Passage: "Although solar power is now cheaper than coal in many countries, its adoption remains slow. The chief obstacle is storage: the sun does not shine at night, and batteries at grid scale are still costly." What is the chief obstacle to solar adoption according to the passage?

Its high cost compared with coal

Lack of sunshine in most countries

Which option is most likely to be a WRONG answer in a comprehension question?

One containing the words "only" and "always"

One that paraphrases a line of the passage

One containing the words "only" and "always"

One that uses different words from the passage

One that is shorter than the others

Which of these could NOT be the opening sentence of a paragraph?

However, it soon proved inadequate.

The Indian Air Force was established in 1932.

However, it soon proved inadequate.

Air power changed the nature of modern war.

Many nations built air arms between the wars.

Which pair must appear in this order in a paragraph?

"A committee was formed." then "The committee met twice."

"The committee met twice." then "A committee was formed."

"A committee was formed." then "The committee met twice."

Either order works equally well

Neither can appear in the same paragraph

Passage: "Discipline in the armed forces is not obedience for its own sake. It exists because in battle a unit must act as one, and hesitation by a single soldier can cost many lives." What can be inferred?

Discipline serves a practical purpose in combat

Soldiers should never think independently

Discipline serves a practical purpose in combat

Obedience is the only military virtue

Armies without discipline always lose

In a sentence-ordering question, the fastest first step is to:

Check which sentence each option proposes first, and rule out impossible openers

Construct the full sequence mentally before looking at the options

Check which sentence each option proposes first, and rule out impossible openers

Count the words in each sentence

Start from the last sentence and work backwards

Comprehension, Cloze Tests & Sentence Ordering

These three question types share a property that makes them the most reliable marks in the English section: the answer is inside the passage. You are not being asked what you know, only whether you read accurately. That makes them nearly immune to the vocabulary gaps that cost marks elsewhere — provided you follow a method instead of reading and hoping. This chapter gives the method for each, and names the four wrong-option patterns the examiner uses so you can eliminate rather than agonise.

Reading Comprehension — Questions First

Read the questions before the passage. It costs twenty seconds and changes what you notice: instead of absorbing the passage evenly, you read it hunting for four specific things. Then read the passage once at normal speed without stopping at unfamiliar words — the meaning of most of them is recoverable from the sentence, and the ones that are not usually do not matter.

The four question types and what each needs
Type	Asks	How to answer
Factual / detail	"According to the passage…"	Locate the line. The answer is a paraphrase of it.
Main idea / title	What the whole passage is about	Must cover the whole passage, not one paragraph
Inference	"It can be concluded that…"	One small step beyond the text — never a large leap
Vocabulary in context	Meaning of a word as used here	Substitute each option into the sentence and test

⚠️ The four wrong-option patterns

1. True but not asked — a correct statement from the passage that does not answer this question. 2. Too extreme — options with "all", "never", "only", "must" when the passage said "many" or "often". 3. Half right — the first clause is accurate and the second is not, so read to the end of every option. 4. Outside knowledge — plausible in the real world but never stated in the passage. Learning to name the flaw is faster than re-reading the passage.

🎯 Why "extreme" options are almost always wrong

Careful writing hedges. A passage will say "pollution contributes to respiratory illness", and the option will say "pollution is the sole cause of respiratory illness". The second is a stronger claim than the text supports, so it is wrong however sensible it sounds. Scan the options for absolute words first — it eliminates one or two before you have re-read a single line.

Cloze Tests — Read the Whole Passage First

A cloze test is a passage with numbered blanks. The single biggest mistake is filling each blank as you reach it, because the clue for blank 3 is often in the sentence after it. Read the whole passage once for sense, then fill the blanks you are sure of, then use those to constrain the rest.

Check grammar first: does the blank need a noun, verb, adjective or connector? That alone often removes two options.
Then check collocation — which word naturally goes with its neighbours? We "take a decision", "pay attention", "commit a crime".
Finally check tone — a critical passage will not suddenly take a word of praise.

🧠 Connectors are signposts — read them as instructions

But, however, although, nevertheless, on the contrary signal a reversal — the next idea opposes the last. Moreover, furthermore, besides, in addition signal continuation. Therefore, thus, hence, consequently signal a result. When a blank is a connector, decide the logical relationship between the two halves first, then pick the word that expresses it. This single habit is worth several marks across cloze and ordering questions together.

Sentence & Paragraph Ordering

You are given sentences labelled S1, S2… out of order, and must rebuild the paragraph. Do not try to construct the whole sequence in your head. Instead, find links between pairs — once you know that one sentence must directly follow another, most option sets collapse to a single possibility.

