Comprehension Skills - Direct Recall Of Relevant Material, Paraphrasing

In this article, we will be covering non-narrative text comprehension skills. The type of questions that we will be focusing on is direct recall of relevant material, which includes paraphrasing. In other words, these are IYOW (In Your Own Words) Questions.

In Your Own Words Questions (IYOW)

IYOW questions need you to identify the answer in the passage and explain it in your own words or paraphrase.

Practice Questions

Paragraph 1:

The yellowfin tuna is not celebrated for its intelligence. It is celebrated for its flavour. The spotted dolphin, on the other hand, is famously brainy and no one will tell us how it tastes. The killing of dolphins is a national outrage; the killing of tuna is a given. I keep asking myself why. There are some good reasons and some bad reasons, I think, which have not been closely examined, or even sorted apart.

Question 1:

Which word in the above paragraph shows the writer’s condemnation of dolphin killing? (1m)

Type of question: Vocabulary 

1. ‘not celebrated’
2. ’flavour’
3. ‘national’
4. ’outrage’

Answer:

(D) - outrage

Explanation:

The correct answer to this question is option (D) - “outrage”. Outrage means a strong feeling of shock and anger. We can see here from the usage of outrage that the writer has a strong negative emotion pertaining to dolphin killings.

Question 2:

What does the writer mean when he says that ‘killing tuna is a given’ (line 3)? (1m)

Type of question: Inferential 

1. Killing of tuna is a widely accepted practice.
2. Killing of tuna is a common practice by humans.
3. Killing of tuna is given by nature.
4. Killing of tuna is unacceptable.

Choose the best option.

1. I & II
2. I & III
3. II & III
4. II & IV

Answer:

(A) - I & II

Explanation: 

The correct answer to this question is option (A) - “I & II”. “Is a given” mentioned in the question means a known or established fact or situation. So, the correct answer is that “Killing of tuna is a widely accepted practice” and “Killing of tuna is a common practice by humans”.

Paragraph 2:

One of these animals breathes air. The other does not. One is a mammal, one is not. Among the possible ways of describing dolphins and tuna, though not the only way, is to recite a litany of such invidious comparisons. One seems to have an elaborate system of behaviour, and one does not. One has performed altruistic and astonishing rescues of human swimmers; the other is prized for sushi. One shrieks with terror and squeals with pain. The other maintains a stoic piscine silence.

Question 3:

Explain in your own words two characteristics of dolphins that make humans sympathetic towards their killing. (2m)

Type of question: IYOW

1. Dolphins are the same as humans.
2. Dolphins belong to the same class of animals as humans do.
3. They have displayed meaningful acts of saving humans.
4. They shriek with terror. 

Choose the best option.

1. I & II
2. I & III
3. II & III
4. II & IV

Answer:

(C) - II & III

Explanation:

The correct answer to this question is option (C) - “II & III”.

Paragraph 3:

There are other differences. Entangled in a net, unable to swim backward, panicked, hampered from raising its blowhole clear of the water, a dolphin will drown. The sight is pathetic and gruesome – as I can attest, having watched a certain videotape of dolphin misfortunes at the hand of tuna fishermen during a purse-seining operation. To be more precise, I did not watch this videotape once – I watched it over and over in the course of a week, immersing myself in ugly visions of drowning dolphins, crushed dolphins, and bleeding dolphins. I froze frames, rewound, and jabbed the play button again to see large dolphin bodies, mashed and twisted beyond hope of recovery, being tossed back into the ocean like so much offal. It is an important document, this particular tape, potently distressing yet eloquent on the subject of humankind’s wasteful, abusive treatment of other creatures. It was shot by a young man named Samuel LaBudde, at serious personal risk, while he worked for some months on a tuna boat in the Eastern Tropical Pacific.

Question 4:

Explain in your own words the message that LaBudde’s video attempts to convey about human behaviour towards animals. (2m)

Type of question: IYOW

1. Man’s wanton display of disposing of creatures merits concern.
2. Man’s wasteful actions merits concern.
3. Also, man is seen as inhumane in his attitude towards other creatures.
4. Also, man is seen as abusive towards other creatures.

