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

The author refers to 'philistines' in order to

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question based on the passage.

There is hardly a composer concerning whom so many erroneous notions are current as concerning Chopin, and of all the histories of music I have seen that very few critics devote to Chopin an amount of space approximately proportionate to his importance. One of the most absurd of the misconceptions is that Chopin's genius was born in full armor, and that it did not pass through several stages of development, like that of other composers. Chopin did display remarkable originality at the very beginning, but the apparent maturity of his first published works is due to the fact that he destroyed his earliest efforts and disowned those works which are known as posthumous, and which may have created confusion in some minds by having received a higher opus number than his last works.

Another misconception regarding Chopin is that his latest works are morbid and unintelligible. The same charge was brought by philistines against the best works of Beethoven, Schumann, and Wagner. The fact is that these last works are of an almost matchless harmonic depth and originality, as superior to his earlier works as Wagner's last music dramas are to his first operas. Schumann was the first to recognize the revolutionary significance of Chopin's style. Chopin's works, he says, are cannons buried in flowers; and in another place he declares that he can see in Chopin's G minor Nocturne a terrible declaration of war against a whole musical past.

Chopin was quiet and retiring in his personal disposition so much so that his small voice was lost in the din of musical warfare. He warmly defended the principles of the romantic school, if necessary, and had decided opinions of other musicians, especially of the popular pianists of his day who vitiated the public taste with their show pieces; but he generally kept them to himself or confided them only to his friends.

The world is yet to acknowledge that Chopin is one of the very greatest explorers and pioneers in the domain of art. This can be explained by, for want of a better term, aesthetic Jumboism. When the late lamented Jumbo was in New York he attracted so much attention that his colleagues, although but little inferior in size, had no show whatever. Everybody crowded around Jumbo, stuffing him with bushels of oranges and apples, while the other elephants were entirely ignored. As elephants are intelligent animals, is it not probable that Pilot, the next in size to Jumbo, went mad and had to be shot because he was jealous of the exclusive attentions bestowed on his rival? In aesthetics, this Jumboism, this exaggerated desire for mammoth dimensions, seems to be a trait of the human mind which it is difficult to eradicate. It cannot be said that the critics of art or literature follow the popular disposition to measure genius with a yard-stick; but in music there seems to be a general tendency to do this. Liszt remarks, apropos, in his work on Chopin: The value of the sketches made by Chopin's extremely delicate pencil has not yet been acknowledged and emphasized sufficiently. It has become customary in our days to regard as great composers only those who have written at least half a dozen operas, as many oratorios, and several symphonies.

  1. state that the best of artists were also not beyond criticism

  2. give an idea that the best works also lacked in some areas

  3. explain that the best art was unfathomable for the masses

  4. give a reason why Chopin’s works were not given importance

  5. present a view that the best of works cannot be understood by conventional filters
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

(4) is correct because the author uses the word ‘philistines' to explain that many traditionalists criticise the best works of the artists because the former try to evaluate the latter’s works on known yardsticks.

Multiple choice

How according to the author have the purely artistic singers attained artistic perfection?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question based on the passage.

PASSAGE – III:

The moral conditions of the operatic stage are no doubt far more satisfactory than they were, and in England the general deodorisation of the theatre has not been unfelt in opera; but even without the unworthy motives which too often drew the bucks and the dandies of a past day to the opera-house, the influence of the unintelligent part of the audience upon the performers is far from good in an artistic sense. It is this which fosters that mental condition with which all who are acquainted with the operatic world are only too familiar. Now, just as in the days when Marcello wrote his Teatro alla moda, there is scarcely a singer who does not hold, and extremely few who do not express, the opinion that all the rest of the profession is in league against them; and by this supposition, as well as by many other circumstances, an atmosphere is created which is wholly antagonistic to the attainment of artistic perfection. All honour is due to the purely artistic singers who have reached their position without intrigue, and whose influence on their colleagues is the best stimulus to wholesome endeavour. It is beyond question that the greater the proportion of intelligent hearers in any audience or set of subscribers, the higher will the standard be, not only in vocalisation, but in that combination which makes the artist as distinguished from the mere singer.

