Teaching students strategies for reding comprehension in the gcse examination

PART A - INTRODUCTION
I. Rationale of choosing the theme.
The reading comprehension section in the general education examination
contains two passages of approximately 200-450 words each. A reading passage is
usually followed by seven to eight questions.
Most students who take the final examination say that they are unable to
finish all the questions. There are many reasons why they can not complete this part
in the exam.
First, they do not have strategies for reading comprehension and are not well
trained to cope with the types of reading comprehension questions.
Second, time is limitted so they can not complete all the questions. Therefore,
students need to make the most efficient use of their time in this section to get
highest score.
Third, they don’t know how to deal with the words they don’t understand,and have
not got enough vocabulary to understand the passage.
Being a English teacher, helping students master their reading skills is very
important because it is one of the four skills in teaching English. Moreover,
teachers have to teach students this skill so that they can understand the knowledge
in English book and high score in the exam.
To students , about 30 percent or even more than 30 percent of the questions
in the final exam are to test their reading skills .So students have a good reading
skill , they can easily complete the test well.
Moreover, it is said that “ A good reader makes a good writer” . so students
are good at reading of course, they are good at wrting, speaking, and listening .
In sum, how to teach students to solve reading skills is very essential and it is
a challenging that requires the efforts of both teachers and learners. From the
reasons mentioned above, I choose this theme for my research.
II. The aims of the study.
Firstly, studying this strategy helps me to find some solutions to prolems of
reading. Understanding how students deal with reading passage can be great help
to teachers who teach reading as a skill. The knowledge of a proper reading

approach will give me more confidence in making my lessons better organised and
easier for my sudents to learn.
Secondly, studying this strategy is to help my students improve their reading
skill. Students can distinguish different types of questions in the exam and use
different skill to read effectively.
Last of all, I would like to choose this strategy with a view to sharing my
teaching experience with my colleages. Moreover, if this strategy is applied to
teaching reading, personally I think that students’ reading skill will be improved.
III. The objective of study.
Applying reading strategy for students at classes 12A1, 12A4.
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IV. The limitation of the reading strategy.
- Studying the process approach.
- Finding out the difficulties and suggesting solutions to the problems.
- Classifying types of reading questions
- Applying skills to each reading passage in the final exam.
V. The methods of study.
- Studying documents dealing with the strategies for reading.
- Discussing with other teachers.
- Applying the study in teaching process.
- Observing and drawing out experience.
PART B. CONTENTS
I. Teaching students to deal with the words they do not understand
*All reading passages in the GCSE examination contain a number of words
that most test-takers would not understand. When students see these words, they
sometimes attemt to figure out their meaning or they think these words so long that
they lose precious time.
- A great deal of research has been carried out to learn how people read their

first and second language and how much information they need in order to
understand the text. The result of many studies show that readers need less
information than the text provides to understand the meaning. In fact, experts have
concluded that readers do not read every single word in a sentence or text but omit
a large number of words because they can guess the meaning of the text without
them .For example , when you reading a newspaper article in your native
language,you probably skip out half of the words in it whether you are aware of
doing so or not.
- Students often feel, however, that they should read every words in an
English text and look up in a dictionary the words they do not know. There are two
resons why many second language learners have this view.
First of all, this is the way they may have been taught to read in English .
Second, they may believe that, if they do not read every word, they may miss
some important information and misunderstood the text.This may be true of
beginning learners who are attemting to read material that exceeds their reading
skill. Intermediate and advanced learners, however, do not need to read every word
in the passage. For experieced learners, this stratery does not substantially improve
their comprehension of a text. In fact, when readers concentrate on the meanings of
individual words and use a dictionary to look up every unfamiliar word, they
frequently lose track of information in the passage and have to read it. This aproach
is definitely not the best one to use when reading for the text in exams.Also when
students look up words during their preparation for the test, they become dependent
on their dictionary and do not develop the skills necessary to figure out the
meaning of words in context. Furthermore,such students may not even attempt to
guess the meaning of a sentence if they do not understand one or more words in it.
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So teaching students to deal with the words they do not understand is very
essential.

