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

The author had been

Direction: Read the following passage and answer the questions.

PASSAGE: Was late bloomer and always envied those people who stood out in high school, because I didn’t. I earned early on, though, that it’s essential to set yourself apart from the group. Life is one struggle after another to succeed, particularly when you’re starting out. If your bio-data is sitting at the bottom of a pile of junk mail, sometimes a distinctive approach will get you noticed, especially if the competition is fierce. Once, my partner Jerry and I asked the other freelance writers of a TV serial what characters they hated to write for the most. Everybody said the same thing—they disliked writing for the minor characters because they felt that writing for them wouldn’t help them get other jobs. Jerry and I decided that we would write scripts for the minor characters because that’s what was needed—and we needed to set ourselves apart. In the first script Jerry and I wrote, a schoolgirl falls in love with a boy in her class. The producers loved the story. And with that one script, Jerry and I were no longer just another comedy-writing team.

  1. into advertising business

  2. a comedy writer

  3. a music director

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

The passage mentions the author and their partner Jerry were freelance writers for a TV serial and refers to them as a comedy-writing team.

Multiple choice

The author is of the opinion that

Direction: Read the following passage and answer the questions.

PASSAGE: Was late bloomer and always envied those people who stood out in high school, because I didn’t. I earned early on, though, that it’s essential to set yourself apart from the group. Life is one struggle after another to succeed, particularly when you’re starting out. If your bio-data is sitting at the bottom of a pile of junk mail, sometimes a distinctive approach will get you noticed, especially if the competition is fierce. Once, my partner Jerry and I asked the other freelance writers of a TV serial what characters they hated to write for the most. Everybody said the same thing—they disliked writing for the minor characters because they felt that writing for them wouldn’t help them get other jobs. Jerry and I decided that we would write scripts for the minor characters because that’s what was needed—and we needed to set ourselves apart. In the first script Jerry and I wrote, a schoolgirl falls in love with a boy in her class. The producers loved the story. And with that one script, Jerry and I were no longer just another comedy-writing team.

  1. one should be part of the group

  2. one should be different from others

  3. it is important to do well in high school

  4. one should heed to the advice of the seniors
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The author emphasizes the importance of setting oneself apart from the group to succeed, which aligns with the idea that one should be different from others.

Multiple choice

According to the author,

Direction: Read the following passage and answer the questions.

PASSAGE: Was late bloomer and always envied those people who stood out in high school, because I didn’t. I earned early on, though, that it’s essential to set yourself apart from the group. Life is one struggle after another to succeed, particularly when you’re starting out. If your bio-data is sitting at the bottom of a pile of junk mail, sometimes a distinctive approach will get you noticed, especially if the competition is fierce. Once, my partner Jerry and I asked the other freelance writers of a TV serial what characters they hated to write for the most. Everybody said the same thing—they disliked writing for the minor characters because they felt that writing for them wouldn’t help them get other jobs. Jerry and I decided that we would write scripts for the minor characters because that’s what was needed—and we needed to set ourselves apart. In the first script Jerry and I wrote, a schoolgirl falls in love with a boy in her class. The producers loved the story. And with that one script, Jerry and I were no longer just another comedy-writing team.

  1. one should be very meticulous in preparing his bio-data

  2. competition in the job-market is very fierce

  3. one should follow a conservative approach in preparing his bio-data

  4. one should try to get noticed by being innovative
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The author suggests that if your bio-data is lost in a pile, a distinctive approach will get you noticed, implying that innovation is key to standing out in a competitive market.

Multiple choice

Jerry and the author wrote scripts for the minor characters

Direction: Read the following passage and answer the questions.