For every reason, too, it is desirable that opera should be given, as a general rule, in the language of the country in which the performance takes place, and although the system of giving each work with its own original words is an ideally perfect one for trained hearers, yet the difficulties in the way of its realisation, and the absurdities that result from such expedients as a mixture of two or more languages in the same piece, render it practically inexpedient for ordinary operatic undertakings. The recognition of English as a possible medium of vocal expression may be slow, but it is certainly making progress, and in the last seasons at Covent Garden it was occasionally employed even before the fashionable subscribers, who may be presumed to have tolerated it, since they did not manifest any disapproval of its use. Since the first edition of this book was published, the Utopian idea, as it then seemed, of a national opera for London has advanced considerably towards realisation, and it is certain that when it is set on foot, the English language alone will be employed.

While opera is habitually performed in a foreign language, or, if in English, by those who have not the art of making their words intelligible, there will always be a demand for books that tell the story more clearly than is to be found in the doggerel translations of the libretti, unless audiences return with one accord to the attitude of the amateurs of former days, who paid not the slightest attention to the plot of the piece, provided only that their favourite singers were taking part.

  1. Without scheming and steadfastly being pure in the pursuit of art.

  2. With the support and praise of their colleagues.

  3. Stimulated by the desire to be perfect in all endeavours.

  4. Keeping art above themselves and working hard.

  5. By shunning the lure of lucre.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

(1) is correct as is given in the line: 'purely artistic singers who have reached their position without intrigue'.

Multiple choice

Why does the author consider the atmosphere 'wholly antagonistic to the attainment of artistic perfection'?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question based on the passage.

PASSAGE – III:

The moral conditions of the operatic stage are no doubt far more satisfactory than they were, and in England the general deodorisation of the theatre has not been unfelt in opera; but even without the unworthy motives which too often drew the bucks and the dandies of a past day to the opera-house, the influence of the unintelligent part of the audience upon the performers is far from good in an artistic sense. It is this which fosters that mental condition with which all who are acquainted with the operatic world are only too familiar. Now, just as in the days when Marcello wrote his Teatro alla moda, there is scarcely a singer who does not hold, and extremely few who do not express, the opinion that all the rest of the profession is in league against them; and by this supposition, as well as by many other circumstances, an atmosphere is created which is wholly antagonistic to the attainment of artistic perfection. All honour is due to the purely artistic singers who have reached their position without intrigue, and whose influence on their colleagues is the best stimulus to wholesome endeavour. It is beyond question that the greater the proportion of intelligent hearers in any audience or set of subscribers, the higher will the standard be, not only in vocalisation, but in that combination which makes the artist as distinguished from the mere singer.

For every reason, too, it is desirable that opera should be given, as a general rule, in the language of the country in which the performance takes place, and although the system of giving each work with its own original words is an ideally perfect one for trained hearers, yet the difficulties in the way of its realisation, and the absurdities that result from such expedients as a mixture of two or more languages in the same piece, render it practically inexpedient for ordinary operatic undertakings. The recognition of English as a possible medium of vocal expression may be slow, but it is certainly making progress, and in the last seasons at Covent Garden it was occasionally employed even before the fashionable subscribers, who may be presumed to have tolerated it, since they did not manifest any disapproval of its use. Since the first edition of this book was published, the Utopian idea, as it then seemed, of a national opera for London has advanced considerably towards realisation, and it is certain that when it is set on foot, the English language alone will be employed.

While opera is habitually performed in a foreign language, or, if in English, by those who have not the art of making their words intelligible, there will always be a demand for books that tell the story more clearly than is to be found in the doggerel translations of the libretti, unless audiences return with one accord to the attitude of the amateurs of former days, who paid not the slightest attention to the plot of the piece, provided only that their favourite singers were taking part.

