Reading comprehension for LIC AAO

Reading comprehension looks like the slowest part of the English section: a long passage, then five or six questions. It is usually the most reliable. The answers are in front of you, and the questions reward careful reading more than grammar knowledge. For a section where you only need a safe qualifying score, that makes RC a good place to secure marks, as long as you read with purpose and do not let one passage eat half your 20 minutes.

A method that works under time pressure

1. Glance at the questions first. Note the ones that name a detail ("According to the passage, why…"). Do not read the options yet.
2. Read the passage once, at a steady pace. After each paragraph, give it a two- or three-word label in your head: "problem", "cause", "solution", "author's view".
3. Answer the fact questions first. Go back to the paragraph your label points to and read the relevant lines again.
4. Answer inference, main-idea and tone questions last. By then you have read most of the passage twice.
5. Choose the option the passage supports, not the one that sounds wisest.

The six question types

Passage 1

Many young earners put off buying life insurance because they feel it is meant for older people. Yet a young person whose income supports others, such as parents or a spouse and children, carries a real financial risk from the day they start earning. A basic term plan pays out only if the insured person dies during the policy term, and in return it offers a large cover for a relatively low premium, especially when bought young. Waiting has a cost. Premiums for the same cover are generally higher at an older age of entry, and a health problem that develops in the meantime can make cover dearer or harder to obtain. The decision, then, should rest not on age but on a simpler question: does anyone depend on this income?

1. Why do many young earners delay buying life insurance, according to the passage?

(a) Premiums are too high for them. (b) Insurers refuse to cover them. (c) They feel it is meant for older people. (d) They have no income to protect.

2. As described in the passage, a basic term plan:

(a) returns all premiums at the end of the term. (b) provides a monthly pension. (c) pays for hospital treatment. (d) pays out only if the insured dies during the term.

3. Which of these can be inferred from the passage?

(a) Everyone should buy term insurance before 25. (b) A person with no dependants has less reason to buy life cover. (c) Health problems make insurance impossible to get. (d) Older people cannot buy term plans.

4. What is the author's main point?

(a) The need for life cover depends on whether others rely on one's income. (b) Term insurance is better than every other product. (c) Young people have no dependants. (d) Premiums rise every year.

Answers

1. (c). Stated in the first sentence. (a) reverses the passage, which says premiums are relatively low.
2. (d). Stated directly. The other options describe different products.
3. (b). The passage ties the need to dependants, so someone with none has less reason. (a) adds an age limit the passage never gives. (c) is extreme: the passage says "dearer or harder", not impossible. (d) is not stated.
4. (a). The last sentence states it. (b) and (d) are extreme, and (c) contradicts the passage.

Passage 2

On a summer night, the centre of a large city can stay noticeably warmer than the farmland around it. Scientists call this the urban heat island effect, and its causes are well understood. Concrete, brick and asphalt absorb heat through the day and release it slowly after sunset, so streets keep radiating warmth long after the sun has gone. Cities also have fewer trees and open fields. Plants cool the air by releasing water vapour from their leaves, and when they are replaced by buildings, that natural cooling is lost. Finally, vehicles, factories and air conditioners pour waste heat directly into the air around them. The irony is sharp: the air conditioners that make one room bearable push more heat into the street outside, which makes the next room harder to cool. None of this is inevitable. Reflective roofs, shaded streets and protected green spaces have all been used to take the edge off urban heat, and they cost far less than the health and energy bills of a city that keeps getting hotter.

1. Which of the following is not given as a cause of the urban heat island effect?

(a) Building materials that store heat (b) Loss of trees and open land (c) Higher rainfall in cities (d) Waste heat from vehicles and machines

2. The word "inevitable", as used in the passage, most nearly means:

(a) expensive (b) unavoidable (c) sudden (d) harmful

3. Why does the author call the use of air conditioners an "irony"?

(a) They are too costly for most people. (b) They break down in hot weather. (c) They cool a room but add to the heat that makes cooling harder. (d) They use no energy at night.

4. The author's tone in the last two sentences is best described as:

(a) despairing (b) angry (c) indifferent (d) hopeful and practical

5. Which is the best title for the passage?

(a) Why Cities Run Hot, and What Can Be Done (b) The History of Air Conditioning (c) Farming Near Cities (d) How Plants Grow

Answers

1. (c). Rainfall is never mentioned. The other three are the passage's three causes.
2. (b). "None of this is inevitable" is followed by ways to reduce heat, so the meaning is "unavoidable". Substitute it back and the sentence still works.
3. (c). The sentence after "irony" explains it: the machine that cools one room heats the street.
4. (d). The author offers solutions and says they cost less than the problem. There is no despair or anger.
5. (a). It covers both halves: the causes and the remedies. (b) and (c) pick up a single detail, and (d) is not the topic.

Traps setters use

• Extreme words: "always", "never", "everyone", "impossible". The passage usually says "often", "generally" or "can".
• True but not stated: an option that is correct in real life but that the passage does not say.
• Reversed relationships: the passage says A causes B, and the option says B causes A.
• Word match: an option that repeats the passage's words but changes their meaning.
• Too narrow or too broad: main-idea options that cover one detail, or claim more than the passage does.

Timing

In a 20-minute section, a passage of about 250 words with five questions should take about five to six minutes. If you are well over that in mocks, read faster on the first pass and slower on the lines you return to, not the other way round. If RC stays slow after two or three weeks of practice, attempt it after the quicker question types, so your minimum is safe first.

A four-week routine

Read a mix of topics: economy, environment, technology, insurance and society. Passages on unfamiliar topics are where real understanding, not background knowledge, earns the marks.

What to do next

• Time yourself on both passages above if you have not already, and note which question type you missed.
• Fit RC into your 20-minute section plan from the English plan for LIC AAO.
• Build word knowledge for vocabulary-in-context questions with the vocabulary guide.
• The same "support from the text" skill drives critical reasoning in the mains.