Site guide for Reading Comprehension

EnglishYogi offers you free Reading Comprehension practice tests as well as tips for improvement. We recommend you follow the schedule below.

Tips on improving Reading Comprehension (RC)

The most important thing about RC is understanding what you read. Being able to read fast is also important, but remember that speed is always secondary to understanding. Below are some tips for exam-preparation as well as for general improvement.

Exam Tips

• Don’t rush yourself. It is natural that you will start a little slowly and then build up speed as you gain familiarity with the passage.

• Read all the questions first (if the exam format permits this). This will help you zero in on the relevant portions when you start reading the passage.

• Read actively. This means, try to anticipate the next sentence. Reading this way will help you engage with the passage more closely.

• Make notes to capture the essence of each paragraph within the passage. The first sentence of the paragraph usually conveys the main idea or theme of the paragraph.

• Don’t try to memorize anything. Memorizing consumes time and is not very useful.

• Get the overview. After you have read the passage, ask yourself the following questions:
  (1) what is the passage as a whole trying to say?
  (2) How does each paragraph contribute to the broad message of the passage?

General improvement tips

It is a known fact that people who have a regular reading habit do much better in RC tests than those who don’t. Regular reading improves not just your reading speed, but also the depth of your understanding of an unfamiliar passage. The most important thing is to cultivate a regular reading habit that you follow with discipline. Here are some things you can do:

• Subscribe to content feeds. We will be sending you useful material on a regular basis.

• Read for at least 30 minutes a day.

• Read from a variety of sources:  newspapers, the internet, novels, magazines.

• Read across a broad range of topics: sports, business, politics, science etc.

• Read actively. Develop a habit of being very curious about whatever you’re reading!

• Always summarize to yourself the material you have just read.

Exams that test Reading Comprehension

• GRE  (Graduate Record Examination)

• GMAT  (Graduate Management Aptitude Tests)

• CAT (Common Admission Test)

• Campus Placement Tests