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

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the questions. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of authors only.

The author compares the elephant to a costly machine because

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the questions. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of authors only
Passage V
As soon as I saw the elephant, I knew with perfect certainly that I ought not to shoot him. It is a serious matter to shoot a working elephant – it is comparable to destroying a huge and costly piece of machinery – and obviously one ought not to do it if it can possibly be avoided. And at that distance, peacefully eating, the elephant looked no more dangerous than a cow.

  1. ivory is very expensive

  2. it can do as much work as an expensive machine

  3. elephants look like big machines

  4. elephants and machines have similar prices
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The words ‘working elephant’ clearly point to the reason for this comparison.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the questions. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of authors only.

The story of the old soldier, that the author liked most was about

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the questions. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of authors only
Passage VI
I was very fond of the old soldier in our little town. He had only one leg, having lost the other somewhere in Assam in 1942. He used to tell me about his adventures. He told me that he had run away from home to join the army. He had experienced his first battle in the Libyan desert. Out of his dozens of war stories, the one I liked best was the one of his escape from a Japanese prison-of-war camp in Burma. He told me again and again how he walked two hundred miles in two weeks. On the way, he was bitten on the toe by a poisonous snake and he had to cut off part of the toe in order to survive. But by the time he got to an Indian camp, the wound had turned septic and the leg had to be amputated. He is however, quite contented with his lot.

  1. his running away from home to join the army

  2. his first battle in the Libyan desert

  3. the loss of his leg in Assam

  4. his escape from a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The answer is available from the line ‘out of his dozens of war stories, the one I liked best…….’

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the questions. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of authors only.

What was the actual reason for the organizers to have a difficult time?

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the questions. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of authors only
Passage VII
A large number of people had come to attend the meeting to be addressed by the gifted speaker. The organizers had a difficult time keeping the assembled people quiet as the meeting did not commence at the scheduled time. After some time the people lost their patience and began to shout and heckle. The organizers had great difficulty in assuaging the anger of the crowd. They were forced to cancel the meeting as the speaker had to be hospitalized due to sudden illness.

  1. A large number of people had come to the meeting

  2. The organizers could not make proper arrangements

  3. The meeting could not be started in time

  4. The speaker was ill
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Second line, ‘the organisers had a difficult time…..at the scheduled time’ indicates the correct answer.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the questions. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of authors only.

The soldier’s leg had to be amputated because

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the questions. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of authors only
Passage VI
I was very fond of the old soldier in our little town. He had only one leg, having lost the other somewhere in Assam in 1942. He used to tell me about his adventures. He told me that he had run away from home to join the army. He had experienced his first battle in the Libyan desert. Out of his dozens of war stories, the one I liked best was the one of his escape from a Japanese prison-of-war camp in Burma. He told me again and again how he walked two hundred miles in two weeks. On the way, he was bitten on the toe by a poisonous snake and he had to cut off part of the toe in order to survive. But by the time he got to an Indian camp, the wound had turned septic and the leg had to be amputated. He is however, quite contented with his lot.

  1. he had walked two hundred miles in two weeks

  2. he was wounded in war

  3. the wounded toe turned septic

  4. he was shot in the leg while escaping from the Japanese camp
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Second last line gives the answer to this question.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the questions. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of authors only.

The old soldier, according to the author was

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the questions. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of authors only
Passage VI
I was very fond of the old soldier in our little town. He had only one leg, having lost the other somewhere in Assam in 1942. He used to tell me about his adventures. He told me that he had run away from home to join the army. He had experienced his first battle in the Libyan desert. Out of his dozens of war stories, the one I liked best was the one of his escape from a Japanese prison-of-war camp in Burma. He told me again and again how he walked two hundred miles in two weeks. On the way, he was bitten on the toe by a poisonous snake and he had to cut off part of the toe in order to survive. But by the time he got to an Indian camp, the wound had turned septic and the leg had to be amputated. He is however, quite contented with his lot.

  1. unhappy about his life

  2. satisfied with his lot

  3. angry about his fate

  4. disgusted with his misfortune
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Answer is given in the last line of the paragraph.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the questions. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of authors only.

