English Reading Comprehension

Fill blank (ix).

Directions: Read the following passage having some numbered blanks.

Many people have sacrificed their lives to ___(i)___ the thirst for knowledge and to satisfy their ___(ii)___. In the olden days people used to worship sun and moon thinking them to be ___(iii)___ heav­enly bodies. But the scientific investigation had ___(iv)___ that sun is an ordinary star and earth is a planet like other planets. After this, man entered the age of the space travel. The invention of rocket was the first step in space travel. Scientists had already ___(v)___ that there was neither air nor water on the moon. The moon was the first ___(vi)___ of man. A spaceship travel­ling at a speed of 4000 kms per hour can ___(vii)___ this distance in 10 hours. The scientists had ___(viii)___ discovered that the surface of moon was rough and full of craters, rocks and mountains. Scientists now are trying to find out whether there is life on Mars and they are planning to ___(ix)___ it also. Many centuries after that space travel would be taken as an ___(x)___ by the rich people of the world who can afford a huge amount for satiating their whims.

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

Bini Aru had used this secret many times, but not to cause evil or suffering to others. When he had wandered far from home and was hungry, he would say: "I want to become a cow — Pyrzqxgl!" In an instant, he would be a cow, and then he would eat grass and satisfy his hunger. All beasts and birds can talk in the Land of Oz, so when the cow was no longer hungry, it would say: "I want to be Bini Aru again: Pyrzqxgl!" and the magic word, properly pronounced, would instantly restore him to his proper form.

What was the special thing all beasts and birds were able to do in the Land of Oz?

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

In the centre of the Emerald City of Oz, the capital city of Ozma's dominions, is a vast and beautiful garden, surrounded by a wall inlaid with shining emeralds, and in the centre of this garden stands Ozma's Royal Palace, the most splendid building ever constructed. From a hundred towers and domes floated the banners of Oz, which included the Ozmies, the Munchkins, the Gillikins, the Winkies and the Quadlings. The banner of the Munchkins is blue, that of the Winkies yellow; the Gillikin banner is purple, and the Quadling's banner is red.

What was there in the centre of the beautiful garden?

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

I was sitting in the meadows one day, not long ago, at a place where there was a small brook. It was a hot day. The sky was very blue, and white clouds, like great swans, went floating over it to and fro. Just opposite me was a clump of green rushes, with dark velvety spikes, and among them one single tall, red cardinal flower, which was bending over the brook as if to see its own beautiful face in the water. But the cardinal did not seem to be vain.

Who was bending over the brook to see its own face?

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

Aunt Izzie was a small woman, sharp-faced and thin, rather old-looking, and very neat and particular about everything. She meant to be kind to the children, but they puzzled her much because they were not a bit like her when she was a child. Aunt Izzie had been a gentle, tidy little thing, who loved to sit as Curly Locks did, sewing long seams in the parlour, and to have her head patted by older people, and be told that she was a good girl; whereas Katy tore her dress every day, hated sewing, and did not care a button about being called "good", while Clover and Elsie shied off like restless ponies when anyone tried to pat their heads. It was very perplexing to Aunt Izzie, and she found it hard to quite forgive the children for being so "unaccountable", and so little like the good boys and girls in Sunday-school memoirs, who were the young people she liked best, and understood most about.

Which word in the passage means the same as 'very puzzling'?

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

Mr. Cass's letter is inserted because it arrived too late to find a place in her "Memoirs", and yet more because it bears much on Margaret Ossoli's characteristics as a woman. A few, also of her private letters and papers, not bearing, save, indirectly, on the subject of this volume, are yet inserted in it, as further illustrative of her thought, feeling and action, in life's various relations. It is believed that nothing which exhibits a true woman, especially in her relations to others as friend, sister, daughter, wife, or mother, can fail to interest and be of value to her sex, indeed to all who are interested in human welfare and advancement, since these latter so much depend on the fidelity of woman. Nor will anything pertaining to the education and care of children be deemed irrelevant, especially by mothers, upon whom these duties must always largely devolve.

Which of the following things arrived too late to be a 'Memoir'?

