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 drama reading comprehension english

Read the passage given below and answer the question that follows:

Miss Prism.  Lady Bracknell, I admit with shame that I do not know.  I only wish I did.  The plain facts of the case are these.  On the morning of the day you mention, a day that is forever branded on my memory, I prepared, as usual, to take the baby out in its perambulator.  I had also with me a somewhat old, but capacious handbag in which I had intended to place the manuscript of a work of fiction that I had written during my few unoccupied hours.  In a moment of mental abstraction, for which I never can forgive myself, I deposited the manuscript in the bassinette and placed the baby in the handbag.

Jack.  [Who has been listening attentively.] 

But where did you deposit the handbag?

Miss Prism.  Do not ask me, Mr. Worthing.

Jack.  Miss Prism, this is a matter of no small importance to me.  I insist on knowing where you deposited the handbag that contained that infant.

Miss Prism.  I left it in the cloak-room of one of the larger railway stations in London.

Jack.  What railway station?

Miss Prism.  [Quite crushed.] 


Victoria.  The Brighton line.  [Sinks into a hair.]

Jack.  I must retire to my room for a moment.  Gwendolen, wait here for me.

Gwendolen.  If you are not too long, I will wait here for you all my life.  [Exit Jack in great excitement.]

....

Gwendolen.  This suspense is terrible.  I hope it will last.  [Enter Jack with a handbag of black leather in his hand.]

Jack.  [Rushing over to Miss Prism.] 
Is this the hand-bag, Miss Prism?  Examine it carefully before you speak.  The happiness of more than one life depends on your answer.

Miss Prism.  [Calmly.]  It seems to be mine.  Yes, here is the injury it received through the upsetting of a Gower Street omnibus in younger and happier

days.  Here is the stain on the lining caused by the explosion of a temperance beverage, an incident that occurred at Leamington.  And here, on the lock, are my initials.  I had forgotten that in an extravagant mood I had had them placed there.  The bag is undoubtedly mine.  I am delighted to have it so unexpectedly restored to me.  It has been a great inconvenience being without it all these years.

Jack.  [In a pathetic voice.]  Miss Prism, more is restored to you than this handbag.  I was the baby you placed in it.

The passage above is taken from a __________.

  1. historical enactment

  2. tragedy

  3. farce

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

Farce is a dramatic work that uses humor and highly improbable situations to entertain the audience. The passage given here describes an improbable situation with humorous dialogues. So, the passage qualifies as a farce. Option C is the answer.

Multiple choice

How did the Mando destroy the AT-ST that attacked the village?

  1. He ran away from it because he didnt have the weapons to destroy it

  2. He blew it up by luring it to a bomb

  3. He lured it into a pond then destroyed it

  4. He didnt.He killed the pilots and stole it
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Mando lures the AT-ST into a pond to trap it, allowing Cara Dune to destroy it with a trap.

Multiple choice techniques of style reading comprehension english

Ross: That now
Sweno, the Norways king, craves composition:
Nor would we deign him burial of his men
Till he disbursed at Saint Colmes inch
Ten thousand dollars to our general use.

In these lines, the dollar is not the currency during the period in which the play is set. These lines contain an example of

  1. synecdoche

  2. hyperbole

  3. metaphor

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

Anachronism is the action of attributing something to a period to which it does not belong. Here, "ten thousand dollars" does not belong to the period in which the play is set. So, the correct answer is option D.

Multiple choice techniques of style reading comprehension english

Read the poems carefully, and accordingly, fill in the blank:
The Old Man's Comforts
"You are old, father William," the young man cried,
"The few locks which are left you are grey;
You are hale, father William, a hearty old man;
Now tell me the reason, I pray."

"In the days of my youth," father William replied,
"I remember'd that youth would fly fast,
And abus'd not my health and my vigour at first,
That I never might need them at last."

You are Old, Father William
You are old, Father William, the young man said,
And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head
Do you think, at your age, it is right?

In my youth, Father William replied to his son,
I feared it might injure the brain;
But, now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again.

The second poem takes inspiration from the first poem. The second poem may be said to be a ________________.

  1. parable

  2. parody

  3. modernization

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

Parody is an imitation of a particular work, exaggerating it deliberately to produce a comic effect- pokes fun at the work it immigrates. Here, the second poem is a parody of the first. So, the answer to the question asked is option B.

Multiple choice techniques of style reading comprehension english

Identify the literary device in the following passage:
   

   Wherefore Christian was left to tumble in the Slough of Despond alone: but still he endeavoured to struggle to that side of the slough that was still further from his own house, and next to the wicket-gate; the which he did, but could not get out, because of the burden that was upon his back: but I beheld in my dream, that a man came to him, whose name was Help, and asked him, What he did there?
CHR: Sir, said Christian, I was bid go this way by a man called Evangelist, who directed me also to yonder gate, that I might escape the wrath to come; and as I was going thither I fell in here.