The author was very fond of the old soldier because

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the questions. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of authors only
Passage VI
I was very fond of the old soldier in our little town. He had only one leg, having lost the other somewhere in Assam in 1942. He used to tell me about his adventures. He told me that he had run away from home to join the army. He had experienced his first battle in the Libyan desert. Out of his dozens of war stories, the one I liked best was the one of his escape from a Japanese prison-of-war camp in Burma. He told me again and again how he walked two hundred miles in two weeks. On the way, he was bitten on the toe by a poisonous snake and he had to cut off part of the toe in order to survive. But by the time he got to an Indian camp, the wound had turned septic and the leg had to be amputated. He is however, quite contented with his lot.

  1. he had lost one of his legs in war

  2. he used to tell the author about his adventures

  3. he was contented with his lot

  4. he had been to many countries
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

First option describes the soldier. Third and fourth options also tell us about the soldier. Second option clearly tells why the author liked to spend time with the soldier, so it is the correct answer.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the questions. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of authors only.

The young man was well dressed

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the questions. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of authors only. 
Passage 1
A well-dressed young man entered a big textile shop one evening. He was able to draw the attention of the salesmen who thought him rich and likely to make heavy purchases. He was shown the superior varieties of suit lengths and sarees. But after casually examining them, he kept moving to the next section where readymade goods were being sold and further on to the hosiery section. By then, the salesmen had begun to doubt his intentions, and drew the attention of the manager. The manager asked him what exactly he wanted and he replied that he wanted courteous treatment. He explained that he had come to the same shop in casual dress that morning and drawn little attention. His pride was hurt and he wanted to assert himself. He came in good dress only to get decent treatment, not for getting any textiles. He left without making any purchase.

  1. it was his habit to dress well

  2. it was his wedding day

  3. he wanted to meet the manager of the shop

  4. he wanted to impress the salesmen
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

From the lines ‘the salesman had begun to doubt ……… treatment’, it is clearly shown that the customer wanted to register a complaint with the manager.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the questions. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of authors only.

Further delay resulted in the people

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the questions. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of authors only
Passage VII
A large number of people had come to attend the meeting to be addressed by the gifted speaker. The organizers had a difficult time keeping the assembled people quiet as the meeting did not commence at the scheduled time. After some time the people lost their patience and began to shout and heckle. The organizers had great difficulty in assuaging the anger of the crowd. They were forced to cancel the meeting as the speaker had to be hospitalized due to sudden illness.

  1. leaving the place

  2. fighting with the organizers

  3. making noise

  4. making the speaker ill
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The line, ‘after some time ….. shout and heckle’ shows that option 3 is the correct answer.

Multiple choice

”I would write on the lintels of the doorpost, whim.” What does the author mean by this statement?

