English Reading Comprehension

Which word means similar to “imagination” in the given paragraph?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

Although Greece (or Hel´las) is only half as large as the State of New York, it holds a very important place in the history of the world. It is situated in the southern part of Europe, cut off from the rest of the continent by a chain of high mountains which form a great wall on the north. It is surrounded on nearly all sides by the blue waters of the Med-it-er-ra´ne-an Sea, which stretch so far inland that it is said no part of the country is forty miles from the sea, or ten miles from the hills. Thus shut in by sea and mountains, it forms a little territory by itself, and it was the home of many a noted people.
The history of Greece goes back to the time when people did not know how to write, and kept no record of what was happening around them. For a long while the stories told by parents to their children were the only information which could be had about the country and its former inhabitants; and these stories, slightly changed with every new teller, grew more and more extraordinary as time passed. At last they were so changed that no one could tell where the truth ended and fancy began.
The beginning of Greek history is therefore like a fairy tale; and while much of it cannot, of course, be true, it is the only information we have about the early Greeks. It is these strange fireside stories, which used to amuse Greek children so many years ago, that you are first going to hear.
About two thousand years before the birth of Christ, in the days when Isaac wanted to go down into Egypt, Greece was inhabited by a savage race of men called the Pe-las´gi-ans. They lived in the forests, or in caves hollowed out of the mountain side, and hunted wild beasts with great clubs and stone-tipped arrows and spears. They were so rude and wild that they ate nothing but raw meat, berries, and the roots which they dug up with sharp stones or even with their hands.
For clothing, the Pelasgians used the skins of the beasts they had killed; and to protect themselves against other savages, they gathered together in families or tribes, each having a chief who led in the war and in the chase.

Why did he fall?

Directions: Read the passage carefully and answer the question that follows.

Aman tripped while he was trying to catch a bus. He was on the floor. The bus left without him. "Are you alright?" a girl asked. He was holding his arm. "I think I broke my arm," he said to the girl. The girl dialled 102. "Help is on the way," she said. She helped him up. He wondered why he fell. He looked down and saw his laces were untied. He forgot to tie his laces many times. He started to cry. His arm was in terrible pain. "The ambulance is coming soon," the girl said. She felt bad for the boy. She knew how much it would have hurt because she had had a similar experience a few months ago.

Why did Jim not like maths?

Directions: Read the passage carefully and answer the question that follows.

The day of the maths test was next Monday. Jim had three days to study. He did not like maths. It was his hardest subject. He had to study in order to pass. He locked himself in his room. He turned off his phone and computer to avoid distractions. But, he could not solve a maths problem. He needed help. He had to turn on the phone and ask his friend for help. His friend agreed and came over. His friend helped him study for three hours. He took the test. And lo! he passed the test. Studying had paid off.

Why did he lock himself in the room?

Directions: Read the passage carefully and answer the question that follows.

The day of the maths test was next Monday. Jim had three days to study. He did not like maths. It was his hardest subject. He had to study in order to pass. He locked himself in his room. He turned off his phone and computer to avoid distractions. But, he could not solve a maths problem. He needed help. He had to turn on the phone and ask his friend for help. His friend agreed and came over. His friend helped him study for three hours. He took the test. And lo! he passed the test. Studying had paid off.

Why did he turn on the phone later?

Directions: Read the passage carefully and answer the question that follows.

The day of the maths test was next Monday. Jim had three days to study. He did not like maths. It was his hardest subject. He had to study in order to pass. He locked himself in his room. He turned off his phone and computer to avoid distractions. But, he could not solve a maths problem. He needed help. He had to turn on the phone and ask his friend for help. His friend agreed and came over. His friend helped him study for three hours. He took the test. And lo! he passed the test. Studying had paid off.

What experience did the girl have?

Directions: Read the passage carefully and answer the question that follows.