PASSAGE: Was late bloomer and always envied those people who stood out in high school, because I didn’t. I earned early on, though, that it’s essential to set yourself apart from the group. Life is one struggle after another to succeed, particularly when you’re starting out. If your bio-data is sitting at the bottom of a pile of junk mail, sometimes a distinctive approach will get you noticed, especially if the competition is fierce. Once, my partner Jerry and I asked the other freelance writers of a TV serial what characters they hated to write for the most. Everybody said the same thing—they disliked writing for the minor characters because they felt that writing for them wouldn’t help them get other jobs. Jerry and I decided that we would write scripts for the minor characters because that’s what was needed—and we needed to set ourselves apart. In the first script Jerry and I wrote, a schoolgirl falls in love with a boy in her class. The producers loved the story. And with that one script, Jerry and I were no longer just another comedy-writing team.

  1. to realize their creative potential

  2. to earn more money

  3. to establish a different image

  4. because they did not have enough work
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Multiple choice

Directions: The question is a logical sequence of statements with a missing link, the location of which is shown parenthetically. From the five choices available you are required to choose the one which best fits the sequence logically.

Jose Arcadio did not dare leave the house for several days. It was enough for him to hear the rocking laughter of Pilar in the kitchen to run and take refuge in the laboratory, where the artifacts of alchemy had come alive again with Ursula's blessing. (__________) One afternoon the boy grew enthusiastic over the flying carpet that went swiftly by the laboratory at window level carrying the gypsy who was driving it and several children from the village who were merrily waving their hands, but Jose Arcadio Buendia did not even look at it.

  1. He lost his appetite and could not sleep.

  2. Let them dream, she said.

  3. Jose Arcadio Buendia received his errant son with joy and initiated him in the search for the philosopher's stone, which he had finally undertaken.

  4. From a communicative person he had become withdrawn and hostile.

  5. He became so engrossed in his research that he lost track of time.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The passage refers to two persons, 'Arcadio' and 'the boy' both of whom have contrasting attitudes. This is a direct pointer to option (3). Also there is no other option that references 'the boy' (son). Hence, (3). 

Multiple choice

The girl laughed at

Directions: Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to the given question out of the four alternatives.

It was not the first or the second time; I found that the two had met. The Cabuliwallah had overcome the child's first terror by a judicious bribery of nuts and almonds and the two were now good friends. They had many quaint jokes which afforded them much amusement. Seated in front of him, looking down on his gigantic frame in all her tiny dignity, Mini would ripple her face with laughter and begin, “Oh, Cabuliwallah! Cabuliwallah! What have you got in your bag?”

 

  1. the quaint jokes

  2. the gigantic frame of the Cabuliwallah

  3. the nuts and the almonds

  4. the big bag carried by the Cabuliwallah
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

This is clearly given, “Seated in front of him, looking down on gigantic frame in all her tiny dignity, Mini would ripple her face with laughter and begin “Oh, Cabuliwallah! Cabuliwallah!”

Multiple choice

Bribe in the passage has been used by the Cabuliwallah

Directions: Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to the given question out of the four alternatives.

It was not the first or the second time; I found that the two had met. The Cabuliwallah had overcome the child's first terror by a judicious bribery of nuts and almonds and the two were now good friends. They had many quaint jokes which afforded them much amusement. Seated in front of him, looking down on his gigantic frame in all her tiny dignity, Mini would ripple her face with laughter and begin, “Oh, Cabuliwallah! Cabuliwallah! What have you got in your bag?”

 

  1. judiciously

  2. critically

  3. morally

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

This is given in the passage that “Cabuliwallah had overcome the child's first terror by a judicious bribery of nuts and almonds and two were now good friends.”

Multiple choice

According to the narrator, the child and the Cabuliwallah had met

Directions: Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to the given question out of the four alternatives.

It was not the first or the second time; I found that the two had met. The Cabuliwallah had overcome the child's first terror by a judicious bribery of nuts and almonds and the two were now good friends. They had many quaint jokes which afforded them much amusement. Seated in front of him, looking down on his gigantic frame in all her tiny dignity, Mini would ripple her face with laughter and begin, “Oh, Cabuliwallah! Cabuliwallah! What have you got in your bag?”

