Reading Comprehension
🔒 Log in to trackTone, attitude and author's-opinion questions
🔒 Log in to trackTone questions ask how the author speaks, not what he says. Tone lives in adjectives, adverbs and contrasts — not in the facts themselves.
| Tone | Signature words | Example signal |
|---|---|---|
| Neutral / informative | states facts, figures, findings | no praise or blame anywhere |
| Critical | flaws, fails to, merely, despite promises | points out problems repeatedly |
| Optimistic / appreciative | promising, remarkably, has become a model | highlights success and progress |
| Sceptical / cautionary | claimed, supposedly, yet, the deeper cost | accepts a claim, then questions it |
| Balanced / analytical | however, on the other hand, both | gives two sides, then weighs them |
How to read for tone in one pass: watch the author's evaluations. "has become a model studied by other countries" = approval. "merely shifts risk onto workers" = criticism. "The prediction has aged badly" = gentle mockery of critics. Underline one evaluative phrase per paragraph; the pattern across paragraphs is the tone.
Author's-opinion questions ("The author would agree with which of these?") obey the same rules as inference, with one addition — the opinion must match the author's degree of commitment. Authors of SSC passages usually take measured positions: they accept problems and propose workable fixes. Options claiming the author is desperate, euphoric, or completely dismissive of something almost never fit.
Neutral passages exist. Science and report-style passages carry no stance; the correct tone is informative/neutral/analytical, and options like sarcastic, pessimistic, passionate are wrong even when the topic sounds alarming. Do not confuse the seriousness of a subject with the mood of the writer.
Attitude toward a specific thing ("attitude of the author towards gig platforms"): collect every line touching that thing, note the verbs used with it (celebrate, warn, can be applied now), and summarise: the author is critical of the rules but not of flexibility itself. One-sided options (fully supportive / fully hostile) fail.
Detailed notes
What is tone?
Tone is the author's feeling or manner in writing — the voice behind the words. The same fact can be written in different tones:
- Neutral: "The lake has become polluted."
- Critical: "Despite crores spent on brochures, the lake is still a sewer."
- Hopeful: "With a few drains, the lake can be clean again."
Attitude is the author's feeling towards one particular thing in the passage (a plan, a group, an idea).
Where tone hides
Tone is carried by describing words (adjectives and adverbs) and by contrast words.
- glossy brochures, grand plan, the cameras leave → mocking the show.
- "Surely a city that can spend crores on brochures can find money for a drain" → sarcasm (saying something to point out a failure).
- however, yet, but → the part after it shows what the author really thinks.
Common tone words and their meanings
| Tone word | Meaning | Sign in the passage |
|---|---|---|
| informative / objective / neutral | only gives facts | no praise, no blame |
| analytical | examines causes and effects | "because", "as a result", weighs points |
| critical | points out faults | fails, merely, despite promises |
| sarcastic / ironic | mocks by saying the opposite or exaggerating | Surely…, what a grand plan |
| appreciative / laudatory | praises | remarkable, a model, succeeded |
| optimistic / hopeful | expects good results | can, will improve, promising |
| pessimistic | expects bad results | hopeless, bound to fail |
| balanced | gives both sides fairly | neither… nor, on one hand… on the other |
| nostalgic | fondly remembers the past | those were the days |
| cautionary | warns | risk, danger, before we… |
| indifferent | does not care | rarely correct — authors write because they care |
Method
- Underline one evaluative phrase in each paragraph.
- Is it positive, negative, or neutral? How strong?
- Check the last sentence — it usually shows the final attitude.
- Pick the tone word that matches both direction (positive/negative) and strength (mild/strong).
Degree matters
If the author says online classes are "neither the saviour nor the failure" — the tone is balanced, not "angry" and not "celebratory". Extreme tone words (furious, euphoric, hostile) are usually wrong in exam passages.
Serious topic ≠ emotional tone
A science passage about germs or earthquakes is still informative if it just explains. Do not call it "alarmed" because the subject is scary.
"Author would agree" questions
These are inference questions about the author's opinion. The correct option matches what the author says and how strongly. If the author wants "sewage stopped before ceremonies", he would agree that stopping sewage matters more than publicity — not that "the lake can never be cleaned".
