How should you answer comprehension questions in a language paper?

Comprehension questions require you to demonstrate that you are able to translate the meaning of the Latin you are given, but do not require you to translate word-for-word. This means they are a great opportunity to get marks! An example question might be: "Phaethon erat filius Apollinis. olim Phaetheon tristis erat. What two things do we know about Phaethon?"
The first sentence is constructed nominative, verb, nominative, genitive, while the second is conjunction, nominative, adjective, verb. We can therefore translate the phrases as: 'Phaethon was the son of Apollo. Once, Phaethon was sad.' These are the two things we know about him, so we can answer the question. With a question like this, it is best to stick as close to your understanding of the translation as possible, and paraphrase only where necessary. You will not lose marks for a direct translation.