Comprehension

Comprehension is an initial step in the approach from reading towards writing, as well as
measure of testing the student’s ability to understand a given text.

Essential Guideline for Answering Questions:

1. Read the given text carefully as to get a clear idea of what it says.
2. In case of complex sentence-structure and illusive expression, read the passage over and
over again till the meaning is clear to you.
3. Do not run after the meaning of every new or unfamiliar word or phrase. Instead try to
guess from the context what word or phrase means.
4. Read each question carefully and underline the answer in the passage.
5. Shape the answer in accordance with the question and write it down. It is better to use your
own words instead of copying the answer word for word from the passage.
6. Your answer should be a complete sentence, not just a phrase or a clause. For instance if the
question is:
Why do you go for a walk?
As an answer if you say:
Because I like to go out in the morning. (It is a clause not a sentence)
The correct and complete answer to this question is:
I go for a morning walk because I like to go out in the morning.
7. Avoid omitting auxiliary verb (helping verb)
8. Your answer must be in the same tense which is used in the question.

PRECIS
DEFINITION:
It means an abstract or a gist of a longer passage or document.

SOME IMPORTANT REQUIREMENTS

A précis must fulfill the following three requirements:
(a) It must be in form of a continuous narrative, that is, it must not consist of disjointed
sentences.
(b) It should include all the important ideas expressed in the original passage.
(c) It should rigidly exclude all that is unimportant and irrelevant.

ESSENTIALS OF A GOOD PRECIS:

(i) A good précis should give the leading thoughts and the general impression of the
passage summarized.
(ii) A good précis should be a continuous and compact piece of prose.
(iii) A précis should be clear. It must present the substance of the original in your own
language.
(iv) A précis should be precise and brief. Précis-writing means giving the essentials in the
fewest possible words. Thus the brevity is the very soul of a précis.
(v) A précis should not be sketchy. It should be complete and contain all that is important
in the original.
  There is no royal road to making a précis. It is an intellectual exercise. We can only achieve
success in précis writing if we can fully enter into the spirit of the given passage.

AVOID THE FOLLOWING.

(i) Avoid comments of your own and other irrelevancies.
(ii) Avoid borrowing phrases and sentences from the original.
(iii) Avoid emphasizing the wrong points.
(iv) Avoid exceeding the prescribed length by more than five words.
(v) Avoid bad style. See that your sentences do not lack unity.
(vi) Avoid colloquial expressions.

 As a rule a précis should be in Indirect Speech. Great care must be taken to avoid lapsing into
Direct Speech.

 The summary should be in the Third Person. The first person must be changed into third
person.
EXAMPLES:
(i) “I say, first we have despised literature. What do we, as a nation, care about books? I
say, we have despised Science. I say we have despised Art.”

PRECIS: The writer said that they had despised literature, science and art.

 The précis should be generally made in the past tense unless the original passage expresses
some universal truth in which case the present tense must be used.

(ii) War is a great calamity. It is worse than famine or plague. It settles nothing but unsettles
everything.

PRECIS: War is more destructive than epidemics and starvation.

(iii) I never found a woman who was so generous in her gifts and who loved to entertain so
many guests in her home.

PRECIS: I never found so hospitable a woman.

THE PRECIS OF A PARAGRAPH

In attempting the precis of a paragraph the following plan may be of some assistance.

(i) Read the passage carefully two or three times or more till the meaning is well
understood.
(ii) Note down the central idea or the main topic. Often the main idea of the passage can be
expressed in a phrase: this phrase will make the title of the passage.
(iii) Make an out line summary of the passage dividing it into main topics and sub topics if
possible.
(iv) Write off in plain businesslike English a continuous summary linking up the topics and
sub topics already written down. Pay as much attention to grammar and style as in any
composition.

