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 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.

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 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 does the author mean by 'buck up'?

  1. Buckle yourself up

  2. Stand up

  3. Cheer up

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

Buck up" is an expression for the word cheer up. Here, a certain 'he' is "plunged in despair" and the writer is telling him to "cheer up." So, the 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 in 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 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 does 'But in me, the Englishman came out strong' imply?

  1. He was a strong Englishman

  2. He had the typical English character

  3. The Englishman went out of him

  4. He started following Indian traditions
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Here, "I could not see what there was to make a fuss about" is an example of the typical English trait: being practical. "But in me, the Englishman came out strong" precedes this illustration of typical English character. So, in this context, we can conclude that the answer to the question asked here is option B.

Multiple choice inferences from the text reading comprehension english

Directions for questions 96 to 100: The passage given below is followed by a set of five questions. Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.


True, it is the function of the army to maintain law and order in abnormal times. Though in normal times there is another force that compels citizens to obey laws and  to act with due regard to the rights of others. The force also protects the lives and properties of law abiding people. Laws are made to secure the personal safety of its subjects and to prevent murder or crimes of violence. They are made to secure the properly of the citizens against theft and damage and to protect the rights of communities and castes to carry out  their customs and ceremonies, so long as they do not conflict with the rights of others. Now the good citizen, of her/his own free will obeys these laws and s/he takes care that everything s/he does is done with due regard to the rights and well being of others.
Though the bad citizen is only restrained from breaking these laws by fear of the consequence of her/his action. And the necessary steps to compel the bad citizen to act as a good citizen are taken by this force. The supreme ontrol of law and order in a state is in the hands of a Minister, who is responsible to the State Assembly and acts through the State Assembly and the Inspector General of Police.

Which of the following statements is not implied in the passage?

  1. The forces of law help to transform irresponsible citizens into responsible ones.

  2. Law protects those who respect it

  3. Law ensures people's religious and social rights absolutely and unconditionally

  4. A criminal is deterred from committing crimes only for fear of the law
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Option (3) is not implied in the passage, as not unconditionally means without any condition; whereas there is a condition that these rights should not conflict with the rights of others. In that case, the law can't ensure that people enjoy that right.

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:

I was at the shop early. He was standing behind the counter and as soon as I saw him, I knew that there would be some unpleasantness. Mr Higson is never at his best unshaven, in slippers and braces and smoking on the empty stomach. The atmosphere of the little shop was heavy with the bitter odour of fresh newspaper print and ink: stacks of crisp newspapers and magazines lay neatly on the counter, and Higson and the boy were making up the daily mend. 


The overall atmosphere in the shop was:

  1. pleasant, wholesome and welcome.

  2. heavy with a lot of goods placed there.

  3. with the inactivity of the early morning.

  4. congenial and businesslike.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Even though the author assumes that there would be some unpleasantness because "Mr. Higson is never at his best unshaven", the overall atmosphere of the shop is congenial and business-like: we see Mr. Higson and "the boy" busy and engaged in some work, the magazines and newspaper were stacked neatly in their place and a general pleasantness hinted by everybody being busy and going about their way. So, option D is the correct 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:

Popular illusions about birds extend further than the use of the word 'egg-shape' that would suggest that all eggs are alike. For instance, there is the popular idea that owls hoot. Actually, only very few owls hoot and these include the common brown or tawny wood owl. The white barn owl screeches; the little owl has a wailing cry, the long-. eared owl barks; and the short-eared owl snorts! Another mistaken idea is that all ducks 'quack' because the common farmyard duck is a domesticated form of the common wild duck or mallard that quacks. Actually, most wild ducks call with whistles.


The impression created by repeating the terms, 'popular' and 'common' are:

  1. human beings are closely attached to birds.

  2. our ideas about birds are derived from the most common types.

  3. owls and ducks are our favourite birds.

  4. domesticated birds are our source of information about the bird world.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Here, the words "popular" and "common" imply general ideas. We derive these "popular" ideas by observing only the common types of birds and make a generalization. This claim is supported by the statement: "For instance, there is the popular idea that owls hoot. Actually, only very few owls hoot and these include the common brown or tawny wood owl." So, the answer to the required question is option B.

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

A village must have some trade, and this village has always been full of virility and power. Obscure and happy, its splendid energies had found employment in wresting a livelihood out of the earth, whence had come a certain dignity, and kindliness, and love for other men. Civilization did not relax these energies, but it had diverted them; and all the special qualities, which might have helped to heal the world, had been destroyed. The family affection, the affection for the commune, the sane pastoral virtues - all had perished. No villain had done this thing: it was the work of ladies and gentlemen who were rich and often clever. 

Village life is praised by the author because it ____________. 

  1. helps villagers to achieve material prosperity.

  2. makes men complacent.

  3. breeds humane virtues.

  4. is free from the din and hurry of city life.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The author says that village life breeds virtues like dignity, kindness and love for fellow humans whereas "civilization" destroyed them. Thus, we can conclude that this becomes the main reason why the author praises village life: it breeds humane virtues. So, the answer is option C.

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

Once while travelling by the local bus, I got a seat beside a very strange man. He seemed interested in every passenger aboard. He would stare at a person, scribble some odd mathematical notations on his long notebook and then move on to the next. Being quite interested in what he was doing I asked him what all those notations meant and then came the startling reply. He saw a man's face not as a single unit but as thousands of squares put together. He was in fact a statistical expert and a budding artist learning the art of graphics. 


From the passage we gather that _____. 

  1. the author is very inquistive

  2. the author tries to poke his nose in other people's business

  3. the author is interested in mathematical notations

  4. the author wants to talk to fellow passengers in the bus
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Here, the author having seen a man whom he had thought of as being strange, asked the same man what his seemingly strange ways meant. This shows that the author is curious and wanted to know more. So, we can conclude that the author is very inquisitive. So, option A is the 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:

While I stood drinking in the beauty of this placid scene I became conscious of an alteration. In a moment the sole porter emerged from his midday nap, operated a signal that clanked noisily into position, and then ambled slowly towards me for my return half-ticket, whilst I remarked that his red amiable face and easy-going gait were in perfect harmony with the tranquil surroundings.
 A wisp of smoke on the horizon with a dark snake crawling beneath it announced the approach of the train. As it drew nearer, the deep silence of the place was gradually displaced by a creaking of brakes and a hissing of steam. Save for myself, no one entered the train and no one alighted. The porter with leisurely expertness, trundled a couple of milk churns on board, the door was slammed, the guard signalled to the driver, and we moved off, leaving the small station once more to its drowsy silence.

What does the author suggest by the word 'placid'?

  1. The scene was filled with noise of the train

  2. The place was filled with lively humanity

  3. The place was quite and lonely

  4. The horizon looked smoke laden
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The word "placid" literally means pleasantly calm or peaceful; unruffled; tranquil; serenely quiet or undisturbed. Here, the author uses "placid" to imply that the scene was quite and peaceful. In this context, option C is the best fit.