Choose the best option.

1. I & II
2. I & III
3. II & III
4. II & IV

Answer:

(B) - I & III

Explanation:

The correct answer to this question is option (B) - “I & III”. “Wanton display of disposing of creatures” is the paraphrase of “humankind’s wasteful”, “merits concern” is the paraphrase of “potently distressing” and “inhumane in his attitude towards other creatures” is the paraphrase of “abusive treatment of other creatures”.

Paragraph 4:

During the past thirty years, dolphins of several different species have died in great numbers because commercial tuna fishermen found it convenient and cost-effective, at least in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, to catch one kind of animal by setting their nets around another. By conservative estimate, purse-seining for tuna has caused more than six million dolphin deaths. Although U.S. tuna fishermen claim that they are more careful than their foreign competitors and that they safely release almost all the dolphins they net, those same U.S. fishermen have fought stubbornly for a legal provision that lets them continue killing up to 20,050 dolphins each year.

Question 5:

Explain in your own words why the U.S. tuna fishermen stubbornly fought for a legal provision to allow them to kill a certain number of dolphins each year. (2m)

Type of question: IYOW

1. They found it convenient and cost-effective.
2. Their cost and time-saving tuna fishing method of setting nets in the ocean also netted dolphins.
3. Hence, they fought stubbornly for a legal provision that lets them continue killing some dolphins.
4. Hence, the need for the law to account for the staggering numbers of dead dolphins which they were unable to avoid killing in the tuna fishing process. 

Choose the best option.

1. I & II
2. I & III
3. II & III
4. II & IV

Answer:

(4) - B & D

Explanation:

The correct answer to this question is option (4) - “B & D”. “Their cost and time-saving tuna fishing method of setting nets in the ocean also netted dolphins” is the paraphrase of “dolphins of several different species have died in great number because commercial tuna fishermen found it convenient and cost-effective”. Also, “Hence, the need for the law to account for the staggering numbers of dead dolphins which they were unable to avoid killing in the tuna fishing process” is the paraphrase of “a legal provision that lets them continue killing up to 20,050 dolphins”.

The text below is about rock climbing.

Paragraph 1:

Exercise is all about engaging your muscles. It is about engaging the muscles in your heart to your biceps and quads, and asking those muscles to perform work. When it comes to activating and training a diverse and wide range of muscles, few exercises rival rock climbing.

Paragraph 2:

Both rock climbing and bouldering, the name for climbing on low rock formations without a rope, involve “nearly all the muscles in the human body,” says Jiří Baláš, a faculty researcher and lecturer at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. While running, cycling, rowing and most conventional gym workouts teach the body to perform consistent, repetitive motions, which is either to build strength, increase fitness or both, climbing is “a more complex type of movement,” Baláš says.

Question 6:

What does the word ‘conventional’ (line 4) suggest about strength-building exercises such as running and cycling? (1m)

Type of question: Inferential

1. It suggests that such exercises are common ones that people do.
2. It suggests that such exercises are the usual ones that people do.
3. It suggests that such exercises are the original ones that people do.
4. It suggests that such exercises are extraordinary ones that people do.

Choose the best option.

1. I & II
2. I & III
3. II & III
4. II & IV

Answer:

(1) - A & B

Explanation:

The correct answer to this question is option (1) - “A & B”. Conventional means a traditional way or a way that something has been done for a long time. “Common” and “usual” words in options (A) & (B) suggest something that is done usually or for a long time.

Paragraph 3:

In fact, climbing is an endlessly changing series of movements. No climbing surface or route is quite like the other, so the work you ask your muscles to perform during a climb changes each time you exercise. This ensures that you are training a greater number of muscles. Research suggests this kind of dynamic muscle activation is much more challenging and exhausting than simpler, repetitive movements.

Question 7:

Explain in your own words why climbing is more challenging than other exercises which consist of simpler, repetitive movement. (2m)

Type of question: IYOW

1. No climbing surface is quite like the other,
2. As every climbing course varies,
3. There is dynamic muscle activation.
4. your muscles are operating differently each time.

Choose the best option.

