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208

Answering Comprehension Questions

Some tests present you with a reading selection and then ask you to answer questions about it. Often, these tests measure reading comprehension and the ability to draw inferences. Follow these tips to score well on reading-comprehension questions:

  • ▶ Think about time. Read with pacing and focus—not so fast that you must do a lot of rereading, but not so slow that you can’t get through the material.
  • ▶ Underline key points if possible. If you can’t write on the page, jot quick notes on another piece of paper.
  • ▶ At the end of each paragraph, mentally recap the point of the paragraph.
  • ▶ In each question, look for references to paragraphs or lines. If a question says, “In the second paragraph” or “in line 15,” go to that spot to find your answer.
  • ▶ In multiple-choice questions, look for answers that paraphrase the text. Often such answers are correct.
  • ▶ Eliminate obviously incorrect answers. Then focus on the possible answers and seek evidence from the text to choose the best one.
  • ▶ Recognize the question types:
  • Main-point questions ask you to identify the main point. Consider the answers, and then check the first and last paragraphs to find the point.
  • Vocabulary questions ask about the meaning of specific words. Find the word in the text and use context clues to guess the meaning. (See page 161.) Replace the word with answers to see which makes the most sense. Remember that a strict dictionary definition of the term may not match the way the term is being used in the reading example.
  • Evidence questions ask you to find facts, statistics, examples, quotations, or other details that support a specific point. Return to the part of the reading that made that point and find the evidence used.
  • Inference questions ask you to draw conclusions based on evidence. If you are asked to infer, do not select answers that are literally expressed. Instead, select those that are unstated in the reading but are supported by evidence.
  • Style questions ask you about the specific way that the author expresses ideas. Think about the communication situation, with the writer as the sender of the message. What features of language give you clues as to who the writer is and what attitudes the writer has toward all aspects of the communication situation?
 

Your Turn Use the tips above as you carefully read the article excerpt at the top of the facing page and answer the reading-comprehension questions about it. (Check your answers by going to thoughtfullearning.com/h208.)

 
209

Our Dog-Help-Dog World

Some people see nature as all hungry mouths—a dog-eat-dog world driven by fierce competition for scarce resources. That’s not the whole story, though. In fact, the most successful life forms place a premium on collaboration.

Each cell in our bodies has two distinct types of DNA—nuclear and mitochondrial. That’s because the mitochondria in our cells are basically energy-generating bacteria that collaborate with the larger cell for mutual benefit. At the cellular level, each of us is a collaboration. And collaborative cells (eukaryotes) out-compete cells that work alone (prokaryotes).

The trick of collaboration also works between cells. Some of the simplest multicellular life forms are basically just tubes set up to bring food in one end and send waste out the other. By working together, individual cells benefit, and the collaborative as a whole out-competes cells that go solo.

Higher organisms introduce a form of collaboration called specialization. A single fertilized egg divides and divides and divides, and the resultant cells take on specific jobs to benefit the whole. They become the cells that make up hearts, lungs, brains, kidneys, and so on. Each of us is a collaboration of trillions of cells.

 
  1. In line 1, what does the writer mean by “Some people see nature as all hungry mouths”?
    1. Domestic animals are fed by humans, but wild animals are naturally hungry.
    2. Some people see animals as a source of food.
    3. Some people assume that competition for food drives nature.
  2. In the second paragraph, which type of cells are collaborations?
    1. Eukaryotes
    2. Prokaryotes
    3. Mitochondria
    4. Bacteria
  3. In line 9, the word “trick” is best replaced by which word?
    1. magic
    2. strategy
    3. cheating
    4. equipment
  4. All of the following answers except ___ could be inferred from the fourth paragraph.
    1. Specialization allows cells to collaborate by taking on different jobs.
    2. Highly successful people have more cells than people who are less successful.
    3. Specialized cells cannot survive without other cells that do other jobs.
 
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Additional Resources

Web Page: Reading Vocabulary Practice Questions

Web Page: Drawing Inferences