Reading Comprehension
🔒 Log in to trackTone, attitude and author's-opinion questions
🔒 Log in to trackTone questions ask how the author speaks, not what the author says. Tone is the author's feeling or manner. Attitude is the author's feeling towards one thing in the passage. Tone lives in adjectives, adverbs and contrast words, not in the facts themselves.
What tone is
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, such as a plan, a group or 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 mock the show.
- "Surely a city that can spend crores on brochures can find money for a drain" is sarcasm. It says one thing to point out a failure.
- however, yet, but mark the turn. The part after them shows what the author really thinks.
Common tone words
| 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.
- Decide if each is positive, negative or neutral, and how strong.
- Check the last sentence. It usually shows the final attitude.
- Pick the tone word that matches both direction and strength.
Tip: The clause after but, however or yet carries the author's real position. The clause before it is the position being set aside.
Degree matters
Suppose 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.
Match the strength, not just the direction. Sceptical is not hostile. Cautiously optimistic is not confident.
A serious topic is not an emotional tone. A science passage about germs or earthquakes is still informative if it only explains. Do not call it "alarmed" because the subject is scary. Words like sarcastic, pessimistic, passionate are wrong for a neutral passage.
Watch: The feelings of people quoted in the passage are not the author's tone.
Attitude towards one thing
For "the attitude of the author towards gig platforms", collect every line about that thing. Note the verbs used with it, such as celebrate, warn, can be applied now. Then sum up. The author may be critical of the rules but not of flexibility itself. One-sided options, fully supportive or fully hostile, fail.
Author would agree. 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", the author would agree that stopping sewage matters more than publicity. The author would not agree that "the lake can never be cleaned".
Authors of SSC passages usually take measured positions. Options that make the author desperate, euphoric or completely dismissive almost never fit.
Source of the passage
Match the style to the type of text.
- Facts and explanations, no opinion: a science book, textbook or encyclopaedia.
- Opinion on a current issue with suggestions: a newspaper editorial or opinion piece.
- Personal feelings in first person, with dates: a diary or memoir.
- A story with characters and dialogue: a short story.
- Selling words (best, buy now): an advertisement.
Question types you will see
Each type: how to recognise it, the method step by step, and one question to try.
Tone of the passage
'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.
Tone is built from many small word choices, not from one line.
"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
Show solutionHide solution
'Record time', 'under budget' and 'cut travel time' are all praise.
There is no mockery.
(b) appreciative
Author's attitude towards a specific thing
'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.
Sum up in one phrase and match it.
Reject one-sided options if the author gives both sides.
Attitude is about one topic, so only lines about that topic count.
"Online classes were a lifeline for children with laptops, and a blank screen for children without them." What is the attitude towards online classes?
Show solutionHide solution
They are positive for some children.
They are useless for others.
Useful, but dependent on access; neither fully good nor fully bad
Author would agree or disagree with...
'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.
It is an inference question about the author's opinion.
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
Show solutionHide solution
The author criticises show without action.
So fixing the cause matters more than publicity.
(b)
Type or source of the passage
'The passage is most likely taken from...', 'The passage is an example of...'.
Decide the style: facts only, opinion with suggestions, a story, personal feelings, or selling.
Match that style with the option.
Reject options whose style clashes, for example a story for a fact-only passage.
Each type of text has its own style.
"Honey resists decay because it has little water, is slightly acidic and contains an enzyme that produces hydrogen peroxide." Source?
Show solutionHide solution
The passage has only facts and explanation.
It has no opinion and no selling.
A science book or article
Sarcasm or irony in a quoted line
'What is the author's tone in the line "..."?', a line that praises where blame is meant.
Read the line with its neighbours.
Ask if the words say one thing while the facts say the opposite.
If so, choose sarcastic or ironic. If the words match the facts, choose the plain tone.
Sarcasm praises on the surface but criticises underneath.
"What a grand plan: the drain is still blocked, but the ribbon-cutting was lovely." The tone of this line is: (a) appreciative (b) sarcastic (c) neutral (d) nostalgic
Show solutionHide solution
'Grand plan' and 'lovely' sound like praise.
The blocked drain shows the plan failed.
So the praise is meant as mockery.
(b) sarcastic
Shortcuts that save time
Sweep the passage for adjectives and adverbs that carry feeling, such as quietly, badly, remarkable, merely, confident. Three of them in the same direction fix the tone.
Passage words: 'quietly getting hotter', 'turn bedrooms into ovens', 'plan itself out of one'. What is the tone?
Show solutionHide solution
The first two phrases show the problem is real.
The last phrase offers a way out.
So the author is concerned but hopeful, not alarmed or dismissive.
Concerned and optimistic
The clause after but, however or yet carries the author's real position. Tone and opinion questions key off the second half.
Match intensity as well as direction. Pick the option at the same temperature as the passage.
Mistakes to avoid
Where most students lose marks on this subtopic.
Calling a fact-heavy passage sarcastic because its subject is unpleasant.
Judge the author's words, not the subject. Facts only means informative.
Reading the tone of people quoted in the passage as the author's own tone.
Find the author's own evaluative words.
Choosing an extreme tone word such as outraged or euphoric when the passage argues in a moderate way.
Choose the option at the same strength as the passage.
Forgetting that a balanced or analytical option is often correct when the author gives both sides.
Check whether both sides are weighed before you pick a one-sided tone.
Quick revision
Read this the night before the exam.
Tone is the author's voice. Attitude is the feeling towards one thing.
Look at adjectives, adverbs and what comes after however, yet, but.
Match direction and degree. Avoid extreme tone words.
A 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.
Practice: 12 questions
Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Every answer has a step-by-step explanation.
Topic test · 12 questions
Suggested time 7 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.