English Language

English Reading Comprehension

3,503 Questions

English reading comprehension questions assess the ability to understand, analyze, and interpret written passages. Formats include paragraph rearrangement, cloze tests, and fact finding from text. Regular practice is essential for scoring well in the English sections of banking, SSC, and railway exams.

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English Reading Comprehension Questions

Multiple choice

Directions: In the following question, four statements are provided. These statements form a coherent paragraph when properly arranged. Select the alternative representing the proper and logical sequencing of these statements:

A. We speak of the silence of the grave, and without noise the world would be no better than a grave and to survive alone upon its lifeless surface would be to be buried alive. B. This is not to say that we never enjoy the awfulness of silence. C. Silence such as this keys up to unaccustomed excitements and susceptibilities. D. Travelers in the mountains among the snows can thrill us with their descriptions of the profound stillness of the scenes.

  1. ADBC

  2. ABDC

  3. DCAB

  4. ABCD
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The silence being referenced in the statement C is described in sentence D. Therefore, grammatically DC shall form part of logical sequencing. Also, A is perfect statement to introduce this passage because it introduces idea of silence in some people's mind. This provides the objective transition from this idea of silence to the one in later part is done with help of sentence B. This therefore helps us create a perfect order ABDC to mark logical sequence of the given statements. Thus, we can mark option (2) as correct answer.

Multiple choice

Directions: In the following question, four statements are provided. These statements form a coherent paragraph when properly arranged. Select the alternative representing the proper and logical sequencing of these statements.

A. Children exposed to these alien smells might lose control of their sense of smell and a dermatologist pertinently asks, Why shouldn't a baby smell like a baby?

B. A chemist thinks that these perfumes are not merely superfluous but even undesirable.

C. Some cosmetic companies are promoting their baby perfumes with En gulf, the new arrival in a soft and tender world.

D. These fragrances are designed for the very young, even babies, who are supposed to like fragrance compositions of tangerine, peach roses and vanilla.

  1. CBDA

  2. CABD

  3. CDBA

  4. CDAB
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Sentences C and D both pair together owing to common reference to idea of perfumes manufactured by a company. Sentences B and A also pair together in a way that B gives us idea that a chemist believes these perfumes to be bad and also gives reason as to why he thinks that. Therefore, CD and BA shall be a part of logical sequence and provided only in option (3). This therefore marks option (3) as correct answer.

Multiple choice

The author had been

Direction: Read the following passage and answer the questions.

PASSAGE: Was late bloomer and always envied those people who stood out in high school, because I didn’t. I earned early on, though, that it’s essential to set yourself apart from the group. Life is one struggle after another to succeed, particularly when you’re starting out. If your bio-data is sitting at the bottom of a pile of junk mail, sometimes a distinctive approach will get you noticed, especially if the competition is fierce. Once, my partner Jerry and I asked the other freelance writers of a TV serial what characters they hated to write for the most. Everybody said the same thing—they disliked writing for the minor characters because they felt that writing for them wouldn’t help them get other jobs. Jerry and I decided that we would write scripts for the minor characters because that’s what was needed—and we needed to set ourselves apart. In the first script Jerry and I wrote, a schoolgirl falls in love with a boy in her class. The producers loved the story. And with that one script, Jerry and I were no longer just another comedy-writing team.

  1. into advertising business

  2. a comedy writer

  3. a music director

  4. a newsreader
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The passage mentions the author and their partner Jerry were freelance writers for a TV serial and refers to them as a comedy-writing team.

Multiple choice

The author is of the opinion that

Direction: Read the following passage and answer the questions.

PASSAGE: Was late bloomer and always envied those people who stood out in high school, because I didn’t. I earned early on, though, that it’s essential to set yourself apart from the group. Life is one struggle after another to succeed, particularly when you’re starting out. If your bio-data is sitting at the bottom of a pile of junk mail, sometimes a distinctive approach will get you noticed, especially if the competition is fierce. Once, my partner Jerry and I asked the other freelance writers of a TV serial what characters they hated to write for the most. Everybody said the same thing—they disliked writing for the minor characters because they felt that writing for them wouldn’t help them get other jobs. Jerry and I decided that we would write scripts for the minor characters because that’s what was needed—and we needed to set ourselves apart. In the first script Jerry and I wrote, a schoolgirl falls in love with a boy in her class. The producers loved the story. And with that one script, Jerry and I were no longer just another comedy-writing team.

  1. one should be part of the group

  2. one should be different from others

  3. it is important to do well in high school

  4. one should heed to the advice of the seniors
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The author emphasizes the importance of setting oneself apart from the group to succeed, which aligns with the idea that one should be different from others.

Multiple choice

According to the author,

Direction: Read the following passage and answer the questions.

