Start here · the first lesson of Structure and function
Structure and function
Reading Comprehension · for IPMAT Indore, IPMAT Rohtak and JIPMAT
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The idea
Structure questions ask why something is in the passage or how the passage is built: the role of a paragraph, the purpose of an example or analogy, how information is organised, and what the next paragraph would discuss. IPMAT PYQs include all four ("how is the information about treatments organised", "the instance of the shoemaker is an example of", "the writer calls social media the present-day Forum because").
Textbook vs exam method
Textbook method
Read the paragraph or example in question and decide what role it plays in the argument: introduction, support, counter-argument, illustration or conclusion.
Exam method
- Map while skimming. P1 myth, P2 correction, P3 why it matters, P4 second case.
- Example or analogy questions. find the claim it serves (usually the sentence right before or after). The right option names that claim ("to show that paying for readiness is a familiar idea"), not the content of the example ("fire brigades cost money").
- Paragraph-role questions. decide whether the paragraph introduces, supports, objects, concedes, replies, illustrates or concludes, and whether that role is qualified (concede and qualify).
- Organisation questions. list the sequence of moves (define, then evidence, then cause, then remedy, then resistance) and match the option with the same order.
- Next-paragraph questions. extend the last sentence's direction.