1. I & II
2. I & III
3. II & III
4. II & IV

Answer:

(4) - B & D

Explanation: 

The correct answer to this question is option (4) - “B & D”. “your muscles are operating differently each time” is the paraphrase of “so the work you ask your muscles to perform during a climb changes each time”. Also, “As every climbing course varies” is the paraphrase of “No climbing surface or route is quite like the other”.

Test Your Concepts

Answer the following questions based on the concepts we’ve covered in this article. If you get stuck, revisit the relevant section to revise the concepts.

Paragraph 1:

While all of the pushing, pulling and lifting involved in climbing are extremely similar to the aspects of resistance exercise, climbing is also an excellent cardiovascular workout. In a 2004 study conducted on the physiology of rock climbing, researchers found that climbers use a significant portion of their lung capacity. In addition, they also discovered that the heart rate response of climbers while performing the exercise was higher than what they had initially predicted. Experts say that the amount in which your heart rate will increase during a climb depends on how hard you push yourself. However, whatever your skill level, as long as the climb is challenging for you, your heart will get a workout.

Question 1:

Pick a word which has the same meaning as ‘at the beginning’. (1m)

Type of question: Vocabulary

Choose the best option.

1. ‘aspects’
2. ‘initially’
3. ‘predicted’
4. ‘challenging’

Paragraph 2:

“As with anything else that elevates your heart rate, climbing also burns calories. Even if a 70kg person is climbing fairly below his or her maximal effort, he or she will burn between eight and ten calories per minute while climbing,” Baláš says, citing some of his own research. That is nearly equal to intense cardio workouts such as rope jumping and spinning. The fear component of climbing can further crank up your heart rate and calorie loss.

Question 2:

In your own words, explain how the ‘fear component of climbing’ (lines 4-5) makes the exercise more intensive. (2m)

Type of question: IYOW

1. The fear component of climbing can further crank up your heart rate.
2. The fear component of climbing can greatly increase your heart rate.
3. and increase the number of calories burnt.
4. and help to lose more calories.

Choose the best option.

1. I & II
2. I & III
3. II & III
4. II & IV

Paragraph 3:

There are even more health benefits. The balance and hand-eye coordination required for climbing may bolster your brainpower. A recent study from the University of North Florida found that activities that involve balance, muscle coordination, spatial orientation and other aspects of climbing could significantly improve a person’s working memory, as well as other cognitive functions.

Paragraph 4:

Studies have also linked the kinds of dynamic, balance-dependent movements used in climbing to an improvement of coordination and other motor skills among those with disorders or conditions like cerebral palsy. Some research has even shown that eight weeks of bouldering or climbing can significantly reduce the severity of depression.

Paragraph 5:

Surprisingly, while rock climbing sounds like a sport that is dangerous or difficult to pick up, nearly anyone and everyone can try rock climbing. Climbing walls, both natural and artificial like those at an indoor rock climbing gym can come in many grades of difficulty. “With the right harnesses and gear, almost anyone can get started,” Baláš says. In addition, a greater number of indoor rock climbing gyms are opening across the world, thereby greatly increasing the accessibility to the sport. In Singapore alone, a total of four indoor gyms opened within a span of three months. This puts into perspective the increasing demand for the sport.

Question 3:

In your own words, explain how you know that rock climbing is becoming increasingly popular in Singapore. (1m)

Type of question: IYOW

1. Multiple indoor gyms were established in Singapore over a short period of time.
2. A total of four indoor gyms opened within a span of three months.
3. Many indoor gyms sprouted up in Singapore over just a few months.
4. A greater number of indoor rock climbing gyms are opening across the world.

Choose the best option.

1. I & II
2. I & III
3. II & III
4. II & IV

Question 4:

In your own words, explain why climbing is an exercise that is suitable for everyone. (2m)

Type of question: IYOW

1. Anyone can get started as long as they have the right harnesses and gear.
2. Anyone with the right equipment can take part in climbing.
3. The rising number of indoor gyms makes it more convenient for people to take part in climbing.
4. The increasing number of indoor climbing gyms opening also increase the accessibility to the sport.

Choose the best option.

1. I & II
2. I & III
3. II & III
4. II & IV