EXAMPLE:
I often wish that this phrase “applied science” had never been invented. For it suggests that
there is a sort of scientific knowledge of direct practical use which can be studied apart from an
other sort of scientific knowledge, which is of no practical utility, and which is termed as “pure
science”. But there is no more complete fallacy than this. What people call applied science is
nothing but the application of pure science to particular classes of problems. It consists of
deductions from those general principles, established by reasoning and observation, which
constitute pure science. No one can safely make these deductions until he has a firm grasp of
the principles, and he can obtain that grasp only by personal experience of the operations of
observation and of reasoning on which they were founded. (T.H.Huxley)

PRECIS: Application science is not a separate and independent branch of science. It is

nothing more than application of the laws and principles of pure science to specific problems
for specific results. It may, therefore, be called the practical use of pure science for more
specific purpose.

(First Group) 2003

Properly speaking, the cave men were the human beings who lived before the most important
of the early inventions on which a stable civilization can be based: farming or the regular
cultivation of edible plant; the domestication of hoofed animals; pottery and perhaps with it
the revolutionary technique of grinding, polishing, and boring stone tools so as to make them
almost as efficient as the later tools of metal. The cave men did not farm, they were hunters and
fishermen, and their women collected wild fruit, vegetables, and grain. They lived lives rather
like those of the American plains Indians before the introduction of the horse. They did not
domesticate animals – or at best only one animal, our oldest friend dog. They lived largely on
animals; they thought about animals constantly; but they were hunters, so they treated even the
horse as something to be stampeded over a cliff and then eaten. They knew something about
clay and how it hardens in the fire, but so for we have found no real clay dishes or containers
among their remains. We find it difficult to imagine life without the peaceful cornfields, the
quiet cattle, and the dishes from which we eat and drink, yet for most of man’s existence on the
earth these things were unknown and undreamed of. Settled farming began somewhere about
7000 years ago, in the new Stone Age; that seems like a long time ago, but it is only about 200
generations from our own time.

Questions:
i. Make a précis of the passage. 16
ii. Who were the cave men? 03
iii. What are the basic elements of a stable civilization? 03
iv. What did the cave men eat to live? 03

(Second Group) 2003

It is one of life’s choicest blessings to have a few sincere friends. This is not as easy as it may
seem. For to attract friends, one must oneself be attractive. For this, the first thing necessary is
to have trustful nature. Confidence alone begets confidence. One must open one’s heart to a
friend, holding back nothing. Secrecy is the poison that always destroys lasting friendship and
so one must have no secret from a real friend. Secondly, one must be tolerant and forbearing.
No man is all good, and if one is always fault finding, it will produce a feeling of natural
irritation. This leads to estrangement. It is only when friendship is tested by the trials of life
that faults may be pointed without creating ill- will. Thirdly, there can be no true or lasting
friendship between men of unequal status or worth. Real friendship is possible between equals.
There must be no intention on one side or the other to make friendship a matter of gain or
convenience. But real friendship is a very rare thing in the world. There are many people who
seem to be incapable of it. Suspicious natures, and those who are credulous are easily
influenced by reports and whispers can never make good friends.

Questions:
i. Make a précis of the passage. 16
ii. What were conditions of good friendship? 03
iii. What are the causes that destroy friendship? 03
iv. What type of people are incapable of friendship? 03
(First Group) 2004
Fortunately, however, the growth of industrialism has coincided in the West with the growth of
democracy. It is possible now, if the population of the world does not increase too fast, for one
man’s labour to produce much more than is needed to provide a bare subsistence for himself
and his family. Given an intelligent democracy not misled by some dogmatic creed, this
possibility will be used to raise the standard of life. It has been so used, to a limited extent, in
Britain and America and would have been so used more effectively but for war. Its use in
raising the standard of life has depended mainly upon three things: democracy, trade unionism,
and birth control. All three of course, have incurred hostility from the rich. If these three things
can be extended to the rest of the world as it becomes industrialized, and if the dangers of great
wars can be eliminated, poverty can be abolished throughout the whole world, and excessive
hours of labour will no longer be necessary anywhere, but without these three things,
industrialism will create a regime like that in which the Pharaohs built the pyramids. In
particular, if world population continues to increase at the present rate, the abolition of poverty
and excessive work will be totally impossible.

