English Language

English Reading Comprehension

2,692 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

The author is likely to agree with all of the following, except

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question.
To the east and west, there are wide stretches of woodland, rounded hill-summits, streams and torrents which pour through the valleys and glens. But towards the south the verdure grows sparse; arid mountain-tops appear, crushed down as blunted cones; the sterility of the desert becomes perceptible amid the wealth of vegetation. This full-foliaged land has its harsh and stern localities. The African light, however, softens all that. The deep green of the oaks and pines runs into waves of warm and ever-altering tints which are a caress and a delight for the eye. A man has it thoroughly brought home to him that he is in a land of the sun.
To say the least, it is a country of strongly marked features which affords the strangest contrast with the surrounding districts. This wooded Numidia, with its flowing brooks, its fields where the cattle graze, differs in the highest degree from the Numidia towards Setif – a wide, desolate plain, where the stubble of the wheat-fields, the sandy steppes, roll away in monotonous undulations to the cloudy barrier of Mount Atlas which closes the horizon. And this rough and melancholy plain in its turn offers a striking contrast with the coast region of Boujeiah and Hippo, which is not unlike the Italian Campania in its mellowness and gaiety. Such clear-cut differences between the various parts of the same province doubtlessly explain the essential peculiarities of the Numidian character. The bishop Augustine, who carried his pastoral cross from one end to the other of this country, and was its acting and thinking soul, may perhaps have owed to it the contrasts and many-sidedness of his own rich nature.

  1. although severe, the landscape is a treat for the eyes

  2. the land of Numidia is diverse in character and nature

  3. the vegetation, though green, is rather sparse in Numidia

  4. the land one lives in might shape one’s character

  5. from the sea to the mountains, the character of the land changes
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Correct. The author, in the first paragraph, states that towards the South, the vegetation grows sparse. This means it is rich elsewhere. So the generalisation cannot be applied to Numidia.

Multiple choice

What is the author's purpose in writing this passage?

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

Stress has very ancient origin, starting from the pre-historic times. This reference, however, need not be taken to hint that today’s important people have any connection whatsoever to prehistoric men. The very thought is demeaning! The allusion occurs only because the way corporate honchos react to stress is reminiscent of the way Homo sapiens circa 5 mn BC reacted to their stress situations. No connection, whatsoever, just historical reference. So, the pre-historic man, when suddenly faced with, say, a wild bear, experienced a surge of blood pressure, faster heart rate, a tautness of muscles, a rush of adrenaline, release of cortisol in the blood and formation of acid in the stomach to digest food in a jiffy and create glucose and energy. These physiological changes in the body helped the pre-historic fellow out there to respond quickly and strongly to the threat from the grizzly and helped him either flatten the beast’s skull or to sprint away at top speed! As he fought the bear, all these physio-chemical changes and release were used to good effect by the club-wielding caveman, who then, perhaps dragged the bear to his cave and asked his mate to make a teeny-weeny wrap-around skirt for herself from the skin of the animal and a loincloth for him.  
Medically speaking, whenever living beings perceived threat, they quickly released hormones that helped them to survive. These hormones increased heart rate and blood pressure, delivering more oxygen and blood sugar to give more energy and power to important muscles. Acid poured into the stomach to convert any food left there into energy quickly. All these physiological changes helped them to run faster and fight harder. Sweating helped cool the muscles. Blood from surface was moved to the core of their bodies, making the muscles more efficient and reducing blood loss in case of injury. The hormones focussed their attention on the threat, excluding everything else. This response was necessary whenever a living being faced physical threat. Making good use of these physiological changes, human being survived and thrived. He thrived, in fact, so well that he became a threat for the wild animals.
So, when man killed sufficient number of bears and other such dreadful beasts, the animals decided to move away from this ferocious being called man and retired peacefully to forests and jungles where they would only be killed by such animals that would not make loincloths out of them. Man gradually settled in settlements made by him. But his blood longed for the physical challenges of yore. He could not keep without fighting for long, and therefore started fighting his fellows. A long series of battles and wars ensued, ensuring man’s name to be remembered and commemorated in history. These physical challenges were aided and abetted by mental ones where one party had to outmanoeuvre the other through cunning. Victory received the old heady feeling of dragging the beast to the cave for the wrap-around skirt.
Then came the time when fighting physically was considered below dignity in certain human circles.  But human being still liked to fight. The desire for challenge and for winning over difficulties and adversaries is innate to human nature. Slowly, physical battles were becoming history, so, human beings created what they loved. They created someone or something to fight with; they created challenges, when they were already not there. They loved the adrenaline rush. So eventually, commercial, financial, psychological and other such warfare became fashionable among the educated class.

