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.

Passage based inferenceParagraph rearrangementCloze test fillingVocabulary replacementReading accuracy tests

English Reading Comprehension Questions

Multiple choice softskills leadership

irretrievable

  1. impossible to recover or regain

  2. mix together

  3. pertaining to soil deposits left by running water

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

Irretrievable describes something that cannot be recovered, reclaimed, or restored once lost. The prefix 'ir-' means 'not,' and 'retrievable' means capable of being recovered. It's often used for lost opportunities, time, or items that are gone forever.

Multiple choice softskills communication

What do I mean? "All days are short to Industry and long to Idleness."

  1. Time goes by slowly when you have nothing to do.

  2. Time goes by fast when you have lots to do.

  3. Both the above.

  4. None of the above.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The proverb 'All days are short to Industry and long to Idleness' contrasts how time feels when busy versus idle. 'Industry' means being productive/busy - making time fly (Option B). 'Idleness' means having nothing to do - making time drag (Option A). Option C correctly combines both meanings, as the proverb contrasts these two states.

Multiple choice softskills leadership

"Between the devil and the deep blue sea" means ___.

  1. he has drowned

  2. he was faced with two equally undesirable choices

  3. The course of a persons life

  4. he was buried at sea
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The idiom means being faced with two equally undesirable or dangerous alternatives, where neither choice is good. Option B correctly captures this meaning of being trapped between bad options. Options A, C, and D are incorrect literal interpretations - it's not about drowning, life's course, or burial at sea.

Multiple choice softskills leadership

"Dead men tell no tales" means ___.

  1. boring people are poor story tellers

  2. dead people will not betray secrets

  3. unpopular people are seldom listened to

  4. tired people do not speak much
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The phrase means that dead people cannot reveal secrets or information, suggesting that killing someone ensures silence. Option B correctly captures this meaning. Options A, C, and D are incorrect interpretations - it's not about boring storytellers, unpopular people, or tired people, but specifically about death preventing information disclosure.

Multiple choice softskills communication

In Martin Amis’ new novel, the narrator is trapped -- and hurtling towards a terrible secret. Its resolution, and the dreadful revelations it brings, ally to give an excruciating vision of guilt.

  1. ally to give an excruciating vision of guilt.

  2. to us give a vivid picture of guilt.

  3. is a painful picture of a guilt-ridden world.

  4. does not really solve all the questions in the narrator’s mind.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The sentence needs to maintain its original structure. 'Its resolution' refers to the novel's plot resolution, which 'ally to give an excruciating vision of guilt'. Options B, C, and D change meaning or break grammatical flow.

Multiple choice softskills communication

Contemplating whether to exist with an insatiable romantic temperament, he was the author and largely the subject of a number of memorable novels.

  1. Contemplating whether to exist

  2. Combining realistic detail

  3. Miscegenating a brilliant mind

  4. Aware that he had been born
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The correct answer is 'Combining realistic detail' as it completes the literary description. This appears to be a sentence completion question about a novelist known for romantic temperament and realistic novels. The phrase logically follows the author description and grammatically flows with 'the author and largely [blank] the subject' structure.

Multiple choice softskills communication

She was _______ success and eager to create a name for herself.

  1. deprecatory toward

  2. impatient for

  3. querulous about

  4. sated by

  5. impassive to
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The sentence describes someone eager to succeed. "Impatient for" fits the context of ambition. "Deprecatory" (disapproving), "querulous" (complaining), "sated" (satisfied), and "impassive" (unemotional) contradict the drive to "create a name for herself."

Multiple choice softskills communication

Según el texto, algunos investigadores están pensando en...

  1. reformar Internet para disminuir sus costes.

  2. adaptar Internet a los nuevos equipos informáticos.

  3. reformular Internet desde su estructura.

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

The correct answer is C because the text indicates researchers are considering reformulating Internet from its foundational structure rather than just minor reforms or adaptations. Options A and B suggest superficial changes, while C addresses fundamental structural redesign.

Multiple choice softskills communication

Choose the wrong one:

  1. He made illusions to his book in every speech.

  2. Perry had harbored so many delusions about being promoted that he refused to believe he was fired.

  3. The Nine Lives Society loved the allusions to reincarnation in your poem.

  4. The bridge looked as if it were swaying, but that was just an illusion right?
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The question asks to choose the WRONG usage. 'Illusion' means a false appearance, while 'allusion' means an indirect reference. Option A incorrectly uses 'illusions' when referring to references to his book - it should be 'allusions'. Options B, C, and D use these words correctly.

