CDS English · Reading Comprehension
What Is X? Why Did Y? Questions with a Fixed Home
A definition question is answered by the words placed beside the term. A reason question is answered by the words joined to the event by a cause word such as because, for or so.
Why this matters
'What is X?' and 'Why did Y happen?' are among the most common CDS passage questions. Both have a fixed home in the passage, so they can be answered quickly and surely. Marks are lost to options that are true but answer a different question: a fact about something else, or what happened next.
Concept 1 of 3: A 'What is X?' question: the definition sits beside the term
When a passage uses a special term, it usually explains it right there: in the same sentence, after a dash, or in the next sentence. A 'What is X?' question wants that explanation, not your own idea of the word.
Definition
The terms:
- Term: a special word or phrase the passage uses with a set meaning.
- Definition device: the words that join a term to its meaning: 'is called', 'means', 'that is', 'comprising', 'such as', a dash, a pair of commas, or a next sentence that begins 'It' or 'This'.
The method:
- Scan for the term in the passage.
- Read on both sides of it for a device: 'X, that is, ...', 'X: a ...', 'X such as A and B', 'X comprising ...', '... is called X'.
- If the sentence has no device, read the next sentence. It often explains what was just named.
- Pick the option that gives the passage's own explanation. Reject an option built from general knowledge when the passage says something narrower.
- When one sentence defines two terms side by side, keep the halves apart: each term goes with its own explanation.
- If the question gives an example ('Which of these is non-living?'), put each option into the passage's definition and see which one fits.
Worked example
Line: 'Most rivers in the region are seasonal, filling only during the monsoon, while a few perennial rivers, fed by melting snow, flow all year.' Perennial rivers are those that (a) fill only during the monsoon (b) flow throughout the year (c) are fed only by rain (d) dry up in summer
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2022 · CDS (I) 2022 — English · Q103Easy
Example 1 · Reading Comprehension · Definition and Reason Questions
Directions: In this section you have two short passages. After each passage, you will find some items based on the passage. First, read a passage and answer the items based on it. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of the author only.
Passage – I
All organisms such as plants, animals, microorganisms and human beings as well as the physical surroundings interact with each other and maintain a balance in nature. All the interacting organisms in an area together with the non-living constituents of the environment form an ecosystem. Thus, an ecosystem consists of biotic components comprising living organisms and abiotic components comprising physical factors like temperature, rainfall, wind, soil and minerals.
For example, if you visit a garden you will find different plants, such as grasses, trees; flower-bearing plants like rose, jasmine, sunflower; and animals like frogs, insects and birds. All these living organisms interact with each other and their growth, reproduction and other activities are affected by the abiotic components of the ecosystem. So a garden is an ecosystem. Other types of ecosystems are forests, ponds and lakes. These are natural ecosystems while gardens and crop-fields are human-made ecosystems.
Abiotic components of the ecosystem refer to
Taking the phrase that comes next
'Excluding the volatile components such as food and fuel, core retail inflation was around 7 percent in April with almost all subgroups in the index witnessing elevated inflation.' The volatile components are food and fuel. 'All subgroups in the index' is the next phrase, about something else.
Reading the term's words literally
A passage calls the loss of contact with nature in car-filled cities an 'asphalt complex'. Options about asphalt roads or air pollution read the words, not the definition. The passage explains the term after a dash: 'a deprivation of contact with the natural world'.
General knowledge in place of the passage's meaning
On post-colonialism, the passage says it contests 'the previous dominant western ways of seeing things'. An option adding 'in colonial states' sounds learned but narrows the idea to a place the passage never names. Answer with the passage's explanation, not with what you have read elsewhere.
Not testing the example against the definition
When asked which of wind, bacteria, grasses and frogs is non-living, some pause at bacteria because they are tiny and unseen. Put each into the definition: bacteria, grasses and frogs are living organisms; wind is a physical factor.
Concept 2 of 3: Reason questions: find the cause signal in the passage
A 'why' question has its answer next to a cause word. Find the event in the passage, then look on both sides of it for because, for, since, as, so, this is why, owing to, or an opening phrase such as 'Finding the gate locked, ...' that gives a reason without the word because.
