CSS - PMS - Precis & Composition
Comprehension
Read the passage and answer the question.
A rural girls' college faced a practical problem: attendance fell during the harvest season because many students had family responsibilities. A targeted response followed. Specifically, the college introduced recorded lessons, flexible tutorial hours, and a simple catch-up schedule. After the change, more students completed missed work and fewer abandoned the term entirely. However, the arrangement depended on students having occasional access to a phone or shared device. This limitation did not erase the result; instead, it showed why flexibility can protect continuity without lowering academic expectations.
Which inference is best supported by the passage?
A. Complex problems can be solved only by expensive technology rather than by changes in procedure or behaviour.
B. The same intervention will produce identical results in every setting without modification.
C. Because a limitation remained, the intervention should be considered completely ineffective.
D. A reasonable inference is that flexibility can protect continuity without lowering academic expectations.
Correct Answer: D
The passage reports an improvement together with a limitation, so the supported inference is cautious rather than absolute.
CSS - PMS - Precis & Composition
Comprehension
Read the passage and answer the question.
A rural girls' college faced a practical problem: attendance fell during the harvest season because many students had family responsibilities. A targeted response followed. Specifically, the college introduced recorded lessons, flexible tutorial hours, and a simple catch-up schedule. After the change, more students completed missed work and fewer abandoned the term entirely. However, the arrangement depended on students having occasional access to a phone or shared device. This limitation did not erase the result; instead, it showed why flexibility can protect continuity without lowering academic expectations.
What action was taken in response to the problem?
A. Instructors introduced retrieval quizzes that required students to answer from memory before checking notes.
B. The college introduced recorded lessons, flexible tutorial hours, and a simple catch-up schedule.
C. Teachers created a weekly choice period in which pupils selected books without being graded on them.
D. The group kept an error log and used it to choose the next week's revision priorities.
Correct Answer: B
The action is stated directly after the passage describes the initial problem.
CSS - PMS - Precis & Composition
Comprehension
Read the passage and answer the question.
A rural girls' college faced a practical problem: attendance fell during the harvest season because many students had family responsibilities. A targeted response followed. Specifically, the college introduced recorded lessons, flexible tutorial hours, and a simple catch-up schedule. After the change, more students completed missed work and fewer abandoned the term entirely. However, the arrangement depended on students having occasional access to a phone or shared device. This limitation did not erase the result; instead, it showed why flexibility can protect continuity without lowering academic expectations.
What is the main idea of the passage?
A. The passage mainly argues that the arrangement depended on students having occasional access to a phone or shared device.
B. The passage proves that one intervention can remove every limitation in a complex problem.
C. The passage shows that flexibility can protect continuity without lowering academic expectations.
D. The passage mainly describes learners spent most of their time rereading notes and mistook familiarity for mastery.
Correct Answer: C
The main idea combines the response, its result, and the broader lesson stated in the passage.
CSS - PMS - Precis & Composition
Comprehension
Read the passage and answer the question.
In a public secondary school, many students could memorize rules but struggled to apply them in unfamiliar questions. Rather than treating the difficulty as unavoidable, teachers replaced one weekly lecture with short problem-solving workshops in which students explained their reasoning to classmates. The change produced a noticeable result: students became more willing to attempt unfamiliar questions and their error patterns became easier for teachers to diagnose. Yet the experience was not a perfect solution; scores did not rise immediately, and some pupils initially found the workshops uncomfortable. The case therefore illustrates that practice that requires explanation can reveal misunderstandings that passive revision hides.
Which is the best title for the passage?
A. Flexible Learning, Firm Standards
B. Structure Before Style
C. The Power of Small Milestones
D. Learning by Explaining
Correct Answer: D
The best title reflects the central problem and the response discussed in the passage.
CSS - PMS - Precis & Composition
Comprehension
Read the passage and answer the question.
In a public secondary school, many students could memorize rules but struggled to apply them in unfamiliar questions. Rather than treating the difficulty as unavoidable, teachers replaced one weekly lecture with short problem-solving workshops in which students explained their reasoning to classmates. The change produced a noticeable result: students became more willing to attempt unfamiliar questions and their error patterns became easier for teachers to diagnose. Yet the experience was not a perfect solution; scores did not rise immediately, and some pupils initially found the workshops uncomfortable. The case therefore illustrates that practice that requires explanation can reveal misunderstandings that passive revision hides.
What does the word “diagnose” most nearly mean as used in the passage?
