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.

Passage based inferenceParagraph rearrangementCloze test fillingVocabulary replacementReading accuracy tests

English Reading Comprehension Questions

Multiple choice

In the captivating folk tale of The Foolish Jackal, what is the foolish jackal's fatal flaw?

  1. Excessive Pride

  2. Greed

  3. Laziness

  4. Ignorance
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The foolish jackal's fatal flaw is his excessive pride, which leads him to underestimate his opponents and make reckless decisions, ultimately resulting in his downfall.

Multiple choice

In her autobiography, (The \ Glass \ Castle), Jeannette Walls describes her experiences growing up in a nomadic family that lived in poverty.

  1. True

  2. False
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Jeannette Walls' (The \ Glass \ Castle) is an autobiography that tells the story of her experiences growing up in a nomadic family that lived in poverty.

Multiple choice

In 'The Fall of the House of Usher', the crumbling mansion serves as a metaphor for:

  1. The decay of the Usher family

  2. The narrator's own mental state

  3. The futility of trying to escape one's fate

  4. All of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The decaying mansion symbolizes the decline of the Usher family, the narrator's deteriorating mental state, and the inevitability of death and decay.

Multiple choice

In Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,' what happens to the mariner after he shoots the albatross?

  1. He is cursed and forced to wander the seas

  2. He is turned into a ghost

  3. He is granted immortality

  4. He is rescued by a ship
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The mariner's act of killing the albatross brings a curse upon him, causing him to endure a series of misfortunes and wander the seas as a punishment.

Multiple choice

Which Indian folk saying warns us against the dangers of pride and arrogance?

  1. Pride goes before a fall.

  2. A fool and his money are soon parted.

  3. All that glitters is not gold.

  4. A rolling stone gathers no moss.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

This saying cautions us against being overly proud or arrogant, as it can lead to downfall or negative consequences. It reminds us to stay humble and grounded.

Multiple choice

In the poem "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night," the speaker urges his father to:

  1. Fight against death

  2. Accept death gracefully

  3. Seek comfort in religion

  4. Reflect on his life and legacy
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The speaker urges his father to fight against death, to resist it with all his might, and to not go gently into that good night.

Multiple choice

In the epic poem "The Song of Roland," what is the primary reason for Roland's refusal to retreat from the Battle of Roncevaux Pass?

  1. To protect the honor of his king and country.

  2. To fulfill his duty as a knight.

  3. To prove his bravery and skill in battle.

  4. All of the above.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Roland's refusal to retreat from the Battle of Roncevaux Pass, as depicted in "The Song of Roland," is driven by multiple factors. These include his desire to protect the honor of his king and country, to fulfill his duty as a knight, and to prove his bravery and skill in battle.

Multiple choice

In the story of 'The Fox and the Grapes', what does the fox do when it cannot reach the grapes?

  1. Climbs the tree

  2. Asks for help

  3. Gives up

  4. Says the grapes are sour
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The fox, unable to reach the grapes, rationalizes its failure by claiming that the grapes are sour, illustrating the tendency to belittle what one cannot attain.

Multiple choice

In the film \"To Kill a Mockingbird\", what does Atticus Finch say to his daughter Scout about prejudice?

  1. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.

  2. Prejudice is a disease that eats away at the soul.

  3. It's a sin to kill a mockingbird.

  4. You can't judge a book by its cover.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

In \"To Kill a Mockingbird\", Atticus Finch teaches his daughter Scout about empathy and understanding with the famous line, \"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.\"

Multiple choice

In the film \"The Shawshank Redemption\", what does Red say to Andy Dufresne as he leaves Shawshank?

  1. Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

  2. Get busy living or get busy dying.

  3. I guess it comes down to a simple choice: get busy living or get busy dying.

  4. It's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

In \"The Shawshank Redemption\", Red expresses his belief in hope with the memorable line, \"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.\"

Multiple choice

In the film \"Forrest Gump\", what does Forrest Gump say to Lieutenant Dan Taylor about life?

  1. Life is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're gonna get.

  2. My momma always said life was like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're gonna get.

  3. Life is like a box of chocolates.

  4. You never know what you're gonna get.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

In \"Forrest Gump\", Forrest Gump's simple yet profound philosophy about life is captured in the line, \"Life is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're gonna get.\"

Multiple choice

In the film \"Pulp Fiction\", what does Jules Winnfield say to Vincent Vega about the meaning of life?

  1. The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men.

  2. I'm a vegetarian.

  3. That's a tasty burger!

  4. I'll tell you what's on my mind, right? I'm thinking about how I'm gonna get through this next hour or so without having to kill anybody.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

In \"Pulp Fiction\", Jules Winnfield's philosophical musings about the nature of good and evil are expressed in the line, \"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men.\"

Multiple choice

There once was a man from Peru, Who dreamed he was eating his shoe. He woke with a fright, In the middle of the night, To find that his dream had come true.

  1. The man was a cannibal.

  2. The man was sleepwalking.

  3. The man had a nightmare.

  4. The man was hallucinating.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The limerick is about a man who has a nightmare that he is eating his shoe. He wakes up in the middle of the night and finds that his dream has come true.

Multiple choice

In the tale of 'The Clever Jackal', what did the jackal do to escape the tiger's clutches?

  1. He convinced the tiger that he was a god.

  2. He tricked the tiger into falling into a well.

  3. He played a musical instrument to charm the tiger.

  4. He ran away as fast as he could.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The clever jackal convinced the tiger that he was a god and that eating him would bring bad luck. This allowed the jackal to escape.

Multiple choice

In the legend of 'The Golden Bird', what did the prince have to do to obtain the bird?

  1. He had to climb a treacherous mountain.

  2. He had to defeat a fierce dragon.

  3. He had to solve a series of riddles.

  4. He had to travel to a distant land.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The prince had to climb a treacherous mountain and retrieve the golden bird from its nest.