Questions:
i. What connection does the writer show between industrialism and democracy? 02
ii. How can the standard of life be raised? 02
iii. How can poverty be abolished? 02
iv. What will be the impact of increase in population at the present rate? 02
v. Suggest a suitable title for the passage. 02
vi. Make a précis of the passage. 15

(Second Group) 2004

Real beauty is as much an affair of the inner as of shape, of colour, of surface texture. The jar
may be empty or tenanted by spiders, full of honey or stinking slime – it makes no difference
to its beauty or ugliness. But a woman is alive, and her beauty is therefore not skin deep. The
surface of the human vessel is affected by the nature of its spiritual contents. I have seen
women who, by the standards of a connoisseur of porcelain, were ravishingly lovely. Their
shape, their colour, their surface texture were perfect. And yet they were not beautiful. For the
lovely vase was either empty or filled with some corruption. Spiritual emptiness or ugliness
shows through. And conversely, there is an interior light that can transfigure forms that the pure
aesthetician would regard as imperfect or downright ugly. There are numerous forms of
psychological ugliness. There is an ugliness of stupidity, for example, of unawareness
(distressingly common among pretty women), an ugliness also of greed, of lasciviousness, of
avarice. All the deadly sins, indeed, have their own peculiar negation of beauty. On the pretty
faces of those especially who are trying to have a continuous good time, one sees very often a
kind of bored sullenness that ruins all their charm.

Questions:
i. What does real beauty signify? 02
ii. Where does the beauty of a porcelain jar lie? 02
iii. Differentiate between inner beauty and outer beauty? 02
iv. Point out some forms of psychological ugliness. 02
v. Suggest a suitable title for the passage. 02
vi. Make a précis of the passage. 15

(First Group) 2005

A person who is aware of

(Second Group) 2005

Ought women to have

(First Group) 2006

When the time for a general

(Second Group) 2006

Great progress has been made by America in the field of mechanization. It is spending lavishly
on labour-saving machines. Efficient organization of highly mechanized system has resulted in
maximum productivity in America. With mass production, the amenities of life are available to
almost every citizen. On the contrary Europe subordinates the use of machines to human
happiness and welfare. It encourages man’s reliance on his own faculties and realizes the
dangers inherent in the American scheme. However great the advantages of mechanization, it
crushes the creative faculty of man and makes a machine out of him. His individual liberty and
personality suffer an irretrievable loss. In his moments of leisure the worker finds it difficult to
turn his hands to creative work because the machine made goods do not inspire him in the
direction of refinement. These goods also lose their fascination because mass production has
given a set back to the individuality of the articles produced. The European, therefore, contend
that it is better to sacrifice a few material comforts than crush the aesthetic and spiritual urge in
the individual which large-scale mechanization is doing in America.

Questions:
i. Suggest a suitable title for the passage. 02
ii. What is the result of progress in the field of mechanization in America? 02
iii. How has it affected the citizens? 02
iv. What is the case in Europe? 02
v. Why do Europeans sacrifice a few material comforts? 02
vi. Make a summary of the passage. 15
 (First Group) 2007

Pakistanies are sometimes treated as suspects as they enter Saudi Arabia. The procedures for
search and investigation are aggressive, and naturally, time-consuming may be a humiliating
experience for a self respecting Pakistani. Lately, another trend is developing which can hurt as
still more as injury is being added to insult. Quite a few Saudis are now unwilling to employ
Pakistanis as they used to do in the seventies. One main reason cited is the incidence of drug-
trafficking (business) through expatriate Pakistanis who, at times, collaborate with drug-
traffickers. Thus, the channel of employment for our labour in Saudi Arabia is drying up, partly
owing to our failing as people.
Pakistan is a victim as drugs produced in Afghanistan pass through our territory. It cannot be
denied that drugs are produced in Pakistan, but the government is trying to curtail their
production. However, with an estimated indigenous (native) population of just over three
million addicts the local production of drugs does not appear enough to meet the home
demand, thus, having started as a producer of heroine in 1979, thanks to the transfer of such
technology by a western adventurer, it is now the major consumer. However, in the western
countries, the treatment meted out to Pakistani nationals is humiliating.