 

  1. To show how the pre-historic man led his life.

  2. To show why wild animals chose to stay away from human beings.

  3. To demonstrate how to make loincloth out of killed animals' skin.

  4. To show how man outmanouevred his adversaries and surmounted challenges.

  5. To trace the history of the fighting spirit of man that eventually became his permanent trait.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

The purpose is to trace the history of the fighting spirit of man and how it shaped up his life and became his permanent trait.

Multiple choice

The passage depicts a picture of

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

Imagination can scarcely compass the vastness of modern London whose population exceeds that of the whole of Scotland, or the kingdom of Holland, whose traffic and trade are almost fabulous, and whose wealth as displayed in the miles and miles of the richest shops in every direction, and in every part of the town, are almost beyond the dreams of Aladdin!
And yet there is a shady side to this picture. The cry of depression in trade has gone on increasing year after year, and the “better times” so hopefully prophesied and wished for have not come. There is capital in the country which can find no investment, there are goods produced year after year which find no market, there are millions of English labourers in the towns, and in the country willing to work for their bread, but who can find no work and are on the brink of starvation. Clear-sighted if somewhat pessimist thinkers and writers offer an explanation which is sufficiently intelligible, though one is loath to accept it as correct. They say that the insular position of England, her comparative freedom from revolutions and foreign invasions, and the wonderful enterprise of her sons gave them a start in the commerce of the world which cannot for ever be maintained. For a time Englishmen monopolised the carrying trade of the world, they manufactured goods for the great marts of the world, and they alone reaped the profits of this wonderful monopoly. Population multiplied accordingly in England more rapidly than anywhere else in Europe, and far exceeded what the produce of the little island could support. But this monopoly could not last forever. Other nations have waked to a consciousness of the benefits of trade—steady hard-working nations like the Germans, who deserve to succeed, are competing with Englishmen all over the world, are cutting out the English abroad, and even in England. London traders complain with a bitterness which one can understand, that in London itself there are many thousand Germans who have ousted so many Englishmen from work, who are daily ousting more because they can live on so much less than Englishmen of the same class. Frugal, abstemious, almost stingy in their habits, the Germans work hard and spend little—which even the London shopboy has not yet learnt to save, but must needs enjoy his holiday, and spend his little saving with his chums or his sweetheart in the Crystal Palace. Abroad, there is the same competition, continental labour is cheaper, continental goods compete with English goods even in English colonies and sell cheaper! At the same time all over Europe—the French, the Germans, and other nations are protecting their home industries against English products by heavy protective import duties, and England vainly asks them to be free traders, and to repeal these duties. The United States does just the same thing, and even the English Colonies, Canada, Cape Colony, and the Australian States protect their own goods and keep out English products by heavy duties, and England cannot ask them to repeal such duties as she had made India do. Thus the circle of foreign markets is gradually shrinking, the competition of other nations in the old markets is increasing, and even in England labourers are cutting out Englishmen…

  1. a happy and prosperous England

  2. a struggling and seemingly losing out England

  3. a competitive England fiercely holding out against all odds

  4. an England trying to come to terms with the reality of economics

  5. an England grappling with its own problems that are aplenty
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

In the given scenario, England is seemingly losing out as it struggles to keep its fort intact.

