English Reading Comprehension

The expression 'The world was at his feet' means

Directions: Read the following passage to answer the given question.

It was a sunny day in the month of May. The sun took its rightful position very early; lending credence to the general feeling that Andrew's birthday ceremony was going to be greeted with the blessing of a pleasant climate. The sky looked so bright that Andrew insisted on having an open air party. The habitual doubting Thomases had no dis­senting opinions to express. Andrew had gone to a great length to ensure a hitch-free party; a party which would remain the talk of the town. Although it was not intended to be free for all, a lot had been done to stamp the occasion on the memories of many people long afterwards.
The bright sun continued to smile. Andrew's face beamed with pleasure with every passing moment. Very few of his contemporaries have so succeeded in reaching the top of the ladder. Andrew in particular had been an orphan of storm. His father's death during his third year in the secondary school and that of his mother two years later were the only two of this orphan's `storms'. He suffered a physical misfortune when a machine severed his left middle finger. But Andrew did not despair.

The courage to fail is very cheap. Every fool can afford to fail. But it raises one above the herd of cowards and never-do-wells to be up and struggling. The reward of forbearance in the end is resounding success. And so it was for Andrew. Ever since he finished his university education, it had been success galore. He had got a good job in one of the country's insurance companies. His pay was good, his promotion had been steady and his prospects seemed bright. At forty, he had a good car and had already bought a house of his own. The world was at his feet!

Which of the following can be made out from the second paragraph of the passage about Andrew's early life?

Directions: Read the following passage to answer the given question.

It was a sunny day in the month of May. The sun took its rightful position very early; lending credence to the general feeling that Andrew's birthday ceremony was going to be greeted with the blessing of a pleasant climate. The sky looked so bright that Andrew insisted on having an open air party. The habitual doubting Thomases had no dis­senting opinions to express. Andrew had gone to a great length to ensure a hitch-free party; a party which would remain the talk of the town. Although it was not intended to be free for all, a lot had been done to stamp the occasion on the memories of many people long afterwards.
The bright sun continued to smile. Andrew's face beamed with pleasure with every passing moment. Very few of his contemporaries have so succeeded in reaching the top of the ladder. Andrew in particular had been an orphan of storm. His father's death during his third year in the secondary school and that of his mother two years later were the only two of this orphan's `storms'. He suffered a physical misfortune when a machine severed his left middle finger. But Andrew did not despair.

The courage to fail is very cheap. Every fool can afford to fail. But it raises one above the herd of cowards and never-do-wells to be up and struggling. The reward of forbearance in the end is resounding success. And so it was for Andrew. Ever since he finished his university education, it had been success galore. He had got a good job in one of the country's insurance companies. His pay was good, his promotion had been steady and his prospects seemed bright. At forty, he had a good car and had already bought a house of his own. The world was at his feet!

In the last lines, the child cherishes a desire to

Directions: Read the following poem to answer the given question.

FRONTIER LIFE
My stockings have a hole in them,
I'm learning how to darn.
Which means that I am mending them
With needle and some yarn.

Ma says my dress is getting short,
We must let out the hem.
My only shoes have come apart,
And Pa is patching them.

The garden must be weeded,
If we want food to eat.
I pick those scratchy blackberries
So we'll have something sweet.

I help my Pa by milking Bess
And stake her out each day.
I help my Ma by hanging clothes
And watching Sissy play.

I go to bed so tired,
And get up before the sun.
There's always work that's waiting.
It never gets all done.
   
But Ma has made Pa promise
To have a family rule
If there's a teacher hired,
I get to go to school!

    Cindy Breedlove

What does the poet mean by 'And watching Sissy play'?

Directions: Read the following poem to answer the given question.

FRONTIER LIFE
My stockings have a hole in them,
I'm learning how to darn.
Which means that I am mending them
With needle and some yarn.

Ma says my dress is getting short,
We must let out the hem.
My only shoes have come apart,
And Pa is patching them.

The garden must be weeded,
If we want food to eat.
I pick those scratchy blackberries
So we'll have something sweet.

I help my Pa by milking Bess
And stake her out each day.
I help my Ma by hanging clothes
And watching Sissy play.

I go to bed so tired,
And get up before the sun.
There's always work that's waiting.
It never gets all done.
   
But Ma has made Pa promise
To have a family rule
If there's a teacher hired,
I get to go to school!

    Cindy Breedlove

What does the poet mean to say in the following lines?

The garden must be weeded If we want food to eat I pick those scratchy blackberries So we'll have something sweet

Directions: Read the following poem to answer the given question.

