English Reading Comprehension

What conclusion can be drawn from scenario 2?

Directions: Read the following two scenarios and answer the question that follows:

Scenario – 1
Columbus was a resident of Geneva. He was the son of a weaver. At a very tender age, he became a sailor. At the age of twenty seven, he reached Portugal. There he was married to a rich lady. Now Columbus decided to go on a voyage but he could not get any help from any state. Without help, his task was difficult. He kept on making efforts for eight years. At last, the king of Spain agreed to provide all the help.

Scenario – 2
An old farmer was on his death bed, but he was very worried. His sons were quarrelsome and divided. So, he called his sons and gave them a bundle of sticks. He asked them to try to break it. Every one of them tried, but failed. At last, the farmer asked them to untie the bundle and break the sticks one by one. Not to speak of the oldest son, now even the youngest one broke the sticks. Now the father said, “Sons, union is strength and disunion is disaster."

What could have happened if the farmer in scenario 2 had not advised his sons?

Directions: Read the following two scenarios and answer the question that follows:

Scenario – 1
Columbus was a resident of Geneva. He was the son of a weaver. At a very tender age, he became a sailor. At the age of twenty seven, he reached Portugal. There he was married to a rich lady. Now Columbus decided to go on a voyage but he could not get any help from any state. Without help, his task was difficult. He kept on making efforts for eight years. At last, the king of Spain agreed to provide all the help.

Scenario – 2
An old farmer was on his death bed, but he was very worried. His sons were quarrelsome and divided. So, he called his sons and gave them a bundle of sticks. He asked them to try to break it. Every one of them tried, but failed. At last, the farmer asked them to untie the bundle and break the sticks one by one. Not to speak of the oldest son, now even the youngest one broke the sticks. Now the father said, “Sons, union is strength and disunion is disaster."

The first scenario clearly states that

Directions: Read the following two scenarios and answer the question that follows:

Scenario – 1
Columbus was a resident of Geneva. He was the son of a weaver. At a very tender age, he became a sailor. At the age of twenty seven, he reached Portugal. There he was married to a rich lady. Now Columbus decided to go on a voyage but he could not get any help from any state. Without help, his task was difficult. He kept on making efforts for eight years. At last, the king of Spain agreed to provide all the help.

Scenario – 2
An old farmer was on his death bed, but he was very worried. His sons were quarrelsome and divided. So, he called his sons and gave them a bundle of sticks. He asked them to try to break it. Every one of them tried, but failed. At last, the farmer asked them to untie the bundle and break the sticks one by one. Not to speak of the oldest son, now even the youngest one broke the sticks. Now the father said, “Sons, union is strength and disunion is disaster."

The word “worried” in scenario 2 is about which attribute of the farmer?

Directions: Read the following two scenarios and answer the question that follows:

Scenario – 1
Columbus was a resident of Geneva. He was the son of a weaver. At a very tender age, he became a sailor. At the age of twenty seven, he reached Portugal. There he was married to a rich lady. Now Columbus decided to go on a voyage but he could not get any help from any state. Without help, his task was difficult. He kept on making efforts for eight years. At last, the king of Spain agreed to provide all the help.

Scenario – 2
An old farmer was on his death bed, but he was very worried. His sons were quarrelsome and divided. So, he called his sons and gave them a bundle of sticks. He asked them to try to break it. Every one of them tried, but failed. At last, the farmer asked them to untie the bundle and break the sticks one by one. Not to speak of the oldest son, now even the youngest one broke the sticks. Now the father said, “Sons, union is strength and disunion is disaster."

Which of these words best describes the character of Columbus in scenario 1?

Directions: Read the following two scenarios and answer the question that follows:

Scenario – 1
Columbus was a resident of Geneva. He was the son of a weaver. At a very tender age, he became a sailor. At the age of twenty seven, he reached Portugal. There he was married to a rich lady. Now Columbus decided to go on a voyage but he could not get any help from any state. Without help, his task was difficult. He kept on making efforts for eight years. At last, the king of Spain agreed to provide all the help.

Scenario – 2
An old farmer was on his death bed, but he was very worried. His sons were quarrelsome and divided. So, he called his sons and gave them a bundle of sticks. He asked them to try to break it. Every one of them tried, but failed. At last, the farmer asked them to untie the bundle and break the sticks one by one. Not to speak of the oldest son, now even the youngest one broke the sticks. Now the father said, “Sons, union is strength and disunion is disaster."

Which of these fits gap (ii)?

Directions: Read the following passage having some numbered gaps.

In old Greece, there was a wise man called Diogenes who lived in Athens. He was eccentric and bad tempered and ____(i)____ in a tub. One day he came to the market place with a lighted lantern in his hand, although it was broad day light. He went about peering at everyone he met, with his lantern. Soon ___(ii)___ to know what he was doing. At last he blew out his lantern and ____(iii)_____ to his tub. But the people who still followed him kept asking him what he had been looking for. At last he stopped and said, “I was looking for an honest man, but ____(iv)_____."

