COMPREHENSION/ READING SKILLS
INTRODUCTION TO ANSWERING COMPREHENSION
CONTENT
Introduction
Basic Guide
Comprehension simply means understanding
Basic Guide
Carefully check the instructions you are given.
Read the passage through very quickly to grasp the general sense idea
Quickly look at the questions thoroughly and keep them in mind.
Read through the passage again more slowly trying to understand details as well as meanings of most of the words
Answer the questions
Limit your answer only to the information provided in the passage. Avoid including materials not found in the passage i.e. extraneous materials.
Test on Synonyms or equivalent meaning
Synonyms to the word costly include: expensive; extravagant, precious
The substitute must fit into the passage perfectly if original word is removed.
A plural noun or verb, requires a plural substance, and a singular noun or verb requires a singular substance e.t.c. The substitute, you provide must be of the same grammatical category with the original word or phrase e.g.
The car gets (singular present tense) here at 3.00p.m.
The correct substitute is arrives (also singular present tense) not arrived
Put down a number with five digits.
The correct substitute for digits is figures and not figure.
Evaluation
Read the comprehension passage on the comprehension page 68-71 of Effective English and answer the questions under.
Reading Assignment
More on comprehension, page 81 of Countdown in English Language by Evans
VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT: WORDS ASSOCIATED WITH RELIGION
CONTENT
Definition
Relevant words
Religion is the belief in the existence of a god or gods, and the activities that are connected with the worship of them.
Relevant words
| Atheist | A person who believes that there is no God. |
| Crucifix | Cross with the figure of Jesus Christ crucified on it |
| Doctrine | What is taught as the belief of, example, a religious, political or scientific body of persons. |
| Ethics | Moral principles by which a person or group is guided. |
| Worship | Take part in a religious ceremony in which reverence is paid to God or a god; the religious ceremony itself. |
| Supernatural | Things that cannot be explained by the laws of science and seems to involve gods or magic |
| Clergy | A group of people ordained for Christian religious service.
|
Others are: trinity, denomination, inter-denomination, creed, pew, benediction, monotheism, processional hymn, recessional hymn, warden, protestants, orthodox churches, Pentecostal churches.
EVALUATION
Choose words of religion and use them in correct sentences.
SPEECH WORK: FORMAL AND INFORMAL CONVERSATION: EMPHATIC STRESS
CONTENT
The emphatic stress
Examples
The stressing of a particular word more than other words in a sentence is referred to as EMPHATIC STRESS
EXAMPLES
Consider the following sentences and notice how its meaning changes according to the word that has been stressed
JAMES borrowed the novel (i.e. James, not anybody else borrowed the novel.)
James BORROWED the novel (i.e. James didn’t, for example, steak or buy the novel; he borrowed)
James borrowed the NOVEL. ( i.e. James borrowed the novel, not the magazine, not the journal e.t.c.
Test on emphatic stress requires the candidate to select the question to which the given sentence is the appropriate answer. An example is given below:
Example: My mother’s FRIEND hates pets.
Does your mother’s boss hate pets?
Does your mother’s friend love pets?
Does your mother’s friend hate pets?
Does your father’s friend hate pets?
The correct answer is A.
Evaluation
Choose the correct answer
The man likes COFFEE on Sunday mornings
Does the man like coffee on Monday?
Does the man like tea on Sunday morning?
Adamu OPENLY disagrees with his principal.
Did Adamu secretly disagree with the principal?
Did Adamu openly agree with the principal?
GENERAL EVALUATION/ REVISION QUESTIONS
From the list of words lettered A to D, choose the one that is most nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined word and that will at the same time, correctly fill the gap in the sentences.
- The guest of honour urged the contestants to show the spirit of sportsmanship, either in victory or in———— (a) defeat (b) success (c) suffering (d) failure
- The reply of the accused to the question was cautious rather than ——- (a) attentive (b) scrupulous (c) hasty (d) thoughtful
- The bride carried a bouquet of natural flowers (a) artificial B local imported D. genuine
- Musa is a giant of a man, but his brother is more or less a ——— a. diminutive dwarf c. huge man d. pigmy e. robot
- In many ways, my parents are very conservative but there are times when they surprise me with their ————— ideas of family planning. critical b. liberal c. modern d. new e. orthodox
WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT
Complete each of the following sentences with one of the words in the brackets: (secular, ethics, denomination, doctrine, pilgrimage, fanatics, worship, Bible, monotheist)
- The Catholic ______ is very conservative
- The ______ I made last year cost me a lot of money
- The _____ destroyed cars and house
- A place of _____ should remain sacred
- The Muslims are _____ they believe in one God.
- The ______ is the holy book of Christians
Theory
Write a letter to your friend who is abroad telling him about the political changes that have happened in your country.
See also
ADJECTIVE AND ADJECTIVAL PHRASE