Definition
The terms:
- Cause signal: a word or pattern that links an event to its reason.
- Signals that come before the reason: because, since, as, for, owing to, due to, chiefly because.
- Signals that come after the reason and point back to it: so, therefore, thus, hence, this is why, this explains.
- Hidden signals: an opening phrase like 'Seeing the smoke, ...' or 'In search of work, ...', or a line like 'Its profits came from ...', gives a reason without any cause word.
The method:
- Find the event the question names (use its anchor word).
- Look before and after it for a cause signal, including the hidden ones.
- The words the signal joins to the event are the reason. Match them to an option.
- With 'so' or 'this is why', the reason is in the part BEFORE the signal, often the sentence before.
- Reject an option that guesses a motive the passage never states, however natural it sounds.
Worked example
Line: 'The bridge was closed for a week. Heavy trucks had cracked its central pillar, so the engineers would not allow any traffic until it was repaired.' Why was the bridge closed? (a) It was being painted (b) Its central pillar had cracked (c) The engineers were on leave (d) Heavy rain had flooded it
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2018 · CDS (II) 2018 — English · Q28Moderate
Example 2 · Reading Comprehension · Definition and Reason Questions
Directions: In this section you have few short passages. After each passage, you will find some items based on the passage. First, read a passage and answer the items based on it. You are required to select your answer based on the contents of the passage and opinion of the author only.
Passage 2
Mr. Rowland Hill, when a young man, was walking through the Lake district, when he one day saw the postman deliver a letter to a woman at a cottage door. The woman turned it over and examined it, and then returned it, saying she could not pay the postage, which was a shilling. Hearing that the letter was from her brother, Mr. Hill paid the postage, in spite of the manifest unwillingness of the woman. As soon as the postman was out of sight, she showed Mr. Hill how his money had been wasted, as far as she was concerned. The sheet was blank. There was an agreement between her brother and herself that as long as all went well with him, he should send a blank sheet in this way once a quarter, and she thus had tidings of him without expense of postage.
Mr. Hill paid the postage because
A noble motive the passage does not give
Why did the East India Company encourage the export of Indian goods? Options such as 'it was a philanthropic trading corporation' or 'it wanted Indian manufacturers to prosper' sound kind. The passage says: 'Its profits came primarily from the sale of Indian goods abroad.' That hidden signal gives the real reason: profit.
Looking after the event when the reason is before it
With 'so', 'hence' or 'this is why', the reason has already been given. A student who reads only the lines after the event finds nothing and guesses. Read the sentence before the signal.
An option that adds a cause
The poor sold their land because it was 'inferior, unproductive, barren and wasteland'. The option 'salty, not getting water' adds causes the passage never names, and 'fertile, but uncultivable' contradicts it. Keep the option that uses only the passage's reason.
Concept 3 of 3: A true fact is not the reason: cause versus consequence
Many wrong options in reason questions are true. They are in the passage, but they answer a different question: what happened next, what someone did, or a fact about someone else. A reason question wants the cause of this event, and nothing else.
Definition
The terms:
- Cause: what made the event happen. It comes first.
- Consequence: what happened because of the event. It comes after.
- Side fact: a true detail from the passage that is not joined to the event by any cause signal.
The method:
- Write the event as a blank: 'X happened because ___'.
- Try each option in the blank. Then ask: does the passage join this option to X with a cause signal?
- If the option is true but the passage gives it as a result of X, it is a consequence. Strike it.
- If the option is true but the passage says it about another person or another event, it is a side fact. Strike it.
- If two things are named together as joint causes, neither is the result of the other.
- Keep the option the passage itself links to X.
Worked example
The town's only factory shut down in 2015, when its owners moved production abroad to cut costs. Hundreds of workers lost their jobs, and many young people left for the cities. The owner, a keen cricketer, also gave up his seat on the town council. Why did the factory shut down? (a) The workers lost their jobs (b) Young people left for the cities (c) The owners moved production abroad to cut costs (d) The owner gave up his council seat
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2019 · CDS (I) 2019 — English · Q59Moderate
Example 3 · Reading Comprehension · Definition and Reason Questions
Directions: In this section you have few short passages. After each passage, you will find some items based on the passage. First, read a passage and answer the items based on it. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of the author only.
