Skill-related Reading
Reading Skill（Ⅷ）：Types of Reading Comprehension Questions
Reading comprehension questions，mainly multiple-choice questions，are designed to test a wide range of abilities that are required．For example，the ability to summarize a passage，analyze a text，understand the structure，identify the author’s purpose and so on．These questions range from the meaning of a particular word to the evidence that might support the author’s viewpoint．
Generally speaking，reading comprehension questions roughly fall into the following five categories：main idea，details，inference，unknown words and the author’s tone．By practicing diligently，you can familiarize yourself with each type of reading comprehension questions，and learn how to exclude trap-like choices and select the best answer from the available options．
1．Main Idea
Of all the reading comprehension questions，“main idea”questions are the most common．These questions require the readers to identify the passages’overall themes or purposes，as opposed to supporting facts and arguments．Thus you have to distinguish the main ideas from supporting ideas or evidence．The correct answer is based on the overall understanding of the whole passage．
Here are some questions related to the main idea：
（1）What does the writer mainly tell us？
（2）Which of the following can summarize the main idea of this text？
（3）Which of the following best expresses the main idea？
（4）What might be the best title for this passage？
2．Specific Details
Detailed questions account for a large proportion of reading comprehension，involving a wide range of content including time，place，person，number，reason，result，text structure，etc．，which are designed to test your understanding of what is explicitly mentioned in the passage．You should understand the context of the original text and the logical relationship of the whole text，and never make subjective assumptions．All the details mentioned are to support the main idea in some way，thus you first need to make clear the main idea，and probably you need to go back and re-read some particular sentences to see how the specific details fit into the main idea．Questions about details often inquire about the details and facts of a certain word，sentence，paragraph，etc．Generally，the answer can be found directly or indirectly in the passage．The special interrogative words often include：what，who，which，where，how，why，etc．
Here are some questions related to the specific details：
（1）Which of the following statement is true？
（2）Which of the following is not mentioned in the text？
（3）According to the passage，when（where，why，how，who，what，which，etc．）________？
（4）The author mentioned________at the________paragraph in order to________．
3．Unknown Words
These questions involve the meaning of an unknown word according to word-building clues or context clues，including definitions，examples，and general knowledge．In Unit 3，we have learned some ways to figure out the meaning of the unknown words in the reading comprehension materials．
Questions of this type are as follows：
（1）What does the underlined word“________”probably mean？
（2）The word“________”mostly probably means________．
（3）By saying“________”，the author means________．
4．Inference
Skilled authors are not explicit about everything．While they say some things directly，they imply others．Inference questions do not ask about directly stated facts，instead，they test your ability to read between the lines and recognize what the author implies in the passage．Students are required not only to infer the implied meaning through the surface text information，but also to make a correct inference and judgment on the author’s attitude，intention and the development of the details of the passage．To deal with inference questions，you must find the basis of inference from the original text，and objectively give reasonable logical inference to the phenomena or cases that are not clearly explained in the text．The common questions of making inference are as follows：
（1）What can be inferred from the passage？
（2）What can we learn from the last paragraph？
（3）The passage implies that________．
（4）We can conclude from the passage that________．
5．Attitude or Tone
In the reading comprehension of almost all standardized tests，you’re likely to encounter such a question that asks you to figure out the author’s tone in the passage．An author’s tone is simply his／her attitude toward a particular written subject，which can be described in various ways．An author’s tone can be dreary，warm，neutral，playful，witty，outraged，and so on．The author can convey the tone with different techniques，among which word choice is the most important one．For instance，the author who judges something“promising”is enthusiastic about it，while the author who deems something“less than satisfactory”is obviously criticizing it．Messages can be really misinterpreted if you don’t understand the basics behind the tone．Pay attention to those emotional words that will help you to figure out the author’s tone．
Here are some questions related to the author’s tone：
（1）What is the author’s attitude towards________？
（2）What does the author want to convey through the use of the word________？
（3）The author’s attitude toward________could best be described as________．
（4）What emotion does the author want to convey through the use of________？
＼Reading Practice＼
I．Directions：Read the following questions and decide which type of comprehension questions they belong to．
1．The word“mute”in Para．6，Line 3 probably means“________”．
A．eliminate B．maintain C．weaken D．strengthen
This is a________question．
2．Which of the following is NOT included among the factors contributing to men’s characteristics in traditional agricultural societies？
A．Hardships in life．
B．Natural personality traits．
C．Social hierarchies and gender roles．
D．Social stresses．
This is a________question．