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.
Everyone conforms to infancy, infancy conforms to nobody, so that one babe commonly makes four or five out of the adults who prattle and play to it. So God has armed youth and puberty and manhood no less with its own piquancy and charm, and made it enviable and gracious and its claims not to be put by, if it will stand by itself. Do not think the youth has no force, because he cannot speak to you and me. Hark! In the next room his voice is sufficiently clear and emphatic. It seems he knows how to speak to his contemporaries. Bashful or bold, then, he will know how to make us seniors very unnecessary.
The healthy attitude of human nature can be seen in the nonchalance of boys who are sure of a dinner, and would disdain as much as a lord to do or say aught to conciliate one. A boy is in the parlor what the pit is in the playhouse; independent, irresponsible, looking out from his corner on such people and facts as pass by, he tries and sentences them on their merits, in the swift, summary way of boys, as good, bad, interesting, silly, eloquent, troublesome. He never cumbers himself regarding consequences, about interests and he gives an independent, genuine verdict. You should court him: he will not court you. But the man is, as it were, clapped into jail by his consciousness. As soon as he has once acted or spoken with eclat, he is a committed person, watched by the sympathy or the hatred of hundreds, whose affections must now enter into his account. There is no Lethe for this. Ah, that he could pass again into his neutrality.
These are the voices, which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world. Everywhere society is conspiring against the manhood of every one of its members. Society is joint – stock company, in which members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. The virtue in most request is conformity. It is averse to self-reliance. What it loves is names and customs and not realities and creators.
Whosoever is a man has to be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.
No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that to this; the only right is what is after my constitution, the only right is what is after me constitution, the only wrong what is against it. A man is to carry himself in the presence of all opposition as if every thing were titular and ephemeral but he. I am ashamed to think how easily we capitulate to badges and names, to large societies and dead institutions. Every decent and well-spoken individual affects and sways me more than is right. I ought to go upright and vital, and speak the rude truth in all ways.
I shun father and mother and wife and brother, when my genius calls me. I would write on the lintels of the doorpost, whim. I hope it is somewhat better than whim at last, but we cannot spend the day in explanation. Except me not to show cause why I seek or why I exclude company. Then, again, do not tell me, as a good man did not to-day, of my obligation to put all poor men in good situations. Are they my poor? I tell thee, thou foolish philanthropist, that I grudge the dollar, the time, the cent, I give to such men as do not belong to me and to whom I do not belong. There is a class of person to whom by all spiritual affinity I am bought and sold; for them I will go to prison, if need be; but your miscellaneous popular charities; the education at collage of fools; the building of meeting – house to the vain end to which many now stand; alms to sots; and the thousand fold Relief Societies; - though I confess with shame I sometimes succumb and give the dollar, it is a wicked dollar which by and by I shall have the manhood to withhold.
If you refuse to conform, you can experience the displeasure of the world. Hence, a man should know how to estimate a sour face. The by – standers look askance on him in the public street or in the friend’s parlor. In case this aversion originates from contempt and resistance similar to his own, it might result in a sad countenance; but the sour faces of the multitude, like their sweet faces, have no deep cause, but are caused by reasons as diverse as the direction of the wind and what he reads in the newspapers. Yet is the discontent of the multitude more formidable than that of the senate and the collage.
Another factor, which frightens us from self – trust in our consistency; a reverence for our past act or word, because the eyes of others have no other data for computing our orbit than our past acts, and we are loath to disappoint them.
But why should you keep your head over your shoulder? Why drag about this corpse of your memory, lest you contradict somewhat you have stated in this or that public place? Suppose you should contradict yourself; what then?
This is a rather silly consistency in our minds, which is adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. Uniformly a great soul has almost nothing to do, he could just occupy himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words; and to-morrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict everything you said to-day. – ”Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.” - Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. What can be considered to be truly great is to be misunderstood.

  1. That one should renounce his immediate family.

  2. That signposts have an important educational function in our society.

  3. That an impulsive action may have a subsequent rational explanation.

  4. That one must never be held responsible for what one says and does.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Except me not to show cause why I seek or why.

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the correct answer for the following question on the basis of the given passage:

In the author's opinion, _____________________________________________.

RC Passage 1:

But man is not destined to vanish. He can be killed, but he cannot be destroyed, because his soul is deathless and his spirit is irrepressible. Therefore, though the situation seems dark in the context of the confrontation between the superpowers, the silver lining is provided by amazing phenomenon that the very nations which have spent incalculable resources and energy for the production of deadly weapons are desperately trying to find out how they might never be used. They threaten each other, intimidate each other and go to the brink, but before the total hour arrives they withdraw from the brink.

  1. huge stockpiles of destructive weapons have so far saved mankind from a catastrophe

  2. superpowers have at last realized the need for abandoning the production of lethal weapons

  3. mankind is heading towards complete destruction

  4. nations in possession of huge stockpiles of lethal weapons are trying hard to avoid actual conflict

  5. there is a silverlining over the production of deadly weapons
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

 The author beleives that the very production of deadly weapons makes the superpowers to try their best not to use them. Hence, option 5 is the answer.

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the correct answer for the following question on the basis of the given passage:

The main point from the author's view is that ______________________.

