MUET Reading (800/3)

The MUET Reading 800/3 Paper 

THIS PAPER Carries the most MUET marks!

As you all know the MUET Reading Paper carries the most marks.  It carries 120 out of 300 marks.  If you get all the questions correct then automatically you will get band two automatically.  Yes, band two from one paper alone, that is the Reading Paper.  Whether it is taken in March, July or November.

The Reading (Comprehension) Paper Per Se

The Reading paper is divided into two major parts.  Those parts are determined by the genres of the questions.  Those major parts are:

1.  Texts with Graphics

     

    Usually these texts are followed by 7 (seven) questions.  They are information transfer questions from graphic representation to texts.  Candidates have to answer those questions based on graphs, charts, or tables which might be combined with linear texts.  Those linear texts could be news headlines, announcements, news clips or materials which could be similar in nature to the ones already mentioned above.  

      The questions (all questions in this paper - in fact) are followed by three multiple choice options.  They could be A. True  B. False and C. Not stated.  

2.  Reading Comprehension

     This second component is further divided into two parts.  They are:

    1.   Literary Texts

    2.  Expository Texts

    1.  The Literary Texts

          The texts could be extracted from short stories or novels

    2.  The Expository Texts

          The texts/articles could be sourced from Journals, Newspapers, Magazines, 
          Academic texts and electronic texts.  

There are five (5) reading passages (mind you!) which carries 38 questions.  Each passage could be as long as one page to one page and a half (in A4 size paper).  As you can see from the sources that the articles are taken the standard of English is understandably high.  University standard, that's it.  Like it or not, this is MUET!  ha, ha, ha ....

The New Reading 800/3 Page

 The Reading Page is already set up.  It is intended to be a page for many things on Reading.  The page can be accessed at this link (yes, click here!)

To Infer Or Not To Infer, That's The Question!

Dear readers, This is the revised version of the posting that I made on 9 November 2011 on the subject of inference. I believe that here, in this posting, I am giving a better explanation and I hope readers will understand the topic better. As for the former posting I shall have deleted it by the time that this posting is published in this blog. The First 7 Questions of The Reading Paper The first seven questions of the Reading Paper (MUET 800/3) is a section which requires candidates to answer, in MCQs (multiple choice questions, i.e. objective test).  The text could be purely graphical texts or a composite or mixture of graphical and linear texts. The question arises where there are three answer choices:-  A. True, B. False and C. Not stated.  At times we can find the relevant information directly in the passage, therefore we can safely answer either TRUE or FALSE.  At times we are sure that the answer cannot found in the passage, so we choose the answer "Not stated". A Linear Text and a Non-Linear Text What you are reading now, under the topic “To Infer Or Not To Infer Is The Question” is a good example of a linear text.   A linear text is a piece of finished reading material that is made up of “lines” upon “lines” of sentences in an article.  What you are reading now is made up of rows upon rows of sentences from which you can get information.  They are made up of lines, thus we get the word “linear”. A graphical text is a text where we get stinuli such as charts, graphs, pictograms and tables in which certain information (such as the sales of certain things over a period of time) are conveyed.  The information portrayed is something that can be analysed and assumptions can be made. Inference Sometimes you are in a dilemma, choosing between "not stated" and "true/false".  The question arises as to what kind of answer we should give as there is no direct answer in the passage (which can be either purely graphics or a mixture of linear and graphical texts).  At times we can make inferences by referring to the text and come up with either a “true” or a “false” answer. Many students/candidates find this a problem because they find that "to read between the lines" will be difficult due to their own problems (such as not being able to understand certain words or the sentences in the passage). We infer when there is no clear cut answer that can be found in the linear and non-linear texts.  So, we make an intelligent guess for what is not explicitly stated in the texts.  We cannot use our “knowledge of the world” even though that “knowledge” is relevant as an answer.  We cannot use that fact as the answer if it is not found or mentioned anywhere in the text.  It may sound logical but it is still not the answer – that is because, it is not found anywhere in the graphical texts.  That makes it irrelevant information and does not help you arrive at a plausible answer. Choosing "C.  Not stated" option When we choose the "Not stated" option we are sure that the relevant information is absolutely not found in the text given.  We choose this “Not Stated” option after having considered that the applicable information is not given and we can neither ascertain or infer a true or false answer from the text given. An Example This is an example of answering by inference. The scenario in the graphical texts (or a composite of graphics and facts in tables): The residents of Diamond Garden keep on buying the new ice cream product.  They are very satisfied, so they recommend it to their neighbours and are not bothered by the higher price. The following example answer is the one for No. 6: 6. The residents give a positive response to the new ice cream product: A.  True B.  False C.  Not stated The answer is "A. True" after we have done an inference of the statements made. The inference is accepted as True because the inference is made through the statements found in the passage. Here, no background or knowledge of the world is used. I hope that will give you a better grasp of this matter. Happy reading and best of luck for your coming Reading 800/3 this week!