3．What does Dr．Schmitt mean by“Removing the stresses of traditional agricultural societies could allow men’s and to a lesser extent women’s，more‘natural’personality traits to emerge”（Paragraph 8，Line 7 8）？
A．Men’s competitive，assertive，and reckless traits express themselves more strongly in modern society．
B．Women tend to be more cooperative，nurturing，and cautious in modern societies．(https://www.daowen.com)
C．Men become more natural without stress．
D．Women become more natural without stress．
This is a________question．
4．What can one infer from the passage about personality differences between men and women？
A．The differences are bigger in traditional societies than in modern societies．
B．There are almost no differences both in traditional societies and in modern societies．
C．The differences disappear as new roles open for women．
D．The differences become bigger as women and men share more equal rights and similar jobs．
This is a________question．
5．What is the author’s attitude towards the studies by Dr．Deaner and Dr．Schmitt？
A．Critical B．Positive
C．Neutral D．Compromising
This is a________question．
Ⅱ．Directions：Read the following passage carefully，answer the questions and then match each of the question with the type of question it belongs to．
A．Main Idea B．Specific Details C．Unknown Words
D．Inference E．Attitude or Tone
Three hundred years ago news traveled by word of mouth or letter，and circulated in taverns and coffee houses in the form of pamphlets and newsletters．“The coffee houses particularly are very roomy for a free conversation，and for reading at an easier rate all manner of printed news，”noted one observer．Everything changed in 1833 when the first mass-audience newspaper，The New York Sun，pioneered the use of advertising to reduce the cost of news，thus giving advertisers access to a wider audience．The Penny Press，followed by radio and television，turned news from a two-way conversation into a one-way broadcast，with a relatively small number of firms controlling the media．
Now，the news industry is returning to something closer to the coffee house．The internet is making news more participatory，social and diverse，reviving the discursive characteristics of the era before the mass media．That will have profound effects on society and politics．In much of the world，the mass media are flourishing．Newspaper circulation rose globally by 6% between 2005 and 2009．But those global figures mask a sharp decline in readership in rich countries．
Over the past decade，throughout the western world，people have been giving up newspapers and TV news and keeping up with events in profoundly different ways．Most strikingly，ordinary people are increasingly involved in compiling，sharing，filtering，discussing and distributing news．Twitter lets people anywhere report what they are seeing．Classified documents are published in thousands online．Mobile phone footage of Arab uprisings and American tornadoes is posted on social-networking sites and shown on television newscasts．Social-networking sites help people find，discuss and share news with their friends．
And it is not just readers who are challenging the media elite．Technology firms including Google，Facebook and Twitter have become important conduits of news．Celebrities and world leaders publish updates directly via social networks；many countries now make raw data available through“open government”initiatives．The internet lets people read newspapers or watch television channels from around the world．The web has allowed new providers of news，from individual bloggers to sites，to rise to prominence in a very short space of time．And it has made possible entirely new approaches to journalism，such as that practiced by WikiLeaks，which provides an anonymous way for whistle-blowers to publish documents．The news agenda is no longer controlled by a few press barons and state outlets．
In principle，every liberal should celebrate this．A more participatory and social news environment，with a remarkable diversity and range of news sources，is a good thing．The transformation of the news business is unstoppable，and attempts to reverse it are doomed to failure．As producers of new journalism，individuals can be scrupulous with facts and transparent with their sources．As consumers，they can be general in their tastes and demanding in their standards．And although this transformation does raise concerns，there is much to celebrate in the noisy，diverse，vociferous，argumentative and stridently alive environment of the news business in the age of the internet．The coffee house is back．Enjoy it．
1．According to the passage，what initiated the transformation of coffee-house news to massmedia news？
A．The emergence of big mass media firms．
B．The popularity of radio and television．
C．The appearance of advertising in newspapers．
D．The increasing number of newspaper readers．
This is a________question．
2．Which of the following statements best supports“Now，the news industry is returning to
something closer to the coffee house”？
A．Newspaper circulation rose globally by 6% between 2005 and 2009．
B．People in the Western world are giving up newspapers and TV news．
C．Classified documents are published in thousands online．
D．More people are involved in finding，discussing and distributing news．
This is a________question．
3．According to the passage，which is NOT a role played by information technology？
A．Challenging the traditional media．
B．Planning the return to coffee-house news．
C．Providing people with access to classified files．
D．Giving ordinary people the chance to provide news．
This is a________question．
4．The author’s tone in the last paragraph towards new journalism is________．
A．optimistic and cautious B．supportive and skeptical
C．doubtful and reserved D．ambiguous and cautious
This is a________question．
5．In“The coffee house is back”，coffee house best symbolizes________．
A．the changing characteristics of news audience
B．the more diversified means of news distribution
C．the participatory nature of news
D．the more varied sources of news
This is a________question．