RC Passage 1:

But man is not destined to vanish. He can be killed, but he cannot be destroyed, because his soul is deathless and his spirit is irrepressible. Therefore, though the situation seems dark in the context of the confrontation between the superpowers, the silver lining is provided by amazing phenomenon that the very nations which have spent incalculable resources and energy for the production of deadly weapons are desperately trying to find out how they might never be used. They threaten each other, intimidate each other and go to the brink, but before the total hour arrives they withdraw from the brink.

  1. man's soul and spirit can not be destroyed by superpowers

  2. man's destiny is not fully clear or visible

  3. man's soul and spirit are immortal

  4. man's safety is assured by the delicate balance of power in terms of nuclear weapons

  5. human society will survive despite the serious threat of total annihilation
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

 The opening statement of the passage ' But man is not destined to vanish' describes the main point of the author.

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the correct answer for the following question on the basis of the given passage:

Irrepressible' in the second line means __________.

RC Passage 1:

But man is not destined to vanish. He can be killed, but he cannot be destroyed, because his soul is deathless and his spirit is irrepressible. Therefore, though the situation seems dark in the context of the confrontation between the superpowers, the silver lining is provided by amazing phenomenon that the very nations which have spent incalculable resources and energy for the production of deadly weapons are desperately trying to find out how they might never be used. They threaten each other, intimidate each other and go to the brink, but before the total hour arrives they withdraw from the brink.

  1. incompatible

  2. strong

  3. oppressive

  4. unrestrainable

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

 Irrepressible in this context means that which cannot be controlled or kept down.

Multiple choice

According to the passage, all of the following are necessarily true, except

Directions:  Read the passage and answer the question based on the contents of the passage.
Passage 1
Although the camel caravan is recognized as the best means of transport for valuable goods over great distances, yet, for local journeys or when, owing to the perishable nature of the cargo, time is of great importance, the Turki with his drove of little donkeys is the man. He is met on every road of Turkestan, always hustling his beasts through a cloud of dust and lashing them right and left to keep them up to speed. He is a great burly fellow, dressed in loose clothes which increase his bulk, and his baggy trousers are stuffed in to high leather boots. His chapan(coat) is tied in with a thick belt, and he wears a round hat with a sheepskin border which mixes with his loose hair to form a shaggy frame to the weather-beaten face. One man, or at the most two, will drive twenty donkeys, riding behind them, shouting incessantly, and never letting them slacken to normal walking-pace.

He  mainly  conveys  melons,  early  vegetable and  fruits  —  apricots  peaches,  grapes  and pears according  to  season  —  but  makes  up  his  load  with  rolls  of  loosely  woven,  undyed  cotton.  He knows no organization of travel life, but pushes on from stage to stage with restless energy. When the donkeys must be fed he drives them in to an inn-court, tosses the panniers from their backs, carelessly throws fodder in to the manger, pulls some hard cakes of bread from his own food-bag and sits down to a meal of bread soaked in tea. He carries with himself what he will need to eat on the road. He takes a short sleep while the animals finish their grain, then he flings himself on to his beast’s back and urges the drove on for as far as he dare before feeding them again.

The donkeys are small and cheap, so he is careless of life and sacrifices them in large numbers to his  passion  for  speed  and  his reckless output of strength. He will use dangerous short-cuts over which no other class of transport-man will use venture, and in bad weather many beasts die by the roadside.  This  does  not trouble  him,  and  he  just lifts  the  load  from  the exhausted  creature and divides its weight among the others, then pushes on again, regardless of suffering, to deliver the cargo  at  market,  for  he  has  a  master  as  impatient  as  himself  waiting  at the  other  end.  He  will normally do five stages in three days and nothing may stand in his way, but when the goods are handed over and he can lodge in an inn, he enjoys twenty-four hours of sheer luxury. There is hot, greasy pilau  to  eat, women to  wait on him, and  long carefree hours of sleep to enjoy before he stars again on the hectic return journey.