Aman tripped while he was trying to catch a bus. He was on the floor. The bus left without him. "Are you alright?" a girl asked. He was holding his arm. "I think I broke my arm," he said to the girl. The girl dialled 102. "Help is on the way," she said. She helped him up. He wondered why he fell. He looked down and saw his laces were untied. He forgot to tie his laces many times. He started to cry. His arm was in terrible pain. "The ambulance is coming soon," the girl said. She felt bad for the boy. She knew how much it would have hurt because she had had a similar experience a few months ago.

The main purpose of the passage is ___________________.

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman, in fact, has a complicated, even schizophrenic, heritage. She’s been portrayed by such diverse actors as the perky Cathy Lee Crosby and Lynda Carter, who endowed her with both a competent, working woman aura and a dose of eroticism (Lynda Carter, I discovered, is the subject of a lot of Wonder Woman fetishist erotica on the Internet these days). An Internet poll about who should play Wonder Woman, if the series were revived today, uncovered equally diverse ideas— people suggested Cher, Lucy Lawless, Angela Bassett, and Demi Moore. Clearly, in our cultural imagination, Wonder Woman is a character with many faces.

Things only get more complicated when you consider the frame narrative that explains 10 Wonder Woman’s existence. She was born as Princess Diana (interestingly paralleling another icon of womanhood) in an Amazon community that seems pretty clearly grounded in lesbianism. Although the women in this harmonious and idyllic Amazon community have gone to great lengths to hide and protect their island from incursions by men, they are nonetheless delighted when a male American army officer inadvertently crash-lands in their utopia. So smitten with him are they, in fact, that they stage a ruthless physical competition to decide who will get to pair off with him. When Diana (later Wonder Woman) wins, she happily abandons her position as a royal ruler of the Amazons to accompany him back to the United States and take a boring desk job as a lowly secretary in the army. She even trades in her cool Amazon garb for a pair of glasses 20and a meek, submissive manner.

Of course, these good-girl accoutrements can’t hold Wonder Woman’s Amazon nature in check. Faced with evil or danger, she spins herself into a wild tornado and emerges in her glamorous (though seemingly impractical) star-spangled swimsuit and kinky, high-heeled go-go boots. She skillfully pilots an invisible airplane, wields a golden lasso, and fends off bullets with her wristbands made of a mysterious metal called “feminum.” In the name of the “forces of justice and freedom,” Wonder Woman will scrap with just about anyone— originally created to fight Nazis, she actually goes on to replicate their white-supremacist doctrines, killing off Japanese people whom her comic book portrays as demonic, and fighting to the death against her African double, Nubia. In a recent comic 30book, she completely abandons the apparently socialist tenets of the Amazons and emerges as a champion of capitalist entrepreneurialism, saving a trendy, financially lucrative urban bistro from the machinations of a computer geek. To quote the superhero herself, “Great Hera!” —can’t she get her politics straight?

Of course, all of these contradictions within Wonder Woman point to the evolution of and contradictions within our social constructions of womanhood. One of the founding principles of feminist criticism is the need to be conscious of the ways that gender is a constructed category, to realize that there is nothing inherent or essential about what we associate with the feminine. As first-wave feminist Simone de Beauvoir put it, “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman; . . . it is civilization as a whole that produces this 40creature which is described as feminine.” But beyond this foundational acknowledgement of social construction (and even this concept is debated within feminism) and a general concern with the effects of power, there is little that binds what we call “feminist criticism” into a homogeneous, or even very coherent, doctrine. There are Marxist feminists who are concerned with the way economic oppression coincides with gender; linguistically based feminists who are interested in uncovering how the very structure of language itself betrays a masculine bias and in finding new modes of expression to better accommodate women. There are feminists who look for evidence of subversive resistance and empowerment in the history of women and feminists who are interested in tracing oppression and victimization.

50Feminist criticism is expanding into a more general level to include such areas as the construction of masculinity and the constitution of sexual orientation. It is being infused with insights from the realm of Queer Theory complicated by post-colonial scholars and scholars of race who consider the ways gender intersects with nationalism, class, and race. As feminist critic Theresa de Lauretis suggests, “A new conception of the subject is, in fact, emerging from feminist analyses of women’s heterogeneous subjectivity and multiple identities . . . the differences among women may be better understood as differences within women.” It is important to realize that not only does feminism as a movement exist in the face of these contradictions and complications—within feminist criticism, within gender studies, within individual literary texts and within our 60understanding of the individual woman as a subject—but that it cannot exist without them. Perhaps, like Wonder Woman, feminist criticism remains vital because it is astonishingly diverse, open, and rigorously self-problematizing.