* There are ceitain key words that you must understand in order to
understand a sentence or a passage reasonably well.while you are answering the
questions try to guess the meaning of the words you do not know and then skip
altogether any that you can not guess.For exmple, consider the following sentence:
The mayfly is a dainty insect with lacy wings and a slender, forked tail
that trails behight it in flight.
In this sentence, there are several words you may not know: dainty,lacy,
slender, forked, and trail. However, the number of words that you do understand
is sufficient ( enough) for you to understand what the sentence is about:
The mayfly is a……….insect with………wings and a………….tail
that……….
Behigh it in flight.
This sentence is a description of an insect that can flight and has a tail.
The same technique can also help you figure out meanings of mor complex
sentences by looking at the meanings of words parts, for example:
Coastal areas dilute and filter out large amouts of waterborne
pollutants, protecting the quality of waters used for swimming and fishing and
as wildlife habitats.
With this sentence, if you simply skip over the words or parts of words that
you do not understand, you may have:
Coast..areas…………and……..out large amouts of water……….pollut…
s,protectingthe……of water used for swimming and fishing and as wildlife…..
Even with several important words in this sentence omitted, it is still possible
to figure out that “ coasts(take) out large amounts of water pollution, protecting
the water used for swimming, fishing and wildlife.” This is the basic idea of the
sentence. However, there are several key words that you must know to understand
the sentence: coast, pollution, protect, and possible, wildlife.
II. Teach students to deal with types of reading comprrehension
questions.
1. Give students Sample reading passage and ask them to classify types

of reading comprehension questions.
Sample reading passage
Although “ lie detectors” are being used by government , police departments,
and businesses that all want guaranteed ways of detecting the truth, the results are
not always accurate . Lie detectors are properly called emotion detectors, for their
aim is to mesure bodily changes that contradict what person says. The polygraph
machine records changes in heart rate , breathing , blood pressure, and the electrical
activity of the skin (galvanic skin rresponse, or GSR). In the first part of the
polygraph test, you are electronically connected to the machine and asked a few
neutral questions ( “ what is your name?” “ where do you live” ).
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Your physical reactions serve as the standard ( baseline) for evaluating what
Comes next. Then you are asked a few critical questions among the neutral ones
“when did you rob the bank? ) . The asssumtion is that if you are guilty, your Body
will reveal the truth, even if you try to deny it . Your heart rate, respiration, and
GSR will change abrubtly as you respond to the incriminating questions.
That is the theory ; but psychologists have found that lie detector are
simplely not reliable. Since most physical changes are the same across all
emotions, machines can not tell whether you feeling guilty, angry, nervous, thrilled,
or revved up from an exciting day. Innocent people may be tense and nervous about
the whole procedure . They may react physiologically to a certain word ( bank) not
because they robbed it , but because they recently bounced a check. In either case
the machine will record a “lie”. The reverse mistake is also common. Some
practiced liars can lie without flinching, and others learn to beat the machine by
tensing muscles or thinking about an exciting experience during neutral questions.
1. According to the passage, polygraph tests
A. record a person’s physical reactions
B. alway reveal the truth about a person

C. measure a person’s thoughts
D. make guilty people angry
2. Which of the following is not mentioned as something that ise measured by a
polygraph machine?
A. blood prressure
B heart rate
C breathing
D eye movement
3. Where in the passage does the author first mention how the test is given?
A. line 3
B. lines 3-4
C. Lines 5-6
D. lines 6-8
4 The word “it” in the line 12 refers to
A. the question
B. the assumption C. the truth
D. your body
5 In line 11, the word “assumption” could be best replaced with
A. statement
B. belief
C. faith
D. imagining
6 What is the main idea of the passage ?
A. physical reactions reveal guilt
B. How lie detectors are used and their reliability
C. Lie detectors distinguish different emotions.
D. Lie detectors make innnocent people nervous
7 Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
A. Lie detectous are very reliable
B. Innocent people are never found guilty.

