The PSRA Strategy

      An important strategy for reading comprehension is learning to approach a passage in an organized way. First make:

1.PREDICTTION about the passage;

2.Then SCAN it;

3.Next READ it ;

4.And finally ANSWER the questions.

     We can abbreviate this strategy to PSRA

PREDICTION

 

Learning how to make predictions about what you are going to read BEFORE you read will help you to establish a context for understanding the passage. This will improve your reading score.

   Before you begin to read one of the reading passage, you should first look at the question introduction line. This line looks like this:

Questions 161-163 refer to the following office memo

In the question introduction line, you will learn how many questions there are and what kind of reading passage it is ( in this case an office memo). The look of reading passage will also give you a clue: a fax will look like a fax, a phone message will like a phone message, and a graph like a graph. This will help you Predict what the passage is about

There are generally two or three questions for every reading passage, although there may be up to five. Look at the questions and the four answer options. This will give you a clue what to look for. These clues will help you predict what the passage is about.

According to the memo, which equipment has multiple uses?

a.Computers

b.Fax machine

c.Answering machine

d.CD-players

SCAN

We can predict that the memo has something to do with electronics. When we scan the passage, we look for the key words. You may not find the exact words, but you might find words with similar meanings. Try to think of words that have meanings similar to the keywords in the question and answer options. The key words for this question are:  

 

QUESTIONS	ANSWER OPTIONS
Key Words          Similar Meanings Equipment          electronic tool; hardware Multiple uses      useful in a variety of setting	Computers Fax machines Answering machine CD-players

 

Look first for the key words from the question; then look around the Question Key Words for the Key Words from the answer option. When you find the Answer Option Key Words, see if the words answer the question. Try to answer the question (in your head, NOT on the answer sheet) . Here is a sample:

 

MEMORANDUM

To : Lafite, Pierre
  Purchasing Department
From : Clement, Marie France
  France

We need computers for use in the office, answering machine for our consultants, fax machines for the shipping department, and CD-players for everyone. This last place of hardware can be used in a variety of ways

According to the memo, which equipment has multiple uses?

a.a.Computers

b.b.Fax machine

c.c.Answering machine

d.d.CD-players

 

The correct answer is D, a CD-player is the last piece of hardware mentioned. This last of hardware be used in a variety of ways. Note how much different the answer would be if the last sentence were:

This first place of hardware can be used in a variety of ways

    The word “first” changes the answer completely from D. CD-players to A. Computers. This is why you must NOT rely on prediction and scanning alone

READ

You must READ the as well. But when you read, read quickly. Read to confirm your predictions.

    You should not make any mark on your answer sheet until you have made a PREDICTION based on all of questions, SCANNED the passage looking for the keywords, answered the question in your head, and read the passage to confirm your answer choices. The answer to the first question is found in the first part of the reading passage. The answer to the second question is found in the next part and so on. The questions follow the sequence of the passage.

  

ANSWER

 

Now you are ready to mark your answer sheet. ANSWER the easy questions first. If you don’t know an answer, scan the passage again, look for the key words, read parts of the passage. If you still don’t know, GUESS. Do NOT leave any answer blank.

   These strategies are easy to remember; just memorize

  PSRA: Predict, Scan, Read and Answer