The tone of the passage is _________________.

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

When the curtain went up several months ago on a production of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures at the new home of East West Players in downtown Los Angeles, it marked another new chapter in the annals of this troupe, and, in a broader sense, the history of multicultural theater in the United States. East West Players is the oldest, and one of the most influential, Asian-American theater companies in the nation, with a three-decade-plus track record of affording Pacific Rim actors a place to practice their craft, hone their skills and gain insights into the business of acting.

The troupe's success is "preceded by that of its alumni," Jan Breslauer wrote in the Los Angeles Times recently about this "invaluable nurturing ground." Actors Pat Morita, John Lone and Sab Shimono -- all of whom are well known in the U.S. film and television industry -- are among those who have passed through the company's doors, along with playwrights David Henry Hwang (who has had four of his plays staged there) and Philip Kan Gotanda.

East West Players is now in residence in the 220-seat David Henry Hwang Theater in a former church, known today as the Union Center for the Arts, which also houses an art exhibitor and an independent film organization. Lead donors included Henry and Dorothy Hwang, parents of the playwright for whom the theater was named. Hwang, author of such Broadway dramas as M. Butterfly and Golden Child, is the most successful Asian-American playwright on the contemporary scene.

The company's first artistic director was Mako, a familiar face as a character actor in a skein of Hollywood films who later starred in the original Broadway production of Pacific Overtures, Sondheim's 1976 musical depiction of the opening of Japan by the West in the 1850s. Mako recalls that he and his colleagues weren't "consciously working to establish a model" when they began to stage plays. "What we were trying to do, consciously, was to be honest with ourselves, learning to cope with elements that were surrounding us, such as racism and discrimination."

Beulah Quo, another gifted Asian-American actress and an original East West player, recalls that in the beginning, "we were really the first group of Asian Americans working together in Los Angeles. That's common now. But in those days, people never thought of it."

With the passage of three decades, East West Players reflects the themes of U.S. society from the identity politics of the Sixties and Seventies to more mainstream issues of life and love. The company, which inspired the creation of other Asian-American companies in the Seventies in the aftermath of its own success, also typifies the multicultural theater scene in the United States. It represents its constituency in the same manner as Hispanic-American Theater in Los Angeles, New York City and elsewhere, and African-American theater in all parts of the country. And as with these other forms, Asian-American theater is flourishing.

"The audiences are larger," Hwang said recently in The Washington Post. "It's more accessible. It's more visible than we would have thought 20 years ago. It's exciting, the way you'd be excited about seeing any child grow up."

Tim Dang, the current artistic director, told The Daily Bruin, the University of California at Los Angeles newspaper, that he hopes the new site will evolve into an arts center rather than simply a theater. "I think that's one of our goals -- to have a cross- pollination of audiences, where hopefully the audiences that come to see the theater will come to the art exhibits as well, and if we have any film screenings, we will invite [patrons] to come see theater."

The passage leads to the inference of the following about East West theatre ________________.

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

When the curtain went up several months ago on a production of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures at the new home of East West Players in downtown Los Angeles, it marked another new chapter in the annals of this troupe, and, in a broader sense, the history of multicultural theater in the United States. East West Players is the oldest, and one of the most influential, Asian-American theater companies in the nation, with a three-decade-plus track record of affording Pacific Rim actors a place to practice their craft, hone their skills and gain insights into the business of acting.

The troupe's success is "preceded by that of its alumni," Jan Breslauer wrote in the Los Angeles Times recently about this "invaluable nurturing ground." Actors Pat Morita, John Lone and Sab Shimono -- all of whom are well known in the U.S. film and television industry -- are among those who have passed through the company's doors, along with playwrights David Henry Hwang (who has had four of his plays staged there) and Philip Kan Gotanda.