C. Psychologists never argue about anything.
D. Most people cannot control their bodily reactions.
8. It can be concluded from the passage that a polygraph test
A. is the best way to determine a person’s guil .
B can read a person ‘s thoughts
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C. is the only evidence needed in a court of law
D. works in principle but not in practice
9 What is most likely the subject of the paragraph preceding this passage?
A. using lie detectors in the hipe that machines will do better to discover the
truth
B. how achievement and aptitude tests measure ability and intelligence
C. The role of psychologists in fighting crime
D. an analysis of the criminal mind
10 The passage was probably written by a specialist in
A. sociology
B. anthropology
C. mind reading D. criminal psychology
11 The author would most probably agree with which of the following statements ?
A. Polygraphs have no place in our society.
B. Physical reactions are not connected to thoughts.
C. Machine are no match for psychilogisrs.
D. Polygraph tests should not be used as the sole evidence of guilt.
12. Which of the following statements best describes the organization of the last
paragraph ?
A. Several generalizations are made from which several conclusions are
drawn.
B. A general concept is defined and examples are given.

C. Suggestions for the use of lie detectous are given.
D. Persuasive language is used to argue against a popular idea.
2. Ask students to match each question with type of reading comprehension
question:
-“Reading for main idea”
“ Reading for detail”
“Reading for reference”
“Reading for inference”
“Reading for vocabulary”
“Additional reading skill”
-Question 1 to 3 : “ Reading for detail”
-Question 4 :
“Reading for reference”
-Question 5 :
“Reading for vocabulary”
-Question 6 :
“Reading for main idea”
-Question 7:
“Reading for inference”
-Question 8,9,10,11,12: “Additional reading skill”
3. Instructing students to deal with types of reading comprehension question:
reading for main idea
Almost every reading pasage test will have a question about the main idea of a
passage . Such a question may be worded in a variety of ways, you may, for
example, be asked to identify the topic, subject, title, primary idea, or main idea.
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These questions are all really asking what primary point the author is trying to get
across in the passage. Since passages are generally writen in a traditionally

organized manner, it is not difficult to find the main idea by studying the topic
sentence, which is most probably found at the beginning of a paragraph.
If a passage consists of only one paragraph , you should study the beginning
of that paragraph to determine the main idea.
In a pasage with more than one paragraph , you should be sure to read the
first sentence of each paragraph to determine the subject, title, or main idea
This is the key information that you should remember about main idea
questions:
How to identify
What is the topic of the passage ?
The question
What is the subject of the passage ?
What is the main idea of the passage?
What is the author’s main point in the passage?
With what is the author primarily concerned ?
Which of the following would be the best title?
How to answer
1. Read the first line of each paragraph.
The question
2. Look for a common theme or idea in the first lines.
3. pass your eyes quickly over the rest of the passage to check
that you really have found the topic sentences.
4. Eliminate any definitely wrong answers and choose the best
answer from the remaining choices.
The sample passage
In the philosophy of John Dewey, a sharp distinction is made
between “ intellidence” and “reasoning” . According to Dewey,
intelligence is the only absolute way to achieve a balance bbetween
realism and idealism, between practicality and wisdom of life.
Intelligence involves “ interacting with other things and knowing

them,” while reasoning is merely the act of an observe, “ …. a mind
that beholds or grasps objects outside the world of things……”
With reasoning, a level of mental certainty can be achieved, but it
is through intelligence that control is taken of events that shape
one’s life.
The question
What is the topic of the passage?
A. The intelligence of John Dewey
B. Distinctions made by John Dewey
C. Dewey’s ideas on the ability to reason
D. How intelligence differs from reasoning in Dewey’s works
How to instruct students to deal this this question.
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The first sentence of this passage discusses a distinction between the ideas of
“inteliigence” and “reasoning” in the philosophyof John Dewey, so this is probably
the topic. A quick check of the rest of the senteces in the passage confirms that the
topic is in fact the difference between “inteliigence” and “reasoning” . So the best
answer is therefore (D)
*If a passage consists of more than one paragraph, you should study the beginning
of each paragraph to determine the main idea.
reading for details
Detail questions
Many questions in the Reading Comprehension section of the test will require
answers that are directly stated in the passage. This means that you should be able
to find the answer to this type of question without having to draw a conclusion. The
common questions of this type are stated detail question and unstated detail
question.
A stated detail question asks about one piece of information in the passage rather