The  Chinese  method of  transport is  quite  different.  Great  carts  which  cross  the  Gobi link  the commercial life  of  China  proper  with  the  raw  material  markets  of  Turkestan,  and  a carter  who leaves  Kashgar  in  February  will  swing  through  the  gates  of  his  Honan home  town  in  August without having shifted his splendidly packed cargo. In the course of this phenomenal journey he will only need to change the axle a few times in order to adjust the cart to the wider desert gauge or  the narrowing Kansu or  Honan ruts. The widest axle is required between Suchow and Hami, and the narrowest in Honan.

The  Chinese  transport  agent  makes  constant  use of the words  ta-suan, which mean to  compute, calculate, think out, arrange ahead, organize and consider carefully. It represents a characteristic so much admired by the Chinese as to be regarded by them almost as a virtue, and is an integral part  of  their  economy  of  life.  The  man  who  can  ta-suan  gets  full  value  from  time,  strength, capacity and  money, and  anyone who  has not the intelligence to  ta-suan is, in Chinese eyes, an uncivilized barbarian.  The classic example of  ta-suan  is  the  incident  of a Chinese general who, centuries ago, was sent out with an expeditionary force to conquer the land beyond the deserts. He sat down to ta-suan, and doing so he realized that it might be all too easy to conquer the land yet lose the campaign through inability to  feed  his own troops He therefore selected bodies of men versed  in  agriculture,  and  sent them  ahead  with  supporting  forces  to  select  suitable  sites  where

they  must  plough  and  sow,  then  reap  the  harvest.  If  the  grain  were carefully  stored  against the arrival of his troops, it would support them through the following year. Thanks to such good ta- suan, he carried the campaign to a successful issue.

The Chinese transport system across the Gobi has been built up on the principle of ta-suan, and in entire contrast  with  the  native  genius  of  the  reckless  Turki  driver.  The  distances  which  make a possible  stage  for  man  and beast  have  been  meticulously  calculated,  as  well  as  the equipment necessary to ensure reasonable ease on the journey. The Chinese understand the art of elimination and  how  not to  encumber  themselves  with  superfluous  impedimenta.  Before  leaving home  the Chinese carter has thought out where he can exchange his money to best advantage, what goods can be bought and sold most profitably in each place, and where money invested in an extra horse or  mule  will  bring  in  most  profit.  He  leaves  Central  China with large sleek mules for  which he himself has paid a good price, but which he sells to rich Tungans at Suchow at tremendous profit, and himself buys rough but desert-hardened beasts. For the return journey he will invest some of his depreciated paper taels in good Turkestan horses, which are very cheap in Dzungaria but fetch a big price in Central China.

By this means his round trip has brought in many advantages apart from the straightforward profit of  his  hire.  In  manipulating  each  exchange,  this seemingly  simple creature  shows  himself  to be actually a financier of no means order, and handles the complicated money market of Central Asia like on his hands, for he has always exchanged it in time for carefully selected goods, and if he has an  employer  he  will  stipulate  that  his  wages  be  paid  at the  place and  in  the coin  most to  his advantage.

  1. the Chinese carter benefits more from the trade of his modes of transport than the trade of actual goods

  2. by buying certain class of transport vehicles (animals) in places where they cost lesser, it is possible to make profits by selling them where demand for the same is higher

  3. the Chinese are good at planning their resource requirements and eliminate non-beneficial resources or tasks

  4. if the goods are of higher value, then the preferred mode of transport across the Gobi is the camel caravan
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The question asks for the statement that is NOT necessarily true. Option A claims 'the Chinese carter benefits more from the trade of his modes of transport than the trade of actual goods.' However, the passage states: 'By this means his round trip has brought in many advantages apart from the straightforward profit of his hire.' The word 'apart' indicates that profit from goods (hire) is the primary benefit, while animal trading provides additional advantages. Therefore, claiming he benefits 'more' from animal trading than goods is NOT necessarily true based on the passage. The other options (B, C, D) are all supported by the passage.