East West Players is now in residence in the 220-seat David Henry Hwang Theater in a former church, known today as the Union Center for the Arts, which also houses an art exhibitor and an independent film organization. Lead donors included Henry and Dorothy Hwang, parents of the playwright for whom the theater was named. Hwang, author of such Broadway dramas as M. Butterfly and Golden Child, is the most successful Asian-American playwright on the contemporary scene.

The company's first artistic director was Mako, a familiar face as a character actor in a skein of Hollywood films who later starred in the original Broadway production of Pacific Overtures, Sondheim's 1976 musical depiction of the opening of Japan by the West in the 1850s. Mako recalls that he and his colleagues weren't "consciously working to establish a model" when they began to stage plays. "What we were trying to do, consciously, was to be honest with ourselves, learning to cope with elements that were surrounding us, such as racism and discrimination."

Beulah Quo, another gifted Asian-American actress and an original East West player, recalls that in the beginning, "we were really the first group of Asian Americans working together in Los Angeles. That's common now. But in those days, people never thought of it."

With the passage of three decades, East West Players reflects the themes of U.S. society from the identity politics of the Sixties and Seventies to more mainstream issues of life and love. The company, which inspired the creation of other Asian-American companies in the Seventies in the aftermath of its own success, also typifies the multicultural theater scene in the United States. It represents its constituency in the same manner as Hispanic-American Theater in Los Angeles, New York City and elsewhere, and African-American theater in all parts of the country. And as with these other forms, Asian-American theater is flourishing.

"The audiences are larger," Hwang said recently in The Washington Post. "It's more accessible. It's more visible than we would have thought 20 years ago. It's exciting, the way you'd be excited about seeing any child grow up."

Tim Dang, the current artistic director, told The Daily Bruin, the University of California at Los Angeles newspaper, that he hopes the new site will evolve into an arts center rather than simply a theater. "I think that's one of our goals -- to have a cross- pollination of audiences, where hopefully the audiences that come to see the theater will come to the art exhibits as well, and if we have any film screenings, we will invite [patrons] to come see theater."

The author used the term cross-pollination, he implies ________________.

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

When the curtain went up several months ago on a production of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures at the new home of East West Players in downtown Los Angeles, it marked another new chapter in the annals of this troupe, and, in a broader sense, the history of multicultural theater in the United States. East West Players is the oldest, and one of the most influential, Asian-American theater companies in the nation, with a three-decade-plus track record of affording Pacific Rim actors a place to practice their craft, hone their skills and gain insights into the business of acting.

The troupe's success is "preceded by that of its alumni," Jan Breslauer wrote in the Los Angeles Times recently about this "invaluable nurturing ground." Actors Pat Morita, John Lone and Sab Shimono -- all of whom are well known in the U.S. film and television industry -- are among those who have passed through the company's doors, along with playwrights David Henry Hwang (who has had four of his plays staged there) and Philip Kan Gotanda.

East West Players is now in residence in the 220-seat David Henry Hwang Theater in a former church, known today as the Union Center for the Arts, which also houses an art exhibitor and an independent film organization. Lead donors included Henry and Dorothy Hwang, parents of the playwright for whom the theater was named. Hwang, author of such Broadway dramas as M. Butterfly and Golden Child, is the most successful Asian-American playwright on the contemporary scene.

The company's first artistic director was Mako, a familiar face as a character actor in a skein of Hollywood films who later starred in the original Broadway production of Pacific Overtures, Sondheim's 1976 musical depiction of the opening of Japan by the West in the 1850s. Mako recalls that he and his colleagues weren't "consciously working to establish a model" when they began to stage plays. "What we were trying to do, consciously, was to be honest with ourselves, learning to cope with elements that were surrounding us, such as racism and discrimination."

Beulah Quo, another gifted Asian-American actress and an original East West player, recalls that in the beginning, "we were really the first group of Asian Americans working together in Los Angeles. That's common now. But in those days, people never thought of it."