than the passage as a whole . The answers to these questions are generally given in
order in the passage , and correct answer is often a restatement of what is given in
the passage , This means that the correct anwer often expresses the same idea as
what is written in the passage , but the words are not exactly the same . More often
they are restatements of the information and require that you know synonyms and
related words. The following chart outlines the key information that you should
remember about “stated detail questions”
Stated detail question
how to identify the According to the passage,……….
question
It is stated in the passage………..
The passage indicates that………
The author mentions that…………
Where to find the anwer The answes to these questions are found in order in the
passage.
How to answer the 1. Choose a key word in the question.
question
2. Skim in the appropriate part of the passage for the key
word or idea
3. Read the sentence that contains the key word or idea
carefully.
4. Look for the answer that restates an idea in the
passage.
5. Eliminate the definitely wrong answers and choose the
best answer from the remaining choices.
The sample passage
Williamsburg is a historic city in Virginia situated on a
peninsula between two rivers, the York and the James . It was
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settled by England colonists in 1633, twenty-six years after the first
permanent English colony in America was settled at Jamestown. In
the beginning the colony at Williamsburg was named Middle
Plantation because of its location in the middled of the peninsula.
The site for Williamsburg had been selected by the colonists
because the soil drainage was better there than at the Jamstown
location, and there were fewer mosquitoes.
The question:
1. According to the passage, Williamsburg is located
A. on an island
B. in the middle of a river
C. where the York and the James mee
D. on a piece of land with rivers on two sides
2. The passage indicates that Jamestown
A. was settled in 1633
B. was settled twenty-six years after Williamsburg
C. was the first permanent English colony in America
D. was originally named Middle Plantation
3. The passage states that the name Middle Plantation
A. is more recent name than Wiiiamsburg
B. derived from the location of the colony on the peninsula
C. refers to the middle part of England that was home to the colonists
D. was given to the new colony because it was located in the middle of
several plantations
Detail questions about “What is not in the passage”
“unstated Detail questions”
You will sometimes be asked in the Reading Comprehension section test to find an
answer that is not stated or not mentioned or not true in the passage. This type of
question really mean that three of the answers are stated, mentioned , or true in the

passage, while one answer is not. Your actual job is to find the three correct
answers and then choose the letter of the one remaining answer.
You should note that there are two kind of anwers to this type of question: (1)
there are three true answers and one answer that is not discussed in the passsage, or
(2) there are three true answers and one that is false according to the passage.
The following chart outlines the key information that you should remember
about “unstated detail questions”
Unstated detail question
how to identify the Which of the following is not stated………?
question
Which of the following is not mentioned………?
Which of the following is not discussed………?
All of the following are true except …………
Where to find the anwer The answes to these questions are found in order in the
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passage.
How to answer the 1. Choose a key word in the question.
question
2. Scan in the appropriate place in the passage for the key
word or related idea
3. Read the sentence that contains the key word or idea
carefully.
4. Look for the answer that are definitely true according
to the passage.
5. Choose the answer that is not true or not discussed in
the passage.
The passage:
In English There are many different kinds of expressions that