HELP: But why did not you look for the steps?

CHR: Fear followed me so hard, that I fled the next way, and fell in.

HELP: Then said he, Give me thy hand: so he gave him his hand, and he drew him out, and set him upon sound ground, and bid him go on his way. [Ps. 40:2]

  1. Irony

  2. Satire

  3. Metaphor

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

The passage here is not ironic or satiric. It is also not a metaphor. Allegory refers to a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. The given passage has a moral or religious meaning- it belongs to Psalm 40 1-2. So, the correct answer is option D.

Multiple choice techniques of style reading comprehension english

Identify the genre of the following passage:

In a field one summers day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its hearts content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.
"Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and moiling in that way?"
"I am helping to lay up food for the winter," said the Ant, "and recommend you to do the same."
"Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper; "we have got plenty of
food at present." But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil.
   When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food, and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing every day corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew: "it is best to prepare for the days of necessity."

  1. Satire

  2. Fable

  3. Epigram

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

A fable is a simple tale that attributes human-like qualities to animals and presents a moral lesson. The given passage has all these elements. So, the passage is a fable. The correct answer is option B.

Multiple choice techniques of style reading comprehension english
Identify the literary device used in the following passage:

   This was early in March. During the next three months, there was much secret activity. Majors speech had given to the more intelligent animals on the farm a completely new outlook on life. They did not know when the Rebellion predicted by Major would take place, they had no reason for thinking that it would be within their own lifetime, but they saw clearly that it was their duty to prepare for it. The work of teaching and organizing the others fell naturally upon the pigs, who were generally recognized as being the cleverest of the animals.  
   Pre-eminent among the pigs were two young boars named Snowball and  Napoleon, whom Mr. Jones was breeding up for sale.... Several nights a week, after Mr. Jones was asleep, they held secret meetings in the barn and expounded the principles of Animalism to the others.

  1. Simile

  2. Allusion

  3. Allegory

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

The passage given belongs to the genre of allegory. Allegory generally refers to a story that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning which usually turns out to be  either moral or political. This passage is allegoric as it has a moral lesson: animalism. The principle of Animalism is that all animals are friends. So, option C is the answer.

Multiple choice techniques of style reading comprehension english

Identify the literary device used in the following passage:

Jesus said: A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. Look after him, he said, and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.

  1. Synecdoche

  2. Irony

  3. Parable

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

A Parable is a short, simple tale that is used to teach a moral or spiritual lesson - as done by Jesus in the Gospels. The given passage is a parable. So, option  C is the answer.

Multiple choice techniques of style reading comprehension english

Cleopatra: Give me some music; music, moody food
Of us that trade in love.
Attendants. The music, ho!

[Enter Mardian]

Cleopatra: Let it alone; lets to billiards: come, Charmian.
Charmian: My arm is sore; best play with Mardian.

The passage mentions billiards which is a game that was not invented till centuries after Cleopatra's time. The passage contains an instance of

  1. allusion

  2. anachronism

  3. synecdoche

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

Anachronism is the action of attributing something to a period to which it does not belong. The game of Billiards does not belong to the period of Cleopatra. Thus, the answer here is anachronism. Option B is the answer.

Multiple choice inferences from the text reading comprehension english

Read the passage and answer the question given below.


There stood at the edge of the road an oak. Probably ten times the age of the birches that formed the bulk of the forest. It was ten times as thick and twice as tall as they are. It was an enormous tree, double a man's span with ancient scars where branches had long ago been lopped off and bark stripped away. With huge limbs sprawling unsymmetrically, with gnarled hands and fingers, it stood, an aged monster angry and scornful, among the smiling birch trees. This oak alone refused to yield to the season's spell, spurning both spring and sunshine.

"Spring, and love, and happiness", this oak seemed to say, "Are you not weary of the same stupid, meaningless late? Always the same old delusion. There is no spring, no happiness! Look at those strangled lifeless fir trees, everlastingly the same and look at me too sticking out broken excoriated fingers, from my back and my sides, where they grew, just as they grew; here I stand, and have no faith in your hopes and illusions".


The oak's attitude to life is ________.

  1. sceptical and disdainful

  2. cheerful but superior

  3. pessimistic and despondent

  4. bombastic and angry
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The correct answer for this would be option C, pessimistic and despondent. The speaker of the passage, the oak, has lived long enough to know that nothing lasts and has grown dispirited and cynical of the hope that the younglings have. Option A, sceptical and disdainful, is wrong because there isn't any indication of doubt or worthlessness in the oak. It knows its place in the world and the reality of it; the oak doesn't have any illusions about its existence and is sure of its beliefs. Options B and D are incoherent with the tone of the text, and thus, are incorrect. 