With the passage of three decades, East West Players reflects the themes of U.S. society from the identity politics of the Sixties and Seventies to more mainstream issues of life and love. The company, which inspired the creation of other Asian-American companies in the Seventies in the aftermath of its own success, also typifies the multicultural theater scene in the United States. It represents its constituency in the same manner as Hispanic-American Theater in Los Angeles, New York City and elsewhere, and African-American theater in all parts of the country. And as with these other forms, Asian-American theater is flourishing.

"The audiences are larger," Hwang said recently in The Washington Post. "It's more accessible. It's more visible than we would have thought 20 years ago. It's exciting, the way you'd be excited about seeing any child grow up."

Tim Dang, the current artistic director, told The Daily Bruin, the University of California at Los Angeles newspaper, that he hopes the new site will evolve into an arts center rather than simply a theater. "I think that's one of our goals -- to have a cross- pollination of audiences, where hopefully the audiences that come to see the theater will come to the art exhibits as well, and if we have any film screenings, we will invite [patrons] to come see theater."

It cannot be inferred from the fourth paragraph that _______________.

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

When the curtain went up several months ago on a production of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures at the new home of East West Players in downtown Los Angeles, it marked another new chapter in the annals of this troupe, and, in a broader sense, the history of multicultural theater in the United States. East West Players is the oldest, and one of the most influential, Asian-American theater companies in the nation, with a three-decade-plus track record of affording Pacific Rim actors a place to practice their craft, hone their skills and gain insights into the business of acting.

The troupe's success is "preceded by that of its alumni," Jan Breslauer wrote in the Los Angeles Times recently about this "invaluable nurturing ground." Actors Pat Morita, John Lone and Sab Shimono -- all of whom are well known in the U.S. film and television industry -- are among those who have passed through the company's doors, along with playwrights David Henry Hwang (who has had four of his plays staged there) and Philip Kan Gotanda.

East West Players is now in residence in the 220-seat David Henry Hwang Theater in a former church, known today as the Union Center for the Arts, which also houses an art exhibitor and an independent film organization. Lead donors included Henry and Dorothy Hwang, parents of the playwright for whom the theater was named. Hwang, author of such Broadway dramas as M. Butterfly and Golden Child, is the most successful Asian-American playwright on the contemporary scene.

The company's first artistic director was Mako, a familiar face as a character actor in a skein of Hollywood films who later starred in the original Broadway production of Pacific Overtures, Sondheim's 1976 musical depiction of the opening of Japan by the West in the 1850s. Mako recalls that he and his colleagues weren't "consciously working to establish a model" when they began to stage plays. "What we were trying to do, consciously, was to be honest with ourselves, learning to cope with elements that were surrounding us, such as racism and discrimination."

Beulah Quo, another gifted Asian-American actress and an original East West player, recalls that in the beginning, "we were really the first group of Asian Americans working together in Los Angeles. That's common now. But in those days, people never thought of it."

With the passage of three decades, East West Players reflects the themes of U.S. society from the identity politics of the Sixties and Seventies to more mainstream issues of life and love. The company, which inspired the creation of other Asian-American companies in the Seventies in the aftermath of its own success, also typifies the multicultural theater scene in the United States. It represents its constituency in the same manner as Hispanic-American Theater in Los Angeles, New York City and elsewhere, and African-American theater in all parts of the country. And as with these other forms, Asian-American theater is flourishing.

"The audiences are larger," Hwang said recently in The Washington Post. "It's more accessible. It's more visible than we would have thought 20 years ago. It's exciting, the way you'd be excited about seeing any child grow up."

Tim Dang, the current artistic director, told The Daily Bruin, the University of California at Los Angeles newspaper, that he hopes the new site will evolve into an arts center rather than simply a theater. "I think that's one of our goals -- to have a cross- pollination of audiences, where hopefully the audiences that come to see the theater will come to the art exhibits as well, and if we have any film screenings, we will invite [patrons] to come see theater."

Which of the following is the most appropriate title for the given passage?

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and answer the question that follows. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering the question.

There was once a poor farmer who went to the money-lender's house and asked him the secret of becoming rich. The money-lender piously told the farmer that riches came from God and he should ask him.