Multiple choice

According to the passage, the key difference between the Chinese carter and the Turki transporter is

Directions:  Read the passage and answer the question based on the contents of the passage.
Passage 1
Although the camel caravan is recognized as the best means of transport for valuable goods over great distances, yet, for local journeys or when, owing to the perishable nature of the cargo, time is of great importance, the Turki with his drove of little donkeys is the man. He is met on every road of Turkestan, always hustling his beasts through a cloud of dust and lashing them right and left to keep them up to speed. He is a great burly fellow, dressed in loose clothes which increase his bulk, and his baggy trousers are stuffed in to high leather boots. His chapan(coat) is tied in with a thick belt, and he wears a round hat with a sheepskin border which mixes with his loose hair to form a shaggy frame to the weather-beaten face. One man, or at the most two, will drive twenty donkeys, riding behind them, shouting incessantly, and never letting them slacken to normal walking-pace.

He  mainly  conveys  melons,  early  vegetable and  fruits  —  apricots  peaches,  grapes  and pears according  to  season  —  but  makes  up  his  load  with  rolls  of  loosely  woven,  undyed  cotton.  He knows no organization of travel life, but pushes on from stage to stage with restless energy. When the donkeys must be fed he drives them in to an inn-court, tosses the panniers from their backs, carelessly throws fodder in to the manger, pulls some hard cakes of bread from his own food-bag and sits down to a meal of bread soaked in tea. He carries with himself what he will need to eat on the road. He takes a short sleep while the animals finish their grain, then he flings himself on to his beast’s back and urges the drove on for as far as he dare before feeding them again.

The donkeys are small and cheap, so he is careless of life and sacrifices them in large numbers to his  passion  for  speed  and  his reckless output of strength. He will use dangerous short-cuts over which no other class of transport-man will use venture, and in bad weather many beasts die by the roadside.  This  does  not trouble  him,  and  he  just lifts  the  load  from  the exhausted  creature and divides its weight among the others, then pushes on again, regardless of suffering, to deliver the cargo  at  market,  for  he  has  a  master  as  impatient  as  himself  waiting  at the  other  end.  He  will normally do five stages in three days and nothing may stand in his way, but when the goods are handed over and he can lodge in an inn, he enjoys twenty-four hours of sheer luxury. There is hot, greasy pilau  to  eat, women to  wait on him, and  long carefree hours of sleep to enjoy before he stars again on the hectic return journey.

The  Chinese  method of  transport is  quite  different.  Great  carts  which  cross  the  Gobi link  the commercial life  of  China  proper  with  the  raw  material  markets  of  Turkestan,  and  a carter  who leaves  Kashgar  in  February  will  swing  through  the  gates  of  his  Honan home  town  in  August without having shifted his splendidly packed cargo. In the course of this phenomenal journey he will only need to change the axle a few times in order to adjust the cart to the wider desert gauge or  the narrowing Kansu or  Honan ruts. The widest axle is required between Suchow and Hami, and the narrowest in Honan.

The  Chinese  transport  agent  makes  constant  use of the words  ta-suan, which mean to  compute, calculate, think out, arrange ahead, organize and consider carefully. It represents a characteristic so much admired by the Chinese as to be regarded by them almost as a virtue, and is an integral part  of  their  economy  of  life.  The  man  who  can  ta-suan  gets  full  value  from  time,  strength, capacity and  money, and  anyone who  has not the intelligence to  ta-suan is, in Chinese eyes, an uncivilized barbarian.  The classic example of  ta-suan  is  the  incident  of a Chinese general who, centuries ago, was sent out with an expeditionary force to conquer the land beyond the deserts. He sat down to ta-suan, and doing so he realized that it might be all too easy to conquer the land yet lose the campaign through inability to  feed  his own troops He therefore selected bodies of men versed  in  agriculture,  and  sent them  ahead  with  supporting  forces  to  select  suitable  sites  where

they  must  plough  and  sow,  then  reap  the  harvest.  If  the  grain  were carefully  stored  against the arrival of his troops, it would support them through the following year. Thanks to such good ta- suan, he carried the campaign to a successful issue.