FRONTIER LIFE
My stockings have a hole in them,
I'm learning how to darn.
Which means that I am mending them
With needle and some yarn.

Ma says my dress is getting short,
We must let out the hem.
My only shoes have come apart,
And Pa is patching them.

The garden must be weeded,
If we want food to eat.
I pick those scratchy blackberries
So we'll have something sweet.

I help my Pa by milking Bess
And stake her out each day.
I help my Ma by hanging clothes
And watching Sissy play.

I go to bed so tired,
And get up before the sun.
There's always work that's waiting.
It never gets all done.
   
But Ma has made Pa promise
To have a family rule
If there's a teacher hired,
I get to go to school!

    Cindy Breedlove

What does the poet mean by ' God gives us them awhile'?

Directions: Read the following poem to answer the given question.

THE POOR CHILDREN
Take heed of this small child of earth;
He is great; he hath in him God most high.
Children before their fleshly birth
Are lights alive in the blue sky.

In our light bitter world of wrong
They come; God gives us them awhile.
His speech is in their stammering tongue,
And his forgiveness in their smile.

Their sweet light rests upon our eyes.
Alas! Their right to joy is plain.
If they are hungry Paradise
Weeps, and, if cold, Heaven thrills with pain.

The want that saps their sinless flower
Speaks judgment on sin's ministers.
Man holds an angel in his power.
Ah! Deep in Heaven what thunder stirs,

When God seeks out these tender things
Whom in the shadow where we sleep
He sends us clothed about with wings,
And finds them ragged babes that weep!

                      Victor Hugo

What does the term 'want' in the fourth stanza actually mean?

Directions: Read the following poem to answer the given question.

THE POOR CHILDREN
Take heed of this small child of earth;
He is great; he hath in him God most high.
Children before their fleshly birth
Are lights alive in the blue sky.

In our light bitter world of wrong
They come; God gives us them awhile.
His speech is in their stammering tongue,
And his forgiveness in their smile.

Their sweet light rests upon our eyes.
Alas! Their right to joy is plain.
If they are hungry Paradise
Weeps, and, if cold, Heaven thrills with pain.

The want that saps their sinless flower
Speaks judgment on sin's ministers.
Man holds an angel in his power.
Ah! Deep in Heaven what thunder stirs,

When God seeks out these tender things
Whom in the shadow where we sleep
He sends us clothed about with wings,
And finds them ragged babes that weep!

                      Victor Hugo

Why does the poet think that thea little child is great?

Directions: Read the following poem to answer the given question.

THE POOR CHILDREN
Take heed of this small child of earth;
He is great; he hath in him God most high.
Children before their fleshly birth
Are lights alive in the blue sky.

In our light bitter world of wrong
They come; God gives us them awhile.
His speech is in their stammering tongue,
And his forgiveness in their smile.

Their sweet light rests upon our eyes.
Alas! Their right to joy is plain.
If they are hungry Paradise
Weeps, and, if cold, Heaven thrills with pain.

The want that saps their sinless flower
Speaks judgment on sin's ministers.
Man holds an angel in his power.
Ah! Deep in Heaven what thunder stirs,

When God seeks out these tender things
Whom in the shadow where we sleep
He sends us clothed about with wings,
And finds them ragged babes that weep!

                      Victor Hugo

What does the poet want to convey through this poem?

Directions: Read the following poem to answer the given question.

THE POOR CHILDREN
Take heed of this small child of earth;
He is great; he hath in him God most high.
Children before their fleshly birth
Are lights alive in the blue sky.

In our light bitter world of wrong
They come; God gives us them awhile.
His speech is in their stammering tongue,
And his forgiveness in their smile.

Their sweet light rests upon our eyes.
Alas! Their right to joy is plain.
If they are hungry Paradise
Weeps, and, if cold, Heaven thrills with pain.

The want that saps their sinless flower
Speaks judgment on sin's ministers.
Man holds an angel in his power.
Ah! Deep in Heaven what thunder stirs,

When God seeks out these tender things
Whom in the shadow where we sleep
He sends us clothed about with wings,
And finds them ragged babes that weep!

                      Victor Hugo

According to the author, a child recognises a parent as

Directions: Read the following passage to answer the given question.

