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: Choose the word which is most OPPOSITE in meaning of the word printed in bold as used in the passage.

pardon

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words/phrases are printed in bold to help you to locate them while answering some of the questions.
The King of Kanchi set off to conquer Karnat. He was victorious in battle. The elephants were laden with sandalwood, ivory, gold and precious stones taken from the conquered kingdom of Karnat. They would be a part of the victory parade for his subjects. On his way back home he stopped at a temple, finished his prayers to the goddess and turned to leave. Around his neck was a garland of scarlet hibiscus and as was the custom for all, his forehead was anointed with red sandal paste. His Minister and the court jester were his only companions. At one spot, in a mango grove by the wayside, they spied some children play. The King said, “Let me go and see what they are playing.”
The children had lined up two rows of clay dolls and were playing warriors and battles. The King asked, “Who is fighting whom ?” They said, “Karnat is at battle with Kanchi.” The King asked, “Who is winning and who is the loser ?” The children puffed their chests up and said, “Karnat will win and Kanchi will lose.” The Minister froze in disbelief, the King was furious and the jester burst into laughter.
The King was soon joined by his troops and the children were still immersed in their game. The King commanded, “Cane them hard.” The children’s parents came running from the nearby village and said, “They are naive, it was just a game, please grant them pardon.” The King called his commander and ordered, “Teach these children and the village a lesson so that they never forget the King of Kanchi.” He went back to his camp.
That evening the Commander stood before the King. He bowed low in shame and said, “Your Majesty, with the exception of hyenas and vultures, all lie silent in the village.” The Minister said, “His Majesty’s honour has been saved.” The priest said, “The goddess has blessed our King.” The jester said, “Your Highness, please grant me leave to go now.” The King asked, “But why?” The jester said, “I cannot kill, I cannot maim, I can only laugh at God’s gift of life.” Trembling in the face of the king’s anger he bravely continued, “If I stay in your Majesty’s court, I shall become like you and I shall forget how to laugh.”

punishment
excuse
convict
intolerance
imprison

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Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the word which is most nearly the SAME in meaning as the word printed in bold as used in the passage.

spied

noticed
keep watch
followed
spot
caught

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Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the word which is most nearly the SAME in meaning as the word printed in bold as used in the passage.

froze

cold
numb
shivered
stood still
chill

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Multiple choice

Why was the king angry with the children?

Because the game they were playing was dangerous
They had lied to him
They did not recognize him as king
They had unknowingly insulted him
They were rude to him

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Multiple choice

Which of the following is true in the context of the passage?

The king stopped at the temple to see what else could be plundered
The people of the village to which the children belonged developed great respect for the king
The Commander was ashamed at having obeyed the king's orders to cane the children
The jester was unhappy that the king had defeated the army of Karnat
The children had shown disrespect to the goddess by playing so close to the temple

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Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the word which is most nearly the SAME in meaning as the word printed in bold as used in the passage.

leave

holiday
transfer
exit
permission
farewell

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Multiple choice

What excuse was given for the children's' behaviour?

They were disobedient to their parent's wishes
They were unaware of the true facts of the battle
They were upset that their army had lost
They were in the habit of lying
None of these

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Multiple choice

Why did the king anoint his head with red sandal paste?

As a mark of celebration to show he had been victorious
It was the usual practice for all devotees at the temple
To show other devotees that he was king
The priest requested him to do so
To show his soldiers that he had visited the temple

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Multiple choice

Environment is a finely tuned and extremely well balanced ecological mechanism. Flora and fauna, birds, animals and, of course, humans play a vital role. Touch one adversely and all suffer.

What is the most critical completion of the passage?

Let us reverse this environmental degradation.
It is a 'touch-me-not' situation.
They are all interdependent.
Let us help save ecology.
We are courting irreversible disaster.

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Multiple choice

Perception is everything. So much so that it can make or mar a company entirely. Remember the notorious Home Trade? It had created such a positive image in the public mind. By hiring top celebrities for endorsement, it had created such a beautiful make-believe world in TV commercials that almost no one doubted its intentions of doing something. What was that something was not clear to any one. _____________________. And finally when the myth got busted, everyone ran for cover, including the endorsers.

What is the most critical completion of the passage?

That's why companies have full-fledged departments just to manage how they are perceived by different groups of people inside and outside them.
The moral of the story is: Do something wrong if you want to, but do not get caught.
Even within the corporate world, hardly anybody had any inking of what it was up to.
Such examples are aplenty.
Home Trade was not the only one of its kind.

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Multiple choice

Brian was fired from his last job on the grounds of showing disrespect towards his boss. Later on, his boss called him and told him to rejoin the office if he wished to. Brian refused saying “I won't ever go back even if it was the last place left to work”.

What probably did Brian mean to say when he said “I won't ever…..work.”?

That was the last place he worked at.
He would be the last man to take up the job here.
He can remain unemployed but cannot go back.
He would only work in the last place left to work.

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Multiple choice

While carrying out her work, Nightingale faced the most difficult challenges from

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following questions.

Passage II
Two recent publications offer different assessments of the career of the famous British nurse Florence Nightingale. A book by Andy Summers seeks to debunk the idealization and present a reality at odds with Nightingale's heroic reputation. According to Summers, Nightingale's importance during the Crimean War has been exaggerated: not until the War's end did she become supervisor of the female nurses. In addition, Summers writes that the contribution of the nurses to the relief of the wounded was at best marginal, The prevailing problems of military medicine were caused by army organizational practices, and the addition offered by few nurses to the medical staff could be no more than symbolic. Nightingale's place 'in the national pantheon, Summers asserts, is largely due to the propagandistic efforts of contemporary newspaper reporters.

By contrast, the editors of a new volume of Nightingale's letters view Nightingale as a person who significantly influenced not only her own age but also subsequent generations' They highlight her ongoing efforts to reform sanitary conditions after the War. For example, when she learned that peacetime living conditions in British barracks were so horrible that the death rate of enlisted men far exceeded that of the neighbouring civilian population, she succeeded in persuading the government to establish a Royal Commission on the Health of the Army. She used sums raised through public contributions to found a nurses training hospital in London. Even in administrative matters, the editors assert, her practical intelligence was formidable: as recently as 1947 the British army's medical services were still using the cost accounting system she had devised in the eighteen sixties.

I believe that the evidence of her letters supports continued respect for Nightingale's brilliance and creativity. When counseling village school masters to encourage children to use their faculties of observation, she sounds like a modern educator. Her insistence on classifying the problems of the needy in order to devise a procreate treatment is similar to the approach of modern social workers. In sum, although Nightingale may not have achieved all of her goals during the Crimean War, her breadth of vision and ability to realize ambitious projects have earned her an eminent place among the ranks of social pioneers.

the British newspapers
the male dominated British hospitals
the British army
the bureaucracy

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Multiple choice

The author of the passage

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following questions.

totally rejects the assessment of Nightingale by Summers
fully endorses the views of the editors of Nightingale's letters
views Nightingale's efforts as premature
acknowledges the modern thinking and creative brilliance of Nightingale though she might not have achieved all her goals

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Multiple choice

In the final analysis, the author of the passage

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following questions.

merely summarises the two assessments of Nightingale
refutes Summer's arguments point by point
completely agrees with the second assessment
gives a balanced judgment of Nightingale

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Multiple choice

Andy Summers argues that the Nightingale's heroic reputation was due to

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following questions.

her heroic role in the Crimean War
her supervisory role in guiding female nurses
her contribution to the relief of the wounded soldiers
the exaggerated accounts of her work by the contemporary newspapers

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself

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