people use to give a name to anything whose name is unknowm or
momentarily forgotten. The word gadget is one such word. It was
first used by British sailors in the 1850s and probably came from
the Frech word gachette, which was a small hook. In everyday use,
the word has a more general meaning . Other words are also used to
give a name to something unnamed or unknown, and these words
tend to be somewhat imaginative. Some of the more commonly
used expressions are a what-d’ye-call-it , a whatsis, a thingamabob,a
thingamajig, a doodad, or a doohickey.
The questions:
1. Which of the folowing is not true about the word” gadget” ?
A. It is used to name something when the name is not knowm
B. It was used at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
C. It most likely came from a word in the Frech language.
D. Its first known use was by Brtish sailors.
2. Which of the foolowing is not metioned in the passage as an expression for
something that is not knowm?
A. A thingamabob
B.A gadget
C. A doohickey
D. A what-is-it
Locating Details
Sometimes the question in a reading passage will ask you to determine where in the
passage a piece of information is found . The answer choices will list possible
locations for that information. The best way to approach this type of question is to
study the question to determine the information that you are looking for and then to
go to the lines listed in the answers and skim for that information.
Question about where in the passage
how to identify the
Where in the passage……..?

question
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Where to find the anwer The answes can be in anyof the lines listed in the answer
to the question.
How to answer the
1. Choose a key word or idea in the question.
question
2. Skim the lines in the passage that are listed in the
answers to the question. You should skim for the key
word or idea
3. Choose the answer that contains the line numbers of a
restatement of the question.
The passage:
Meteor Crater, a great crater approximately 40 miles east of
Flagstaff, Arizona, is generally thought by scientists to have formed
as a result of the impact of a 60,000 ton meteor about 50,000 years
ago. The meteor, made of nickel and iron, disintegrated on impact
and spread half a bilion tons of rock over the surface of the land.
The massiveness of the meteor can only be imagined from the
mammoth size of the crater, which measures a mile in diameter
and three miles around the top . The rim of the rater rises more
than 150 feet above the plain where the meteor impacted and is
visible for more than te miles on a clear day.
1. Where in the passage does the author discuss the composition of the meteor?
A. Lines 1-4 B.Lines 4-5
C.Lines 6-8
D.Lines 8-10
2. Where in the passage does the author mention the distance from which the crater

can be seen?
A. Lines 1-4 B.Lines 4-5
C.Lines 6-8
D.Lines 9-10
Reading for Reference
In the Reading Comprehension section of the test, you will sometimes be asked to
determine which noun a pronoun refers to. In this type of question it is important to
understand that a noun is generaly used first in a passage, and the pronoun that
refer to it comes after. Whenever you are asked which noun a pronoun refers to,you
should look before the pronoun to find the noun.
The following chart outlines the key information that you should remember about
pronoun referents
Pronoun referents
how to identify the The pronoun “……..” in line X refers to which of the
question
following?
Where to find the anwer The line where the pronoun is located is generally given
in the question. The noun that the pronoun refers to is
generally found before the pronoun.
How to answer the 1. Find the pronoun in the passage . (The line where the
question
pronoun can be found is generaly stated in the question)
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2. Look for nouns that come before the pronoun.
3. Read the part of the passage before the pronoun
carefully .
4. Eliminate any definitely wrong answer and choose the
best answer from the remaining choices.

The passage:
Carnivorous plants , such as the sundew and the Venus
flytrap, are generally found in humid areas where there is an
inadequate supply of nitrogen in the soil. In order to survive, these
plants have developed mechanisms to trap insects within their
foliage . They have digestive fluids to obtain the necessary nitrogen
from the insects . These plants trap the insects in a variety of ways.
The sundrew has sticky hairs on its leaves; when an insect lands on
these leaves, it gets caught up in the sticky hairs, and the leaf wraps
itself around the insect. The leaves of the Venus flytrap function
more like a trap, snapping suddenly and forcefully shut around an
insect.
The question:
1. The pronoun “they” inline 5 refers to
A. humid areas
B. these plants
C. insects D. digestive fluids
2. The pronoun “it” in line 8 refers to
A. a variety
B. the sundew
C. an insect D. the leaf
Reading for Inference
Some questions in the Reading Comprehension of the Reading Test will require
answer that are not directly stated in the passage. To answer these question
correctly , you will have to draw conclusion from information that is given in the
passage. Two common types of indirectly answered questions are (1) inference
question and (2) transition question
Inference question
You will sometimes be asked to answer a question by drawing a conclusion from a
specific details in the passage. Question of this type contain the word implied,