The simple farmer set out to find God. On his way, he found a poor man sitting under a tree. The poor man asked him about his journey and the farmer told him that he was going to find God! The poor man smiled and said, "I am God! What do you want of me?" The farmer told him the whole story, and God, taking pity on him, gave him a conch shell, and showed him how to blow it in a particular way, saying, “Just remember, whatever you wish for, you have only to blow the conch this way, and your wish will be fulfilled. Only have a care of that money-lender, for even magic is not proof against his wiles!"

The farmer went back to his village, rejoicing. The money-lender noticed his high spirits at once and went over to the farmer's house, and congratulated him on his good fortune . The farmer told him the whole story—everything except the secret of blowing the conch.

Nevertheless, the money-lender was determined to have the conch by hook or by crook, and waited for a favorable opportunity and stole the conch.

He tried blowing the conch in every conceivable way but had to give it up as a bad job. So, he went back to the farmer, and said, "I've got your conch, but it is of no use to either of us. Everything is at a stand-still unless we make a bargain. I will give you back your conch, and never interfere with your using it, on one condition, which is this, whatever you get from it, I am to get double."

The farmer refused the bargain but the wily money-lender persuaded him; "You will have your share! What does it matter to you if I am rich or poor?" So, though it went sorely against the grain to be of any benefit to a money-lender, the farmer was forced to yield and the knowledge of this fact so preyed upon the farmer's mind day and night, that he had no satisfaction out of anything.

There came a very dry season, - so dry that the farmer's crops withered for want of rain. Then he blew his conch, and wished for a well to water them, but the money-lender got two! This was too much for him to stand; and he brooded over it, till at last a bright idea came into his head. He seized the conch, blew it loudly, and cried out, "Oh, God! I wish to be blind of one eye!" And so he was, in a twinkling. But the money-lender became completely blind. He fell into his new well and drowned.

Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and answer the question that follows. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering the question.

There was once a poor farmer who went to the money-lender's house and asked him the secret of becoming rich. The money-lender piously told the farmer that riches came from God and he should ask him.

The simple farmer set out to find God. On his way, he found a poor man sitting under a tree. The poor man asked him about his journey and the farmer told him that he was going to find God! The poor man smiled and said, "I am God! What do you want of me?" The farmer told him the whole story, and God, taking pity on him, gave him a conch shell, and showed him how to blow it in a particular way, saying, “Just remember, whatever you wish for, you have only to blow the conch this way, and your wish will be fulfilled. Only have a care of that money-lender, for even magic is not proof against his wiles!"

The farmer went back to his village, rejoicing. The money-lender noticed his high spirits at once and went over to the farmer's house, and congratulated him on his good fortune . The farmer told him the whole story—everything except the secret of blowing the conch.

Nevertheless, the money-lender was determined to have the conch by hook or by crook, and waited for a favorable opportunity and stole the conch.

He tried blowing the conch in every conceivable way but had to give it up as a bad job. So, he went back to the farmer, and said, "I've got your conch, but it is of no use to either of us. Everything is at a stand-still unless we make a bargain. I will give you back your conch, and never interfere with your using it, on one condition, which is this, whatever you get from it, I am to get double."

The farmer refused the bargain but the wily money-lender persuaded him; "You will have your share! What does it matter to you if I am rich or poor?" So, though it went sorely against the grain to be of any benefit to a money-lender, the farmer was forced to yield and the knowledge of this fact so preyed upon the farmer's mind day and night, that he had no satisfaction out of anything.

There came a very dry season, - so dry that the farmer's crops withered for want of rain. Then he blew his conch, and wished for a well to water them, but the money-lender got two! This was too much for him to stand; and he brooded over it, till at last a bright idea came into his head. He seized the conch, blew it loudly, and cried out, "Oh, God! I wish to be blind of one eye!" And so he was, in a twinkling. But the money-lender became completely blind. He fell into his new well and drowned.

Which of the following words is nearly the same in meaning to the word ‘fortune’ as given in the passage?

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and answer the question that follows. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering the question.

