English Reading Comprehension

It was as if the plague had broken out in the country and news had been spreading around that in one or another place there was a man, a wise man, a knowledgeable one, whose words and breath was enough to heal everyone who had been infected with the pestilence, and as such news would go through the land and everyone would talk about it, many would believe, many would doubt, but many would get on their way as soon as possible, to seek the wise man, the helper, just like this the myth ran through the land, that fragrant myth of Gotama, the Buddha, the wise man of the family of Sakya.

Direction for question: The following question has a paragraph with one italicized word that does not make sense. Choose the most appropriate replacement for that word from the options given below the paragraph.

Intelligent design derives from an early 19^th-century explanation of the natural world given by an English clergyman. William Paley. Paley was the populariser of the famous watchmaker analogy. Proponents of intelligent design are crupping Paley's argument with a new gloss from molecular biology.

Direction for question: The following question has a paragraph with one italicized word that does not make sense. Choose the most appropriate replacement for that word from the options given below the paragraph.

Women squat, heads covered, beside huge piles of limp fodder and blunk oil lamps, and just about all the cows in the three towns converge upon this spot. Sinners, supplicants and yes, even scallywags hand over a few coins for a crack at redemption and a handful of grass.

Directions: In the question below, the 1^st and the last (correctly ordered) sentences are numbered 1 and 6. The rest of the passage is split into four parts and named B, C, D and E. These four parts are not given in the proper order. Choose the correct combination among the four alternatives given.

1. Aircraft such as balloons, nonrigid airships (blimps), and dirigibles are designed to contain within their structure a sufficient volume. B. When they are filled with a gas lighter than air (heated air, hydrogen, or helium), they displace the surrounding ambient air and float, just as a cork does on the water. C. Dirigibles are no longer in use, but they were lighter-than-air craft with a rigid internal structure, which was usually very large, D. It proved impossible to construct dirigibles of sufficient strength to withstand routine operation under all weather conditions. E. Balloons are not steerable and drift with the wind.
2. Most of them suffered disaster, either breaking up in a storm or through ignition of the hydrogen.

Directions: In the question below, the 1^st and the last (correctly ordered) sentences are numbered 1 and 6. The rest of the passage is split into four parts and named B, C, D and E. These four parts are not given in the proper order. Choose the correct combination among the four alternatives given.

1. Efforts to define the nature of an art or craft usually are based upon the masterpieces of that field. B. It is difficult to imagine what the present state of comprehension of music would be if only the music of today were available. C. Without that necessary reference point, vague speculations and generalizations—without proof of validity—are likely. D. Yet, this is precisely the situation that exists in acting. E. In the visual, musical, and literary arts, this foundation exists; the work of the great masters of the past and the present serves not only to elucidate the art but also to create standards to emulate.
2. The actor, in the words of the 19^th-century actor Lawrence Barrett, “is forever carving a statue of snow.”

Directions: In the question below, the first and the last (correctly ordered) sentences are numbered 1 and 6, respectively. The rest of the passage is split into four parts and named B, C, D and E. These four parts are not given in a proper order. Choose the correct combination from the given alternatives.

1. Recreational and sport fishing are fishing primarily for pleasure or competition. B. Typically, these prohibit the use of nets and the catching of fish with hooks not in the mouth. C. The most common form of recreational fishing is done with a rod, reel, line, hooks and any one of a wide range of baits or lures such as artificial flies. D. But recreational fishing has conventions, rules, licensing restrictions and laws that limit the way in which fish may be caught. E. The practice of catching or attempting to catch fish with a hook is generally known as angling.
2. In angling, it is sometimes expected or required that fish be returned to the water (catch and release).

Directions: In the question below, the 1^st and the last (correctly ordered) sentences are numbered 1 and 6. The rest of the passage is split into four parts and named P, Q, R and S. These four parts are not given in the proper order. Chose the correct combination among the four alternatives given.

1. Chilean flamingo eggs are incubated in the nest for around 30 days before hatching. P. At three days old, the chicks are visible and start to stand on both legs before leaving the nest at around two weeks old. Q. Their beaks are straight when they are born and help them break out the shell and make it easy to feed from their parents. R. The beaks start to bend as they begin to learn how to eat independently. S. The chicks will stay fluffily until around two months old when the feathers will grow in.
2. They will now be able to fly and it’s also around this time when the chicks will be sexed.