PASSAGE: Was late bloomer and always envied those people who stood out in high school, because I didn’t. I earned early on, though, that it’s essential to set yourself apart from the group. Life is one struggle after another to succeed, particularly when you’re starting out. If your bio-data is sitting at the bottom of a pile of junk mail, sometimes a distinctive approach will get you noticed, especially if the competition is fierce. Once, my partner Jerry and I asked the other freelance writers of a TV serial what characters they hated to write for the most. Everybody said the same thing—they disliked writing for the minor characters because they felt that writing for them wouldn’t help them get other jobs. Jerry and I decided that we would write scripts for the minor characters because that’s what was needed—and we needed to set ourselves apart. In the first script Jerry and I wrote, a schoolgirl falls in love with a boy in her class. The producers loved the story. And with that one script, Jerry and I were no longer just another comedy-writing team.

  1. one should be very meticulous in preparing his bio-data

  2. competition in the job-market is very fierce

  3. one should follow a conservative approach in preparing his bio-data

  4. one should try to get noticed by being innovative
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The author suggests that if your bio-data is lost in a pile, a distinctive approach will get you noticed, implying that innovation is key to standing out in a competitive market.

Multiple choice

Jerry and the author wrote scripts for the minor characters

Direction: Read the following passage and answer the questions.

PASSAGE: Was late bloomer and always envied those people who stood out in high school, because I didn’t. I earned early on, though, that it’s essential to set yourself apart from the group. Life is one struggle after another to succeed, particularly when you’re starting out. If your bio-data is sitting at the bottom of a pile of junk mail, sometimes a distinctive approach will get you noticed, especially if the competition is fierce. Once, my partner Jerry and I asked the other freelance writers of a TV serial what characters they hated to write for the most. Everybody said the same thing—they disliked writing for the minor characters because they felt that writing for them wouldn’t help them get other jobs. Jerry and I decided that we would write scripts for the minor characters because that’s what was needed—and we needed to set ourselves apart. In the first script Jerry and I wrote, a schoolgirl falls in love with a boy in her class. The producers loved the story. And with that one script, Jerry and I were no longer just another comedy-writing team.

  1. to realize their creative potential

  2. to earn more money

  3. to establish a different image

  4. because they did not have enough work
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Multiple choice

Indian festivals are very colourful. Every region

Directions: Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to the given question out of the four alternatives. 

The very word festival brings to mind, scenes of cheerfulness and merry making. Festival time is an occasion for rejoicing with one's family and community. Rich and poor, men and women, young and old are happy on the festive occasions. All communities, all religions, all nations have their festivals but nowhere do they form such a complete part of the life as they do in India. Indian festivals are as varied as the people themselves. Every religion, every region has something different to offer. They can broadly be divided into three categories-national or political, religious and seasonal. Most Indian festivals have their origin either in religion or in the myths and legends of popular faith.

  1. contributes something dissimilar

  2. tries to contribute

  3. has similarities

  4. celebrates according to its religion
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

It is clearly given in the passage “every religion, every region has something different to offer.” So, it is correct.

Multiple choice

On a festival, we get a chance to

Directions: Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to the given question out of the four alternatives. 

The very word festival brings to mind, scenes of cheerfulness and merry making. Festival time is an occasion for rejoicing with one's family and community. Rich and poor, men and women, young and old are happy on the festive occasions. All communities, all religions, all nations have their festivals but nowhere do they form such a complete part of the life as they do in India. Indian festivals are as varied as the people themselves. Every religion, every region has something different to offer. They can broadly be divided into three categories-national or political, religious and seasonal. Most Indian festivals have their origin either in religion or in the myths and legends of popular faith.

  1. share our joy with kith and kin

  2. crack fireworks and buy sweets

  3. study the origins of the festivals

  4. listen to folk stories
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

It is correct as the second line of the passage states that festival time is an occasion for rejoicing with one's family and community.

Multiple choice

Rejoicing implies

Directions: Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to the given question out of the four alternatives. 

The very word festival brings to mind, scenes of cheerfulness and merry making. Festival time is an occasion for rejoicing with one's family and community. Rich and poor, men and women, young and old are happy on the festive occasions. All communities, all religions, all nations have their festivals but nowhere do they form such a complete part of the life as they do in India. Indian festivals are as varied as the people themselves. Every religion, every region has something different to offer. They can broadly be divided into three categories-national or political, religious and seasonal. Most Indian festivals have their origin either in religion or in the myths and legends of popular faith.

  1. showing great happiness

  2. showing great sadness

  3. being discontented

  4. being bored
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Rejoice is a word related to happiness. So, it is correct.

Multiple choice

Festivals in India are

Directions: Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to the given question out of the four alternatives. 

The very word festival brings to mind, scenes of cheerfulness and merry making. Festival time is an occasion for rejoicing with one's family and community. Rich and poor, men and women, young and old are happy on the festive occasions. All communities, all religions, all nations have their festivals but nowhere do they form such a complete part of the life as they do in India. Indian festivals are as varied as the people themselves. Every religion, every region has something different to offer. They can broadly be divided into three categories-national or political, religious and seasonal. Most Indian festivals have their origin either in religion or in the myths and legends of popular faith.