There was once a poor farmer who went to the money-lender's house and asked him the secret of becoming rich. The money-lender piously told the farmer that riches came from God and he should ask him.

The simple farmer set out to find God. On his way, he found a poor man sitting under a tree. The poor man asked him about his journey and the farmer told him that he was going to find God! The poor man smiled and said, "I am God! What do you want of me?" The farmer told him the whole story, and God, taking pity on him, gave him a conch shell, and showed him how to blow it in a particular way, saying, “Just remember, whatever you wish for, you have only to blow the conch this way, and your wish will be fulfilled. Only have a care of that money-lender, for even magic is not proof against his wiles!"

The farmer went back to his village, rejoicing. The money-lender noticed his high spirits at once and went over to the farmer's house, and congratulated him on his good fortune . The farmer told him the whole story—everything except the secret of blowing the conch.

Nevertheless, the money-lender was determined to have the conch by hook or by crook, and waited for a favorable opportunity and stole the conch.

He tried blowing the conch in every conceivable way but had to give it up as a bad job. So, he went back to the farmer, and said, "I've got your conch, but it is of no use to either of us. Everything is at a stand-still unless we make a bargain. I will give you back your conch, and never interfere with your using it, on one condition, which is this, whatever you get from it, I am to get double."

The farmer refused the bargain but the wily money-lender persuaded him; "You will have your share! What does it matter to you if I am rich or poor?" So, though it went sorely against the grain to be of any benefit to a money-lender, the farmer was forced to yield and the knowledge of this fact so preyed upon the farmer's mind day and night, that he had no satisfaction out of anything.

There came a very dry season, - so dry that the farmer's crops withered for want of rain. Then he blew his conch, and wished for a well to water them, but the money-lender got two! This was too much for him to stand; and he brooded over it, till at last a bright idea came into his head. He seized the conch, blew it loudly, and cried out, "Oh, God! I wish to be blind of one eye!" And so he was, in a twinkling. But the money-lender became completely blind. He fell into his new well and drowned.

What prompted the farmer to visit the money-lender's house?

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and answer the question that follows. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering the question.

There was once a poor farmer who went to the money-lender's house and asked him the secret of becoming rich. The money-lender piously told the farmer that riches came from God and he should ask him.

The simple farmer set out to find God. On his way, he found a poor man sitting under a tree. The poor man asked him about his journey and the farmer told him that he was going to find God! The poor man smiled and said, "I am God! What do you want of me?" The farmer told him the whole story, and God, taking pity on him, gave him a conch shell, and showed him how to blow it in a particular way, saying, “Just remember, whatever you wish for, you have only to blow the conch this way, and your wish will be fulfilled. Only have a care of that money-lender, for even magic is not proof against his wiles!"

The farmer went back to his village, rejoicing. The money-lender noticed his high spirits at once and went over to the farmer's house, and congratulated him on his good fortune . The farmer told him the whole story—everything except the secret of blowing the conch.

Nevertheless, the money-lender was determined to have the conch by hook or by crook, and waited for a favorable opportunity and stole the conch.

He tried blowing the conch in every conceivable way but had to give it up as a bad job. So, he went back to the farmer, and said, "I've got your conch, but it is of no use to either of us. Everything is at a stand-still unless we make a bargain. I will give you back your conch, and never interfere with your using it, on one condition, which is this, whatever you get from it, I am to get double."

The farmer refused the bargain but the wily money-lender persuaded him; "You will have your share! What does it matter to you if I am rich or poor?" So, though it went sorely against the grain to be of any benefit to a money-lender, the farmer was forced to yield and the knowledge of this fact so preyed upon the farmer's mind day and night, that he had no satisfaction out of anything.

There came a very dry season, - so dry that the farmer's crops withered for want of rain. Then he blew his conch, and wished for a well to water them, but the money-lender got two! This was too much for him to stand; and he brooded over it, till at last a bright idea came into his head. He seized the conch, blew it loudly, and cried out, "Oh, God! I wish to be blind of one eye!" And so he was, in a twinkling. But the money-lender became completely blind. He fell into his new well and drowned.