How to approach English Language Questions for CLAT UG Entrance

The right approach towards English Language

It is important to understand how to approach English Language Questions in CLAT UG as it reflects the candidate’s reading and comprehension abilities. The English Language section questions have a weightage of nearly 20% of CLAT Paper. In this section of the UG-CLAT, you will be provided passages of about 450 words each. These passages will be derived from contemporary or historically significant fiction and non-fiction writing and would be of a standard that a 12th standard student may be able to read in about 5-7 minutes.

Each passage will be followed by a series of questions that will require you to demonstrate your comprehension and language skills, including your abilities to:

• Read and comprehend the main point discussed in the passage, as well as identify any arguments and viewpoints discussed or set out in the passage;
• Draw inferences and conclusions based on the passage;
• Summarize the passage;
• Compare and contrast the different arguments or viewpoints set out in the passage; and
• Understand the meaning of various words and phrases used in the passage.

How to approach English Language section Questions

• Passages are intended to test the ability to understand and analyze text that is at the 12th standard level.
• Passages may be from various topics, including technical and scientific topics, but you will not need any prior knowledge of any specialized areas to understand or analyze the passages.
• Usually, a passage will have one point, and arguments or statements that support or counter the idea presented in the main point – try and discern the main point, and see what arguments or statements are presented in support of, or to counter, the main point.
• Once you have figured out the main point of the passage, a simple way to extract usable information from the passage is to focus on: Who, What, Why, When, and Where – you do not have to memorize these points but keeping them in mind when reading the passage will ensure you have a good grasp over its details, without having to memorize them.
• Pay attention to paragraph structure – usually, a change of paragraph is accompanied by a change in speaker, or a change in the viewpoint being presented. This will help you find differences in viewpoint, or counter-arguments more easily when a question asks you to do so. Similarly, for words and phrases like ‘however’, ‘on the other hand’, ‘conversely’, etc.
• Vocabulary questions are broad of two types – one type will simply ask you for the meaning of a particular word or phrase – another type will ask you for the meaning of a word or phrase ‘in the context of the passage’ – in either case, it is helpful to read one or two lines before and after the line in which the word or phrase being asked about appears so that you are better able to understand the context in which the word is used. Often, you would be able to determine the meaning of the word or phrase by understanding the context in which it is used and eliminating options that do not make sense in that context – even if you did not know the meaning of that word or phrase beforehand.
• Once you have read the passage in this manner, approach the questions – you do not need to remember all the details of the passage before approaching the questions – but if you have a good idea of the main point of the passage and its overall structure, you should be able to find specific details the question asks you for relatively quickly and easily.
• Pay very close attention to the wording of each question – while the questions follow a handful of ‘types’, the question-setters will sometimes make slight alterations to the way they are worded, so as to check that you are reading them closely, and can determine the impact of such changes (e.g., Difference in a question which asks ‘Which of the following is the author likely to agree with’ would imply that there is only one option in line with the author’s arguments, while ‘Which of the following is the author likely to most strongly agree with’ would imply that there is more than one option that supports the author’s arguments, but one option, in particular, provides the strongest support to the author’s arguments; ALSO watch out for double negatives!)
• Make sure you read all the options in a question before choosing the correct answer – even if you are confident that you have found the correct answer in the first or second option you read – sometimes there may be subtle differences in wording in the options, and an option that you think is correct at first sight may not be as good as a later option.

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Source: Official Website – Consortium of National Law Universities, Available Here

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