Which of these fits gap (iii)?

Directions: Read the following passage having some numbered gaps.

In old Greece, there was a wise man called Diogenes who lived in Athens. He was eccentric and bad tempered and ____(i)____ in a tub. One day he came to the market place with a lighted lantern in his hand, although it was broad day light. He went about peering at everyone he met, with his lantern. Soon ___(ii)___ to know what he was doing. At last he blew out his lantern and ____(iii)_____ to his tub. But the people who still followed him kept asking him what he had been looking for. At last he stopped and said, “I was looking for an honest man, but ____(iv)_____."

What conclusion can be drawn from scenario 1?

Directions: Read the following two scenarios and answer the question that follows:

Scenario – 1
Columbus was a resident of Geneva. He was the son of a weaver. At a very tender age, he became a sailor. At the age of twenty seven, he reached Portugal. There he was married to a rich lady. Now Columbus decided to go on a voyage but he could not get any help from any state. Without help, his task was difficult. He kept on making efforts for eight years. At last, the king of Spain agreed to provide all the help.

Scenario – 2
An old farmer was on his death bed, but he was very worried. His sons were quarrelsome and divided. So, he called his sons and gave them a bundle of sticks. He asked them to try to break it. Every one of them tried, but failed. At last, the farmer asked them to untie the bundle and break the sticks one by one. Not to speak of the oldest son, now even the youngest one broke the sticks. Now the father said, “Sons, union is strength and disunion is disaster."

In context, which of the following revisions is necessary in sentence 5 (reproduced below)?

The friendship of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn is one of the most celebrated in,American literature, built on imaginative adventures, shared superstitions, and loyalty that had risen above social convention.

PASSAGE-II

Direction for questions 7 to 12: The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answers for the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask you to consider organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

(1) Mark Twain’s publication is 1876 of his popular novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer followed the publication of his previous novel. (2)  The Gilded Age reversed a brief downturn in his success. (3) Twain wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer while he and his family were living in Hartford, Connecticut, and Twain was enjoying his fame. (4) The escapades of a young boy and his friends in St. Petersburg as told in the novel, Missouri, a village near the Mississippi River, recalls Twain’s own childhood in a small Missouri town. (5) The friendship of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn is one of the most celebrated in,American literature, built on imaginative adventures, shared superstitions, and loyalty that had risen above social convention. (6) Twain’s American reading audience loved this novel and its young hero, and the novel remains one of the most popular and famous work of American literature.

(7) Scenes such as Tom Sawyer tricking his friends into whitewashing Aunt Polly’s fence for him, Injun Joe leaping through the window of courthouse after Tom names him as Dr.  Robinson’s murderer, and Tom and Becky lost in the cave have become so familiar to American readers that one almost doesn’t have to read the book to know about them.  (8) But the pleasure of reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer has kept readers coming back to the novel for over a century. (9) The novel and its characters have achieved folk hero status in the American popular imagination.

 (10) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is fun to read, there is another reason for the novel’s contemporary popularity:  It introduces the character of Huckleberry Finn, who, with the publication of Twain’s 1884 novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, has become one of the greatest characters in American literature.

In context, what should be done with sentence 9?

PASSAGE-II

Direction for questions 7 to 12: The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answers for the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask you to consider organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

(1) Mark Twain’s publication is 1876 of his popular novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer followed the publication of his previous novel. (2)  The Gilded Age reversed a brief downturn in his success. (3) Twain wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer while he and his family were living in Hartford, Connecticut, and Twain was enjoying his fame. (4) The escapades of a young boy and his friends in St. Petersburg as told in the novel, Missouri, a village near the Mississippi River, recalls Twain’s own childhood in a small Missouri town. (5) The friendship of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn is one of the most celebrated in,American literature, built on imaginative adventures, shared superstitions, and loyalty that had risen above social convention. (6) Twain’s American reading audience loved this novel and its young hero, and the novel remains one of the most popular and famous work of American literature.

(7) Scenes such as Tom Sawyer tricking his friends into whitewashing Aunt Polly’s fence for him, Injun Joe leaping through the window of courthouse after Tom names him as Dr.  Robinson’s murderer, and Tom and Becky lost in the cave have become so familiar to American readers that one almost doesn’t have to read the book to know about them.  (8) But the pleasure of reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer has kept readers coming back to the novel for over a century. (9) The novel and its characters have achieved folk hero status in the American popular imagination.

 (10) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is fun to read, there is another reason for the novel’s contemporary popularity:  It introduces the character of Huckleberry Finn, who, with the publication of Twain’s 1884 novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, has become one of the greatest characters in American literature.

The writer calls the conveyor belt ‘merciless’ because it

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question.

