English Reading Comprehension

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

Buck lived in a big house in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley. Judge Miller’s place, it was called. It stood back from the road, half hidden among the trees, through which (i) ______ could be caught of the wide cool veranda that ran around its four sides. The house was (ii) ______ by graveled driveways which wound about through wide-spreading lawns and under the interlacing boughs of tall poplars. At the rear, things were on even a more (iii) ______ scale than at the front. There were great (iv) ___, where a dozen grooms and boys held forth, rows of vine-clad servants’ cottages, an endless and orderly (v) ___ of outhouses, long grape arbors, green pastures, orchards and berry patches. Then there was the pumping plant for the artesian well and the big cement tank where judge Miller’s boys took their morning plunge and kept cool in the hot afternoon. And over this great demesne, Buck ruled. Here, he was born and here he had lived the four years of his life.

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

Buck lived in a big house in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley. Judge Miller’s place, it was called. It stood back from the road, half hidden among the trees, through which (i) ______ could be caught of the wide cool veranda that ran around its four sides. The house was (ii) ______ by graveled driveways which wound about through wide-spreading lawns and under the interlacing boughs of tall poplars. At the rear, things were on even a more (iii) ______ scale than at the front. There were great (iv) ___, where a dozen grooms and boys held forth, rows of vine-clad servants’ cottages, an endless and orderly (v) ___ of outhouses, long grape arbors, green pastures, orchards and berry patches. Then there was the pumping plant for the artesian well and the big cement tank where judge Miller’s boys took their morning plunge and kept cool in the hot afternoon. And over this great demesne, Buck ruled. Here, he was born and here he had lived the four years of his life.

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

Buck lived in a big house in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley. Judge Miller’s place, it was called. It stood back from the road, half hidden among the trees, through which (i) ______ could be caught of the wide cool veranda that ran around its four sides. The house was (ii) ______ by graveled driveways which wound about through wide-spreading lawns and under the interlacing boughs of tall poplars. At the rear, things were on even a more (iii) ______ scale than at the front. There were great (iv) ___, where a dozen grooms and boys held forth, rows of vine-clad servants’ cottages, an endless and orderly (v) ___ of outhouses, long grape arbors, green pastures, orchards and berry patches. Then there was the pumping plant for the artesian well and the big cement tank where judge Miller’s boys took their morning plunge and kept cool in the hot afternoon. And over this great demesne, Buck ruled. Here, he was born and here he had lived the four years of his life.

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

Buck lived in a big house in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley. Judge Miller’s place, it was called. It stood back from the road, half hidden among the trees, through which (i) ______ could be caught of the wide cool veranda that ran around its four sides. The house was (ii) ______ by graveled driveways which wound about through wide-spreading lawns and under the interlacing boughs of tall poplars. At the rear, things were on even a more (iii) ______ scale than at the front. There were great (iv) ___, where a dozen grooms and boys held forth, rows of vine-clad servants’ cottages, an endless and orderly (v) ___ of outhouses, long grape arbors, green pastures, orchards and berry patches. Then there was the pumping plant for the artesian well and the big cement tank where judge Miller’s boys took their morning plunge and kept cool in the hot afternoon. And over this great demesne, Buck ruled. Here, he was born and here he had lived the four years of his life.

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

Cigars had burned low and we were (i) ______ to sample the disillusionment that usually afflicts old school friends who have met again as men and found themselves with less in common than they had (ii) ______ they had. Rutherford wrote novels; Wyland was one of the embassy secretaries; he had just given us dinner at Tempelhof - not very cheerfully, I fancied, but with the equanimity which a diplomat must always keep on tap for such (iii) ___. It seemed likely that nothing but the fact of being three celibate Englishmen in a foreign capital could have brought us together, and I had already reached the conclusion that the slight touch of priggishness which I remembered in Wyland Tertius had not (iv) ___ with years and an M.V.O. Rutherford I liked more; he had ripened well out of the skinny, precocious infant whom I had once alternately bullied and patronised. The (v) ______ that he was making much more money and having a more interesting life than either of us gave Wyland and me our one mutual emotion - a touch of envy.

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

Cigars had burned low and we were (i) ______ to sample the disillusionment that usually afflicts old school friends who have met again as men and found themselves with less in common than they had (ii) ______ they had. Rutherford wrote novels; Wyland was one of the embassy secretaries; he had just given us dinner at Tempelhof - not very cheerfully, I fancied, but with the equanimity which a diplomat must always keep on tap for such (iii) ___. It seemed likely that nothing but the fact of being three celibate Englishmen in a foreign capital could have brought us together, and I had already reached the conclusion that the slight touch of priggishness, which I remembered in Wyland Tertius, had not (iv) ___ with years and an M.V.O. Rutherford I liked more; he had ripened well out of the skinny, precocious infant whom I had once alternately bullied and patronised. The (v) ______ that he was making much more money and having a more interesting life than either of us gave Wyland and me our one mutual emotion - a touch of envy.

