Type of question: What are we to ask about?
A Son to be Proud of
Last week, Rahman's wife Leila had an accident. Rahman's youngest
child, Yusof, was at home when it happened. He was playing with his
new toy car. Rahman had given it to him the week before, for his third
birthday.
Suddenly Yusof heard his mother calling "Help! Help!' He ran to the
kitchen. His mother had burned herself with some hot cooking oil. She
was crying with pain and the pan was on fire.
Rahman had gone to his office. Both the other children had gone to
school. Yusof was too small to help his mother, and she was too
frightened to speak sensibly to him. But he ran to the neighbor's house
and asked her to come and help his mother. She soon put out the fire
and took Yusof's mother to the clinic.
When Rahman came home, Leila told him what happened. He was very
proud of his son. 'When you are a man, you will be just like your father,'
he said.
Question Types
- Type 1 /Questions of literal comprehension.
These are questions whose answers are directly and explicitly expressed in the text.
1- When did Leila have an accident?
2- What was Yusof doing when the accident happened?
3- How did Yousuf help his mother?
-Type 2 / Questions involving reorganization or reinterpretation.
They are slightly more difficult than type 1. They are questions which require the student either to reinterpret literal
information or to obtain it from various parts in the text and put it together in a new way. Such questions make the student
consider the text as a whole.
1- How old was Yousuf? (reinterpret third birthday ,the week before)
2- How many children had Rahman ?(reorganize :1(Yusof)+2(both the other children)=3)
3-What in the text proves that Yousuf was not in the kitchen at the time of the accident?
(Reinterpret ran to the kitchen)
- Type 3 /Questions of inference.
These questions oblige the students to consider what is implied but not explicitly stated.
1- Which people were in Rahman's house when the accident happened?
2- Why was Rahman proud of his son?
- Type 4/Questions of evaluation
Evaluative questions ask for considered judgment about the text in terms of what the writer is trying to do and how far he
has achieved it .The reader may be asked to judge .For example, the writer's honesty or bias, the quality of evidence , and
the effectiveness of the narrative techniques.
1- To what extent did the writer succeed in portraying the setting?
- Type 5 /Questions of personal response.
The reader is asked to record his reaction to the text. This might range from
'I'm convinced' or 'I'm not interested' to 'I'm moved' or 'I'm not prepared to
adopt the writer's opinion'.
1- What is your opinion of Yousuf's behavior?
2- How would you have felt if you were Rahman?
3- Do you sympathize with the writer's argument?
4- How far does your own experience agree with that described?
- Type 6/Questions concerned with how writers say what they mean
This type of question has as its main concern how the writer says what
he/she means. It is aimed at making students aware of word attack and text
attack skills, i.e. making them conscious of what they do when they
interpret text.
1- How did the author reveal descriptive information?
2- Find all the words / phrases the writer uses related to being scared. What
effect does this have on the reader?