  1. diverse like people

  2. a private affair

  3. not categorised as political

  4. celebrated together by different faiths
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

It is given “Indian festivals are as varied as the people themselves.”

Multiple choice

The word festival brings to mind a scene of

Directions: Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to the given question out of the four alternatives. 

The very word festival brings to mind, scenes of cheerfulness and merry making. Festival time is an occasion for rejoicing with one's family and community. Rich and poor, men and women, young and old are happy on the festive occasions. All communities, all religions, all nations have their festivals but nowhere do they form such a complete part of the life as they do in India. Indian festivals are as varied as the people themselves. Every religion, every region has something different to offer. They can broadly be divided into three categories-national or political, religious and seasonal. Most Indian festivals have their origin either in religion or in the myths and legends of popular faith.

  1. comfort

  2. pampering

  3. kindness

  4. joyfulness
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

It is correct according to the first sentence of the passage. Cheerfulness and merry making associate with feelings of joyfulness. Comfort, kindness and pampering do not exactly fit with feelings of merry making and cheerfulness.

Multiple choice

How do poisonous snakes sometimes make their consumption easier?

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

All snakes are hunters and predators, feeding on the animals and sometimes their eggs. Having no limbs, snakes cannot hold their preys down to bite; hence, they usually swallow them whole. Poisonous snakes sometimes do immobilise their preys with their venom to make consumption easier. It is truly a myth that poisonous snakes attack humans for food. Humans can never be their targets for food as we are normally too big for them to swallow. In cases where snakes do bite, these attacks are usually defensive ones and the venom injected is normally little or sometimes even none. The full fatal dose of the venom is only released on smaller animals which the snakes can swallow easily. Besides helping in the killing and immobilising of their preys, the poison also acts as digestive agents for snakes.

  1. They use venom to digest their preys.

  2. They inactivate their preys with their venom.

  3. They attack large animals for this purpose.

  4. They make small animals as their preys for this motive.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

This is given in the passage, '...immobilise their preys with their venom to make consumption easier'.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements is not true about snakes?

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

All snakes are hunters and predators, feeding on the animals and sometimes their eggs. Having no limbs, snakes cannot hold their preys down to bite; hence, they usually swallow them whole. Poisonous snakes sometimes do immobilise their preys with their venom to make consumption easier. It is truly a myth that poisonous snakes attack humans for food. Humans can never be their targets for food as we are normally too big for them to swallow. In cases where snakes do bite, these attacks are usually defensive ones and the venom injected is normally little or sometimes even none. The full fatal dose of the venom is only released on smaller animals which the snakes can swallow easily. Besides helping in the killing and immobilising of their preys, the poison also acts as digestive agents for snakes.

  1. Some of the snakes have limbs.

  2. Snakes bite humans for self-defence.

  3. Snakes are hunters.

  4. Snakes feed on both animals and their eggs.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

It is not true because all snakes are devoid of limbs. The passage says, 'Having no limbs, snakes cannot hold their preys...'.

Multiple choice

'Limb' implies

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

All snakes are hunters and predators, feeding on the animals and sometimes their eggs. Having no limbs, snakes cannot hold their preys down to bite; hence, they usually swallow them whole. Poisonous snakes sometimes do immobilise their preys with their venom to make consumption easier. It is truly a myth that poisonous snakes attack humans for food. Humans can never be their targets for food as we are normally too big for them to swallow. In cases where snakes do bite, these attacks are usually defensive ones and the venom injected is normally little or sometimes even none. The full fatal dose of the venom is only released on smaller animals which the snakes can swallow easily. Besides helping in the killing and immobilising of their preys, the poison also acts as digestive agents for snakes.

  1. an arm or leg of a person or an animal

  2. an arm or leg of a child

  3. an arm or leg of a human being

  4. venom of a snake
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

It is true as the jointed appendages of an animal or a person have been given a scientific name 'limbs'.

Multiple choice

Snakes swallow their prey whole because

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

All snakes are hunters and predators, feeding on the animals and sometimes their eggs. Having no limbs, snakes cannot hold their preys down to bite; hence, they usually swallow them whole. Poisonous snakes sometimes do immobilise their preys with their venom to make consumption easier. It is truly a myth that poisonous snakes attack humans for food. Humans can never be their targets for food as we are normally too big for them to swallow. In cases where snakes do bite, these attacks are usually defensive ones and the venom injected is normally little or sometimes even none. The full fatal dose of the venom is only released on smaller animals which the snakes can swallow easily. Besides helping in the killing and immobilising of their preys, the poison also acts as digestive agents for snakes.

  1. they like it

  2. they have no limbs to grip their prey

  3. it facilitates their consumption

  4. they are lethargic
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The second line of the passage clearly mentions that snakes are devoid of limbs to hold their preys down to bite. Hence, they usually swallow them.