Multiple choice inferences from the text reading comprehension english
Read the passage and answer the question that follows. 

Ah! Whatever could be said was said. All held him guilty. Even his own mother who claimed to understand him the best. All had betrayed him in his hour of need. Yet, there he was, still with a sparkling hope and knew that the truth must prevail. In the cold, dark and damp cell he never for a moment lost faith in God and goodness and was waiting anxiously for an angel to come, plead non-guilty for him and free him of his miseries.


The truth must prevail means?

  1. He was true

  2. Angel will reveal truth

  3. Truth always wins in the end

  4. We must plead for the truth
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

"Prevail" literally means to win out. In the given passage, when everybody believed the protagonist to be guilty, he still had hope that his innocence would be proved and that the truth would win out. So, Option C is the correct answer.

Multiple choice inferences from the text reading comprehension english
Read the passage and answer the question that follows. 

Ah! Whatever could be said was said. All held him guilty. Even his own mother who claimed to understand him the best. All had betrayed him in his hour of need. Yet, there he was, still with a sparkling hope and knew that the truth must prevail. In the cold, dark and damp cell he never for a moment lost faith in God and goodness and was waiting anxiously for an angel to come, plead non-guilty for him and free him of his miseries.


Whatever others said about him, he ________.

  1. betrayed no one

  2. thought over the problem

  3. never lost faith in goodness

  4. raised his voice against injustice
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

When everybody believed him to be guilty, he still had faith that the truth will win out. Even in his darkest moment, he never "lost faith in God and goodness." In this context, option C is the best answer.

Multiple choice inferences from the text reading comprehension english
Read the passage given below and pick the option that best fits the question that follows:

It happened one day, about noon, going towards my boat, I was exceedingly surprised with the print of a man's naked foot on the shore, which was very plain to be seen in the sand. I stood like one thunder-struck, or as if I had seen an apparition. I listened, I looked round me, I could hear nothing, nor see anything. I went up the shore, and down the shore, but it was all one; I could see no other impression but that one. I went to it again to see if there were any more, and to observe if it might not be my fancy; but there was no room for that, for there was exactly the very print of a foot-toes, heel and every part of a foot. 


How does the author convince himself that the foot-print is a real one? 

  1. By finding the person who made it

  2. By being told about it by a witness

  3. By thinking about it for some time

  4. By examining it carefully and noticing its details
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The author goes back to the print, to find out for certain that it was for real and not his "fancy". This time, he observes the foot-print carefully and notices all the details. This is how the author convinces himself that the foot-print is a real one. The correct answer is option D.

Multiple choice inferences from the text reading comprehension english
Read the passage and answer the question that follows:

He drooped off to sleep. The cigarette slipped out of his mouth and burnt a great black hole in his only shirt. The smell of the burn awoke him, and he got up, cursing under his breath, and fumbled in the dark for a needle in order to sew up the hole. Otherwise, his wife would see it in the morning and would nag away at him for a couple of hours. But he could not find a needle. He fell asleep again.


Which one of the following statements best sums up the man's reaction to his problem? 

  1. The man is extremely upset to find the shirt burnt and frantically tries to repair the damage.

  2. The hole in the shirt and the wife's anticipated nagging are minor problems, the greater one is that the man cannot find a needle.

  3. None of these: the shirt-hole, the nagging and the lack of a needle, are of great consequence.

  4. The man is terrified of his wife and dreads her discovering the burnt shirt.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The man wanted to sew the hole because he didn't want to be scolded by his wife in the morning. However, the shirt -hole, the nagging and the lack of a needle are of not much importance because even though he worried over these, he went back to sleep. So, the correct answer is option C.

Multiple choice inferences from the text reading comprehension english

Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.

Once upon a time, I went for a week's holiday to the Continent with an Indian friend. We both enjoyed ourselves and were sorry when the week was over, but on parting, our behaviour was absolutely different. He was plunged in despair. He felt that because the holiday that was overall happiness was over until the world ended. He could not express his sorrow too much. But in me, the Englishman came out strong. I could not see what there was to make a fuss about. It wasn't as if we were parting forever or dying. 'Buck up', I said, 'do buck up'. He refused to buck up and I left him plunged in gloom. 

What is the Continent in the context of the passage? 

  1. An island

  2. The countryside

  3. Africa

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

Option D, Europe, is the correct answer. The speaker, being an Englishman, the Continent, to him, world mean the European mainland, And not any other place near or beyond that. The Options A and B are wrong because they refer to an island and the countryside, respectively, whereas the passage clearly refers to the Continent. Option C, Africa, is incorrect because the reference of the Continent in context of an Englishman means the European continent, which is linear to England, than Africa.