  1. The rest of the profession is all together but against the real artists.

  2. The lack of intelligent hearers doesn't foster an environment of creative stimulation.

  3. The artist's true expression doesn't get flowered and his abilities are inhibited.

  4. The artists lack the creative impulse and are mired in mediocrity.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

(3) alone clearly explains why the author considers the atmosphere '…wholly….'.

Multiple choice

What does the author mean by 'deodorisation'?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question based on the passage.

PASSAGE – III:

The moral conditions of the operatic stage are no doubt far more satisfactory than they were, and in England the general deodorisation of the theatre has not been unfelt in opera; but even without the unworthy motives which too often drew the bucks and the dandies of a past day to the opera-house, the influence of the unintelligent part of the audience upon the performers is far from good in an artistic sense. It is this which fosters that mental condition with which all who are acquainted with the operatic world are only too familiar. Now, just as in the days when Marcello wrote his Teatro alla moda, there is scarcely a singer who does not hold, and extremely few who do not express, the opinion that all the rest of the profession is in league against them; and by this supposition, as well as by many other circumstances, an atmosphere is created which is wholly antagonistic to the attainment of artistic perfection. All honour is due to the purely artistic singers who have reached their position without intrigue, and whose influence on their colleagues is the best stimulus to wholesome endeavour. It is beyond question that the greater the proportion of intelligent hearers in any audience or set of subscribers, the higher will the standard be, not only in vocalisation, but in that combination which makes the artist as distinguished from the mere singer.

For every reason, too, it is desirable that opera should be given, as a general rule, in the language of the country in which the performance takes place, and although the system of giving each work with its own original words is an ideally perfect one for trained hearers, yet the difficulties in the way of its realisation, and the absurdities that result from such expedients as a mixture of two or more languages in the same piece, render it practically inexpedient for ordinary operatic undertakings. The recognition of English as a possible medium of vocal expression may be slow, but it is certainly making progress, and in the last seasons at Covent Garden it was occasionally employed even before the fashionable subscribers, who may be presumed to have tolerated it, since they did not manifest any disapproval of its use. Since the first edition of this book was published, the Utopian idea, as it then seemed, of a national opera for London has advanced considerably towards realisation, and it is certain that when it is set on foot, the English language alone will be employed.

While opera is habitually performed in a foreign language, or, if in English, by those who have not the art of making their words intelligible, there will always be a demand for books that tell the story more clearly than is to be found in the doggerel translations of the libretti, unless audiences return with one accord to the attitude of the amateurs of former days, who paid not the slightest attention to the plot of the piece, provided only that their favourite singers were taking part.

  1. Cleaning

  2. Refreshing change

  3. Artificial change

  4. Positive change

  5. Moral change
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

(4) is correct because the change that is referred to here is definitely positive as is given in the first line of the passage, 'are no doubt far more satisfactory'.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the passage/argument and answer the question that follows it.

Ten years back, very few people had heard the term 'social entrepreneur'‌. Now, to be a social entrepreneur is to be chased by politicians and businessmen alike for your potential to solve big social challenges in innovative ways. Governments, struggling to meet societal demands, are desperate for help from someone more creative than the typical bureaucrat.

It logically follows from the above discussion that

  1. social entrepreneurs have multiplied in number over the past ten years

  2. overall, there has been more awareness about and appreciation of the role performed by social entrepreneurs

  3. governments are facing more societal problems than they did ten years ago

  4. the typical bureaucrat is an uncreative individual
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Options (1) and (3) do not find any support in the passage as no reference to the ideas therein has been made. Option (4) is slightly far-fetched as the passage only mentions the government’s pursuit of individuals with more creative solutions to social problems. Hence, it is ruled out. Option (5) goes overboard in saying that they are partnering the government, which is not supported by the passage. Hence, option (2) is the best possible answer.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the passage/argument and answer the question that follows it.