Vocabulary In Context

Contextual Clues This is the installment for the article posting I made sometime ago (Friday, June 18, 2010) on vocabulary in context where we can make an educated guess on the meaning of a new word. We do that by a strategy where we look for contextual clues that take us to the meaning of the word. Definition As Contextual Clues In this example the writer of an article or journal uses a strategy of giving the definition of the new word or phrase so that the reader will straightaway get the meaning of the new word. Example: "Everyone in the working world is a potential candidate for job burnout. It involves a long period of frustration with work, a loss of motivation that lingers, physical, mental and emotional exhaustion and poor health on the part of the employee." Can you pinpoint what is the new word or phrase in the excerpt quoted above? Yes, the phrase is job burnout. The writer uses the word 'involves' to introduce the meaning of that phrase. Therefore, when the employee has job burnout, he is frustrated, loses motivation; has physical, mental and emotional exhaustion with poor health. The writer knows that some people do not know the meaning of that phrase. So, he gives the definition of that phrase.

Distinguishing The Main Ideas and Supporting Details

One of the skills in reading is to be able to distinguish between the main ideas and the supporting details in a given text.  This starts with the paragraph which is made up of one main idea and the supporting details of that main idea.  Here is an example of how we carry out an activity in order to distinguish between the main idea and the supporting details.  Read the following discussion which is based on the purple paragraph below.

Wary of the high number of crimes committed through social networking websites, many people do take precautions to ensure their safety and privacy. People are taking risks when they put their personal information online. Users should be cautious about what they publish because they never know who might be misusing Facebook.  Information such as birth dates, telephone numbers and revealing photographs can be subject to abuse by rogue users.

1.  What is the paragraph about?

     It is about safety and privacy in social networking sites.


2.  Which sentence best expresses the main idea of the paragraph?
     Wary of the number of crimes committed through social networking websites, many people do take precautions to ensure safety and privacy. 


3.  Why is it called the main idea?
     It is broad enough to summarise all the essential points of the paragraph and specific enough to exclude detailed information.


4.  Where is the main idea found?
     It is found in the first sentence of the paragraph.


5.  What is the function of the other sentences?
     They clarify the main idea.  Although the main idea is expressed in the first sentence, it is not always clearly understood in itself.  So, the other sentences become the supporting details.

Vocabulary In Context - Contextual Clues

Reading is A Skill

Reading is a skill.  So, it is!  Actually there are a number of skills in reading such as

                                                * skimming and scanning
                                                * extracting specific information
                                                * identifying main ideas
                                                * identifying supporting details
                                                ... and
                                                * deriving the meaning of words,
                                                   phrases, sentences, from the
                                                   context

Just to name a few.  There are many more.  Please refer to the syllabus.  Have a look at the row of tabs above and look for the "Syllabus" tab and "click".  It will take you to the Syllabus page and under the Reading syllabus you can find all the skills for reading that will be included in the test of Reading 800/3 Paper.  These skills are essential too for the students as they will be reading and making reference at the library and studying big books (also small books tee, hee, hee ...).

Should we have no reading skills such as making an educated guess for new words that  we do not understand - we shall face a serious problem because we would not understand what we are reading and we might not be able to answer questions.  Furthermore, we may carry out the given instructions wrongly. 

Unfamiliar Words.

To solve the problem of getting the meaning of unfamiliar words as we read articles, exam papers, passages, etc.

There are times when we find words that we do not understand. At the same time we cannot ask anybody for the meaning because we are in the middle of an exam or, there is simply nobody around for us to consult. At the same time no dictionary is available. So, what do we do?
 

Use of "Contextual Clues"

 

There is a strategy that we can carry out that is called vocabulary in context. In this strategy we have to look at the surrounding words, sentence or sentences. These surrounding words, phrases and sentences serve as the backgrounds for the new word. They can give us clues as to the meaning of the new word. These are the contextual clues that can help us arrive at the meaning of the new word.

 

From time to time postings will be made under this topic as there are a few strategies that can help the students in times of need.