The jobs do not get changed around from time to time; I started off on one of the nicer ones. I sat at a conveyor belt slipping a piece of cardboard under each cake as it came down the line. At first, it was difficult to keep up. An uneconomic movement, a fumble and four cakes have gone without cards. I got up to chase the four cakes, eight more appeared and for five minutes or so I had to work at twice the speed to work my way back to where I was sitting before. But it takes half a day or so, to learn how it’s done and soon it becomes quite automatic. The frenzy had quite worn off by the end to the first day and then there was only the monotony and the aching arms. Later I moved to another job on the line, as the girl who usually did it had left. I was not surprised. It was the nastiest job in the department. As the cake came out of a machine that had sliced it in three layers, two streams of artificial cream were poured over the layers. I had to stack the layers up again— a messy and very tiring job. The cakes are heavy and the cream is slippery. Anyone who has worked at all in a factory knows how deathly conveyor belt work is. At first, it is difficult to keep up, and when you are tired, it is quite merciless. After a while, when you have become fairly used to it, the fact that you cannot work faster, is also infuriating.

When the writer was moved to another job she wasn’t surprised to find that

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question.

The jobs do not get changed around from time to time; I started off on one of the nicer ones. I sat at a conveyor belt slipping a piece of cardboard under each cake as it came down the line. At first, it was difficult to keep up. An uneconomic movement, a fumble and four cakes have gone without cards. I got up to chase the four cakes, eight more appeared and for five minutes or so I had to work at twice the speed to work my way back to where I was sitting before. But it takes half a day or so, to learn how it’s done and soon it becomes quite automatic. The frenzy had quite worn off by the end to the first day and then there was only the monotony and the aching arms. Later I moved to another job on the line, as the girl who usually did it had left. I was not surprised. It was the nastiest job in the department. As the cake came out of a machine that had sliced it in three layers, two streams of artificial cream were poured over the layers. I had to stack the layers up again— a messy and very tiring job. The cakes are heavy and the cream is slippery. Anyone who has worked at all in a factory knows how deathly conveyor belt work is. At first, it is difficult to keep up, and when you are tired, it is quite merciless. After a while, when you have become fairly used to it, the fact that you cannot work faster, is also infuriating.

According to Sir Mohan Lal, a well-bred person would

Directions: Read the folowing passage and answr the question.

The arrival of the train did not disturb Sir Mohan Lal’s sang-froid. He continued to sip his scotch and ordered the bearer to tell him when he had moved the luggage to a first class compartment. Excitement, bustle, and hurry were exhibitions of bad breeding, and Sir Mohan was eminently well bred. He wanted everything ‘ticket boo’ and orderly. In his five years abroad, Sir Mohan acquired the manners and attitudes of the upper classes. He rarely spoke Hindustani. When he did, it was like an Englishman’s—only the very necessary words and properly anglicized. But he fancied his English, finished and refined at no less a place than the University of Oxford. He was fond of conversation and like a cultured Englishman he could talk on almost any subject—books, politics, and people. How frequently had he heard English people say that he spoke like an Englishman?

The writer found it a messy job to

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question.

The jobs do not get changed around from time to time; I started off on one of the nicer ones. I sat at a conveyor belt slipping a piece of cardboard under each cake as it came down the line. At first, it was difficult to keep up. An uneconomic movement, a fumble and four cakes have gone without cards. I got up to chase the four cakes, eight more appeared and for five minutes or so I had to work at twice the speed to work my way back to where I was sitting before. But it takes half a day or so, to learn how it’s done and soon it becomes quite automatic. The frenzy had quite worn off by the end to the first day and then there was only the monotony and the aching arms. Later I moved to another job on the line, as the girl who usually did it had left. I was not surprised. It was the nastiest job in the department. As the cake came out of a machine that had sliced it in three layers, two streams of artificial cream were poured over the layers. I had to stack the layers up again— a messy and very tiring job. The cakes are heavy and the cream is slippery. Anyone who has worked at all in a factory knows how deathly conveyor belt work is. At first, it is difficult to keep up, and when you are tired, it is quite merciless. After a while, when you have become fairly used to it, the fact that you cannot work faster, is also infuriating.

According to the passage, a cultured Englishman is able to talk effortlessly on

Directions: Read the folowing passage and answr the question.

The arrival of the train did not disturb Sir Mohan Lal’s sang-froid. He continued to sip his scotch and ordered the bearer to tell him when he had moved the luggage to a first class compartment. Excitement, bustle, and hurry were exhibitions of bad breeding, and Sir Mohan was eminently well bred. He wanted everything ‘ticket boo’ and orderly. In his five years abroad, Sir Mohan acquired the manners and attitudes of the upper classes. He rarely spoke Hindustani. When he did, it was like an Englishman’s—only the very necessary words and properly anglicized. But he fancied his English, finished and refined at no less a place than the University of Oxford. He was fond of conversation and like a cultured Englishman he could talk on almost any subject—books, politics, and people. How frequently had he heard English people say that he spoke like an Englishman?