Daily Reads-40 (Level-1)

English passage reading: How to master this challenge?

English passage reading is a tough art that requires you to be top of your game. Given that you are going to be exposed to a variety of topics and writing styles when you solve different reading comprehensions, it is essential that you work on your English passage reading. One of the key things you can do to improve your English passage reading is to expose yourself to different kinds of reading material and sources. Our Daily Reads helps you in this endeavor and provides you enough variety of reading material. All you need to do is regularly consume the information we post in this section.

Reading Suggestion-1

Article Name: The courts and matters of faith
Author Name: Peter Ronald deSouza
Source: The Hindu
Category: Society

Summary for this article:

The article starts by saying that there is a very strange distinction between the RSS and the AIMPLB on controversies relating to beliefs. It can be described best by noting their positions on the Ram Setu and the Triple talaq debates In the Ram Setu issue(2005), the RSS opposed the UPA government’s stand on the grounds of faith. The author questions why matters of faith are given immunity from scrutiny? He answers the question by making three points. The first point is about the special status of faith. In this, he boils down to matters of conscience, where he points if an individual is harmed due to the matters of faith, then it must come under the scrutiny of constitution. The second point, he makes, on the validity of the triple Talaq by proper textual interpretation by modern science. And the third point is about the ethical codes in democracies. Hence, taking a stance that matters of faith must come under the scrutiny.

Words to learn from this article:

Substantiation: Additional proof
Immunity: State of being exempt from something
Scrutiny: Examining something closely
Conscience: Conformity to one’s own sense of right conduct
Jurisprudence: The theory or philosophy of law.
Orthodox: Adhering to what is commonly accepted/conventions.

Reading Suggestion-1: Click to read full article

Reading Suggestion-2

Article Name: To end racism, elevate a wider spectrum of Indians in public culture
Author Name: KanishkTharoor
Source: The Hindustan Times
Category: Society

Summary for this article:

Simply stating, in this article, the author talks about the racism present in India. He says that we Indians keep complaining about how ill our fellow Indians are being treated on foreign lands and shamed for their colour but we fail to realise that we follow racism against our own people in our very own soil. He further goes ahead and states that although US has a very shameful history of racism, yet the 21st century sees no particular skin tone being respected. There is representation of people of different races and colour in different platforms which definitely is not seen in India. Yet he also agrees that there is much progress to be made in the west but he goes ahead saying “at least there is the recognition that because Americans are multiple, so too must American visions of beauty be multiple”. He concludes by saying that the solution according to him to end racism is to bring Indians of all colours to the limelight. i.e elevate a wider spectrum of Indians in public culture.

Words to learn from this article:

Obsession: An irrational motive for performing trivial or repetitive actions
Recurring: Coming back
Fringe: The outside boundary or surface of something/ A social group holding marginal or extreme views
Stereotypes: A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.
Pervasive: Spreading or spread throughout
Clumsiness: Unskillfulness resulting from a lack of training

Reading Suggestion-2: Click to read full article

Reading Suggestion-3

Article Name: Mango people’s Keriwal: Who’s sucking out the juice, who’s getting into a pickle?
Author Name: BachiKarkaria
Source: The Times of India
Category: Society

Summary for this article:

This short and sweet article is actually a terrific article that uses sarcasm in the best possible way. Based on the current political events, the author skilfully uses the analogy of mangoes and compares different mango types with different political leaders in India. In fact, her indirect references are terrific if you are trying to improve your comprehension. The article requires close reading and is also pretty helpful in teaching you some new words.

Words to learn from this article:

Eccentricities: Strange and unconventional behavior
Glut: Overeat or eat immodestly
Swallow: cause or allow (something, especially food or drink) to pass down the throat; engulf.
Grimacing: Make a grimace (an ugly, twisted expression on a person’s face)
Parroting: Repeat mindlessly

Reading Suggestion-3: Click to read full article

English passage reading: What should you keep in mind?

Remember, reading skills do not improve overnight. You need to keep at it and improvements will take place over a period of time.
The most important thing is to read on an everyday basis. Make sure you are regular with your English passage reading practice.
Learn new words from articles but make sure you limit yourself to a fixed number of new words every day (depending upon your absorption capacity). Trying to learn more words than you can absorb in a single day is a futile exercise.