Comprehension Skills (Non-Narrative Text) IYOW Questions

In this chapter, we will be learning how to identify ‘IYOW’ questions, isolate keywords, and spot adverbs. 

Let’s go through the topics to be covered in this chapter:

• In Your Own Words Questions
  • Identifying ‘IYOW’ questions 
  • ‘Isolating’ keywords
  • Don’t forget the adverbs
• Text 3 (Factual) - Food Waste
  • Bubble Questions
• Current Affairs Discussion
  • Tackling food waste in Singapore

In your own words…

What to do?

1. Look out for words like ‘explain’, ‘identify’, ‘summarise’, ‘outline’, ‘what is…’ and ‘according to the writer’.
2. Find the piece of the passage which contains the correct answer.
3. ‘Translate’ this section into your own words. Use the number of marks on offer to help you decide how many points to include.
4. Be sensible – sometimes there's just no other way of saying something (e.g. names, places).
5. Have a good range of phrasal verbs and idioms in your vocabulary.

Hints:

1. NEVER quote in this type of question. Even quoting then putting text into your own words is not acceptable.
2. Remember to ‘isolate’ keywords and emphasise on rephrasing them in your answers.
3. Do not skip on any keywords while rephrasing. Students tend to ignore rephrasing adverbs while answering these questions.

E.g. “John forcefully struck the door with his fists - John punched the door.”

This paraphrasing may seem acceptable, but it may cause students to lose marks because the adverb forcefully was not rephrased. 

A better answer would read: “John punched the door vigorously.”

Let’s understand the above topic with the help of some examples:

Question 1:

Excerpt:

The text below depicts the effects of using digital tools on our brain development.

The rise of technology has led to the increased usage of digital tools and social media. These days, navigating a foreign city or communicating with a tourist in a different language is a few taps of a finger away. Overcoming scenarios that were once deemed challenging can now be easily solved with our smartphones. On the flipside, however, experts have sounded the alarm on being too quick to glorify the role that these gadgets play in our lives. Scientists have discovered that prolonged radiation exposure from our mobile phones destroys healthy cells in our brains, important for memory and learning. As people are increasingly reliant on technology instead of their brain, this leaves the right side of the brain – associated with concentration - underdeveloped. This in turn affects attention span and memory.

Question:

In your own words, explain what the writer means with reference to “sounded the alarm”.

Solution:

It means that experts are warning/alerting individuals about the harmful/damaging effects of the use of digital tools.

Solution Explanation:

Inferential questions require the use of clues found in the excerpt to enable you to make deductions. You will have to read between the lines and figure out what the writer is implying by what he has chosen to write.

To “sound the alarm" is an idiom used to alert other people about something dangerous or risky.

Question 2 (a): 

Excerpt:

We squander enough food – globally, 1.3 trillion kilograms a year - to feed every one of them more than twice over. Where’s all that food – about a third of the planet’s production - going? In developing nations, much is lost post-harvest for a lack of adequate storage facilities, good roads and refrigeration. In comparison, developed nations waste more food farther down the supply chain, when retailers order, serve or display too much and when consumers ignore leftovers in the back of the fridge or toss perishables before they’ve expired.

Question:

What is the difference in food wastage for developing countries and developed countries? Answer in your own words. 

Which option is the best rephrase for the highlighted portion?

1. In developing countries, food wastage occurs earlier in the supply chain, where food is lost due to insufficient space, roads and fridges.
2. In developing countries, food wastage occurs earlier in the supply chain, where there are insufficient storage facilities, bad roads and chillers.
3. In developed countries, food wastage occurs earlier in the supply chain, where food is lost due to poor facilities for keeping and transporting food.
4. In developing countries, food wastage occurs earlier in the supply chain, where food is lost due to poor facilities for keeping and transporting food.

Solution:

The correct answer is Option No. D because in this case, the lack of adequate storage facilities, and poor facilities for keeping and transporting food is discussed. Now, storage facilities and refrigeration actually refer to storing the food. And “good roads” refer to the poor transportation network.

Question 2 (b):

Excerpt:

We squander enough food – globally, 1.3 trillion kilograms a year - to feed every one of them more than twice over. Where’s all that food – about a third of the planet’s production - going? In developing nations, much is lost post-harvest for lack of adequate storage facilities, good roads and refrigeration. In comparison, developed nations waste more food farther down the supply chain, when retailers order, serve or display too much and when consumers ignore leftovers in the back of the fridge or toss perishables before they’ve expired.

Question:

What is the difference in food wastage for developing countries and developing countries? Answer in your own words. 

Which option is the best rephrase for the highlighted portion? 

1. However, for developed countries, food wastage occurs later in the supply chain, caused by businesses selling too much food or consumers being too choosy.
2. However, for developed countries, food wastage occurs later in the supply chain, caused by businesses selling excess food or consumers’ wasteful behavior.
3. However, for developed countries, food wastage occurs later in the supply chain, caused by businesses selling excess food and consumers’ wasteful habits.
4. However, for developed countries, food wastage occurs later in the supply chain, caused by companies being excessive and patrons being wasteful.