Passage – II
Zimbabwe’s prolonged political crisis reached the boiling point earlier this month when President Robert Mugabe dismissed the Vice-President, Emmerson Mnangagwa. A battle to succeed the 93-year-old liberation hero-turned President had already been brewing within the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF), with the old guard backing Mr. Mnangagwa, himself a freedom fighter, and ‘Generation 40’, a grouping of younger leaders supporting Mr. Mugabe’s 52-year-old wife, Grace. Ms. Mugabe, known for her extravagant lifestyle and interfering ways, has been vocal in recent months about her political ambitions. Mr. Mugabe was seen to have endorsed her when on November 6 he dismissed Mr. Mnangagwa. But Mr. Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since its independence in 1980, erred on two counts : he underestimated the deep connections Mr. Mnangagwa has within the establishment and overestimated his own power in a system he has helped shape. In the good old days, Mr. Mugabe was able to rule with an iron grip. But those days are gone. Age and health problems have weakened his hold on power, while there is a groundswell of anger among the public over economic mismanagement. So when he turned against a man long seen by the establishment as his successor, Mr. Mugabe left little doubt that he was acting from a position of political weakness. This gave the security forces the confidence to turn against him and make it clear they didn’t want a Mugabe dynasty. The military doesn’t want to call its action a coup d’etat, for obvious reasons. A coup would attract international condemnation, even sanctions. But it is certain that the army chief, Gen. Constantino Chiwenga, is in charge. His plan, as it emerges, is to force Mr. Mugabe to resign and install a transitional government, perhaps under Mr. Mnangagwa, until elections are held.
The security forces of Zimbabwe staged a coup against the President because
What people did, offered as why it happened
Why were people freed from farm work for other tasks? The passage says that as productivity improved, not everyone was needed to produce food. 'People were needed to build monuments, weapons, jewellery' is what the freed people went on to do, not why they were freed. The reason is that there was enough food.
What a thing does for us, offered as why it is called essential
'Plastic is an essential commodity with multiple uses based on its key qualities.' The option 'it has made our lives easier' may be true, but the passage gives multiple everyday uses as the reason.
A consequence offered as the thing itself
'Our tragedy today is a general and universal physical fear so long sustained by now that we can even bear it.' The writer then says that, because of this, young writers have forgotten the problems of the human heart. That forgetting follows from the tragedy; it is not the tragedy.
Two causes named together, read as cause and result
'Urbanization and industrialization have often resulted in whole areas of forests being cleared.' Urbanization stands beside industrial growth as a joint cause. An option that lists urbanization as a result of industrial development reads a link the passage never makes.
Summary — formulas & gotchas at a glance
A revision cheat-sheet for the formulas and gotchas above. Click any concept name to jump back to its full explanation.
Watch out for (11)
- Taking the phrase that comes next→ A 'What is X?' question: the definition sits beside the term
- Reading the term's words literally→ A 'What is X?' question: the definition sits beside the term
- General knowledge in place of the passage's meaning→ A 'What is X?' question: the definition sits beside the term
- Not testing the example against the definition→ A 'What is X?' question: the definition sits beside the term
- A noble motive the passage does not give→ Reason questions: find the cause signal in the passage
- Looking after the event when the reason is before it→ Reason questions: find the cause signal in the passage
- An option that adds a cause→ Reason questions: find the cause signal in the passage
- What people did, offered as why it happened→ A true fact is not the reason: cause versus consequence
- What a thing does for us, offered as why it is called essential→ A true fact is not the reason: cause versus consequence
- A consequence offered as the thing itself→ A true fact is not the reason: cause versus consequence
- Two causes named together, read as cause and result→ A true fact is not the reason: cause versus consequence
Test yourself on Reading Comprehension
25 past CDS questions from this chapter, timed at 25 minutes and marked the way the exam marks it. You see your score and every answer the moment you finish. Free to start.