Read the following passage and answer the questions at the end. And yet it is one of the simplest ideas that anyone ever had. Here I want to persuade you how evolution explains the beginning of life on earth. Darwin uncovered the theory of evolution and the method of natural selection. The idea of evolution is probably one of the most important ideas that anyone has ever had. Today, thanks to Darwin, we know why life is the way it is. We can predict how life will be in the future. We can even postulate about the life on other planets. How amazing is that! Now answer the following questions:

Paragraph

Q 1. What is the topic of the paragraph?

A) The idea of evolution is simple.

B) Evolution is important.

C) It tells us about the origin of life.

D) By evolution, we can make predictions.

The answer is C.

Although by evolution, we can make predictions is also mentioned in the paragraph but it is not the central idea of the paragraph. The central idea is usually at the beginning or you will find a few sentences that are focussed on the idea.

Example 2

Read the paragraph and answer the question that follows:

Sedimentary rocks are formed by the process of sedimentation. Layer after layer of minerals is deposited over a great span of time, resulting in the formation of a sedimentary rock. As a result, each layer is different if the conditions under which its deposits were different. Thus we can say that a sedimentary rock is a sort of museum, holding the records of all the time over which it was formed, which by all means can be as long as a billion years.

Q 1. A sedimentary rock gets its name from the fact that

A) These rocks are formed up of small sediments of minerals.

B) It is very old and is a slow process

C) Sedimentary rocks are formed as a result of sedimentation of minerals.

D) The rocks are broken into small sediments easily.

The answer, if you read the paragraph carefully, you will have guessed is C. Note that sometimes a paragraph may contain information that is not correct, but you will have to select the answer that is present in the paragraph, not the one that you think is factually correct.

Paragraph Data comprehension

Sometimes, the given paragraph will be a collection of facts or data that you will have to use to be able to answer the questions. Let us see an example.

Shoaib, Harshad, Preksha, and Yawer are four friends playing poker. In each hand, the individual player has to bet 800 rupees. Preksha wins three hands, Yawer wins two and the others win four hands each. Now answer the following questions:

Q 1. The person who lost the most money is

A) Shoaib

B) Harshad

C) Preksha

D) Yawer

The person who wins the least hands is the person who lost the most money. As every one of the four friends plays an equal number of hands. In this case, Yawer wins the least and is the person who has lost the most money.

Q 2. How many hands were in total?

A) 7

B) 2

C) 3

D) 8

Preksha wins 3, Yawer 2 and the others 4 each.

Practice Questions

Q 1. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.

The constitution of India is very well written. It not only defines the need for fundamental human rights but also ensures that we do not abuse these laws. The access to justice is one such law but in the present political scenario, this right like other such rights has been hidden from the marginalized section of the society. As a result, we can say that for such classes of the society, there is no such thing as a constitution.

The above paragraph says what about the Indian constitution?

It is very well written.
Could be better.
It ensures everyone has basic rights.
The marginalized sections of the society don’t enjoy the rights guaranteed by the constitution.
D is the correct option.

Q 2. Read the following paragraph and answer the question that follows:

Space exploration is a very exciting field of research. It is the frontier of Physics and no doubt will change the understanding of science. However, it does come at a cost. A normal space shuttle costs about 1.5 billion dollars to make. The annual budget of NASA, which is a premier space exploring organization is about $17 billion. So the question that some people ask is that whether it is worth it?

What is the main idea in the paragraph?

NASA has a budget of $17 billion.
The cost of making one space shuttle can be used for other constructive work.
The money spent on NASA can be used otherwise.
Space exploration is costly and some people are worried.
D is the correct option.