 

  1. once

  2. twice

  3. several times

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

“It was not the first or the second time” suggests that they have met many times earlier.

Multiple choice

'Quaint jokes' mean

Directions: Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to the given question out of the four alternatives.

It was not the first or the second time; I found that the two had met. The Cabuliwallah had overcome the child's first terror by a judicious bribery of nuts and almonds and the two were now good friends. They had many quaint jokes which afforded them much amusement. Seated in front of him, looking down on his gigantic frame in all her tiny dignity, Mini would ripple her face with laughter and begin, “Oh, Cabuliwallah! Cabuliwallah! What have you got in your bag?”

 

  1. unusual jokes

  2. stupid jokes

  3. funny jokes

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

Explanation for option 1: This is correct as quaint means unusual or strange. Explanation for option 2: This is incorrect. Explanation for option 3: This doesn’t make sense as jokes are always funny. Explanation for option 4: This is not correct.

Multiple choice

The word 'gigantic' implies

Directions: Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to the given question out of the four alternatives.

It was not the first or the second time; I found that the two had met. The Cabuliwallah had overcome the child's first terror by a judicious bribery of nuts and almonds and the two were now good friends. They had many quaint jokes which afforded them much amusement. Seated in front of him, looking down on his gigantic frame in all her tiny dignity, Mini would ripple her face with laughter and begin, “Oh, Cabuliwallah! Cabuliwallah! What have you got in your bag?”

 

  1. small

  2. tiny

  3. enormous

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

Explanation for option 1: This is an antonym. Explanation for option 2: This is an antonym.  Explanation for option 3: Gigantic means huge or enormous. Explanation for option 4: Funny means something/someone humorous.

Multiple choice

How did the author spend his weekend in the city?

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

Even as a tourist, joining those who had arrived from around the world at the pilgrim's mass in the cathedral was a moving experience for me. Representatives from different language groups offered prayers. I had seen some cathedrals empty of worshipers in Europe, but dozens of rows in the Santiago Cathedral were filled. Some present wore the traditional hat of the Santiago pilgrimage. Some carried the pilgrim's cane. There were travellers with backpacks who must have just stepped off the road and into the church. As it happened, the day I visited was a feast day and mass ended with the use of the massive incense burner that requires eight men to swing it above the heads of the worshipers. My visit to Santiago de Compostela had an immediate effect on my spiritual life. I spent a weekend alone in that city and I returned to the cathedral again and again to pray. Even when I arrived early in the morning and had corners of the cathedral to myself, I felt surrounded and uplifted by the prayers of the pilgrims past and present. I found myself praying for more than I had ever prayed for before, without shyness and without hesitation.

  1. He did sightseeing in the city.

  2. He backpacked around the city.

  3. He visited the cathedral again and again.

  4. He interacted with the representatives of different languages who had come to offer prayers at the cathedral.

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

The third last sentence of the passage answers this. 

Multiple choice

What change did the author observe in his religious practices while in the city?

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

Even as a tourist, joining those who had arrived from around the world at the pilgrim's mass in the cathedral was a moving experience for me. Representatives from different language groups offered prayers. I had seen some cathedrals empty of worshipers in Europe, but dozens of rows in the Santiago Cathedral were filled. Some present wore the traditional hat of the Santiago pilgrimage. Some carried the pilgrim's cane. There were travellers with backpacks who must have just stepped off the road and into the church. As it happened, the day I visited was a feast day and mass ended with the use of the massive incense burner that requires eight men to swing it above the heads of the worshipers. My visit to Santiago de Compostela had an immediate effect on my spiritual life. I spent a weekend alone in that city and I returned to the cathedral again and again to pray. Even when I arrived early in the morning and had corners of the cathedral to myself, I felt surrounded and uplifted by the prayers of the pilgrims past and present. I found myself praying for more than I had ever prayed for before, without shyness and without hesitation.

