Join Our Groups
TOPIC 8: READING FOR
COMPREHENSION
Reading and
Obtaining General Information
Reading
for comprehension involves reading information from different sources. It
involves reading in details with specific aims and tasks passages and
information carefully with the aim of knowing all things about the
information’s in the text.
In
this part you are reading with the aim of being able to answer comprehension
questions. When you are answering comprehension questions, the first thing to
do is read the questions carefully before you read the passage, after reading
the questions, you have to read the whole passage while remembering the
questions.
While
reading you have to note all new vocabulary, the main idea of information and
specific ideas. When you are reading consider; specific ideas which may lead
you to summaries the passage, answer questions and know the title, a good
example of specific ideas are, definitions, reasons or causes, importance,
effects e.t.c . After doing all these, you go back to the questions and answer
them.
Example 1
Read
the following passage and answer the questions that follow:
ILO
Convention No 138 refers to child labor as employment below the minimum of age
15 and it state that 215 million children under 18 work full time around the
word. Children are denied the right to education when they are forced into the
worst forms of labor, especially sexual exploitation, child trafficking, heavy
manual work in mining and agricultural plantations. According to UNICEF in
2011, 90 of children involved in domestic labour are girls.
In
Sub Saharan Africa, which include developing countries like Tanzania among
every four children aged 5-17 compared to the countries like Latin America
where 1 among every ten children are engaged with work.
UNICEF
2010 estimated 20.7% of children in Tanzania are involved in child labour which
dropped compared to 2001 when national bureau of statistics estimated that
35.4% were child labourers. According to the Tanzania legal and human rights
centre 2012 human rights report, child labour in Tanzania is facilitated by a
number of reasons including; poverty, family separation and pastoral
communities which moves from one place to another in search for water and
pasture. This forces children to drop out from school and are subjected to
enforced labour, often times out of necessity.
The
constitution and laws of Tanzania state that “employing child under 14 years
old is an offence and employing any person below 18 years in an environment
that will endanger their life or affect the upbringing of the child is an
offence.’
The
employment and labour relations act of 2004 gives the power to resident
magistrate or district courts to impose punishment of 1 year imprisonment or
fines up to Sh5 million to any person found guilty under the act. Child labour
is also prohibited under the law of the child act of 2009.
Exercise
Write
the title of the passage and summarise it in no more than 20 words.
|
| Reading for comprehension |
Example 2
Read the following passage
carefully and then answer the questions which follow:
The number of children seen
loitering in cities and towns increases day after day. Between 1960 and 1970,
very few of these were seen in Tanzania. However, from 1970 to date, their
number has drastically increased. There are many questions we should ask
ourselves concerning street children. For example, why do we have them?Where do
they come from?Do they have parents?How do they live in the street?
Some of the questions are not
easy to answer. However, there are some reasons why we have street children.
One of the reasons could be the death of parents or guardians. The course of
death nowadays could be AIDS. Due to ignorance some relative refuse to live
with such orphans for fear that they may infect them with the disease. Other
relatives are reluctant to add children to their families and see them as a
burden. There are also relatives who do not want responsibilities. The
unfortunate children, therefore, end up in the streets.
There are many other reasons that
make children run away from into the streets. Some parents are too strict or
cruel. They punish their children severely for even the slightest or mistakes.
In order to escape this torture and brutality, the abused children run away.
Other parents are just irresponsible and do not fulfill their children’s needs
and rights. Such parents may not be poor, so they do this through negligence.
When children discover that their parents cannot meet their needs and deny them
their rights they flee to the streets.
Separation or divorce due to
drunkenness, harassment or other misunderstandings may be another reason for
street children. The children do not get parental love and care and decide not
to stay with either of their parents.
Inadequate knowledge on family
planning could also contribute to having street children. As the family keeps
on growing, parents fail to sustain and provide for their children.
Such children miss their basics necessities
and decide to go to the streets to fend for themselves.
Lastly, there are stubborn
children who, whatever their parents do to them mentally, physically and
materially, are never satisfied. They desire to live like children of rich
families. As they are not satisfied, they go to the street just to search for
“better lives”. These children are just rebels.
There are many other reasons why
some children find themselves living in streets. What the community should do
to limit the number of street children is: First, to educate the parents on
family planning. Second, parents should know that children have the right to be
loved and taken care of, the right to education and to be listened to. Children
also should know that they have to obey their parents and elders.
Questions
a) Choose the best answer:
1. Street children are__________.
a) Children born in the street
b) Homeless children
c) Orphans.
d) Children without parents.
2. Where are street children
mostly found? In________.
a) Village
b) Homes
c) Big cities
d) Schools
3. The word “loitering” simply
means ____________.
a) Walking fast in busy streets.
b) Walking about doing nothing.
c) Dancing in the street.
d) Playing in the streets.
4. Which of the following
statement is true according to the passage?
a) Parents should not punish
children
b) Street children suffer from
AIDS
c) Street children are all orphan
d) Irresponsible parents neglect
their children
5. A child whose parents died of
AIDS __________.
a) Can become street child.
b) Must become a street child.
c) Also suffer from AIDS.
d) Does not need other people’s
love.
6. Children whose parents died of
AIDS_____________.
a) Their parents are not strict.
b) Their parents give them their
rights.
c) Their parents do not have
money.
d) They miss parental care and
love.
7. All street children
____________.
a) Have been mistreated by their
parents.
b) Have disobeyed their parents.
c) Are orphans.
d) Were forced into the streets
by different problems.
8. Who is to blame for the
condition of the street children ____________.
a) The AIDS disease.
b) The parents or guardian.
c) The children themselves.
d) All the three above.
9. One way of reducing street
children suggested by the author is to____________.
a) Assist parents’ separation.
b) Encourage parental negligence.
c) Educate parents on family
planning.
d) Punish the children.
10. Suggest a suitable title for
the passage ____________.
a) Orphans.
b) Homeless children.
c) Children in cities.
d) Village children.
b) With reference to the
passage you have read, answer the following questions:
1. Give one reason why relatives
refuse to live with children who have lost their parents through
AIDS.______________________
2. Mention two reasons why some
children run away from home to live in the streets_____
3. What can the community do to help street children? Give one solution.____
EmoticonEmoticon