Very few inputs influence the US economic system as much as oil prices. Oil runs the cars, trucks and planes that transport people and products. As oil prices rise, costs rise for transportation companies such as airlines and freight delivery companies, squeezing their profit margins. Downstream of these companies, customers who rely on them to get products to markets are similarly impacted by higher prices. Contrarily, most energy companies benefit from higher oil prices, either from higher oil revenues, or due to more demand for alternatives like ethanol and clean energy. Car companies with fuel conservation technology such as hybrid engines can expect more sales as consumers feel the pinch of higher oil prices, while those who rely on sales of Sports Utility Vehicles may feel challenged business-wise.

The author conveys his point primarily by

  1. creating an analogy between two directionally dissimilar but logically equivalent phenomena

  2. making use of an example to illustrate something else happening in an entirely different field

  3. analysing a phenomenon in terms of the a chains of cause and effect

  4. using points and counter-pints in favour of and against a particular idea

  5. using a set of phenomena to illustrate how the two, despite being opposed to each other, are still the same
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

An analogy, by definition, compares two sets of phenomena, each containing a set of minimum two items. This is not the case here, thereby ruling out option (1). The area of discussion remains only and only the impact of rising oil prices on different sets of industries and people. No idea has been favoured or criticised by the author. Thus option (4) is again wrong. Option (5) could be similarly ruled out as the two kinds of effects being discussed are not the same. Option (3) happens to be the best choice in that the author mainly talking about the sequential effects of an oil price rise on different industries and people.

Multiple choice

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

Once (i) hungry fox went to (ii) garden. There (iii) fox saw grapes hanging from (iv) vine. (v) fox jumped again and again, but could not reach (vi) grapes. It was (vii) awful moment for (viii) poor animal. It went on attempting for (ix) long time, but all in vain. At last, (x) fox gave it up and went away saying, ''(xi) grapes are sour.''

Fill in blank (viii).

  1. the

  2. a

  3. an

  4. No article needed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

(2) and (3) are incorrect because the noun ‘fox’ has been repeated.

Multiple choice

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

Once (i) hungry fox went to (ii) garden. There (iii) fox saw grapes hanging from (iv) vine. (v) fox jumped again and again, but could not reach (vi) grapes. It was (vii) awful moment for (viii) poor animal. It went on attempting for (ix) long time, but all in vain. At last, (x) fox gave it up and went away saying, ''(xi) grapes are sour.''

Fill in blank (vii).

  1. an

  2. the

  3. a

  4. No article needed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

(2) is incorrect because the word ‘awful’ comes for the first time. (3) is incorrect because the word ‘awful’ begins with a vowel sound.

Multiple choice

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

Once (i) hungry fox went to (ii) garden. There (iii) fox saw grapes hanging from (iv) vine. (v) fox jumped again and again, but could not reach (vi) grapes. It was (vii) awful moment for (viii) poor animal. It went on attempting for (ix) long time, but all in vain. At last, (x) fox gave it up and went away saying, ''(xi) grapes are sour.''

Fill in blank (vi).

  1. the

  2. an

  3. a

  4. No article needed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

(2) and (3) are incorrect because the noun ‘grapes’ is plural.

Multiple choice

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

Once (i) hungry fox went to (ii) garden. There (iii) fox saw grapes hanging from (iv) vine. (v) fox jumped again and again, but could not reach (vi) grapes. It was (vii) awful moment for (viii) poor animal. It went on attempting for (ix) long time, but all in vain. At last, (x) fox gave it up and went away saying, ''(xi) grapes are sour.''

Fill in blank (v).

  1. An

  2. A

  3. The

  4. No article needed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

(1) and (2) are incorrect because the noun ‘fox’ has been repeated.