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

Egypt is, at all seasons, a strange country, but presents the most surprising appearance at the period of the flood. At that time, not only is the lengthy valley from Assouan to Cairo laid under water, but the Delta itself becomes one vast lake, interspersed with islands, which stud its surface here and there at intervals, and which reminded Herodotus of "the islands of the Ægean. The elevations, which are the work of man, are crowned for the most part with the white walls of towns and villages sparkling in the sunlight, and sometimes glassed in the flood beneath them.

Which word in the passage means the same as 'mixed together'?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question:

None thought of sailing westward. For to men of those days, the Atlantic Ocean was known as the Outer Sea or the Sea of Darkness. There was nothing to be gained by going there, much to be dreaded. It was said that huge and horrible sea-dragons lived there, ready to wreck and swallow down any vessel that might venture near. An enormous bird also hovered in the skies waiting to pounce upon vessels and bear them away to some unknown eyrie. Even if any foolhardy adventurers should defy these dangers, and escape the horror of the dragons and the bird, other perils threatened them. For far in the West, there lay a bottomless pit of seething fire. That was easy of proof. Did not the face of the setting sun glow with the reflected light as it sank in the West? There would be no hope nor rescue for any ship that should be drawn into that awful pit.

Which word in the passage means the same as 'fear'?

What does the tailor expect when he has the ear of his sahib?

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and answer the question.

Our tailor is Indian in his ways. He is not methodical. He is slow, spontaneously jocular, and able to entertain us for weeks with the saga of his family. He seems to remember every little thing that has ever happened to his grandparents, his aunts and uncle, his nieces and nephews. He will tell the sahib all the family troubles- how he is forced to work so many hour, and how difficult it is to pay for his children's education. And would it be possible to get his son a job in a government office, and couldn't you speak to so and about his daughter, who would like to serve in a good house and would be a very faithful servant? When he has the ear of a sahib, he grumbles, and for a piece of good work he expects to be rewarded with favours. We feel personally involved with him.

The tailor seems to remember every little thing. Which are those little things?

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and answer the question.

Our tailor is Indian in his ways. He is not methodical. He is slow, spontaneously jocular, and able to entertain us for weeks with the saga of his family. He seems to remember every little thing that has ever happened to his grandparents, his aunts and uncle, his nieces and nephews. He will tell the sahib all the family troubles- how he is forced to work so many hour, and how difficult it is to pay for his children's education. And would it be possible to get his son a job in a government office, and couldn't you speak to so and about his daughter, who would like to serve in a good house and would be a very faithful servant? When he has the ear of a sahib, he grumbles, and for a piece of good work he expects to be rewarded with favours. We feel personally involved with him.

How does the tailor entertain the author and his family?

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and answer the question.

Our tailor is Indian in his ways. He is not methodical. He is slow, spontaneously jocular, and able to entertain us for weeks with the saga of his family. He seems to remember every little thing that has ever happened to his grandparents, his aunts and uncle, his nieces and nephews. He will tell the sahib all the family troubles- how he is forced to work so many hour, and how difficult it is to pay for his children's education. And would it be possible to get his son a job in a government office, and couldn't you speak to so and about his daughter, who would like to serve in a good house and would be a very faithful servant? When he has the ear of a sahib, he grumbles, and for a piece of good work he expects to be rewarded with favours. We feel personally involved with him.

When he has the ear of sahib, he expects to be rewarded

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and answer the question.

Our tailor is Indian in his ways. He is not methodical. He is slow, spontaneously jocular, and able to entertain us for weeks with the saga of his family. He seems to remember every little thing that has ever happened to his grandparents, his aunts and uncle, his nieces and nephews. He will tell the sahib all the family troubles- how he is forced to work so many hour, and how difficult it is to pay for his children's education. And would it be possible to get his son a job in a government office, and couldn't you speak to so and about his daughter, who would like to serve in a good house and would be a very faithful servant? When he has the ear of a sahib, he grumbles, and for a piece of good work he expects to be rewarded with favours. We feel personally involved with him.

Why was Subha Datta reluctant to go with the girls?

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and answer the question given below it.