Every child, whether he comes to his family by birth or adoption, discovers what a family is, through the experi­ences of family life. The new-born infant has no way of know­ing which of the many faces that hover above him belongs to a parent. He has no way of knowing what a parent is. He only knows that he is comfortable or uncomfortable, hungry or satisfied.
Gradually, as the months go by, he begins to know who brings comfort when he is uncomfortable and food when he is hungry. He comes to know the feel of the arm that holds him close when he eats and holds him safe in his bath. He grows to know who responds to his needs when he cries out, who is the special person in the whole strange new world who belongs specially to him. This is his first recognition of a parent.
The mother and the father who care for a child, who listen for his voice and try to interpret what he means, who com­fort him, feed him and play with him discover for the first time what it is to be parents. They do not become parents by virtue of conception and birth alone. They grow to be parents just as the infant grows to recognize them as such. They come to know the developing personality of their child in a way that no other person really can. They recognise whether he is a lusty eater or a nibbler, vivacious or reserved, adventurous or cautious. By observing his intellectual and physical abili­ties, they also get to know what he may become in future. They are concerned with meeting his needs and wants, and fostering his growth to maturity.

Sometimes, because of their responsibility to their child, parents have to do unpleasant things. They have to, for instance, take him for injections. He can have no choice about taking medicine when he is ill. He must learn quickly, and not neces­sarily at his own pace, that fire is not a play-thing. In the intimacies of daily living, the child and the parents learn the bitter and the sweet of family relations. It is through the experiences of family life that a child and his parents grow to be a family. For every parent, biological or adoptive, it is the daily loving care of the child and his responsiveness that build up the parents' feelings. When the child feels, it is being loved and being cared for, it produces family closeness.

Which word in the passage can replace the word 'certainly'?

Directions: Read the following passage to answer the given question.

The black ant is indisputably one of the smallest visible insects on the earth. Except with the aid of a very powerful microscope, it is difficult, if not impossible, to locate the eyes, the mouth, the nostrils (if it ever has any) or any other part of its body. An air of mystery surrounds the existence of this little creature.

Have you ever taken time off your programme to watch these ants move in a row? What gives them the sense of direction, we do not know. Indeed, whoever sends them on an errand and how they even know the destination and the type of errand to run after are stories yet to be told. But they are an extremely well-organised lot.

Certainly, there are no defined routes for them on walls or trees, yet they move in an orderly manner, almost in a straight line. The beautiful thing about these insects is that, even when their line of movement is disorganized, they soon regroup and connect themselves again end to end. If in the process, one of them is killed, they quickly recognize that fact from their various positions. Then, one sees them run­ning helter-skelter with a seeming insistence on getting at the comrade to confirm its death.

When this has been done, some of them run zigzag at a tremendous speed to alert the others on the route. Soon, they disappear completely. Later, as if everything were over and forgotten, they reappear and .form a new route and continue their movement transporting food or going on one errand or the other as before. Bring your ears close to them and you hear nothing and you wonder what their means of communi­cation could be.
Perhaps, most surprising is their high sense of under­standing the weather and the climate. They are just like men in this area. They know when it is the rainy season and when the dry season comes. In fact, it is true to say that they prepare better for the future than man.

During the dry season, they file out to different places ­gathering food which they store underground. At the slightest sign of the approach of the rainy season, they all get into the hole and seal it up. Surprisingly, they re-emerge when the dry season sets in. Who tells them that the dry season has come, we do not know. You can now see the sense in the injunction, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard, learn her ways and be wise."

According to the author “An air of mystery surrounds the existence of this little creature”. Which of the following supports this view expressed by the author?

Directions: Read the following passage to answer the given question.

The black ant is indisputably one of the smallest visible insects on the earth. Except with the aid of a very powerful microscope, it is difficult, if not impossible, to locate the eyes, the mouth, the nostrils (if it ever has any) or any other part of its body. An air of mystery surrounds the existence of this little creature.

Have you ever taken time off your programme to watch these ants move in a row? What gives them the sense of direction, we do not know. Indeed, whoever sends them on an errand and how they even know the destination and the type of errand to run after are stories yet to be told. But they are an extremely well-organised lot.

Certainly, there are no defined routes for them on walls or trees, yet they move in an orderly manner, almost in a straight line. The beautiful thing about these insects is that, even when their line of movement is disorganized, they soon regroup and connect themselves again end to end. If in the process, one of them is killed, they quickly recognize that fact from their various positions. Then, one sees them run­ning helter-skelter with a seeming insistence on getting at the comrade to confirm its death.

When this has been done, some of them run zigzag at a tremendous speed to alert the others on the route. Soon, they disappear completely. Later, as if everything were over and forgotten, they reappear and .form a new route and continue their movement transporting food or going on one errand or the other as before. Bring your ears close to them and you hear nothing and you wonder what their means of communi­cation could be.
Perhaps, most surprising is their high sense of under­standing the weather and the climate. They are just like men in this area. They know when it is the rainy season and when the dry season comes. In fact, it is true to say that they prepare better for the future than man.