A. in a way that is easy to notice
B. identify the nature or cause of a problem
C. made consistent according to a common method
D. the presence of unwanted or harmful material
Correct Answer: B
In this passage, “diagnose” means identify the nature or cause of a problem.
CSS - PMS - Precis & Composition
Comprehension
Read the passage and answer the question.
In a public secondary school, many students could memorize rules but struggled to apply them in unfamiliar questions. Rather than treating the difficulty as unavoidable, teachers replaced one weekly lecture with short problem-solving workshops in which students explained their reasoning to classmates. The change produced a noticeable result: students became more willing to attempt unfamiliar questions and their error patterns became easier for teachers to diagnose. Yet the experience was not a perfect solution; scores did not rise immediately, and some pupils initially found the workshops uncomfortable. The case therefore illustrates that practice that requires explanation can reveal misunderstandings that passive revision hides.
Which inference is best supported by the passage?
A. Because a limitation remained, the intervention should be considered completely ineffective.
B. The same intervention will produce identical results in every setting without modification.
C. A reasonable inference is that practice that requires explanation can reveal misunderstandings that passive revision hides.
D. Complex problems can be solved only by expensive technology rather than by changes in procedure or behaviour.
Correct Answer: C
The passage reports an improvement together with a limitation, so the supported inference is cautious rather than absolute.
CSS - PMS - Precis & Composition
Comprehension
Read the passage and answer the question.
In a public secondary school, many students could memorize rules but struggled to apply them in unfamiliar questions. Rather than treating the difficulty as unavoidable, teachers replaced one weekly lecture with short problem-solving workshops in which students explained their reasoning to classmates. The change produced a noticeable result: students became more willing to attempt unfamiliar questions and their error patterns became easier for teachers to diagnose. Yet the experience was not a perfect solution; scores did not rise immediately, and some pupils initially found the workshops uncomfortable. The case therefore illustrates that practice that requires explanation can reveal misunderstandings that passive revision hides.
What action was taken in response to the problem?
A. Teachers replaced one weekly lecture with short problem-solving workshops in which students explained their reasoning to classmates.
B. The instructor asked them to outline claims, evidence, and transitions before drafting.
C. The course was reorganized into smaller weekly milestones with visible progress indicators.
D. The college introduced recorded lessons, flexible tutorial hours, and a simple catch-up schedule.
Correct Answer: A
The action is stated directly after the passage describes the initial problem.
CSS - PMS - Precis & Composition
Comprehension
Read the passage and answer the question.
In a public secondary school, many students could memorize rules but struggled to apply them in unfamiliar questions. Rather than treating the difficulty as unavoidable, teachers replaced one weekly lecture with short problem-solving workshops in which students explained their reasoning to classmates. The change produced a noticeable result: students became more willing to attempt unfamiliar questions and their error patterns became easier for teachers to diagnose. Yet the experience was not a perfect solution; scores did not rise immediately, and some pupils initially found the workshops uncomfortable. The case therefore illustrates that practice that requires explanation can reveal misunderstandings that passive revision hides.
What is the main idea of the passage?
A. The passage mainly argues that scores did not rise immediately, and some pupils initially found the workshops uncomfortable.
B. The passage mainly describes attendance fell during the harvest season because many students had family responsibilities.
C. The passage shows that practice that requires explanation can reveal misunderstandings that passive revision hides.
D. The passage proves that one intervention can remove every limitation in a complex problem.
Correct Answer: C
The main idea combines the response, its result, and the broader lesson stated in the passage.
CSS - PMS - Precis & Composition
Punctuation
Which option is correctly punctuated for the sentence beginning “What did the witness mean…”?
A. What did the witness mean when he said, “I saw nothing”?
B. What did the witness mean when he said “I saw nothing?”
C. What did the witness mean when he said; “I saw nothing”.
D. What did the witness mean when he said, “I saw nothing?”
Correct Answer: A
The question mark belongs to the entire sentence, not to the quoted statement, so it is placed after the closing quotation mark.
CSS - PMS - Precis & Composition
Punctuation
Which option is correctly punctuated for the sentence beginning “The office needs three things…”?
A. The office needs three things: better lighting, reliable internet, and secure storage.
B. The office needs three things; better lighting reliable internet and secure storage.
C. The office needs: three things better lighting, reliable internet, and secure storage.
D. The office needs three things, better lighting, reliable internet and secure storage.
Correct Answer: A
A colon introduces the list, and commas separate its elements.
CSS - PMS - Precis & Composition
Punctuation
Which option is correctly punctuated for the sentence beginning “Before leaving he said Ill…”?
