# Answering on a passage: the answer is in the passage

> These study notes explain Prose passages for the Group 4 / VAO (Combined Civil Services Examination-IV) exam in plain language: the same reviewed notes the TNPSC Guide app shows, published by our editors with their source. Read the key points first, then practise the unit's questions. For exam facts such as dates and vacancies, always check tnpsc.gov.in.

Last updated: 2026-11-02 · By TNPSC Guide editorial team
URL: https://www.tnpscguide.com/exams/group-4/notes/tamil-reading-prose

## Why the exam asks this

The 2025 paper set three questions on one passage. The passage was printed again in each question. All three answers stood in the passage in so many words. So a careful reader can answer with no prior knowledge. These marks are open to everyone.

**Three kinds of question**

| | |
| --- | --- |
| Direct question | Words such as எவ்வாறு, யாவை, எவற்றுக்கு, யாது ask for what the passage says (Standard 8, page 186) |
| Central idea question | Asks what the whole passage says (Standard 10, page 179) |
| Title question | Asks for a title that fits the central idea (Standard 11, page 24) |

## How to read

Read the question first. Then look at the question word: who asks for a name, where for a place, when for a time, how many for a number. Next find the question's key word in the passage. Read that whole line and confirm the answer. Do not answer from what you know; answer from what the passage says.

**Example: A direct question: the road passage**

The passage says a vehicle must keep to the left of the road, and leave room for an oncoming vehicle to pass on the right. On which side must the vehicle be driven?

1. The key word is drive.
2. The word right is in the passage too, but that is the side the oncoming vehicle passes on.
3. A word being in the passage is not enough; it must fit the question.

Answer: left.

**Example: The 'which is not stated' question**

The passage says to slow down near road junctions, places where people cross, and turns. Which place does the passage not name?

1. The options hold three places from the passage and one that is not there.
2. Look for each option in the passage and strike it out.

Answer: what remains is the answer.

## Central idea and title

The central idea is what the whole passage says. A detail in one line is not the central idea. A title too must fit the whole passage. Take each option and ask whether it fits every line.

**Example: A title question: the word தமிழ்**

பிங்கல நிகண்டு calls sweetness and gentleness தமிழ். The word has also been used for sweetness, culture and inner matters. Purananuru uses it for learning in many arts. Kamban uses it for beauty and softness. Devotional works such as Thevaram use it for song. Which title fits this passage?

1. Kamban and Thevaram each take one line.
2. All the lines say one thing.

Answer: the word தமிழ் has many meanings.

**Example: A central idea: மெய்க்கீர்த்தி**

The passage in the Standard 10 exercise says what a மெய்க்கீர்த்தி is, where it stands, what it says and how it grew. What is its central idea?

1. The eighth year of Rajaraja I is one detail, not the central idea.
2. Look for what the whole passage says.

Answer: the மெய்க்கீர்த்தி is the part of a king's inscriptions that tells his glory, and it grew over time.

## Finding the meaning of a word

Some questions ask the meaning of a word in the passage. Do not hunt for a dictionary meaning. Read the line the word is in and see what it does there. In the line that says to give way to a fire engine, the line itself shows that giving way means leaving room for it to pass unhindered.

**Example: A wider question: a life-story passage**

A passage on Arumuga Navalar gives many details: his birthplace Nallur in Jaffna, his three languages, his work as an editor, his retelling of the puranas in plain prose, his press and the title given by Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam. Who gave the title?

1. The 2025 passage on V.O.C. was of this kind.
2. In such a passage, sort name, place, year, book and title in your head as you read.
3. His birthplace is Nallur; the places get mixed in the options.

Answer: Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam.

## Practice: make the questions yourself

A Standard 12 exercise gives a passage and asks the student to make five questions. This is good practice. Take that passage, which opens by calling language a rare art that people create and protect. Ask what it calls language, what a child's language growth goes with, and what people are to language. Once you can make questions, you will see where exam questions come from.

**Key facts**

| | |
| --- | --- |
| Choosing the answer from the passage | Syllabus unit V |
| Direct question practice, the road passage | Standard 8, page 186 |
| Central idea practice, மெய்க்கீர்த்தி | Standard 10, page 179 |
| Title practice, the word தமிழ் | Standard 11, page 24 |
| Question-making practice, language | Standard 12, page 20 |

> **Exam tip:** Memory hooks
The question first, the passage next. The question word tells the kind of answer. Only what is in the passage is the answer. A title must fit every line.

**Easy to confuse**

| | |
| --- | --- |
| In the passage, what you know | Only what the passage says is the answer; what you know does not count if the passage does not say it |
| Central idea, a detail | The central idea is what the whole passage says, not one line |
| Title, first line | A title must fit the whole passage, not only the first line |
| Who, where, when, how many | A name, a place, a time, a number; all four stand in one passage and get mixed |

Source: Notification 11/2026 (Advertisement No. 747), Combined Civil Services Examination-IV (Group IV Services), Tamil version (8ஆம் வகுப்பு, அறிந்து பயன்படுத்துவோம், பக்கம் 186; 10ஆம் வகுப்பு, இயல் 7, பக்கம் 179; 11ஆம் வகுப்பு, இயல் 1, பக்கம் 24; 12ஆம் வகுப்பு, இயல் 1, பக்கம் 20)

## Sources

- [Official syllabus page](https://www.tnpsc.gov.in/english/syllabus.html)
- [Notifications](https://www.tnpsc.gov.in/English/Notification.aspx)