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

Cigars had burned low and we were (i) ______ to sample the disillusionment that usually afflicts old school friends who have met again as men and found themselves with less in common than they had (ii) ______ they had. Rutherford wrote novels; Wyland was one of the embassy secretaries; he had just given us dinner at Tempelhof - not very cheerfully, I fancied, but with the equanimity which a diplomat must always keep on tap for such (iii) ___. It seemed likely that nothing but the fact of being three celibate Englishmen in a foreign capital could have brought us together, and I had already reached the conclusion that the slight touch of priggishness which I remembered in Wyland Tertius had not (iv) ___ with years and an M.V.O. Rutherford I liked more; he had ripened well out of the skinny, precocious infant whom I had once alternately bullied and patronised. The (v) ______ that he was making much more money and having a more interesting life than either of us gave Wyland and me our one mutual emotion - a touch of envy.

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

Cigars had burned low and we were (i) ______ to sample the disillusionment that usually afflicts old school friends who have met again as men and found themselves with less in common than they had (ii) ______ they had. Rutherford wrote novels; Wyland was one of the embassy secretaries; he had just given us dinner at Tempelhof - not very cheerfully, I fancied, but with the equanimity which a diplomat must always keep on tap for such (iii) ___. It seemed likely that nothing but the fact of being three celibate Englishmen in a foreign capital could have brought us together, and I had already reached the conclusion that the slight touch of priggishness which I remembered in Wyland Tertius had not (iv) ___ with years and an M.V.O. Rutherford I liked more; he had ripened well out of the skinny, precocious infant whom I had once alternately bullied and patronised. The (v) ______ that he was making much more money and having a more interesting life than either of us gave Wyland and me our one mutual emotion - a touch of envy.

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

Cigars had burned low and we were (i) ______ to sample the disillusionment that usually afflicts old school friends who have met again as men and found themselves with less in common than they had (ii) ______ they had. Rutherford wrote novels; Wyland was one of the embassy secretaries; he had just given us dinner at Tempelhof - not very cheerfully, I fancied, but with the equanimity which a diplomat must always keep on tap for such (iii) ___. It seemed likely that nothing but the fact of being three celibate Englishmen in a foreign capital could have brought us together, and I had already reached the conclusion that the slight touch of priggishness which I remembered in Wyland Tertius had not (iv) ___ with years and an M.V.O. Rutherford I liked more; he had ripened well out of the skinny, precocious infant whom I had once alternately bullied and patronised. The (v) ______ that he was making much more money and having a more interesting life than either of us gave Wyland and me our one mutual emotion - a touch of envy.

Directions: Choose the correct option to answer the following question.

By the end of the first decade of the twentieth century, the private car became an important possession of every rich man despite _____________.

Reading Passage: Motor Car
Directions: Read the passage carefully:
By 1910, the motor car was plainly conquering the highway. The private car was now part of every rich man's establishment, although its price made it as yet an impossible luxury for most of the middle class. But for the adventuresome youth, there was the motor cycle, a fearsome invention producing accidents and ear-splitting noises. Already, the dignified carriages and smart pony-traps were beginning to disappear from the roads, and coachmen and grooms, unless mechanically minded, were finding it more difficult to make a living.
The roads, which had gone to sleep since the coming of the railway, now awoke to feverish activity. Cars and motor cycles dashed along them at speeds which rivalled those of the express trains, and the lorry began to appear. Therefore, the road system was compelled to adapt itself to a volume and speed of traffic for which it had never been intended; its traffic for which it had never been intended. Its complete adaptation was impossible; but the road surface was easily transformed and, during the early years of the century, the dustiness and greasiness of the highways were lessened by tar-spraying. To widen and straighten the roads and get rid of blind corners and every steep gradient were tasks which had scarcely been tackled before 1914. The situation was worst of all in towns where not only was any large scheme of road widening usually out of the question, but also where crowding and danger were all too frequently increased by the short sighted eagerness of town authorities in laying down tramlines.
Yet it was not only the road system that was in need of readjustment the nervous system of those who used and dwelt by the roads suffered. The noises caused by the conversion of the roads into speed ways called for a corresponding tightening up of the nerves; and, especially in the towns, the pedestrian who wished to preserve life and limb was compelled to keep his attention continually at stretch, to practice himself in estimates of the speed of approaching vehicles and to run or jump for his life if he ventured off the pavement.

Directions: Choose the correct option to answer the following question.

Which of the following is not mentioned in the passage as part of the road readjustment process?

