English Reading Comprehension

There were not many people outside because

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

It was a very cold evening and so few people were seen out on the streets. I did not go out myself although it was my habit not to keep indoors after sunset. So I closed all the doors and windows of my room, took the book which had been lying opened on the table, and tried to read it. The cold was getting so severe that I started shivering, so I wrapped myself up with a bigger blanket. But I could not continue reading the book because I was nearly rendered incapable of turning the pages.

The author’s habit was to

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

It was a very cold evening and so few people were seen out on the streets. I did not go out myself although it was my habit not to keep indoors after sunset. So I closed all the doors and windows of my room, took the book which had been lying opened on the table, and tried to read it. The cold was getting so severe that I started shivering, so I wrapped myself up with a bigger blanket. But I could not continue reading the book because I was nearly rendered incapable of turning the pages.

Which one of the following is correct? The fact that some flowers are flamboyant implies

Directions: Read the passage and answer the question.

When a bee, or an ant, beetle, moth or butterfly visits a flower for food, it simultaneously, and without knowing it, performs another vital function by carrying pollen from one plant to another. But not all flowers are visited by insects. A reliable guide to those that are, is their flamboyance. If the petals are large and colourful, if they smell sweet, it is because the plant needs to attract insects. Some plants have flowers which are graceful but not showy and therefore of no interest to insects. In this case the pollen is carried by the wind. Most flowers manufacture these minute grains called pollen which must be transferred to another flower of the same type before they can make seeds.

Which one of the following is correct? In the first paragraph, the writer says that bats use sound for

Directions: Read the passage and answer the question.

Not all sounds made by animals serve for communication, and we have only to turn to that extraordinary discovery of echo - location in bats to see a case in which the voice plays a strictly utilitarian role. To get a full appreciation of what this means we must turn first to some recent human inventions. Everyone knows that if a person shouts in the vicinity of a wall or mountain side, an echo will come back. The further off this solid obstruction, the longer time will elapse for the return of the echo. A sound made by tapping on the hull of a ship will be reflected from the sea bottom, and by measuring the time interval between the taps and the receipt of the echoes, the depth of the sea at that point can be calculated. So was born the echo - sounding apparatus, now in general use in ships. Every solid object will reflect a sound, varying according to the size of and nature of the object. A shoal of fish will do this. So it is a comparatively simple step from locating the sea bottom to locating a shoal of fish. With experience, and with improved apparatus, it is now possible not only to locate a shoal, but to tell if it is herring, cod, or other well - known fish, by the pattern of its echo. A few years ago it was found that certain bats emit squeaks and by receiving the echoes they could locate and steer clear of obstacles or locate flying insects on which they feed. This echo - location in bats is often compared with radar, the principle of which is similar.

Why did the author consider himself a cripple?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the question.

For more than 3 decades, I achieved great success as a lawyer, till a stroke left my right side totally paralysed. Despite the doctor’s encouragement, I was consumed by rage and self-pity. I yearned to be active again. But what could a middle - aged cripple like me do? One day, glancing at some paintings I owned, I thought suddenly, “What about painting”? In fact, I had always wanted to paint, but had never had the time. Now, I had plenty of time. In the last 25 years, I have completed 300 paintings — one of them appeared on the cover of the Reader’s Digest. The stroke, I realise, has helped me develop a latent talent and enjoy life.

Which one of the following is correct? When big waves struck the raft the six people in it

Directions: Read the passage and answer the question.

“Westward Ho !” we shouted as the sail of our crudely constructed raft, the Kon-Tiki caught the wind. The sail quickly filled and the Kon-Tiki began to move. The six of us were off to our great adventure. As night fell, the troughs of the sea grew gradually deeper and our first duel with the elements began. Each time we heard the sudden deafening hiss of a roller close by and saw a white crest come towards us out of the darkness, we held on tight and waited for the worst. But invariably the Kon-Tiki calmly swung up her stern and rose skyward, unperturbed.

How was the Kon-Tiki’s performance on the high seas?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the question.

“Westward Ho !” we shouted as the sail of our crudely constructed raft, the Kon-Tiki caught the wind. The sail quickly filled and the Kon-Tiki began to move. The six of us were off to our great adventure. As night fell, the troughs of the sea grew gradually deeper and our first duel with the elements began. Each time we heard the sudden deafening hiss of a roller close by and saw a white crest come towards us out of the darkness, we held on tight and waited for the worst. But invariably the Kon-Tiki calmly swung up her stern and rose skyward, unperturbed.