Multiple choice

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

Once (i) hungry fox went to (ii) garden. There (iii) fox saw grapes hanging from (iv) vine. (v) fox jumped again and again, but could not reach (vi) grapes. It was (vii) awful moment for (viii) poor animal. It went on attempting for (ix) long time, but all in vain. At last, (x) fox gave it up and went away saying, ''(xi) grapes are sour.''

Fill in blank (xi).

  1. a

  2. an

  3. the

  4. No article needed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

(1) and (2) are incorrect because the noun ‘fox’ has been repeated.

Multiple choice

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

Once (i) hungry fox went to (ii) garden. There (iii) fox saw grapes hanging from (iv) vine. (v) fox jumped again and again, but could not reach (vi) grapes. It was (vii) awful moment for (viii) poor animal. It went on attempting for (ix) long time, but all in vain. At last, (x) fox gave it up and went away saying, ''(xi) grapes are sour.''

Fill in blank (iii).

  1. the

  2. a

  3. an

  4. No article needed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

(2) and (3) are incorrect because the noun ‘fox’ has been repeated.

Multiple choice

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

Once (i) hungry fox went to (ii) garden. There (iii) fox saw grapes hanging from (iv) vine. (v) fox jumped again and again, but could not reach (vi) grapes. It was (vii) awful moment for (viii) poor animal. It went on attempting for (ix) long time, but all in vain. At last, (x) fox gave it up and went away saying, ''(xi) grapes are sour.''

Fill in blank (ix).

  1. an

  2. a

  3. the

  4. No article needed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

(1) is incorrect because the word ‘long’ begins with a consonant sound. (3) is incorrect because it does not refer to a special time.

Multiple choice

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

Once (i) hungry fox went to (ii) garden. There (iii) fox saw grapes hanging from (iv) vine. (v) fox jumped again and again, but could not reach (vi) grapes. It was (vii) awful moment for (viii) poor animal. It went on attempting for (ix) long time, but all in vain. At last, (x) fox gave it up and went away saying, ''(xi) grapes are sour.''

Fill in blank (x).

  1. the

  2. a

  3. an

  4. No article needed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

(2) and (3) are incorrect because the noun ‘fox’ has been repeated. 

Multiple choice

Which of the following is the best revision of the underlined portion of sentence no. (5) below?

The mere and naked material of nature we eye with in difference, or trample on with disdain.

Directions: Read the passage and select the best answer for the question:

(1) There is something humbling to human pride in a rustic life. (2) It grates against the heart to think of the tone in which we unconsciously permit ourselves to address a rustic. (3) We see in him humanity in its simplest state. (4) It is a sad thought to feel that we despise him; that all we respect in our species is what has been created by art; the gaudy dress, the glittering equipage, or even the cultivated intellect. (5) The mere and naked material of nature we eye with in difference, or trample on with disdain. (6) Poor child of toil, from the gray dawn to the setting sun one long test of endurance. (7) No ideas elicited, no thought awakened beyond those that suffice to make him the machine of others, the serf of the hard soil. (8) And then too, mark how we frown upon his scanty holidays, how we hedge in his mirth, and how we turn hilarity into crime. (9) We make the whole of the gay world, wherein we take our snares and perils to him a place of pleasure. (10) Do we not mistake the idyllic, unaffected rustic charm for uncouth, inelegant artlessness?
(11) Why not look upon the whole issue from the other angle – the viewpoint of the ‘observed’? (12) How did the rustic view the uptown gentry? (13) The view will surely not be very flattering. (14) The ‘rustic’ has the civility to ‘waive off’ such ‘reckless’ opinions about the urban folk and restrict himself to the upkeep of values only on his own part.

  1. (As it is now)

  2. The mere and naked material of nature we eye with indifference.

  3. The mere and naked material of nature we eye with in deference.

  4. The mere and naked material of nature we eye with deference.

  5. The naked material of nature we eye with indifference.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

This is the best revision of the sentence because coldness and insensitivity are 'indifference', not 'in difference'.