Solution:

The correct answer is Option No. C. The highlighted portion mentions that the consumers ignore leftovers in the back of the fridge or toss perishables before they’ve expired. Also, we can see that Option No. B tells us about the behavioral patterns of the consumers and Option No. C tells us about the consumer's habits. 

There is a difference between the two, i.e. behavioral patterns and habits. As the highlighted portion speaks about the consumer’s habits, Option No. C is correct.

Question 3 (a): 

Excerpt:

If food waste were a country, it would be the third largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world, after China and the US. On a planet of finite resources, with the expectation of at least two billion more residents by 2050, this profligacy is obscene.

Question:

What does the author mean when he says “the profligacy is obscene”?

Which option is NOT a suitable answer for the question?

1. He meant to say that (a) the extravagant use of limited resources is (b) offensive.
2. He meant to say that (a) the wasteful use of precious resources is (b) dreadful.
3. He meant to say that (a) the ostentatious use of precious resources is (b) vulgar.
4. He meant to say that (a) the reckless use of limited resources is (b) morally shocking.

Solution:

The correct answer is Option No. C. The meaning of the word “profligacy” is not brought out correctly.

Question 3 (b):

Excerpt:

If food waste were a country, it would be the third largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world, after China and the US. On a planet of finite resources, with the expectation of at least two billion more residents by 2050, this profligacy is obscene.

Question:

What two reasons does the writer cite in the same paragraph, for his disapproval of wastefulness? Answer in your own words. 

Which option is NOT a suitable answer for the question?

1. The Earth has limited supplies and the global population will continue to grow fast in the future. 
2. The Earth’s resources are not infinite and its residents would expand in the years ahead.
3. The Earth has restricted material and there will be many more people to feed in the years ahead. 
4. The Earth’s assets are limited and the global population will expand in the coming years.

Solution:

The correct answer is Option No. B as it is not a suitable answer. 

Question 4:

Excerpt:

To address this need, the charity Feeding America distributes around two billion kilograms of food a year, most of it donated by manufacturers, supermarkets, large growers and the federal government. Still, the food that’s recovered by this process is just a drop in the bucket, with exponentially more left behind.

Question:

How does the author show that not enough is being done to redistribute unconsumed food? Answer in your own words. 

Which of these options is NOT a suitable answer?

1. The amount that Feeding America redistributes is just a fraction of all the discarded food and there is a huge amount that still goes to waste.
2. The amount that Feeding America redistributes is merely a tiny portion of all the discarded food and there is a vast amount that still goes to waste.
3. The food that Feeding America redistributes is just an insignificant amount of all the discarded food and there is a sizable amount that still goes to waste.
4. The amount that Feeding America redistributes is insufficient to feed the people who require food and much more food still goes to waste.

Solution: 

As Option No. D is not suitable at all, it is the correct option.

Question 5:

Excerpt:

Across cultures, food waste goes against the moral grain. After all, nearly 800 million people worldwide suffer from hunger. But according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, we squander enough food – globally, 1.3 trillion kilograms a year - to feed every one of them more than twice over.

Question:

‘Across cultures, food waste goes against the moral grain’. Explain what this suggests about people’s perception of wasting food.

Which of these options is NOT a suitable answer?

1. People think wasting food is wrong.
2. People think wasting food is morally unacceptable.
3. People think wasting food is unethical.
4. People think wasting food is sinful.

Solution:

The correct answer is Option No. A. Wasting food is morally unacceptable, unethical and sinful. These words can be related to “going against the moral grain”. 

Hence, Options B, C and D are suitable options, making Option No. A unsuitable.

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.

Question 6:

Excerpt:

Across cultures, food waste goes against the moral grain. After all, nearly 800 million people worldwide suffer from hunger. But according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, we squander enough food – globally, 1.3 trillion kilograms a year - to feed every one of them more than twice over. Where’s all that food – about a third of the planet’s production - going? In developing nations, much is lost post-harvest for a lack of adequate storage facilities, good roads, and refrigeration. In comparison, developed nations waste more food farther down the supply chain, when retailers order, serve or display too much and when consumers ignore leftovers in the back of the fridge or toss perishables before they’ve expired.

Question:

What is the difference in food wastage for developing countries and developed countries? Answer in your own words. 

Which option is the best rephrase for the highlighted portion?

1. The difference is at which stage the food waste occurs in the supply chain.
2. The difference is that developing nations waste food post-harvest and developed nations waste them later on.
3. The difference is when food wastage occurs in the supply chain.
4. The difference is how food wastage occurs in the supply chain.

Question 7:

Excerpt:

‘Food waste is a stupid problem’, acknowledges Nick Nuttall of the UN Environment Programme. ‘But people love stupid problems because they know they can do something about it.’

Question:

Why do you think food waste is labelled a ‘stupid problem’? 

Which of these options is NOT suitable?

1. The problem of food waste can be solved, but in reality, nothing has been done to tackle it.
2. Food waste is caused by our lack of intelligence as people love creating problems for themselves.
3. The problem of food waste can be overcome, but as it turns out, hardly anything has been done to tackle it.
4. People can do something about the problem, but as it turns out, there has been insufficient efforts to tackle it.