During the dry season, they file out to different places ­gathering food which they store underground. At the slightest sign of the approach of the rainy season, they all get into the hole and seal it up. Surprisingly, they re-emerge when the dry season sets in. Who tells them that the dry season has come, we do not know. You can now see the sense in the injunction, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard, learn her ways and be wise."

Directions: Choose the word/group of words which is most similar in meaning to the word printed in bold as used in the passage.

STERN

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and answer the question given below. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering the question.

Once upon a time there lived a vicious king, Raja Shankara - short-tempered and temperamental. "God I am'", he said to his image as he stared into the mirror everyday, many times a day. He was obsessed with himself. He loved noone but himself. He was blinded towards the injustice in his kingdom because he had little time for his subjects. He wasted most of his time in pouring milk and honey over himself.

Interruption in his possessed life was dealt with stern reprimanding and sometimes on petty issues he would behead his servants. Provoked by his evil advisor Twishar, he went on with his self-indulged life, unaware of the plot his very devoted advisor was planning. A plot to dethrone the king, rule the kingdom with his wicked ways only to harness wealth and the reputation of a King.

 One morning the king was on his usual morning horseback rounds but returned to the palace with an intense look on his face. He locked himself inside his palatial room only to unlock it at sundown. Just as the doors cracked open and Raja Shankara emerged from it, his wife rushed to embrace him. She feared a damaging incident had occurred.

The king spoke seldom that day and awoke the next day to make a proclamation to his servants and subjects. The whole kingdom feared what was in store for them from their angry king. But to their surprise he said to all gathered, "From now on I will be a different king. A softer and a patient king.”

True to his words from that day onwards, the king had truly turned on a new leaf; he cleaned out the corruption and injustice in a tender manner with punishments aimed to renew the person from within.

One fine day his evil advisor gathered courage to ask the reason for his paradigm shift. And the king answered, "When I went on horseback that morning a month ago, I noticed a dog brutally chasing a cat. The cat managed to sneak into a hole only after the dog bit her leg, maiming her for life. Not far, the dog barked at a farmer who picked up a sharp stone and hit it straight in the dog's eye. Bleeding profusely, the dog yelped in pain. As the farmer walked on, he slipped on the edge of the road and broke his head.

All this happened in a matter of minutes before me and then I realized that evil begets evil. I thought about it deeply and was ready to give up my worldly life for the betterment of my subjects. I wanted to give up evil in me as I did not want evil to encounter me."

Directions: Choose the word/group of words which is most opposite in meaning to the word printed in bold as used in the passage.

BRUTALLY

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and answer the question given below. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering the question.

Once upon a time there lived a vicious king, Raja Shankara - short-tempered and temperamental. "God I am'", he said to his image as he stared into the mirror everyday, many times a day. He was obsessed with himself. He loved noone but himself. He was blinded towards the injustice in his kingdom because he had little time for his subjects. He wasted most of his time in pouring milk and honey over himself.

Interruption in his possessed life was dealt with stern reprimanding and sometimes on petty issues he would behead his servants. Provoked by his evil advisor Twishar, he went on with his self-indulged life, unaware of the plot his very devoted advisor was planning. A plot to dethrone the king, rule the kingdom with his wicked ways only to harness wealth and the reputation of a King.

 One morning the king was on his usual morning horseback rounds but returned to the palace with an intense look on his face. He locked himself inside his palatial room only to unlock it at sundown. Just as the doors cracked open and Raja Shankara emerged from it, his wife rushed to embrace him. She feared a damaging incident had occurred.

The king spoke seldom that day and awoke the next day to make a proclamation to his servants and subjects. The whole kingdom feared what was in store for them from their angry king. But to their surprise he said to all gathered, "From now on I will be a different king. A softer and a patient king.”

True to his words from that day onwards, the king had truly turned on a new leaf; he cleaned out the corruption and injustice in a tender manner with punishments aimed to renew the person from within.

One fine day his evil advisor gathered courage to ask the reason for his paradigm shift. And the king answered, "When I went on horseback that morning a month ago, I noticed a dog brutally chasing a cat. The cat managed to sneak into a hole only after the dog bit her leg, maiming her for life. Not far, the dog barked at a farmer who picked up a sharp stone and hit it straight in the dog's eye. Bleeding profusely, the dog yelped in pain. As the farmer walked on, he slipped on the edge of the road and broke his head.

All this happened in a matter of minutes before me and then I realized that evil begets evil. I thought about it deeply and was ready to give up my worldly life for the betterment of my subjects. I wanted to give up evil in me as I did not want evil to encounter me."