Directions: In the following passage, some of the words have been left out. First read the passage and then try to understand what it is about. Then, fill blank (ii) with the help of the alternatives given.

Though he loved all of his children, Baba Ayub privately had a (i) __________ fondness for one among them, his youngest, Qais, who was three years old. Qais was a little boy with dark blue eyes. He (ii) __________ anyone who met him with his devilish laughter; he was also one of those boys so bursting with energy that he (iii) __________ others of theirs. When he learned to walk, he took such delight in it that he did it all day while he was awake, and then, troublingly, even at night in his sleep. He would sleepwalk out of the family’s mud house and wander off into the moonlit darkness. Naturally, his parents were worried. They took stabs at many (iv) _______, none of which worked. In the end, the solution Baba Ayub found was a simple one, as the best solutions often are: he removed a tiny bell from around the neck of one of his goats and hung it instead around Qais’s neck. This way, the bell would wake up someone if Qais were to rise in the middle of the night. The sleepwalking stopped after a time, but Qais grew (v) _______ to the bell and refused to part with it.

Directions: In the following passage, some of the words have been left out. First read the passage and then try to understand what it is about. Then, fill blank (iii) with the help of the alternatives given.

Though he loved all of his children, Baba Ayub privately had a (i) __________ fondness for one among them, his youngest, Qais, who was three years old. Qais was a little boy with dark blue eyes. He (ii) __________ anyone who met him with his devilish laughter; he was also one of those boys so bursting with energy that he (iii) __________ others of theirs. When he learned to walk, he took such delight in it that he did it all day while he was awake, and then, troublingly, even at night in his sleep. He would sleepwalk out of the family’s mud house and wander off into the moonlit darkness. Naturally, his parents were worried. They took stabs at many (iv) _______, none of which worked. In the end, the solution Baba Ayub found was a simple one, as the best solutions often are: he removed a tiny bell from around the neck of one of his goats and hung it instead around Qais’s neck. This way, the bell would wake up someone if Qais were to rise in the middle of the night. The sleepwalking stopped after a time, but Qais grew (v) _______ to the bell and refused to part with it.

Directions: In the following passage, some of the words have been left out. First read the passage and then try to understand what it is about. Then, fill blank (iv) with the help of the alternatives given.

Though he loved all of his children, Baba Ayub privately had a (i) __________ fondness for one among them, his youngest, Qais, who was three years old. Qais was a little boy with dark blue eyes. He (ii) __________ anyone who met him with his devilish laughter; he was also one of those boys so bursting with energy that he (iii) __________ others of theirs. When he learned to walk, he took such delight in it that he did it all day while he was awake, and then, troublingly, even at night in his sleep. He would sleepwalk out of the family’s mud house and wander off into the moonlit darkness. Naturally, his parents were worried. They took stabs at many (iv) _______, none of which worked. In the end, the solution Baba Ayub found was a simple one, as the best solutions often are: he removed a tiny bell from around the neck of one of his goats and hung it instead around Qais’s neck. This way, the bell would wake up someone if Qais were to rise in the middle of the night. The sleepwalking stopped after a time, but Qais grew (v) _______ to the bell and refused to part with it.

Directions: In the following passage, some of the words have been left out. First read the passage and then try to understand what it is about. Then, fill blank (v) with the help of the alternatives given.

Though he loved all of his children, Baba Ayub privately had a (i) __________ fondness for one among them, his youngest, Qais, who was three years old. Qais was a little boy with dark blue eyes. He (ii) __________ anyone who met him with his devilish laughter; he was also one of those boys so bursting with energy that he (iii) __________ others of theirs. When he learned to walk, he took such delight in it that he did it all day while he was awake, and then, troublingly, even at night in his sleep. He would sleepwalk out of the family’s mud house and wander off into the moonlit darkness. Naturally, his parents were worried. They took stabs at many (iv) _______, none of which worked. In the end, the solution Baba Ayub found was a simple one, as the best solutions often are: he removed a tiny bell from around the neck of one of his goats and hung it instead around Qais’s neck. This way, the bell would wake up someone if Qais were to rise in the middle of the night. The sleepwalking stopped after a time, but Qais grew (v) _______ to the bell and refused to part with it.

Directions: In the following passage, some of the words have been left out. First read the passage and then try to understand what it is about. Then, fill blank (1) with the help of the alternatives given.

