESTIONS

INFERENCE/APPLICATION/ AUTHORS PURPOSE

(A) INFERENCE QUESTIONS

Inference questions ask you to identify an information or idea which is implied or suggested in the passage,

or which can be inferred from the passage. These questions ask about what is not mentioned explicitly in the

passage, but can be logically inferred from the information in the passage. So the answer is not stated directly

in the passage but has to be inferred through a slight logical extension of the information that appears

specifically in the passage. Some question types could be:

(a) The passage implies that...

(b) The author implies that

(c) The passage suggests

(d) The author uses the phrase ... to mean...

(e) The author would support which of the following

(f) It can be inferred from the passage that

(e) Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

To tackle these questions it is essential to read between the lines so as to understand the implications (for

implied idea) of certain phrases, words, sentences, etc. You should learn to recognize the key words/phrases

in the question. Choose an answer which would be a logical development of ideas provided by the author.

Base your answer on what the passage implies, not what it states directly. Then match this with the options

given and you will hit the right answer. Remember you must go beyond the obvious. Of late, there has beenan increased emphasis on inference based questions in the CAT examination. Students find such questions

quite a bit more difficult to handle. These questions require a greater understanding of the passage, though

minute details may not be necessary. Having a clear understanding of the main idea, and to an extent the

subsidiary ideas of the passage, is quite helpful. Since there may be a few close answer options, it is advisable

to proceed on the basis of POE only.

(B) APPLICATION QUESTIONS

These questions are similar to implied idea questions, but unlike the latter, they require you to apply

information or ideas used in the passage. These questions test the ability to recognize how the authors idea

might apply to other situations outside the parameters of the passage. You should be able to apply and collateideas extending them to situations or statements outside the scope of the text. Primarily these questions are

intended to test the critical reasoning skills of the test takers.

This category can be further divided into several types some of which are:

Audience/Source Questions

1. With which of the following statements is the author most likely to agree?

2. The passage is most probably taken from

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3. The author of this passage is most likely a/n

Agreement Questions

1. Which of the following aphorisms/proverbs would the author be in strongest agreement with?

2. The author would most strongly agree/disagree with which of the following statements?

Extrapolation Questions

1. Which of the following situations is most closely analogous to the situation described by the author?

2. Most nearly parallel, in its fundamental approach, to the research program described in the passage

would be a program designed to

3. Which of the following describes a situation most analogous to the situation described in lines

Reasoning Questions

The authors argument would be most weakened by the discovery of

In dealing with such answers, try to perceive feelings of the author. This, like inferential questions, requires

that you go beyond what the author explicitly states. Therefore, being inferential in nature, they can be

answered quite easily on the basis of the substance of the passage.

Least agree Questions

These questions would have one wrong answer option, all the others being the right answer options. Students

have to identify the wrong answer option. Even if these questions are not inference based, and can be

answered directly based on the information furnished in the passage, they are still time taking. This is

because, unless we are able to identify all the right answers based on the passage, we shall not know what the

wrong answer option is. These questions could be answered after we have answered the other questions and

have a better idea of the right answers.

All of these/None of these (type) answer options

If a student is positive that more than one answer options are correct, the right answer option is more likely to

be all of these. The reverse is true in case of none of these.

(C) AUTHORS PURPOSE

Like the questions based on implication/inference, questions regarding the authors purpose also require you

to read between the lines to get the focus of the entire passage as well as some supplementary ideas of the

passage. If the questions pertain to the main purpose of the passage, they would not be much different from

the main idea questions. But more often they ask you to explain the purpose of a particular example, quote,

phrase etc. used by the author to make a point.

Some questions of this type could be

(i) The author cites the example of in order to

(ii) The is intended to

(iii) The order provides the information related to primarily to

(iv) The author is primarily trying to

(v) What is the author trying to show through

The strategy to handle these questions should be similar to the strategy for inference based questions.