5 Tips and Tricks To Solve Paragraph Completion Questions

Quickly but carefully read the passage and figure out the scope, theme, tone and logical flow of the passage. Try to figure out what the paragraph is all about and what are its limits. So anything that falls outside the purview of the passage cannot be a part of the passage and should be eliminated in the first go.

In my own constituency, in April, which is a hot month, we had hailstorms of the size of a tennis ball, which destroyed the entire wheat crop in the Tarai. We had snow in places where snow had never been. We had snow late, we had flowering late and we lost a large number of crops due to flooding. This is going to increase year after year.

Here the scope of the passage would be the changing weather conditions within a particular area, however, it cannot be generalized.

Put Yourself into the shoes of the author and think like the author of the passage. Read the paragraph carefully and focus on the hints and keywords and try to figure out the essence of the passage. Try to rephrase the passage in your mind in simpler words, and ask yourself what the author is trying to convey. Hold on with the idea and eliminate the irrelevant choices. 

Read the following lines and guess the theme of the passage:

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

Here, the last line makes the theme clear; the author wants the people to uphold their sense of righteousness and integrity even in the midst of bitter struggle.

Tone represents the predominant emotion or mood of the author towards the topic. This can be done by paying attention to the adjectives used in the passage. Passages are normally the author’s reaction to some issue. Understanding the tone of the passage can help you to narrow down to the right choice.
Broadly, the tone can be classified as subjective or objective in nature. An objective tone is used when the author does not choose any side and remains a neutral and detached observer. Whereas a subjective tone reflects the emotion displayed by the author. Some of the common tones used by author can be Laudatory, Caustic, Dogmatic, Humorous, Sarcastic understand the tone of the passage.

AMERICAN students are enrolling in college in record numbers, but they’re also dropping out in droves. Barely half of those who start four-year colleges, and only a third of community college students, graduate. That’s one of the worst records among developed nations, and it’s a substantial drain on the economy. The American Institutes for Research estimates the cost of those dropouts, measured in lost earnings and taxes, at $4.5 billion. Incalculable are the lost opportunities for social mobility and the stillborn professional careers.

Clearly, the passage bears a negative tone. The author uses expressions like ‘dropping in droves’, ‘drain on the economy’ and finally ‘incalculable are the lost opportunities’, which clearly shows that the author displays a strong sense of disapproval for the flip side of the American education system.

Read the passage gingerly, keeping an eye on the transitions and events and the logical connection behind them. If you mess up, you may make a blunder. So, focus on key ideas and transition phrases used in the passage. One must be able to identify the thread of thought running through the paragraph. The flow of ideas in the passage should be maintained. Never pick an option which breaks or suddenly changes the flow to some other direction.

Remember, the last thought or idea in the paragraph has to be taken forward. Therefore, continuity is an important thing to be kept in mind in the process of arriving at the right answer.

It is important to master the art of eliminating the irrelevant choices. Any option that is out of the purview of the argument or contradictory to the theme should be straightaway eliminated. Find out and eliminate the options which talk about things that are not mentioned in the paragraph. The correct option will be the one which relates itself to the core information mentioned in the paragraph. Be cautious and alert the choices that rephrase and repeat the topic. And avoid extreme choices.

Read the following lines and try to eliminate irrelevant choices:

Mma Ramotswe had a detective agency in Africa, at the foot of Kgale Hill. These were its assets: a tiny white van, two desks, two chairs, a telephone, and an old typewriter. Then, there was a teapot, in which. Mma Ramotswe—the only lady private detective in Botswana—brewed redbush tea. And three mugs—one for herself, one for her secretary, and one for the client. What else does a detective agency really need? Detective agencies rely on human intuition and intelligence, both of which Mma Ramotswe had in abundance.

(1) But there was also the view, which again would appear on inventory.

(3) She had an intelligent secretary too.

(4) She was a good detective and a good woman.

(5) What she lacked in possessions was more than made up by a natural shrewdness.

Solution

Needless to say, the passage revolves around Mma Ramotswe and the minimal assets of her little detective agency. The first choice is off the mark as it takes the topic away from the main character, Mma Ramotswe or her possessions. The third choice fails to sum up the theme of the passage and digresses from it. The fourth one also fails to connect the possessions of her agency and her unique abilities. The second last sentence asks a question, and the last sentence tries to justify the case in a positive light, so the last choice does not fit. It’s only the first choice, which suitably wraps up the discussion raised by the question in the second-last line.

Hope you found the above post useful.

Attempt today’s quiz on paragraph competition and Remember to tell us how many answers you got correct and did the above tips and tricks of Paragraph Completion questions helped you understand and solve the problem easily.

Practice here: New pattern Paragraph Completion questions