The Chinese transport system across the Gobi has been built up on the principle of ta-suan, and in entire contrast  with  the  native  genius  of  the  reckless  Turki  driver.  The  distances  which  make a possible  stage  for  man  and beast  have  been  meticulously  calculated,  as  well  as  the equipment necessary to ensure reasonable ease on the journey. The Chinese understand the art of elimination and  how  not to  encumber  themselves  with  superfluous  impedimenta.  Before  leaving home  the Chinese carter has thought out where he can exchange his money to best advantage, what goods can be bought and sold most profitably in each place, and where money invested in an extra horse or  mule  will  bring  in  most  profit.  He  leaves  Central  China with large sleek mules for  which he himself has paid a good price, but which he sells to rich Tungans at Suchow at tremendous profit, and himself buys rough but desert-hardened beasts. For the return journey he will invest some of his depreciated paper taels in good Turkestan horses, which are very cheap in Dzungaria but fetch a big price in Central China.

By this means his round trip has brought in many advantages apart from the straightforward profit of  his  hire.  In  manipulating  each  exchange,  this seemingly  simple creature  shows  himself  to be actually a financier of no means order, and handles the complicated money market of Central Asia like on his hands, for he has always exchanged it in time for carefully selected goods, and if he has an  employer  he  will  stipulate  that  his  wages  be  paid  at the  place and  in  the coin  most to  his advantage.

  1. in their approach to life in general and business in particular

  2. in their approach to the planning process for the journey

  3. in their inherent character with the carefully planned approach of the Chinese to the reckless aggression of the Turki driver

  4. in the nature of markets they service, which dictates their basic approach to transport management styles
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The passage contrasts the two transporters through their fundamental character and approach. The Turki driver is described as 'reckless' with 'restless energy,' sacrificing animals to speed, using dangerous shortcuts, and pushing on 'regardless of suffering.' In contrast, the Chinese system is built on 'ta-suan' (careful calculation), with 'distances which make a possible stage for man and beast have been meticulously calculated.' The Chinese carter 'has thought out where he can exchange his money to best advantage' and plans meticulously. Option C correctly captures this contrast: 'inherent character with the carefully planned approach of the Chinese to the reckless aggression of the Turki driver.'

Multiple choice

According to the author, the Chinese transporter is akin to the professional banker as he i. takes advantage of time and place, and is never stuck with worthless assets. ii. takes advantage of the different needs of each market, and benefits from dealing in the right currency at the right market. iii. has meticulously calculated his needs for the journey, and only carries bare necessities and equipment.

Directions:  Read the passage and answer the question based on the contents of the passage.
Passage 1
Although the camel caravan is recognized as the best means of transport for valuable goods over great distances, yet, for local journeys or when, owing to the perishable nature of the cargo, time is of great importance, the Turki with his drove of little donkeys is the man. He is met on every road of Turkestan, always hustling his beasts through a cloud of dust and lashing them right and left to keep them up to speed. He is a great burly fellow, dressed in loose clothes which increase his bulk, and his baggy trousers are stuffed in to high leather boots. His chapan(coat) is tied in with a thick belt, and he wears a round hat with a sheepskin border which mixes with his loose hair to form a shaggy frame to the weather-beaten face. One man, or at the most two, will drive twenty donkeys, riding behind them, shouting incessantly, and never letting them slacken to normal walking-pace.

He  mainly  conveys  melons,  early  vegetable and  fruits  —  apricots  peaches,  grapes  and pears according  to  season  —  but  makes  up  his  load  with  rolls  of  loosely  woven,  undyed  cotton.  He knows no organization of travel life, but pushes on from stage to stage with restless energy. When the donkeys must be fed he drives them in to an inn-court, tosses the panniers from their backs, carelessly throws fodder in to the manger, pulls some hard cakes of bread from his own food-bag and sits down to a meal of bread soaked in tea. He carries with himself what he will need to eat on the road. He takes a short sleep while the animals finish their grain, then he flings himself on to his beast’s back and urges the drove on for as far as he dare before feeding them again.