A. Before leaving, he said; “I'll call you tomorrow.”
B. Before leaving; he said, “I'll call you tomorrow”.
C. Before leaving, he said, “I'll call you tomorrow.”
D. Before leaving he said “Ill call you tomorrow”.
Correct Answer: C
The introductory phrase takes a comma, the reporting verb is followed by a comma, and the quotation is correctly punctuated.
CSS - PMS - Precis & Composition
Punctuation
Which option is correctly punctuated for the sentence beginning “The candidates were nervous nevertheless…”?
A. The candidates were nervous: nevertheless, they remained quiet.
B. The candidates were nervous nevertheless; they remained quiet.
C. The candidates were nervous, nevertheless they remained quiet.
D. The candidates were nervous; nevertheless, they remained quiet.
Correct Answer: D
A semicolon precedes the conjunctive adverb and a comma follows it.
CSS - PMS - Precis & Composition
Punctuation
Which option is correctly punctuated for the sentence beginning “The reportdespite its limitationsoffers useful…”?
A. The report—despite its limitations—offers useful evidence.
B. The report-despite its limitations, offers useful evidence.
C. The report: despite its limitations: offers useful evidence.
D. The report, despite its limitations—offers useful evidence.
Correct Answer: A
Matching em dashes correctly set off the parenthetical phrase.
CSS - PMS - Precis & Composition
Punctuation
Which option is correctly punctuated for the sentence beginning “The chairmans message was brief…”?
A. The chairmans message was brief; “Work hard remain honest and serve the public”.
B. The chairman's message was brief, “Work hard, remain honest and serve the public.”
C. The chairman's message was brief: “Work hard, remain honest, and serve the public.”
D. The chairman's message was brief: Work hard, remain honest, and serve the public.
Correct Answer: C
The possessive apostrophe, colon introducing the quotation, quotation marks, and series commas are all correctly used.
CSS - PMS - Precis & Composition
Punctuation
Which option is correctly punctuated for the sentence beginning “After three hours discussion the…”?
A. After three hours' discussion, the members reached an agreement.
B. After three hour's discussion, the members reached an agreement.
C. After three hours' discussion the members, reached an agreement.
D. After three hours discussion the members reached an agreement.
Correct Answer: A
The plural possessive expression 'three hours'' takes an apostrophe, and the introductory phrase is followed by a comma.
CSS - PMS - Precis & Composition
Punctuation
Which option is correctly punctuated for the sentence beginning “My sisters car which is…”?
A. My sister's car, which is ten years old, still runs well.
B. My sisters' car, which is ten years old still runs well.
C. My sister's car which is ten years old, still runs well.
D. My sisters car which is ten years old still runs well.
Correct Answer: A
The singular possessive takes apostrophe + s, and the nonrestrictive clause is enclosed by commas.
CSS - PMS - Precis & Composition
Punctuation
Which option is correctly punctuated for the sentence beginning “The officer asked Who authorized…”?
A. The officer asked, “Who authorized this payment”.
B. The officer asked; Who authorized this payment?
C. The officer asked “Who authorized this payment”?
D. The officer asked, “Who authorized this payment?”
Correct Answer: D
A reporting clause introduces the direct question, and the question mark belongs inside the quotation marks.
CSS - PMS - Precis & Composition
Punctuation
Which option is correctly punctuated for the sentence beginning “If you agree sign here…”?
A. If you agree, sign here; if you disagree, state your reasons.
B. If you agree; sign here, if you disagree; state your reasons.
C. If you agree, sign here: if you disagree, state your reasons.
D. If you agree sign here, if you disagree state your reasons.
Correct Answer: A
Commas separate the introductory if-clauses, while a semicolon separates the two closely related independent clauses.
CSS - PMS - Precis & Composition
Punctuation
Which option is correctly punctuated for the sentence beginning “The question is this Who…”?
A. The question is this; who will take responsibility?
B. The question is this: Who will take responsibility?
C. The question is this: who will take responsibility.
D. The question is this, Who will take responsibility.
Correct Answer: B
A colon introduces the specific question, which begins with a capital letter and ends with a question mark.
CSS - PMS - Precis & Composition
Punctuation
Which option is correctly punctuated for the sentence beginning “To be frank I disagree…”?
A. To be frank; I disagree with the recommendation.
B. To be, frank I disagree with the recommendation.
C. To be frank I disagree with the recommendation.
D. To be frank, I disagree with the recommendation.
Correct Answer: D
An introductory phrase is separated from the main clause by a comma.