infered, likely, or probably to let you know that the answer to these questions are
not directly stated in the passage, but are understood by drawing conclusion from
the information given in the passage.
The following chart outlines the key information that you should remember about
inference question.
Inference question
how to identify the Which of the following can be infered about……….?
questions
From the passage, it can be infered that……………
It is implied in the passage that……….
It is most likely that…………..
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What probably happened………?
Where to find the anwer The answers to these questions are found in order in the
passage.
How to answer the 1. Choose a key word in the question
question
2. Scan the passage for the key word ( or a related idea).
3. Carefully read the sentence that contains the key word.
4. Look for an answer that could be true, according that
sentence.
The passage:
The Hawaiian language is a melodious language in which all words are derived
form an alphabet of only twelve letters, the five vowels a,e,I,o,u and the seven
consonants h,k,l,m, n,p,w. Each syllable in the language ends in a vowel, and two
consonants never appear together,so vowels have a much higher frequency in the
Hawaiian language than they do in English.
This musical-sounding language can be heard regularly by visitors to the islands.

Most Hawiians speak English, but it is quite common to hear English that liberally
spiced with words and expressions from the traditional languge of the culture. A
visitor may be greeted with the expression alohá and may be refered to as a
malihini because he is a newcomer to the island. This visitor may attend an outside
luau where everyone eats too much and may be invited afterwards to dance the
hula.
The question:
1. Which of the following is not probably not a Hawaiian word?
A. mahalo
B. mahimahi
C. meklea
D. moana
2. It is implied that a luau is
A. a dance
B. a feast
C. a concert
D. a language
Transition questions
You will sometimes be asked to determine what probably came before the reading
passage (in the preceding paragraph) or what probably comes after the reading
passage (in the following paragraph). Of course, the topic of the preceding or
following paragraph is not directly stated, and you must draw a conclusion to
determine what is probably in these paragraphs.
This type of question is a transition question. It asks you to determine that you
understand that good writing contain transitions from one paragraph to the next. A
paragraph may start out with the idea of the previous paragraph as a way of linking
the ideas in the two paragraphs. A paragraph may also end with an idea that will be
further developed in the following paragraph.
The following chart outlines the key information that you should remember
about transition questions:

Transition questions
how to identify the The paragraph preceding the passage probably……..
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question

What is most likely in the paragraph following the
passage?

Where to find the anwer The answers can generally be found in the first line of the
passage for a preceding question. The answer can
generally be found in the last line for a following
question.
How to answer the 1. Read the first line for a preceding question.
question
2. Read the last line for a following question.
3. Draw a conclusion about what comes before or after.
4. Choose the answer that is reflected in the first or last
line of the passage.
Example
The passage: 1
Another myth of the oceans concerns Davy Jones. who in folklore is the
mean-spirited sovereign of the ocean’s depths. The name “ Jones” is thought by
some etymolodists to have been derived from the name “ Jonah,” the Hebrew
prophet who spent three days in a whale’s belly.
According to tradition, any object that goes overboard and sinks to the bottom
of the ocean is said to have gone to Davy Joes’s locker, the ocean-sized, mythical
receptacle for anything that falls into the water. Needless to say, any sailor on the
seas is not so eager to take a tour of Davy Jones’s locker. although it might be a