Find the opening sentence: it introduces a subject by full name and contains no pronoun referring backwards, no "this", no "such", no connector.
Follow the pronouns: a sentence beginning "He then…" or "It was…" must come after the sentence that names the person or thing.
Use time and sequence markers — first, later, finally, meanwhile, in 1947, the next year.
Check the article shift: a thing is introduced with "a/an" and referred to afterwards with "the". "A committee was formed" precedes "The committee met".
Verify by reading your final order straight through — it should sound like one paragraph, not five sentences.

🧠 Work from the options backwards

You do not need the whole order — you need to eliminate three options. Look at what each option proposes as the first sentence; usually two are impossible because they begin with a pronoun or a connector. Then check one pair-link, and you are generally down to the answer. This turns a construction problem into an elimination problem, which is far faster under a 150-minute paper.

Key takeaways

Read the questions before the passage — it changes what you notice while reading.
The answer to a comprehension question is always inside the passage, never outside it.
Four wrong-option patterns: true-but-not-asked, too extreme, half right, outside knowledge.
Options containing all / never / only / must are usually stronger than the text.
In a cloze, read the whole passage first — the clue often sits after the blank.
But/however reverse; moreover/besides continue; therefore/hence conclude.
The opening sentence names its subject in full and carries no backward pronoun.
"A/an" introduces, "the" refers back — the shift fixes the order of a pair.

Practice questions (8)

Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.

Passage: "Although solar power is now cheaper than coal in many countries, its adoption remains slow. The chief obstacle is storage: the sun does not shine at night, and batteries at grid scale are still costly." What is the chief obstacle to solar adoption according to the passage?
1. Its high cost compared with coal
2. The cost of storing power
3. Lack of sunshine in most countries
4. Government indifference
Show answer
Answer: B — The cost of storing power
The passage names storage explicitly. Option A contradicts the passage (solar is cheaper). Option C overstates a detail — the passage says the sun does not shine at night, not that countries lack sunshine. Option D is outside knowledge: plausible but never stated.
Which option is most likely to be a WRONG answer in a comprehension question?
1. One that paraphrases a line of the passage
2. One containing the words "only" and "always"
3. One that uses different words from the passage
4. One that is shorter than the others
Show answer
Answer: B — One containing the words "only" and "always"
Absolute words such as only, always, never and all usually make a claim stronger than a carefully written passage supports. Using different words is normal — correct answers are paraphrases, not copies, so option C is not a warning sign at all.
Fill the blank: "He worked very hard; ____, he failed to qualify."
1. therefore
2. moreover
3. nevertheless
4. consequently
Show answer
Answer: C — nevertheless
The two halves oppose each other — hard work would normally lead to success — so a reversal connector is needed. "Nevertheless" reverses; therefore and consequently signal a result, and moreover signals continuation.
Which of these could NOT be the opening sentence of a paragraph?
1. The Indian Air Force was established in 1932.
2. However, it soon proved inadequate.
3. Air power changed the nature of modern war.
4. Many nations built air arms between the wars.
Show answer
Answer: B — However, it soon proved inadequate.
It begins with the connector "However" and the pronoun "it", both of which refer to something already said. An opening sentence can have neither.
Which pair must appear in this order in a paragraph?
1. "The committee met twice." then "A committee was formed."
2. "A committee was formed." then "The committee met twice."
3. Either order works equally well
4. Neither can appear in the same paragraph
Show answer
Answer: B — "A committee was formed." then "The committee met twice."
"A committee" introduces the thing for the first time; "the committee" refers back to something already introduced. The indefinite article therefore always precedes the definite one for the same noun.
Fill the blank with the correct collocation: "The board will ____ a decision tomorrow."
1. do
2. make
3. give
4. put
Show answer
Answer: B — make
English collocation is "make a decision" (or "take a decision" in Indian and British usage). "Do a decision" and "give a decision" are not idiomatic. Collocation questions cannot be reasoned out — they must be learnt as fixed pairs.
Passage: "Discipline in the armed forces is not obedience for its own sake. It exists because in battle a unit must act as one, and hesitation by a single soldier can cost many lives." What can be inferred?
1. Soldiers should never think independently
2. Discipline serves a practical purpose in combat
3. Obedience is the only military virtue
4. Armies without discipline always lose
Show answer
Answer: B — Discipline serves a practical purpose in combat
The passage explains discipline in terms of what it achieves in battle, so B is a small, safe step from the text. A and C are too extreme, and D adds an absolute claim ("always") the passage never makes.
In a sentence-ordering question, the fastest first step is to:
1. Construct the full sequence mentally before looking at the options
2. Check which sentence each option proposes first, and rule out impossible openers
3. Count the words in each sentence
4. Start from the last sentence and work backwards
Show answer
Answer: B — Check which sentence each option proposes first, and rule out impossible openers
You need to eliminate three options, not build the paragraph. Sentences beginning with a connector or a backward-referring pronoun cannot open, so scanning the proposed openers usually removes two options in seconds.