Multiple choice

The presentation of London in the opening paragraph of the passage is

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

Imagination can scarcely compass the vastness of modern London whose population exceeds that of the whole of Scotland, or the kingdom of Holland, whose traffic and trade are almost fabulous, and whose wealth as displayed in the miles and miles of the richest shops in every direction, and in every part of the town, are almost beyond the dreams of Aladdin!
And yet there is a shady side to this picture. The cry of depression in trade has gone on increasing year after year, and the “better times” so hopefully prophesied and wished for have not come. There is capital in the country which can find no investment, there are goods produced year after year which find no market, there are millions of English labourers in the towns, and in the country willing to work for their bread, but who can find no work and are on the brink of starvation. Clear-sighted if somewhat pessimist thinkers and writers offer an explanation which is sufficiently intelligible, though one is loath to accept it as correct. They say that the insular position of England, her comparative freedom from revolutions and foreign invasions, and the wonderful enterprise of her sons gave them a start in the commerce of the world which cannot for ever be maintained. For a time Englishmen monopolised the carrying trade of the world, they manufactured goods for the great marts of the world, and they alone reaped the profits of this wonderful monopoly. Population multiplied accordingly in England more rapidly than anywhere else in Europe, and far exceeded what the produce of the little island could support. But this monopoly could not last forever. Other nations have waked to a consciousness of the benefits of trade—steady hard-working nations like the Germans, who deserve to succeed, are competing with Englishmen all over the world, are cutting out the English abroad, and even in England. London traders complain with a bitterness which one can understand, that in London itself there are many thousand Germans who have ousted so many Englishmen from work, who are daily ousting more because they can live on so much less than Englishmen of the same class. Frugal, abstemious, almost stingy in their habits, the Germans work hard and spend little—which even the London shopboy has not yet learnt to save, but must needs enjoy his holiday, and spend his little saving with his chums or his sweetheart in the Crystal Palace. Abroad, there is the same competition, continental labour is cheaper, continental goods compete with English goods even in English colonies and sell cheaper! At the same time all over Europe—the French, the Germans, and other nations are protecting their home industries against English products by heavy protective import duties, and England vainly asks them to be free traders, and to repeal these duties. The United States does just the same thing, and even the English Colonies, Canada, Cape Colony, and the Australian States protect their own goods and keep out English products by heavy duties, and England cannot ask them to repeal such duties as she had made India do. Thus the circle of foreign markets is gradually shrinking, the competition of other nations in the old markets is increasing, and even in England labourers are cutting out Englishmen…

  1. poetic

  2. panoramic

  3. exaggerated

  4. chaotic

  5. realistic
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

View of a wide area of land is what is called a panoramic view. Even though the view here is not restricted to land, the approach is panoramic and photographic as it covers a wide area of life in the city of London.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the question that follows it.

Child: All my friends are allowed to watch cartoons and play videogames for longer duration than I am allowed. This practice is unjustifiable.

Mother: You are wrong. If you would complete your homework earlier in the afternoon, you would have plenty of time to watch the cartoons and play videogames.

Which of the following explains why the mother's response to her child is inappropriate?

  1. Some of the child's friends donot watch cartoons and play video games.

  2. The mother does not have to change her child's timing to watch cartoons and play video games.

  3. No matter what time the cartoons and video game's activity begin, the child still has restricted timings for the activities than all of his friends.

  4. On days when the child completed his homework earlier than usual, he stopped watching cartoons earlier than usual.

  5. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The mother is not addressing the child's premise.

Multiple choice

Directions: This question presents a sentence, all or part of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. If you think the original is best, choose the first answer; otherwise choose one of the others.

The flower of Venus Flytrap shuts when at least two trigger hair on its surface are touched within 20 seconds of each other, after capturing its prey, allows it to escape if it is too small.

  1. shuts when at least two trigger hair on its surface are touched within 20 seconds of each other,

  2. shuts when at least two trigger hair on its surface are touched within 20 seconds of each other, but

  3. which shuts when at least two trigger hair on its surface are touched within 20 seconds of each other, but

  4. which shuts when at least two trigger hair on its surface are touched within 20 seconds of each other,

  5. shutting when at least two trigger hair on its surface are touched within 20 seconds of each other,
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Correct. The option introduces a word necessary to imply the contrast in the Venus Flytrap's action of catching a prey but releasing it if it is too small.

Multiple choice

I think these images were mixed up with my early appreciation: there was a cool yet turbulent melancholy to them which I also found in the music, and which seemed to harmonize with my restless late-adolescent soul.

  1. I think these images were mixed up with my early appreciation: there was a cool yet turbulent melancholy to them which I also found in the music, and which seemed to harmonize with my restless late-adolescent soul.

