By Pranjal Singh, English Faculty, CLATapult

Read the passage thoroughly in the first instance; don’t merely skim through the passage.

You don’t have to be able to recall all the details of the passage after the first read, however you must be able to have a general idea of the scheme of the passage and generally what each paragraph.

In the alternative you can also read the questions first and then attempt to read the passage to see what parts are relevant. You can employ either approach depending on your comfort level.

Before you start reading the questions, attempt to crystallize the theme of the passage in your head so that you have some context while solving the passage

As a rule of thumb, if a particular option does not fit in with the theme of the passage or contradicts it, you can rule it out.

The questions often fall into broad categories. For instance:

a) Questions relating to selecting an appropriate name for the passage, intention of the author, drawing of conclusions on the basis of the passage etc. can often be answered by keeping in mind the theme of the passage.

b) Questions that need you to identify details from the passage can generally be answered by referring to the part of the passage that deals with the question.

Read the relevant part again and answer the question.

Don’t answer the questions after reading the passage only once.

You don’t have to read the entire passage several times, but ensure that you re-read the relevant part while answering the questions.

Don’t blindly select an option as the correct answer because it seems correct to you at first.

Keep in mind that some questions might be designed to trick you. Therefore, first select what you think is the most viable option and then proceed to reason out why the other options are not correct and eliminate.