CBSE Class 10 English

A discursive passage presents ideas, arguments or reflections on a topic, usually in several paragraphs, such as a piece on the habit of reading, on trust between generations, on the cost of fast fashion or on what a hobby teaches a person. It is a different kind of text from a story, because it is built from claims and the reasons given for them, and understanding it means following that structure.

Reading for the main idea

Most paragraphs have one central point, and the first or last sentence often states it. The rest of the paragraph supports it with examples, figures, comparisons, reasons or a short story. The main idea of the whole passage is what the paragraphs add up to, which is usually clear from the opening, from the way the argument turns and from the closing paragraph. A useful check is to say the main idea in one sentence and test it against each paragraph: if a paragraph contradicts it or has nothing to do with it, the sentence is probably too narrow or too broad.

Look for words that show how one idea relates to the next.

A writer who writes Many people believe that..., but is about to argue against that belief, and the claim after but is the writer's own view.

Stated meaning and inference

Some questions can be answered by finding the sentence that says it. Others ask for an inference, which is a conclusion that the passage supports without stating. If a writer describes a shop whose shelves are empty by noon every day, one inference is that it is popular or poorly stocked, and a careful reader asks which the other details support. An inference must be backed by something in the text, so a reader chooses the reading that fits the most evidence and avoids anything that depends on outside knowledge or on guessing about the writer's life.

A reader also separates what the writer says from what the writer reports other people saying. Critics argue that the plan is wasteful is a report of a view, and it does not mean the writer agrees.

Fact and opinion

A fact can be checked: The river is 800 kilometres long. An opinion is a judgement that people may disagree about: The river is the most beautiful in the country. Writers often present an opinion in a confident tone as though it were a fact, and words such as clearly, obviously, best, should and surely are a signal. Facts used to support an opinion make an argument stronger, but the argument is only as sound as the fact is accurate and relevant.

Purpose, tone and attitude

A writer may aim to inform, to persuade, to describe, to warn, to entertain or to reflect, and several purposes can combine in one passage. Tone is the writer's attitude to the subject as it shows in the choice of words. It might be formal, humorous, ironical, critical, sympathetic, nostalgic, anxious, hopeful or objective. A passage that calls a policy a mistake that is hard to forgive has a critical tone, and one that remembers childhood summers with fondness has a nostalgic tone. The same facts can be given a different tone: The council has decided to cut the library's hours is neutral, and The council has stripped the library of its hours is critical.

Vocabulary in context

A question about a word asks what it means in this passage, and that may not be its commonest meaning. A word such as plain can mean simple, obvious, flat land or ordinary, and the surrounding sentence decides. Four clues help.

1. The sentence may define the word, often after a dash, a comma or that is or which means.
2. It may give a contrast: Unlike her talkative sister, she was reticent shows that reticent means the opposite of talkative.
3. It may give an example or a list of similar words.
4. The word's parts may help: a prefix such as un-, dis-, mis- or re-, a root, or a suffix such as -less or -ful.

A good test is to replace the word with the proposed meaning and see whether the sentence still says what the writer meant.

Questions on vocabulary may also ask for a word in the passage that means the same as a given word, or the opposite. These need the right part of speech, so a noun must be matched with a noun and a verb with a verb.

Reference words

Pronouns and phrases such as this, that, they, such, the former and the latter refer back to something earlier. They may refer to the plural noun just before it or to a group two sentences earlier, so the reader looks back to the nearest noun that fits in number and sense. In The government banned plastic bags, and this has changed how people shop, this refers to the whole action of banning them.

Figurative language

Even in a passage of ideas, writers use comparisons and images: the city never sleeps, a mountain of paperwork, a tide of opinion. The reader says what the image means in plain terms and what effect it has. A mountain of paperwork means a very large pile, and the effect is to make the task feel heavy and daunting.

Writing short answers from a passage

An answer is made from the passage's evidence but in the reader's own words where possible. It answers the question that was asked, and no more. A question beginning Why needs a reason (with because or so that), a question beginning How needs a way or a process, and a question asking for two points needs exactly two, kept distinct from each other. Copying a long stretch from the passage without selecting what is relevant shows that the reader has not understood which part matters.

A worked example

The village library opened on weekday afternoons, but by the time the children arrived from school, the librarian was already pulling down the shutters. Nobody complained. The books were old and the building leaked, and it was assumed that everyone was too busy to read anyway. Then one winter a retired teacher began leaving the door open and sitting at the desk until dusk.

Main idea: a neglected library comes back into use because one person takes it seriously. Inference: the library was not working for children because of its hours, not because they did not want it, since the children turn up and find it shutting. Tone: gently critical of the village's acceptance of the situation, and then quietly hopeful. Pulling down the shutters describes the action literally, and it also shows a closing door in a wider sense.