rather interesting trip considering all the treasures located there.
1. The paragraph preceding this passage most probably discusses
A. the youth of Davy Jones
B. Davy Jones’s career as a sailor
C. a different traditional story from the sea D. preparing to travel on the ocean
2. The topic of the paragraph following the passage most likely is
A. valuable items located at the bottom of the ocean
B. where Davy Jones is found today
C. Jonah and the whale
D. preventing objects from falling overboard
Reading for vocabulary
In the Reading Comprehension section of the test, there will be a number of
vocabulary questions. To answer this type of question, it is of course helpful if you
know the meaning of the word that the test is testing . however, it is always
necessary for you to know the meaning of the word; often there are skills that you
can use to help you find the correct answer to the question: (1) finding definitions
from structural clues, (2) using context clues to determine meanigs
Find definitions from structural clues
When you are asked to determine the meaning of a word in the Reading
Comprehension section of the test, it is possible (1) that the passage provides
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information about the meaning of the word and (2) that there are structural clues to
tell you that the definition of a word is included in the passage.
The following chart outlines the key information that you should remember
about structural clues to help you understand unknown vocabulary words
Structural clues
What is………..?
how to identify the

What is the meaning of……….?
question
What is true about………..?
Information to help you determine what something
Where to find the anwer means will generally be found after the punctuation clue,
the restatement clue, or the example clue
How to answer the
1.Find the word in the passage
question
2.Locate any structural clues
3.Read the part of the passage after the structural clue
carefully
4.Eliminate any definitely wrong answers and choose the
best answer from the remaining choices
The passage:
One of the leading school of psychological thought in the twentieth century was
behaviorism - the belief that the role of the psychologist is to study behavior, which
is observable, rather than conscious or unconscious thought, which is not. Probably
the best-known proponent of behaviorism is B.F.Skinner, who was famous for his
research on how rewards and punishments influence behavior, He came to believe
that positivie reinforcements such as praise, food, or money were more effective in
promoting good behavior than negative reinforcement, or punishment .
The questions:
1.In “behaviorism” in line 1, a psychologist is concerned with
A. Conscious thought patterns B. Unconscious thought patterns
C. Observable actions
D. Unobservable actions
2.What is “ positive reinforcement” in line 5?
A. A gift
B. A reward

C. A bribe
D. A penalty
3. What is “ negative reinforcement” in line 6?
A. A promotion B. A Reward
C. A surprise
D. A punishment
Use context to determine meaning of difficult words
On the test you wil sometimes be asked to determine the meaning of a difficult
word, a word that you are not expected to know. In this case, the passage will give
you a c indication of what the word meanss.
Example
A line in the pasage:
….. The barges headed across the lake………
The question:
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A “barge” is probable which of the following?
A. A train
B. A plane
C. A bicycle
D. A boat
In this type of question, you are not expected to know the meaning of the word
barge. Instead, you should understand from the context that if the barge went across
a lake , then it is probable a type of boat. Answer (D) is therefore the best answer.
The following chart outlines the key information that you should remember
about vocabulary questions containing difficult words:
Vocabulary question containing difficult words
What is the meaning of……….?
how to identify the

Which of the following is closest in meaning to ….?
question
The question usually tells you in which line of the
Where to find the anwer passage the word can be found
How to answer the
1.Find the word in the passage
question
2.Read the sentence that contains the word carefully.
3.Look for context clues to help you understand the
meaning
4.Choose the answer that the context indicates.
The passage:
The black widow is the most dangerous spider living in the United States. It is
most common in the southern parts of the country, but it can be found throughout
the country. The black window got its name because the female has been known to
kill the male after mating and, as a result, becomes a widow
The black widow is rather distinctive in appearance; it has a shiny globular body,
the size and shape of a pea, and is marked on its underbelly with a red or yellow
spot. The female is considerably more ample than the male, roughly four times
larger on the average.
If a human is bitten by a black widow, the spider’s poison can cause severe
illness anh pain. Black widow bites have occasionally resulted in death, but it is
certainly not the norm for black widow bites to be mortal
1. In line 2, the word “widow” means
A. a type of poison
B. the dead male spider
C. the human victim of the spider
D. a female whose mate has died
2. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word “globular” in line 4 ?
A. Earthen B. Luminescent