Both the scenarios teach us the true meaning of

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

Scenario-1
Kartik lives in a distant town and takes half an hour to reach his school daily. One day on his way to school, he spots an old man lying unconscious on the road with no one around to help him. He tries to help the old man by running back to the town and calling the ambulance from the city hospital. He gets scolding from his teacher on reaching late to the school.

Scenario-2
Rashmi is a kind and considerate girl who has a special love for animals. While playing in the garden one day, she comes across a crippled dog, crying in pain. She decides to take it to the veterinary hospital for treatment. She spends all her pocket money on the treatment of the stray dog. Her mother gets annoyed at her for the same.

Which of the following is most likely to happen next in the first scenario?

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

Scenario-1
Kartik lives in a distant town and takes half an hour to reach his school daily. One day on his way to school, he spots an old man lying unconscious on the road with no one around to help him. He tries to help the old man by running back to the town and calling the ambulance from the city hospital. He gets scolding from his teacher on reaching late to the school.

Scenario-2
Rashmi is a kind and considerate girl who has a special love for animals. While playing in the garden one day, she comes across a crippled dog, crying in pain. She decides to take it to the veterinary hospital for treatment. She spends all her pocket money on the treatment of the stray dog. Her mother gets annoyed at her for the same.

What can be assumed about Kartik from the first scenario?

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

Scenario-1
Kartik lives in a distant town and takes half an hour to reach his school daily. One day on his way to school, he spots an old man lying unconscious on the road with no one around to help him. He tries to help the old man by running back to the town and calling the ambulance from the city hospital. He gets scolding from his teacher on reaching late to the school.

Scenario-2
Rashmi is a kind and considerate girl who has a special love for animals. While playing in the garden one day, she comes across a crippled dog, crying in pain. She decides to take it to the veterinary hospital for treatment. She spends all her pocket money on the treatment of the stray dog. Her mother gets annoyed at her for the same.

Rote learning and answering the questions as given in text books will eventually lead to

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows:
In this present world of technological development, Internet is a boon for all the students who are given assignments to complete or do a secondary research. Internet provides such students with all the relevant information on their fingertips. But most of the students just surf the net and easily copy and paste information directly into their paper and claim it as their own. Is this not cheating? To use the ideas, content of others without giving due attribution is considered illegal.
Students are pressurised to do well in their assignments and projects. But when they make honest effort, it is not appreciated. On the other hand, those who have copied and pasted from internet would be appreciated and awarded more marks. Instead of testing their ability to write, one's ability to search best article and paste it in their assignments would be tested. Even in exams, students are encouraged to learn by rote and write the answers as they occur in text book or in notes given by teacher.
A child would grow up copying and pasting and in later stages face difficulties when given individual projects to be handled in this competitive world. He/she would be unable to come up with innovative ideas. Creativity of the student would be curbed.

The last lines of the passage highlight

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows:
Some teachers believe that good old traditional methods of teaching are quite reliable and there is no urgent need to revamp the whole system. However, modern educators are pretty sure that learning should be fun. And the more fun a student has, the more successful the results of the teaching process will be. And nowadays computer and digital technologies are the ultimate extensions of fun.
Parents in general view a computer as a new baby-sitter and a rather upgraded one when compared with the previous version – a TV-set.  They seem to think that buying a computer for their child is enough to make him or her upload and engage into some educative programs, surf informative sites and resources.  And they are bitterly disappointed when their children spend most of the time indulging in some stupid shooters tearing their enemies to bloody pieces or chat with the same rattle-brained peers in some neighbouring district discussing football or MTV. It was quite clear from the very beginning that a child or even a teenager needs some sort of guidance to enter the Internet world, somebody who would teach them to behave at different forums and online discussions. 
But sooner or later all of them come to some sort of a conclusion that computer skills are indispensable for children not to lag behind the time and be competitive at the current education and workforce market.

It could be assumed from the passage that Cabot was forced to return before reaching Iceland in 1496 because

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows:

JOHN CABOT

From the last lines of the passage it can be assumed that people will remember you if

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows:

JOHN CABOT