Questions:
i. Why is the treatment humiliating for Pakistanis on entering Saudi Arabia?
02
ii. What is the main reason for the reduction of employment opportunities in Saudi Arabia?
02
iii. How much is Pakistan responsible for drug-trafficking? 02
iv. Who is technologically responsible for the production of heroine in Pakistan? 02
v. Suggest a suitable title for the passage. 02
vi. Make a précis of the passage.
15

(Second Group) 2007

One of the main objectives of Imam Khomeini’s foreign and domestic policy was the
propagation of the humanitarian principles of Islam. The Islamic Republic of Iran took a bold
stand on the basis of this objective. Iran explained this stand at every international forum. The
divine commands that have shaped the Iranian policies are perhaps common to every major
religion.
The revered Imam tried to associate the masses in his own and other Muslim countries with his
own and other Muslim countries with his objective. He addressed them directly, had a silent
dialogue of the heart with them even when he could not meet them personally. The people in
almost all the Muslim countries and even in others whether they were inhabited by Muslims or
followers of other faiths, listened to his speeches and talks attentively and devotedly. Thus
instead of appealing to the unpopular and reactionary governments of the day, he established
durable and lasting contacts with the common people and their true representatives.
The great leader demanded the common people’s presence, through their representatives, at
important meetings and participation in his decision-making. In this way he wanted to ensure
the achievement of the aims of the Islamic Revolution. This policy was instantly successful in
 winning the support of the Muslim masses even in the countries that were being ruled over by
the so called representatives.

Questions:
i. Explain the main objectives of Imam Khomeini. 02
ii. What was his mode of achievement toward his goal? 02
iii. How can we call The Iranian Revolution a “people’s revolution”? 02
iv. Comment on the success of The Iranian Revolution. 02
v. Suggest a suitable title for the passage. 02
vi. Make a précis of the passage. 15

(First Group) 2008

It is common in our day, as it has been in many other periods of the world’s history to suppose
that those among us who are wise have seen through all the enthusiasms of earlier times and
have become aware that there is nothing left to live for. The men who hold this view are
genuinely unhappy but they are proud of their unhappiness which they attribute to the nature of
the universe and consider to the only rational attitude for an enlightened man. Their pride on
their unhappiness makes people suspicious of its genuineness: they think that the man who
enjoys being miserable is not miserable. This view is too simple; undoubtedly there is some
slight compensation in the feeling of superiority and insight which these sufferers have, but it is
not sufficient to make up for the loss of simple pleasure. I do not myself think that there is
myself think that there is any superiority rationality in being unhappy. The wise men will be as
happy as circumstances permit and if he finds the contemplation of the universe painful beyond
a point, he will contemplate something instead. I am persuaded that those who quite sincerely
attribute their sorrows to their views about the universe are putting the cart before the horse;
the truth is that they are unhappy for some reasons of which they are not aware.

Questions:
i. Suggest a suitable title for the passage. 02
ii. What is common with the wise today to suppose? 02
iii. What is the result of pride on unhappiness? 02
iv. How can a wise man be happy? 02
v. Explain the meaning of the following words:
vi. (a) Enthusiasm (b) Conteplation 02
vii. Make a summary of the passage. 15

(Second Group) 2008

Space travel is by far the most expensive type of exploration ever undertaken by man. The vast
expenditure of money and human effort now being devoted to projects for putting man into
space might well be applied to ends more practically useful and more conducive to human
happiness. It is a strange world in which tens of millions of pounds are spent to give one man a
ride round the earth at thousand miles an hour, while beneath him in his orbit live millions for
whom life is a daily struggle to win a few coins to buy their daily struggle. The money and
effort that go into the development and construction of a single type of space-rocket would
more than suffice to rid several countries of such scourge as malaria or typhoid fever, to name
only two of the diseases that medical science has conquered but which still persist in the world
simply because not enough money and effort are devoted to their eradication. Why should the
richer countries of the world be pouring their resources into space when poverty and disease on
the earth are crying out for relief? One could give a cynical answer to this question and assert
that man’s expensive adventures into space are merely the by-products of the struggle between
great powers for prestige and possible military advantage.