C. Green in color
D. Round
3. The word “ample” in line 6 indiscates that the spider is
A. feminine B. large in size
C. dotted with color
D. mormal
4. Which of the following has the same meaning as the word “mortal” in iline 10?
A. Deadly B. Painful
C. Poisonous
D. Sickening
III. Instructing students to increase their vocabulary

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A good way to increase your vocabulary is to read.The more you read, the
large your vocabulary becomes .It is usually better to read books than newspaper or
magazine articles because in a book some of the vocabulary items occur several
times. The repetition of words in contexts helps you to remember them.In addition,
because a word can have several meaning , you can learn allof them by
encountering the word in various sentences . Frequently , students believe that by
choosing academic books they will learn more new words . while this can be true
for some , it doesnot work for every one. The problem is that an academic text may
be too difficult . In this case, the student will probably not finish the book .
On the other hand , students choose books that they enjoy, they are more likely
to finish them .It really doesnot matter what type of books students read, as long as
they continue reading.
When choosing a book to read ,you need to keep in mind one important factor.
For most adults, an average of approximately 12 new words per page represents the
level of frustration ( the limit of difficult ) that they can successfully overcome. If

the average number of neew words on a page is greater than 12 an adult reader
probably will not finish the book because it is too hard.
If the difficulty of the text is appropriate for your reading level, it is better to use
the dictionaryonly occasionally . If you look up every words you don’t understand,
you may become tired , bored , and frustrated. In addion, most adults remember
meanings of the word better if they have to figure the out from the context than if
they look them up .
In fact , using dictionaries can be a little tricky . English –English dictionaries
provide accurate explanations of word meanings and usage and there are many
learner’dictionaries available. However , they may be difficult for some students to
use. On the other hand , translating dictionaries may not be very accurate and can
prove to be misleading . As many language learners already know , every language
has words and idea that are very difficult to translate into another language. In this
case, translating dictionary can be particularly deceptive.As a general rule , then ,
you should try to guess meaning of a word from the sentence or the story in which
they occurs . If you see a word two or three times but still can not figure out its
meaning, then look it up in a dictionary .
Another practical way to increase your vocabulary is to learn prefixs, stem
(root) , and suffixes that result in new grammartical categories of words.
Sometimes , a prefix can completely change the meaning of a word; for example ,
the word satisfactory means reasonably good , but the word unsatisfactory means
not good .
IV. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Up to now, I have applied strategies for reading comprehension to teach reading
at many classes. In school year 2016-207 this research is applied to grade 12
students at class: A1, A4 .The result after applying the research in teaching.
Total of students Excellent-good grade Average grade
Weak-bad grade
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140 (100%)
20 (34,2%)
95 (54,8%)
25 (11%)
* The comments from my colleagues: According to them, this was a
effective teaching lesson. All of the skills were explained in detail . The lesson
also helps students develop their reading skill.
* The results from my students: During learning process, most of the
students felt motivated. At the end of the lesson, after marking and analysing the
result, I felt quite satisfied as about 80 percent got excellent – good and average
grade.
PART C CONCLUSION
Needless to say, English is the main language of every aspect in our daily life. It
is is a subject at every level of our national curriculum. Being an English language
teacher at a high school, I am particularly concerned about Students’ ability of
English language. Therefore, I have tried my best to apply effective and flexible
approaches to the lessons especially reading skill . Through studying documents
involving the study, exchanging teaching experience with my colleagues, I have
applied this aproach to teaching grade 12 students how to read effectively. I
personally think that my students can solve reading comprehension quite well. I
hope my contribution will help students develop their reading skill.Despite my best
efforts, mistakes are unavoidable, I would be very grateful if I can get comments
from you and friends.
THE CONFIRMATION OF
THE HEADMASTER

MA.NGUYEN THI HA

Thanh Hoa, May 18th 2018

I hereby declare that this my experience
initiative and no parts of the initiative have
been copied or reproduced by me from any
other’s work without acnowledgement.
Writer

PHAM DAC TUYEN

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