Rules of Answering Short Questions in Exam

Rules of Answering Short Questions in Exam Short Questions or essay type question is a familiar question item in which a student is to answer some short question following the information given in a certain passage. These questions are also known as open ended or close ended questions. However, it is very much essential to know the rules and processes of answering these short questions correctly. In a word, you have to follow the adjustment of tenses, structural combination, and meaning of the question words. And here I am going to tell you the rules step by step of answering the short questions from a passage. Short questions Essay type question - , ,

This short question item is set for J.S.C, S.S.C, H.S.C board exams or any type of admission exams. So, if you are academically a student, you must know the process of answering these short questions in order to cut a good figure in your exam. - .., .., .. , short question

However, now we should start our discussion. , ... Firstly, you should learn the types of short questions you may face. Yes, there are three types of short questions you may face in your exams.

, short questions , These 3 types of short questions are: 1. WH-Questions (who/what/which/whom/why/when/where/how) (WH-Questions ) 2. Verbal Questions (am/is/are/was/were/shall/will/have/has/had/do/does/did/can/could/should/may) (Verbal ) 3. Contextual Questions (your personal comments, thoughts, observations, ideas on the passage) ( ) Secondly, you must know the structure of an interrogative sentence or question which is: , - Structure: WH-Question+ Auxiliary verb+ Subject+ Main verb+ Object+ Extra+ ?

Or, Auxiliary verb+ Subject+ Main verb+ Object+ Extra+ ?

Examples:

Why does the boy help this person? WH-Question Auxiliary verb Subject Main verb Object

Does he like music in the afternoon?

Auxiliary verb

Subject Main verb Object extra

Now, I will tell you the steps through which you will answer a short question. There are 3 steps you should follow one by one during your answering. Here are those: ,

Step: 01 Meaning of Question words ( ) At first, notice the question word in the sentence and try to understand what it is searching for. For this, learn the different meanings of different WH-Question words.

, question word question word Who- (indicates a person as subject) ( ?- ) What- (indicates a thing or object) (?- ) Which- (indicates a person or thing but particularly) (?- ) Whom- (indicates a person in as object) (?- ) When- (indicates the time of an action) (?- ) Where- (indicates the place of an action) (?- ) Why- (indicates the cause or purpose of an action) (?- )

How- (indicates the process, type, condition of someone or something) (/?- , ) Example: Question: Who is Fahims elder brother? (Who- indicates a person) (?- ) Answer: Rakib is Fahims elder brother. Question: Why is the boy waiting here? (Why-indicates the reason or purpose) (?- ) Answer: The boy is waiting here for taking a book. Step: 02 Finding out the Required Element ( ) Now, you will mark the elements of your question sentence. And in this case, you will miss one element in the whole structure. It may be subject, object, or extra. You have to bring that element from the information of passage and put it in the answer. , , subject, object extra

(Passage) Notice the questions below: Question: When did he tell the story? Answer: He told the story.

(extra is missing) ( ) Question: Who is the present chairman of the company? Answer: is the present chairman of the company. (subject is missing) ( ) In 1st sentence, Note that here when is a question word, did is an auxiliary verb, he is a subject, tell is a main verb, and the story is an object. So, here the part extra is missing and you have to find out that word from the passage and put it at the last of the answer. when-question word, did-auxiliary verb, he-subject, tell-main verb, the story-object , extra extra (Passage) In 2nd sentence, Note that here who; is a question word, is is an auxiliary verb, the present chairman is an object or complement and of the company is an extra word. So, here the element subject is missing and you have to find out the answer word from the passage and put it at the beginning of the answer. who-question word, is-auxiliary verb, the present chairman-object or complement, of the company-extra word , subject subject (Passage)

Here is a short-cut way of understanding the missing option:

(Who/what/which) - indicates subject and its answer will place at the beginning. subject

(Whom/when/where/why/how) - indicates object or extra and its answer will place at last of the sentence. object extra

So, among the 3 elements such as subject, object, or extra, one element will be missing. You have to find out that element according to the direction of WH-Question and place that in right position.

