According to Madsen 1983:79 there are four kinds of reading comprehension that have to be mastered by students. They are word comprehension,
sentence comprehension, paragraph comprehension, and text comprehension. The following section discusses about each comprehension in detail.
2.1.1 Word Comprehension
Word is the basic component in a text, as Spencer Hay 1998:223 as quoted in Alyousef 2005:145 say that word recognition is a fundamental component
in reading mastery. Farbairn Winch 1996:9 argue that when the readers do not understand the meaning of all the words provided in a sentence, it means that they do
not always thoroughly understand what they read. U nderstanding the word used to
construct sentences is the best way to begin practicing for a reading comprehension
test. In word comprehension questions, you are expected to find synonyms words that mean the same thing or antonyms words that mean the opposite. Using a
dictionary is the best way to define a word. However, if you are in a testing situation, you are not allowed to use it.
That is why, in order to understand a reading text successfully, students must know the meaning of the words stated in the text. Here is
the example of word comprehension in a question: Ayu Okvitawanli
The girl’s name is Ayu Okvitawanli. Now, she is 13 years old and she
is in the first year of SMP Penabur, Jakarta. She becomes one of the people recorded in MURI Museum Rekor Indonesia. Do you know why? Yes, she
is the youngest novelist in Indonesia. Her novel is entitled Siapa Pembunuh Misterius itu? This novel tells about mysterious murders.
Ayu enjoys studying and reading very much. Her favorite subjects are Science, Math, and English. Her favorite writers are N.H Dini, J.K. Rowling,
and the queen of detective stories: Agatha Christie. Mandiri: Practice Your English Competence for VII grade
SMP, Erlangga, written by Nur Zaida, 2009:57
Line 4
Question: 1. Which of the followings is the
closest in meaning to the word “mysterious” in line 5?
a. secretive b. strange
c. enigmatic d. furtive
Answer: b. strange the word “strange” has the closest meaning with the word
“mysterious”, on the contrary the word “secretive”, “enigmatic” and “furtive” have different meaning
2.1.2 Sentence Comprehension
