[Reading] literal comprehension vs common sense comprehension. Too much contradiction

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lumbo
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Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2017 8:21 am

[Reading] literal comprehension vs common sense comprehension. Too much contradiction

Post by lumbo »

So my biggest worry with the reading test is the True or False question, because I sometimes make error due to comprehension issues.

I understand the sentence and context PERFECTLY, but I don't know whether I should apply common sense and consider implication when doing the questions. I tried both literal and common sense but I still slip up because... WHY?

So when should I use literal and when should I use common sense... or is the test designed like this to trick me...

Here is an example , a reading piece called "Making Glass Bottle"

Question : Did the invention speed up the process of making bottle?

"The invenion also made glass far more accessible to bottlers and revolutionised the beer and soft drink industries"

The paragraph mainly talk about the history of glass making, there is no mention of speed at all.

I chose Not Given and I was wrong, the answer is true. I was following my literal understanding - I know speeding up the process was IMPLIED in the word revolutionise, but the word itself could mean MANY things such as uniformanity of the glass, reduction in cost, better quality, etc etc.


Okay, lets follow the implied meaning then, using common sense now.

Question - Did the treatment make the glass harder and thicker?

"The treatment makes the glass resistant to akali which cause increase in PH"
The paragraph mainly talks about lacing the bottle with chemical which clearly STATE ITS TO COUNTER HIGHER PH!!

So I chose No, because it has NOTHING to do with the hardness and thickness of the glass.

but the answer is NOT GIVEN! WTF?! I know it didnt direct confirm or reject the idea, but the paragraph STRONGLY implied this treatment has nothing to do with the hardness of the glass. Even the previous paragraph talked about the hardness and thickness, from the structural side - it makes NO SENSE!


So im pretty bumed about this, asked about my colleagues and they can barely understand the article themselves and just laughed at me for "been over their level" and "overthinking about things"
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