Subha Datta, though he certainly did love his wife and children, was so tempted at the idea of stopping in the forest with the beautiful girls that, after hesitating for a little while, he said, "Yes, I will stop with you, if you are quite sure all will be well with my dear ones."
"You need not be afraid about that," said another of the girls. "We are fairies, you see, and we can do all sorts of wonderful things. It isn't even necessary for us to go where your dear ones are. We shall just wish them everything they want, and they will get it. And the first thing to be done is to give you some food. You must work for us in return, of course."
Subha Datta at once replied, "I will do anything you wish."
"Well, begin by sweeping away all the dead leaves from the clearing, and then we will all sit down and eat together."
Subha Datta was very glad that what he was asked to do was so easy. He began by cutting a branch from a tree, and with it he swept the floor of what was to be the dining-room. Then he looked about for the food, but he could see nothing but a great big pitcher standing in the shade of a tree, the branches of which hung over the clearing. So he said to one of the fairies, "Will you show me where the food is, and exactly where you would like me to get it out?"
At these questions all the fairies began to laugh, and the sound of their laughter was like the tinkling of a number of bells.
When the fairies saw how astonished Subha Datta was at the way they laughed, it made them laugh still more, and they seized each other's hands again and whirled round and round, laughing all the time.
Poor Subha Datta, who was very tired and hungry, began to get unhappy and to wish he had gone straight home after all. He stooped down to pick up his axe, and was just about to turn away with it, when the fairies stopped their mad whirl and cried to him to stop. So he waited, and one of them said:
"We don't have to bother about fetching this and fetching that. You see that big pitcher. Well, we get all our food and everything else we want out of it. We just have to wish as we put our hands in, and there it is. It's a magic pitcher—the only one there is in the whole wide world. You get the food you would like to have first, and then we'll tell you what we want."
Subha Datta could hardly believe his ears when he heard that. Down he threw his axe, and hastened to put his hand in the pitcher, wishing for the food he was used to. He loved curried rice and milk, lentils, fruit and vegetables, and very soon he had a beautiful meal spread out for himself on the ground. Then the fairies called out, one after the other, what they wanted for food, things the woodcutter had never heard of or seen which made him quite discontented with what he had chosen for himself.
The next few days passed away like a dream, and at first Subha Datta thought he had never been so happy in his life. The fairies often went off together leaving him alone, only coming back to the clearing when they wanted something out of the pitcher. The woodcutter got all kinds of things he fancied for himself, but presently he began to wish he had his wife and children with him to share his wonderful meals. He began to miss them terribly, and he missed his work too. It was no good cutting trees down and chopping up wood when all the food was ready cooked. Sometimes he thought he would slip off home when the fairies were away, but when he looked at the pitcher he could not bear the thought of leaving it.

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

Tinkling

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and answer the question given below it.

Subha Datta, though he certainly did love his wife and children, was so tempted at the idea of stopping in the forest with the beautiful girls that, after hesitating for a little while, he said, "Yes, I will stop with you, if you are quite sure all will be well with my dear ones."
"You need not be afraid about that," said another of the girls. "We are fairies, you see, and we can do all sorts of wonderful things. It isn't even necessary for us to go where your dear ones are. We shall just wish them everything they want, and they will get it. And the first thing to be done is to give you some food. You must work for us in return, of course."
Subha Datta at once replied, "I will do anything you wish."
"Well, begin by sweeping away all the dead leaves from the clearing, and then we will all sit down and eat together."
Subha Datta was very glad that what he was asked to do was so easy. He began by cutting a branch from a tree, and with it he swept the floor of what was to be the dining-room. Then he looked about for the food, but he could see nothing but a great big pitcher standing in the shade of a tree, the branches of which hung over the clearing. So he said to one of the fairies, "Will you show me where the food is, and exactly where you would like me to get it out?"
At these questions all the fairies began to laugh, and the sound of their laughter was like the tinkling of a number of bells.
When the fairies saw how astonished Subha Datta was at the way they laughed, it made them laugh still more, and they seized each other's hands again and whirled round and round, laughing all the time.
Poor Subha Datta, who was very tired and hungry, began to get unhappy and to wish he had gone straight home after all. He stooped down to pick up his axe, and was just about to turn away with it, when the fairies stopped their mad whirl and cried to him to stop. So he waited, and one of them said:
"We don't have to bother about fetching this and fetching that. You see that big pitcher. Well, we get all our food and everything else we want out of it. We just have to wish as we put our hands in, and there it is. It's a magic pitcher—the only one there is in the whole wide world. You get the food you would like to have first, and then we'll tell you what we want."
Subha Datta could hardly believe his ears when he heard that. Down he threw his axe, and hastened to put his hand in the pitcher, wishing for the food he was used to. He loved curried rice and milk, lentils, fruit and vegetables, and very soon he had a beautiful meal spread out for himself on the ground. Then the fairies called out, one after the other, what they wanted for food, things the woodcutter had never heard of or seen which made him quite discontented with what he had chosen for himself.
The next few days passed away like a dream, and at first Subha Datta thought he had never been so happy in his life. The fairies often went off together leaving him alone, only coming back to the clearing when they wanted something out of the pitcher. The woodcutter got all kinds of things he fancied for himself, but presently he began to wish he had his wife and children with him to share his wonderful meals. He began to miss them terribly, and he missed his work too. It was no good cutting trees down and chopping up wood when all the food was ready cooked. Sometimes he thought he would slip off home when the fairies were away, but when he looked at the pitcher he could not bear the thought of leaving it.