"The passage is most likely taken from…"
Match style to the type of text:
- facts + explanations, no opinion → science book / textbook / encyclopaedia
- opinion on a current issue with suggestions → newspaper editorial / opinion piece
- personal feelings in first person, dates → diary / memoir
- story with characters and dialogue → short story
- selling words (best, buy now) → advertisement
Quick revision
- Tone = author's voice; attitude = feeling towards one thing.
- Look at adjectives, adverbs and what comes after however/yet/but.
- Match direction AND degree; avoid extreme tone words.
- Serious subject can still have a neutral tone.
- Quoted people's feelings are not the author's tone.
- Source questions: match the writing style to the type of text.
Types of questions asked
Every way this subtopic shows up in exams — how to recognise it, the formula or logic to use, and a solved example.
Type 1: Tone of the passagecommon3 practice Q
'The tone of the passage is…', 'Which word best describes the author's tone?'
- Collect the evaluative words (adjectives, adverbs, 'surely', 'merely').
- Decide direction (positive / negative / neutral) and strength.
- Confirm with the closing sentence.
- Reject extremes and tone words that fit only one line.
Example: "The new bridge, built in record time and under budget, has cut the travel time of thousands of commuters." Tone: (a) critical (b) appreciative (c) sarcastic (d) indifferent
'Record time', 'under budget', 'cut travel time' are praise. No mockery. Answer: (b) appreciative.
Type 2: Author's attitude towards a specific thingcommon3 practice Q
'The author's attitude towards X is…', 'How does the author view…?'
- Find every line that mentions X.
- Note the words used with X (praise, doubt, blame).
- Summarise in one phrase and match; reject one-sided options if the author gives both sides.
Example: "Online classes were a lifeline for children with laptops, and a blank screen for children without them." Attitude towards online classes?
Positive for some, useless for others → the author sees them as useful but dependent on access — neither fully good nor fully bad.
Type 3: Author would agree / disagree with…common2 practice Q
'With which statement would the author most likely agree?'
- Recall the author's main opinion (usually in the last lines).
- Pick the option that follows from it at the same strength.
- Reject options that are extreme, opposite, or about something the author never discussed.
Example: Author: "Brochures are printed every year, but the sewage pipes are never diverted." The author would agree that: (a) brochures clean lakes (b) fixing sewage matters more than publicity (c) the lake cannot be saved (d) sewage is harmless
The author criticises show without action. Answer: (b).
Type 4: Type or source of the passageoccasional2 practice Q
'The passage is most likely taken from…', 'The passage is an example of…'.
- Is it facts only (textbook), opinion with suggestions (editorial), a story (fiction), personal feelings (diary), or selling (advertisement)?
- Match that style with the option.
Example: "Honey resists decay because it has little water, is slightly acidic and contains an enzyme that produces hydrogen peroxide." Source?
Only facts and explanation, no opinion or selling → a science book or article.
Shortcut tricks
⚡ Adjective audit
Sweep the passage for adjectives and adverbs with feeling (quietly, badly, remarkable, merely, confident). Three of them in the same direction fix the tone.
Example: Passage words: 'quietly getting hotter', 'turn bedrooms into ovens', 'plan itself out of one'.
Concerned but hopeful: the problem is real and the closing line offers a way out → tone = concerned/optimistic, not alarmed or dismissive.
⚡ However counts double
The clause after but/however/yet carries the author's real position; the clause before it is the position being set aside. Tone and opinion questions key off the second half.
⚡ Degree matching
Match intensity, not just direction: 'sceptical' ≠ 'hostile', 'cautiously optimistic' ≠ 'confident'. Pick the option at the same temperature as the passage.
Where students lose marks
Calling a fact-heavy passage 'sarcastic' because its subject is unpleasant.
Reading the tone of people quoted in the passage as the author's own tone.
Choosing an extreme tone word (outraged, euphoric) when the passage argues moderately.
Forgetting that a 'balanced/analytical' option is often correct when the author gives both sides.
Practice sets — 12 questions
Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Each answer comes with a step-by-step explanation.
Topic test · 12 questions
Suggested time 7 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.