A hoard of Viking gold and silver artifacts, dating back over 1,000 years, has been discovered by a treasure hunter with a metal detector in Scotland, a find (1) __________ by experts as one of the country's most significant. Derek McLennan, a retired businessman, uncovered the 100 items in a field in Dumfriesshire, southwest Scotland, in September. Amongst the objects is a solid silver cross thought to date from the 9^th or 10^th century, a silver pot of west European origin, which is (2) __________ to have already been 100 years old when it was buried and several gold objects. The Viking hoard is McLennan's second (3) __________ contribution to Scotland's understanding of its past. Last year, he and a friend unearthed around 300 medieval coins in the same area of Scotland. "The Vikings were well known for having (4) __________ these shores in the past, but today we can appreciate what they have left behind," said Scotland's secretary for cultural and external affairs. The Vikings of Scandinavian origin made (5) __________ raids on Britain from the 8^th to the 11^th centuries. They buried their valuables for safe-keeping, which have gradually been discovered by generations of treasure seekers.

Directions: In the following passage, some of the words have been left out. First read the passage and then try to understand what it is about. Then, fill blank (i) with the help of the alternatives given.

Though he loved all of his children, Baba Ayub privately had a (i) __________ fondness for one among them, his youngest, Qais, who was three years old. Qais was a little boy with dark blue eyes. He (ii) __________ anyone who met him with his devilish laughter; he was also one of those boys so bursting with energy that he (iii) __________ others of theirs. When he learned to walk, he took such delight in it that he did it all day while he was awake, and then, troublingly, even at night in his sleep. He would sleepwalk out of the family’s mud house and wander off into the moonlit darkness. Naturally, his parents were worried. They took stabs at many (iv) _______, none of which worked. In the end, the solution Baba Ayub found was a simple one, as the best solutions often are: he removed a tiny bell from around the neck of one of his goats and hung it instead around Qais’s neck. This way, the bell would wake up someone if Qais were to rise in the middle of the night. The sleepwalking stopped after a time, but Qais grew (v) _______ to the bell and refused to part with it.

Directions: In the following passage, some of the words have been left out. First read the passage and then try to understand what it is about. Then, fill blank (2) with the help of the alternatives given.

A hoard of Viking gold and silver artifacts, dating back over 1,000 years, has been discovered by a treasure hunter with a metal detector in Scotland, a find (1) __________ by experts as one of the country's most significant. Derek McLennan, a retired businessman, uncovered the 100 items in a field in Dumfriesshire, southwest Scotland, in September. Amongst the objects is a solid silver cross thought to date from the 9^th or 10^th century, a silver pot of west European origin, which is (2) __________ to have already been 100 years old when it was buried and several gold objects. The Viking hoard is McLennan's second (3) __________ contribution to Scotland's understanding of its past. Last year, he and a friend unearthed around 300 medieval coins in the same area of Scotland. "The Vikings were well known for having (4) __________ these shores in the past, but today we can appreciate what they have left behind," said Scotland's secretary for cultural and external affairs. The Vikings of Scandinavian origin made (5) __________ raids on Britain from the 8^th to the 11^th centuries. They buried their valuables for safe-keeping, which have gradually been discovered by generations of treasure seekers.

Directions: In the following passage, some of the words have been left out. First read the passage and then try to understand what it is about. Then, fill blank (3) with the help of the alternatives given.

A hoard of Viking gold and silver artifacts, dating back over 1,000 years, has been discovered by a treasure hunter with a metal detector in Scotland, a find (1) __________ by experts as one of the country's most significant. Derek McLennan, a retired businessman, uncovered the 100 items in a field in Dumfriesshire, southwest Scotland, in September. Amongst the objects is a solid silver cross thought to date from the 9^th or 10^th century, a silver pot of west European origin, which is (2) __________ to have already been 100 years old when it was buried and several gold objects. The Viking hoard is McLennan's second (3) __________ contribution to Scotland's understanding of its past. Last year, he and a friend unearthed around 300 medieval coins in the same area of Scotland. "The Vikings were well known for having (4) __________ these shores in the past, but today we can appreciate what they have left behind," said Scotland's secretary for cultural and external affairs. The Vikings of Scandinavian origin made (5) __________ raids on Britain from the 8^th to the 11^th centuries. They buried their valuables for safe-keeping, which have gradually been discovered by generations of treasure seekers.