, subject, object, extra WH-Question The structure of your answer will be:

Subject+ verbs (auxiliary verb+ main verb)+ object+ extra. So, if the object or extra is missing, you will start your answer from the question by putting the subject, verb and finally you will place the missing word. But, if the subject is missing, you will put the answer word at first and after that you will place the verb, object, and extra from the question.

, object extra subject verb

object extra subject subject verb,

object extra So, I think the 70% answer of your question is present in question itself. You have to just find out a small part and put that at right place.

, % , (Passage) Step: 03 Tense Marking of the Question ( ) You have to mark in which tense the question is formed. You have to answer in similar tense according to the tense of question. In same topic, the tense of that sentence in passage may be same or different. But do not follow the tense of passage. Just follow the tense in answer in which the question is. Tense Tense Tense (Passage)

Tense Tense Tense There is a short guideline for you in case of tense: Tense

Type of Tense Sign in Question Changes in Answer

Present Indefinite Tense

do/does

(do=same form of main verb)

(does= main verb+ s/es)

Past Indefinite Tense

did

Past form of main verb

All Other Tenses

Am/is/are/was/were/have/has/had/can/could/shall/will/should/would/m

(Same auxiliary verb+ Same main verb)

ay/might. SO, You have observed that only in Present Indefinite Tense and Past Indefinite Tense, you have to change the form of main verb. But in all other tenses, you need not change the forms of verbs. , Present Indefinite Tense Past Indefinite Tense Auxiliary verb verb Tense verb Now observe these examples: Question: When does he play cricket? Answer: He plays cricket in the afternoon. (does=verb+ s/es) Question: Where do they wait regularly? Answer: They wait regularly in the field. (do=base form of verb) Question: Why did the man leave the party? Answer: The man left the part because of his illness. (did=past form of verb) Question: Where is he reading now? Answer: He is reading now in his room. (is reading= is reading) Question: When have they visited the place? Answer: They have visited the place today morning. (have visited=have visited) Answering Verbal Questions ( )

The all steps I have described above are also applicable for verbal questions. But there is a different pattern of answering a verbal question. Here, is the structure of answering verbal questions: verbal questions verbal questions

Yes/No, subject+ verb+ object+ extra Note: You have to write Yes or No at the beginning of the answer according to the information of the passage and next, you have to re-write all the elements again in your answer without changing.

, Yes No (Passage) See the example: Question: Does he like modern music? Answer: Yes, he likes modern music.

Types of Contextual Questions ( ) Except WH-Questions or Verbal questions, there is another one type of question which is known as Contextual Question. Yes, sometimes, you may be asked about your personal point of view, thoughts, observations based on the information of the passage. Here, you have to answer in your own statement. You cannot copy any sentence directly from the passage. WH-Questions Verbal questions

(Passage) , (Passage)

Now follow the examples and memorize these phrases: Question: What is the purpose of the passage? Answer: The purpose of the passage is to. Question: According to you what should be the appropriate title of the passage? Answer: According to me, the suitable title of the passage should be Question: Mention the view of the writer of the passage? Answer: The view of the writer of the passage is Question: What do you think about the passage? Answer: I think about the passage is that Question: What does the phrase .. mean in this passage? Answer:The phrase .. means in this passage is One more variation! ( !) We have discussed all the steps of answering short questions. Now, there is one more variation I want to add here. It is about the answering the question word why. Now, see the answering process of the question word why. why why You can answer of the question word why in 5 patterns:

Question: Why is the boy visiting Dhaka? Answer:

WHY The Pattern Types The boy is visiting Dhaka

for+ (verb+ ing) for earning money. to (verb+ base form of verb) to earn money. Because of+ (verb+ ing) because of earning money sothat (subject+ want to+ base form of verb + object) sothat he wants to earn money. because (subject+ want to+ base form of verb + object) because he wants to earn money.

! I hope now you have no problem in answering any type of short questions in your exams. Just study these steps and apply in your exams and certainly, you will have your part. So, inform me if there is something more to know. Thank you very much.

Prepared by MD.SAROWAR PARVEJ

B.A HONS. IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE & LITERATURE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH UNIVERSITY OF RAJSHAHI

CELL NO: 01722884155 Email no: sparvejmail@gmail.com

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sparvejmail@gmail.com2014-06-12T23:46:12+0600Artistic EnglishI am the author of this document