The donkeys are small and cheap, so he is careless of life and sacrifices them in large numbers to his  passion  for  speed  and  his reckless output of strength. He will use dangerous short-cuts over which no other class of transport-man will use venture, and in bad weather many beasts die by the roadside.  This  does  not trouble  him,  and  he  just lifts  the  load  from  the exhausted  creature and divides its weight among the others, then pushes on again, regardless of suffering, to deliver the cargo  at  market,  for  he  has  a  master  as  impatient  as  himself  waiting  at the  other  end.  He  will normally do five stages in three days and nothing may stand in his way, but when the goods are handed over and he can lodge in an inn, he enjoys twenty-four hours of sheer luxury. There is hot, greasy pilau  to  eat, women to  wait on him, and  long carefree hours of sleep to enjoy before he stars again on the hectic return journey.

The  Chinese  method of  transport is  quite  different.  Great  carts  which  cross  the  Gobi link  the commercial life  of  China  proper  with  the  raw  material  markets  of  Turkestan,  and  a carter  who leaves  Kashgar  in  February  will  swing  through  the  gates  of  his  Honan home  town  in  August without having shifted his splendidly packed cargo. In the course of this phenomenal journey he will only need to change the axle a few times in order to adjust the cart to the wider desert gauge or  the narrowing Kansu or  Honan ruts. The widest axle is required between Suchow and Hami, and the narrowest in Honan.

The  Chinese  transport  agent  makes  constant  use of the words  ta-suan, which mean to  compute, calculate, think out, arrange ahead, organize and consider carefully. It represents a characteristic so much admired by the Chinese as to be regarded by them almost as a virtue, and is an integral part  of  their  economy  of  life.  The  man  who  can  ta-suan  gets  full  value  from  time,  strength, capacity and  money, and  anyone who  has not the intelligence to  ta-suan is, in Chinese eyes, an uncivilized barbarian.  The classic example of  ta-suan  is  the  incident  of a Chinese general who, centuries ago, was sent out with an expeditionary force to conquer the land beyond the deserts. He sat down to ta-suan, and doing so he realized that it might be all too easy to conquer the land yet lose the campaign through inability to  feed  his own troops He therefore selected bodies of men versed  in  agriculture,  and  sent them  ahead  with  supporting  forces  to  select  suitable  sites  where

they  must  plough  and  sow,  then  reap  the  harvest.  If  the  grain  were carefully  stored  against the arrival of his troops, it would support them through the following year. Thanks to such good ta- suan, he carried the campaign to a successful issue.

The Chinese transport system across the Gobi has been built up on the principle of ta-suan, and in entire contrast  with  the  native  genius  of  the  reckless  Turki  driver.  The  distances  which  make a possible  stage  for  man  and beast  have  been  meticulously  calculated,  as  well  as  the equipment necessary to ensure reasonable ease on the journey. The Chinese understand the art of elimination and  how  not to  encumber  themselves  with  superfluous  impedimenta.  Before  leaving home  the Chinese carter has thought out where he can exchange his money to best advantage, what goods can be bought and sold most profitably in each place, and where money invested in an extra horse or  mule  will  bring  in  most  profit.  He  leaves  Central  China with large sleek mules for  which he himself has paid a good price, but which he sells to rich Tungans at Suchow at tremendous profit, and himself buys rough but desert-hardened beasts. For the return journey he will invest some of his depreciated paper taels in good Turkestan horses, which are very cheap in Dzungaria but fetch a big price in Central China.

By this means his round trip has brought in many advantages apart from the straightforward profit of  his  hire.  In  manipulating  each  exchange,  this seemingly  simple creature  shows  himself  to be actually a financier of no means order, and handles the complicated money market of Central Asia like on his hands, for he has always exchanged it in time for carefully selected goods, and if he has an  employer  he  will  stipulate  that  his  wages  be  paid  at the  place and  in  the coin  most to  his advantage.

  1. i and ii

  2. ii only

  3. ii and iii

  4. i, ii and iii
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The passage states the Chinese carter 'has always exchanged it in time for carefully selected goods' - he takes advantage of time and place, never stuck with worthless assets (i). He also 'stipulate that his wages be paid at the place and in the coin most to his advantage' - taking advantage of different market needs and benefiting from dealing in the right currency (ii). However, statement (iii) is not presented as a characteristic of bankers - it's about planning and elimination, which is specific to transport logistics, not a banking parallel.