The PISA sample questions versus the CBSE sample questions on Reading Comprehension
The posting at http://prayatna.typepad.com/education/2012/01/pisa-sample-questions.html links to PISA sample questions. They are at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/47/23/41943106.pdf . In the web I also came across some CBSE sample questions; for example at http://www.cbseguess.com/papers/sample_papers/x/2012/english.php.
While it is good that the CBSE questions in English now-a-days has a significant focus on Reading Comprehension, based on the sample questions it seems that the comprehension is tested with respect to text or poetry. Following is a sample.
On the other hand when one goes over the PISA sample questions the Reading part is not just text, but is "reading material" that one may come across in day to day lives. It contains text that may be mixed with other forms of reading material. Following are some samples from the PISA sample questions.
January 24th, 2012