Questions:
i. Why is it a strange world? 02
ii. Why do malaria and typhoid still exist in the world? 02
iii. Why is man pouring his resources into space? 02
iv. Explain the meaning of the following words:
(a) Scourge (b) Eradication 02
v. Suggest a suitable title for the passage. 02
vi. Make a précis of the passage. 15

(First Group) 2009

Advertising is essentially the art of communication. As such, its origin can be traced right back
to the origin of species. “Advertising Colouration” is a familiar biological phrase denoting the
colours developed by certain animals to make them stand out against their natural background.
It is the direct opposite of camouflage. There is always a message in these colours, such as
“keep away”, “mind your step”, “darling won’t you care for a dance?” while camouflage is
tricky and timed, “advertising” is honest, confidant, and forthright, as far as the world of nature
goes. In human life, advertising through the mouth must have begun with the beginning of
commerce. The tradition is still kept alive by hawkers and street vendors in our towns and
villages. As regards advertising through the written word there is archeological evidence that it
was being practiced at least 3,000 years ago. An advertisement offering a gold coin as a reward
to anyone tracing out a run away slave was unearthed in the ruins of Thebes and is computed to
be as old as the third millennium B.C. it was the prototype of our “lost and found” classified
and that was painted on a wall.

Questions:
i. What is advertising? 02
ii. Where does the phrase “advertising colouration” mean? 02
iii. What is the difference between camouflage and advertising? 02
iv. When did verbal and written advertising begin in human life? 02
v. Suggest a suitable title for the passage. 02
vi. Make a précis of the passage. 15

(Second Group) 2009

(Repetition see First group 2004)

(1)
The tyrannical regimes of several dictators like Stalin, Mussolini and Hitler form a very
important part of our world history. Why don’t we learn from this? Why don’t we stop the
continuing debate between the supremacy of despotism over democracy or vice versa?
Democracy has attracted support since the time of ancient Greek because it represents an ideal
of justice as well as a form of government. The ideal and practice of democracy are inseparably
linked because rulers subjected to voter approval are more likely to treat the voters justly.
Many of us may say that the ideal of justice and equality is easier said than done. I admit that
our own country reflects this but we still have the right to choose in election. All we need is the
ability to face up to our rights and demand our rights fearlessly. In my opinion we lack this
fearlessness. In short we lack true patriotism.
Our Holy Prophet (PBUH) also encouraged the concept of democracy and all of the four
caliphs following him based system of their government and administration on this form of
government. But what about a country in which ruling party is a despot? What if it turns out to
be fascist then what choices are the citizens of the country left with? If the natural rights of life,
liberty and property are not guaranteed, the people have the right to overthrow the government.

Questions:
a. What was the Greek ideal of democracy? 02
b. Why do we have ineffective democracy in Pakistan? 02
c. What was the practice of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and the four caliphs in this connection?
02
d. Make a précis of the passage and suggest a suitable title to it. 09

(2)
Once we have found the habit of looking within, listening to ourselves and responding to our
own impulses and feelings we shall not let ourselves be so easily the victim of uncontrollable
emotions and effects; the inner life, instead of being either a gaping void or a ghoulish
nightmare, will be open to cultivation and in both personal conduct and in art will bring us into
more fruitful and loving relations with other men, whose hidden depths will flow through the
symbols of art into our own. At this point we can nourish life again more intensely from the
outside too, opening our minds to every touch and sight and sound, instead of anaesthetizing
ourselves continually to much that goes on around us, because it has become so meaningless,
so unrelated to our inner needs. With such self discipline, we shall in time, control the tempo
and rhythm of our days; control the quantity of stimuli that impinge on us; control our attention
so that the things we do shall reflect our purposes and values, as human beings not the
extraneous purposes and values of the machine.

Questions:
a. How can we control our emotions? 02
b. How can we cultivate loving relations with other men?
02
c. What is meant by the phrase “the extraneous purpose and values of the machine”? 02
d. Make a précis of the passage and suggest a suitable title to it.
09

(3)
Travelling is the best means of acquiring sound knowledge.