  1. He prayed with people of different languages.

  2. He prayed early in the mornings.

  3. He prayed without shyness and hesitation.

  4. He started attending mass while in the city.

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

 The last sentence of the passage answers this. ‘I found myself praying for more than I had ever prayed for before, without shyness and without hesitation’.

Multiple choice

What does the phrase ‘moving experience’ in the passage refer to?

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

Even as a tourist, joining those who had arrived from around the world at the pilgrim's mass in the cathedral was a moving experience for me. Representatives from different language groups offered prayers. I had seen some cathedrals empty of worshipers in Europe, but dozens of rows in the Santiago Cathedral were filled. Some present wore the traditional hat of the Santiago pilgrimage. Some carried the pilgrim's cane. There were travellers with backpacks who must have just stepped off the road and into the church. As it happened, the day I visited was a feast day and mass ended with the use of the massive incense burner that requires eight men to swing it above the heads of the worshipers. My visit to Santiago de Compostela had an immediate effect on my spiritual life. I spent a weekend alone in that city and I returned to the cathedral again and again to pray. Even when I arrived early in the morning and had corners of the cathedral to myself, I felt surrounded and uplifted by the prayers of the pilgrims past and present. I found myself praying for more than I had ever prayed for before, without shyness and without hesitation.

  1. Being a tourist

  2. Joining the people from around the world

  3. Spending a weekend in the city

  4. Meeting representatives from different language groups
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

 The first sentence of the passage gives the answer to this question. It says, ‘joining those who had arrived from around the world at the pilgrim's mass in the cathedral was a moving experience for me’.

Multiple choice

The author felt surrounded and uplifted because

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

Even as a tourist, joining those who had arrived from around the world at the pilgrim's mass in the cathedral was a moving experience for me. Representatives from different language groups offered prayers. I had seen some cathedrals empty of worshipers in Europe, but dozens of rows in the Santiago Cathedral were filled. Some present wore the traditional hat of the Santiago pilgrimage. Some carried the pilgrim's cane. There were travellers with backpacks who must have just stepped off the road and into the church. As it happened, the day I visited was a feast day and mass ended with the use of the massive incense burner that requires eight men to swing it above the heads of the worshipers. My visit to Santiago de Compostela had an immediate effect on my spiritual life. I spent a weekend alone in that city and I returned to the cathedral again and again to pray. Even when I arrived early in the morning and had corners of the cathedral to myself, I felt surrounded and uplifted by the prayers of the pilgrims past and present. I found myself praying for more than I had ever prayed for before, without shyness and without hesitation.

  1. representatives from different language groups offered prayers together

  2. the cathedral was filled with people

  3. his visit to Santiago de Compostela had an immediate effect on his spiritual life

  4. of the prayers of the pilgrims past and present

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

 The second last sentence of the passage answers this question. ‘Even when I arrived early in the morning and had corners of the cathedral to myself, I felt surrounded and uplifted by the prayers of the pilgrims past and present’.

Multiple choice

Directions: Below given is a story with three blanks. Fill those blanks with the options provided to make it a sensible one.

Once there was a washerman. He had two pets, a dog and a donkey. The dog used to _(1)_ washerman's clothes or load. One night a thief broke into the house. The washerman was sleeping. The dog too was fast asleep. So, he didn't bark at the thief. The donkey _(2)_ by braying loudly. The thief ran away. The washer man could not sleep and came out. He was unable to understand why donkey was braying. So, _(3)_ very badly. But, the washerman' s house was saved because of the poor donkey.

P: noticed the thief and tried to waken his master Q: he beat the stupid but dutiful donkey R: keep watch and donkey used to carry

  1. QRP

  2. RPQ

  3. PRQ

  4. PQR

  5. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

"Dog used to keep watch" makes sense in the 1st blank. So, option 2 is the correct option.