What did the two fairies promise Subha Datta regarding his dear ones?

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and answer the question given below it.

Subha Datta, though he certainly did love his wife and children, was so tempted at the idea of stopping in the forest with the beautiful girls that, after hesitating for a little while, he said, "Yes, I will stop with you, if you are quite sure all will be well with my dear ones."
"You need not be afraid about that," said another of the girls. "We are fairies, you see, and we can do all sorts of wonderful things. It isn't even necessary for us to go where your dear ones are. We shall just wish them everything they want, and they will get it. And the first thing to be done is to give you some food. You must work for us in return, of course."
Subha Datta at once replied, "I will do anything you wish."
"Well, begin by sweeping away all the dead leaves from the clearing, and then we will all sit down and eat together."
Subha Datta was very glad that what he was asked to do was so easy. He began by cutting a branch from a tree, and with it he swept the floor of what was to be the dining-room. Then he looked about for the food, but he could see nothing but a great big pitcher standing in the shade of a tree, the branches of which hung over the clearing. So he said to one of the fairies, "Will you show me where the food is, and exactly where you would like me to get it out?"
At these questions all the fairies began to laugh, and the sound of their laughter was like the tinkling of a number of bells.
When the fairies saw how astonished Subha Datta was at the way they laughed, it made them laugh still more, and they seized each other's hands again and whirled round and round, laughing all the time.
Poor Subha Datta, who was very tired and hungry, began to get unhappy and to wish he had gone straight home after all. He stooped down to pick up his axe, and was just about to turn away with it, when the fairies stopped their mad whirl and cried to him to stop. So he waited, and one of them said:
"We don't have to bother about fetching this and fetching that. You see that big pitcher. Well, we get all our food and everything else we want out of it. We just have to wish as we put our hands in, and there it is. It's a magic pitcher—the only one there is in the whole wide world. You get the food you would like to have first, and then we'll tell you what we want."
Subha Datta could hardly believe his ears when he heard that. Down he threw his axe, and hastened to put his hand in the pitcher, wishing for the food he was used to. He loved curried rice and milk, lentils, fruit and vegetables, and very soon he had a beautiful meal spread out for himself on the ground. Then the fairies called out, one after the other, what they wanted for food, things the woodcutter had never heard of or seen which made him quite discontented with what he had chosen for himself.
The next few days passed away like a dream, and at first Subha Datta thought he had never been so happy in his life. The fairies often went off together leaving him alone, only coming back to the clearing when they wanted something out of the pitcher. The woodcutter got all kinds of things he fancied for himself, but presently he began to wish he had his wife and children with him to share his wonderful meals. He began to miss them terribly, and he missed his work too. It was no good cutting trees down and chopping up wood when all the food was ready cooked. Sometimes he thought he would slip off home when the fairies were away, but when he looked at the pitcher he could not bear the thought of leaving it.