Reading Passage: Motor Car
Directions: Read the passage carefully:
By 1910, the motor car was plainly conquering the highway. The private car was now part of every rich man's establishment, although its price made it as yet an impossible luxury for most of the middle class. But for the adventuresome youth, there was the motor cycle, a fearsome invention producing accidents and ear-splitting noises. Already, the dignified carriages and smart pony-traps were beginning to disappear from the roads, and coachmen and grooms, unless mechanically minded, were finding it more difficult to make a living.
The roads, which had gone to sleep since the coming of the railway, now awoke to feverish activity. Cars and motor cycles dashed along them at speeds which rivalled those of the express trains, and the lorry began to appear. Therefore, the road system was compelled to adapt itself to a volume and speed of traffic for which it had never been intended; its traffic for which it had never been intended. Its complete adaptation was impossible; but the road surface was easily transformed and, during the early years of the century, the dustiness and greasiness of the highways were lessened by tar-spraying. To widen and straighten the roads and get rid of blind corners and every steep gradient were tasks which had scarcely been tackled before 1914. The situation was worst of all in towns where not only was any large scheme of road widening usually out of the question, but also where crowding and danger were all too frequently increased by the short sighted eagerness of town authorities in laying down tramlines.
Yet it was not only the road system that was in need of readjustment the nervous system of those who used and dwelt by the roads suffered. The noises caused by the conversion of the roads into speed ways called for a corresponding tightening up of the nerves; and, especially in the towns, the pedestrian who wished to preserve life and limb was compelled to keep his attention continually at stretch, to practice himself in estimates of the speed of approaching vehicles and to run or jump for his life if he ventured off the pavement.

Directions: Choose the correct option to answer the following question. Which of the following is not suggested by the author in the passage?

Reading Passage: Motor Car
Directions: Read the passage carefully:
By 1910, the motor car was plainly conquering the highway. The private car was now part of every rich man's establishment, although its price made it as yet an impossible luxury for most of the middle class. But for the adventuresome youth, there was the motor cycle, a fearsome invention producing accidents and ear-splitting noises. Already, the dignified carriages and smart pony-traps were beginning to disappear from the roads, and coachmen and grooms, unless mechanically minded, were finding it more difficult to make a living.
The roads, which had gone to sleep since the coming of the railway, now awoke to feverish activity. Cars and motor cycles dashed along them at speeds which rivalled those of the express trains, and the lorry began to appear. Therefore, the road system was compelled to adapt itself to a volume and speed of traffic for which it had never been intended; its traffic for which it had never been intended. Its complete adaptation was impossible; but the road surface was easily transformed and, during the early years of the century, the dustiness and greasiness of the highways were lessened by tar-spraying. To widen and straighten the roads and get rid of blind corners and every steep gradient were tasks which had scarcely been tackled before 1914. The situation was worst of all in towns where not only was any large scheme of road widening usually out of the question, but also where crowding and danger were all too frequently increased by the short sighted eagerness of town authorities in laying down tramlines.
Yet it was not only the road system that was in need of readjustment the nervous system of those who used and dwelt by the roads suffered. The noises caused by the conversion of the roads into speed ways called for a corresponding tightening up of the nerves; and, especially in the towns, the pedestrian who wished to preserve life and limb was compelled to keep his attention continually at stretch, to practice himself in estimates of the speed of approaching vehicles and to run or jump for his life if he ventured off the pavement.

Directions: Choose the correct option to answer the following question.

The statement 'By 1910, the motor car was plainly conquering the highway' means that _______.

Reading Passage: Motor Car
Directions: Read the passage carefully:
By 1910, the motor car was plainly conquering the highway. The private car was now part of every rich man's establishment, although its price made it as yet an impossible luxury for most of the middle class. But for the adventuresome youth, there was the motor cycle, a fearsome invention producing accidents and ear-splitting noises. Already, the dignified carriages and smart pony-traps were beginning to disappear from the roads, and coachmen and grooms, unless mechanically minded, were finding it more difficult to make a living.
The roads, which had gone to sleep since the coming of the railway, now awoke to feverish activity. Cars and motor cycles dashed along them at speeds which rivalled those of the express trains, and the lorry began to appear. Therefore, the road system was compelled to adapt itself to a volume and speed of traffic for which it had never been intended; its traffic for which it had never been intended. Its complete adaptation was impossible; but the road surface was easily transformed and, during the early years of the century, the dustiness and greasiness of the highways were lessened by tar-spraying. To widen and straighten the roads and get rid of blind corners and every steep gradient were tasks which had scarcely been tackled before 1914. The situation was worst of all in towns where not only was any large scheme of road widening usually out of the question, but also where crowding and danger were all too frequently increased by the short sighted eagerness of town authorities in laying down tramlines.
Yet it was not only the road system that was in need of readjustment the nervous system of those who used and dwelt by the roads suffered. The noises caused by the conversion of the roads into speed ways called for a corresponding tightening up of the nerves; and, especially in the towns, the pedestrian who wished to preserve life and limb was compelled to keep his attention continually at stretch, to practice himself in estimates of the speed of approaching vehicles and to run or jump for his life if he ventured off the pavement.

Which of the following could replace 'thanks' as used in the passage?

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable option from each list according to the corresponding number in the passage.
A candle's beauty is not preatiness (1) of colour or shape, but rather (2) something else: "Not the best-looking thing, but the best-acting thing." A candle taps (3) all of the known laws of the universe.
The heat of the flame melts the wax and draws up (4) currents of air to cool the wax at the periphery, thus creating a cup (5) for the molten wax, which remains horizontal thanks (6) to gravity - "the same force of gravity which holds worlds together". Capillary action draws the melted wax up the wick from cup to flame, while the flame's heat triggers (7) a chemical reaction in the wax that sustains (8) the flame.

Which of the following could replace 'surely' as used in the passage?

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable option according to the corresponding number in the passage.