Ways to make mistakes in reading accuracy

WE explained the importance of comprehension in reading in the last issue, now let's examine the possible errors a student could make in the test.

Question 1: tests the ability to recognize specific facts. To identify the correct answer, please read the 1st sentence of the 2nd paragraph, ie "Asteroids are bigger versions of the meteoroids that race across the night sky." The key word is "versions" which means something slightly different from the original ones. Here it refers to changed forms "of the meteoroids," ie "bigger versions of the meteoroids." Therefore, B) They are heavenly bodies similar in nature. is the correct answer to the question. However, more than 70 per cent of the students failed to find the answer. Perhaps, they didn't quite understand the word "versions." This shows that vocabulary is a weak link in our teaching. Student command of vocabulary needs to be improved.

Question 2: also tests the ability to recognize explicitly stated facts. The question is "What do scientists say ..." " The word "scientists" first appears near the end of the 3rd paragraph. So the next two paragraphs must be read carefully to detect the correct answer. 1) "How likely the event is;" "once every 500,000 years," "Sounds pretty rare" are all the clues to the question. A) It is very unlikely but the danger exists. is the correct answer. Statistics show that more than 40 per cent of the students could not find the correct answer. They might have been trapped by other details. These students should place greater stress on accuracy in reading.

Question 3: also tests the ability to recognize explicitly stated details. First, the suggestion should be found. It is in Paragraph 4. Then, read the next two paragraphs to find people's attitudes towards it. The key sentence is "The cure, though, might be worse than the disease." Therefore, the correct answer is B) It may create more problems than it might solve. About half the students got the answer wrong because they missed the key sentence in the text. What prevented them from finding the key sentence was the fact that the author used a metaphor. He compares the suggestion by some scientists to a kind of medical cure and asteroids to a sort of disease.

Question 4: is a global question which tests the ability to draw logical conclusions. Please notice the word logical. The conclusion you have drawn must be based on a series of facts, reasons, and ideas given in the text. The author says in Paragraph 2: "there are also thousands of asteroids whose orbits put them on a collision course with Earth." In the next paragraph he says "we'll have a way to change its course." Then the author develops his idea by talking about using nuclear weapons to push asteroids off course but with no proper solution found in the end. Therefore, the correct answer to this question should be D) workable solutions still have to be found to prevent a collision of asteroids with Earth. Those who got the answer wrong can find the error in less accurate reading.

Question 5: tests the ability to judge the author's attitude. The author develops the theme of the text using three quotations: "Some scientists favour ..." (Para 4), "says one scientist" (Para 5), and "said a New York Times article" (Para 6). This shows the author assuming an objective tone. Therefore, C) Objective is the correct answer. This question does not seem very challenging, but, more than half the students had trouble.

Finally, I'd like to point out that learning to identify substitutions is very important. Writers often avoid repetition of the same word for stylistic reasons. For instance, one may find house, home, dwelling and residence all used to refer to the same building in the same text. If the reader fails to recognize that the words all describe one thing, he is going to have trouble understanding the text. Likewise, in the above passage we read the author uses "the space rocks" (L 7) and "doomsday rocks" (L 3 from the bottom) to substitute for "asteroids." If the substitutions escaped our attention, we'd certainly have trouble understanding the text.