  2. I think these images were mixed up with my early appreciation: there was a cool yet turbulent melancholy to these, and I also found them in the music, and which seemed to harmonize with my restless late-adolescent soul.

  3. I think these images were mixed up with my early appreciation: there was a cool yet turbulent melancholy to them which I also found in the music, and the music seemed to harmonize with my restless late-adolescent soul.

  4. I think these images were mixed up with my early appreciation: there was a cool yet turbulent melancholy to them which I also found in the music, and which seemed to harmonize with my restless late-adolescence soul.

  5. Like the cool yet turbulent melancholy I found in music, these images were also mixed up in my early appreciation which seemed to harmonize with my late adolescent soul.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

No error. The sentence is correct as it is.

Multiple choice

The movie tells the story of a young boy and his family that were given shelter by tribals living in the jungle, though they were eventually rescued.

  1. that were given shelter by tribals living in the jungle, though they were eventually rescued

  2. which was given shelter by tribals living in the jungle, though they were eventually rescued

  3. who were given shelter by tribals living in the jungle but were eventually rescued

  4. who were given shelter by tribals living in the jungle although they were eventually rescued

  5. who was given shelter by tribals living in the jungle though they were eventually rescued
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Correct; uses correct pronoun 'they' to refer to a group of people; removes ambiguity about who was rescued by avoiding ambiguous pronoun 'they'.

Multiple choice

Directions: This question presents a sentence, all or part of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. If you think the original is best, choose the first answer; otherwise choose one of the others.

Just as Shakespeare's plays and Alexander Scott's poetry give an insight into the English society of the time, Arthur Conan Doyle's crime and mystery stories takes the reader inside the nineteenth century London.

  1. Arthur Conan Doyle's crime and mystery stories takes the reader

  2. so do Arthur Conan Doyle's crime and mystery stories takes the reader

  3. reading Arthur Conan Doyle's crime and mystery stories takes the reader

  4. crime and mystery stories by Arthur Conan Doyle take the reader

  5. so do Arthur Conan Doyle's crime and mystery stories take the reader
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

Correct; makes the correct comparison by using correlative conjunction 'so' when referring to Arthur Conan Doyle's stories; Corrects Subject-Verb error by using plural verb 'take' for the subject 'stories'.

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the sentence that is incorrect in spellings/grammar.

(1) They sent me down victuals and drink, and took the government of the ship to themselves. (2) Thinking that I had seen enough about the land, full of contempt and aversion, I got up and pursued the beaten road. (3) A man who accuses everyone else besides himself of being mad and who is disposed to listen seriously to a tale of perpetatic graveyard can hardly be sane. (4) One of the attackers had a bootjack which he held like a baton.

  1. 4

  2. 1

  3. 2 and 3

  4. 3

  5. 1 and 4
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Correct; the spelling of 'perpetatic' is incorrect. The correct spelling is 'peripatetic'.

Multiple choice

At the Bull Run, to escape the charging bull, the boys all jumped into a drain and all later emerged all covered in grime.

  1. At the Bull Run, to escape the charging bull, the boys all jumped into a drain and all later emerged all covered in grime.

  2. To escape a charging bull at the Bull Run, a drain was jumped into by all the boys and they emerged later all covered in grime.

  3. To escape the charge of the charging bull at the Bull Run, all the boys jumped into a drain and later emerged covered in all grime.

  4. All the boys jumped into a drain to escape the wrath of a charging bull and all emerged later covered in grime at the Bull Run.

  5. At the Bull Run, all the boys jumped into a drain to escape a charging bull and later emerged all covered in grime.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

Correct; the sentence is in active voice where the subject of the sentence (boys) is doing the action (jumping) into the drain. Also, the use of 'all' before 'covered in grime' suggest that the boys were totally covered in grime when they came out of the drain.

Multiple choice

Although the origin of the term, masochist, lies in the name of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, author of a famous novella, Venus in Furs, in psychology it is someone who likes to torture himself.