Multiple choice

After several defeats in wars, Robert Bruce went in exile and wanted to commit suicide. Just before committing suicide, he came across a spider attempting tirelessly to have its net. Time and again, the spider failed but that did not deter it to refrain from making attempts. Such attempts by the spider made Bruce curious. Thus, Bruce started observing the near-impossible goal of the spider to have the net. Ultimately, the spider succeeded in having its net despite several failures. Such act of the spider encouraged Bruce not to commit suicide. And then, Bruce went back again and won many battles and the rest is history. Which one of the following assertions is best supported by the above information?

  1. Failure is the pillar of success.

  2. Honesty is the best policy.

  3. Life begins and ends with adventures.

  4. No adversity justifies giving up hope.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Correct Answer: No adversity justifies giving up hope.The passage with the example of the spider and Bruce is clearly indicating that despite failures, one should not give up hope.

Multiple choice
Directions: In the following question, four statements are provided. These statements form a coherent paragraph when properly arranged. Select the alternative representing the proper and logical sequencing of these statements.
(A) The National Geographic society awarded him the John Oliver LaGorce Medal in 1985. (B) Mac is Kamoya Kimen, the foreman of Richard Leakey's and my expeditions, when we were searching for fossil humans together.
(C) Mac is the man who has led the team that has found more private and human fossils than any groups of professional paleoauthropologists anywhere. (D) That medal has been won by such impressive people as Ameha Earhart and polar explorer commander Robert Peary.

  1. BCAD

  2. CBAD

  3. ADBC

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

This parajumble is about Mac who has done pioneering research in human fossil remains. That is why, B is the starting statement. As C further explains B, so B à C. Statement A is the award won by Mac and as D further comments on this medal, so the correct sequence is BCAD. Hence, (1) is the correct answer.

Multiple choice

How many runs can the batting team score?

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

Cricket is a game which is played between two teams comprising 11 players each. This game is played using bat and ball. The game is an outdoor activity which is played on an oval shaped field. There is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch at the center. At one point of time, one team bats and tries to score the maximum number of runs possible while the other team bowls and fields. The bowler tries to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the runs scored by the batting team. A run is scored by the striking batsman hitting the ball with his bat, running to the opposite end of the pitch and touching the crease there without being dismissed. The teams switch between batting and fielding at the end of an innings.

  1. About 200

  2. As many as they can score in their innings.

  3. Not more than 100.

  4. As much as they can.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Concept based

Multiple choice

According to the passage, nature makes sure

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

Water is life. The cycling of water on Earth brings support to all living things. It also brings changes in weather. There are three forms of water. The solid cold form of water is ice. The liquid form is ordinary water. The gaseous form of water is hot steam, or vapour. Water changes its form when it gains or loses heat. Water from the sea, the rivers, the lakes, the glaciers, the ice poles, and from the plants and animals, on gaining heat, is always rising in the form of vapour. Water vapour also is always losing heat and falling down in the form of rain and then turning into glaciers of ice on further losing heat. Water vapour is pure and clean, while natural ice or water is often dirty. The vapour in the air gathers in the sky to make clouds. The clouds return the clean water to Earth in rain or snow. Through the water cycle, Nature makes sure that living things on land can fulfil their need for clean and fresh water.                                                                

  1. that rivers and lakes are full of water

  2. that weather changes our need for water

  3. of air in the sky and living things on Earth

  4. of meeting our need for fresh water
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

 The passage mentions that through the water cycle, nature makes sure that living things on land can fulfil their need for clean and fresh water.                                                                

Multiple choice

Clouds are formed from

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

Water is life. The cycling of water on Earth brings support to all living things. It also brings changes in weather. There are three forms of water. The solid cold form of water is ice. The liquid form is ordinary water. The gaseous form of water is hot steam, or vapour. Water changes its form when it gains or loses heat. Water from the sea, the rivers, the lakes, the glaciers, the ice poles, and from the plants and animals, on gaining heat, is always rising in the form of vapour. Water vapour also is always losing heat and falling down in the form of rain and then turning into glaciers of ice on further losing heat. Water vapour is pure and clean, while natural ice or water is often dirty. The vapour in the air gathers in the sky to make clouds. The clouds return the clean water to Earth in rain or snow. Through the water cycle, Nature makes sure that living things on land can fulfil their need for clean and fresh water.                                                                

  1. rain water getting collected

  2. water vapour coming together

  3. melting of ice sheets

  4. impure water in liquid form
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

 The passage mentions that the vapour in the air gathers in the sky to form clouds.