  1. the origin of the term, masochist, lies in the name of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, author of a famous novella, Venus in Furs, in psychology it is someone who likes to torture himself

  2. the origin of the term, masochist, lies in the name of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, the author of a famous novella, Venus in Furs, in psychology it is used to refer to someone who likes to torture himself

  3. the term, masochist, comes from the name of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, author of a famous novella, Venus in Furs, in psychology it is someone who likes to torture himself

  4. the term, masochist, comes from the name of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch who was the author of a famous novella, Venus in Furs, and in psychology, it is a person who likes to torture himself

  5. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, author of a famous novella, Venus in Furs, is the source of the origin of the term masochist, in psychology it is used to refer to someone who likes to torture himself
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Correct; removes the ambiguity and correctly conveys that the term 'refers' to someone who likes to torture himself.

Multiple choice

Why did the author consider himself a cripple?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question:

For more than 3 decades, I achieved great success as a lawyer, till a stroke left my right side totally paralysed. Despite the doctor’s encouragement, I was consumed by rage and self-pity. I yearned to be active again. But what could a middle-age cripple like me do? One day, glancing at some paintings I owned, I thought suddenly, “what about painting”? In fact, I had always wanted to paint, but had never had the time. Now, I had plenty of time. In the last 25 years, I have completed 300 paintings-one of them appeared on the cover of the Reader’s Digest. The stroke, I realize, has helped me develop a latent talent and enjoy life.

  1. He could not go back to work.

  2. He could no longer use his right hand.

  3. He could not use his time properly.

  4. He could not lead an active life.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Multiple choice

Why did Swarn leave his friend Mohan in the waters ?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question:

It was Sunday. As usual, there was a great rush of merry makers who had come to the river to swim or to bathe. Those who knew how to swim were jumping into the water from the high bridge or the banks of the deep river. Mohan did not know how to swim so he was merely watching others who were enjoying the fun of swimming. However on the insistence of his friend Swarn, he sat on his shoulders and both jumped into the water. Unable to carry Mohan along, Swarn left him in the flowing water. Mohan shouted for help. There were so many swimmers but nobody came to his rescue since they were indifferent to the plight of a stranger. I had just reached there, so I was in my full dress. Without undressing I jumped into the river and swam up to the drowning boy. Holding his left arm, I brought him out of water in a way that he might not hinder me from swimming safely. The boy was saved which won me great applause from the people. I had jumped into the water without any fear or hesitation as I knew the art of saving drowning persons. I had already saved a few lives from drowning.

  1. Mohan wanted to learn how to swim.

  2. He wanted Mohan to learn how to swim.

  3. Because he was sure that Mohan would be able to swim across the river.

  4. Because he found it difficult to swim in the river with his friend on his shoulders.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The passage clearly states Unable to carry Mohan along, Swarn left him in the flowing water. This shows Swarn abandoned Mohan because he found it physically difficult to swim while carrying his friend on his shoulders, not because Mohan wanted to learn or could swim.

Multiple choice

Why did Swarn jump into the water carrying Mohan on his shoulders ?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question:

It was Sunday. As usual, there was a great rush of merry makers who had come to the river to swim or to bathe. Those who knew how to swim were jumping into the water from the high bridge or the banks of the deep river. Mohan did not know how to swim so he was merely watching others who were enjoying the fun of swimming. However on the insistence of his friend Swarn, he sat on his shoulders and both jumped into the water. Unable to carry Mohan along, Swarn left him in the flowing water. Mohan shouted for help. There were so many swimmers but nobody came to his rescue since they were indifferent to the plight of a stranger. I had just reached there, so I was in my full dress. Without undressing I jumped into the river and swam up to the drowning boy. Holding his left arm, I brought him out of water in a way that he might not hinder me from swimming safely. The boy was saved which won me great applause from the people. I had jumped into the water without any fear or hesitation as I knew the art of saving drowning persons. I had already saved a few lives from drowning.

  1. Mohan had insisted to swim.

  2. He wanted to enjoy the fun of seeing a drowning man.

  3. He simply wanted to drown him in the river.

  4. Swarn felt that his friend should also enjoy the fun of swimming in the river.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The passage says Mohan was watching others enjoying the fun of swimming, then on the insistence of his friend Swarn, he sat on his shoulders and both jumped. This shows Swarn wanted Mohan to also enjoy the swimming fun, not that Mohan insisted, or that Swarn wanted to drown him.