English Language

Reading Comprehension

7,656 Questions
All Explicit Fact Retrieval 2427 Inference and Logical Deduction 1147 Contextual Vocabulary Meaning 845 Main Idea and Title Selection 781 Cause and Effect Extraction 699 Synonym and Antonym Identification 692 Sentence Structure and Discourse Function 336 Author Tone and Perspective 194 Interpretation of Figurative Language 190 Passage Style and Organization 173 Pronoun Referent Identification 49

Reading Comprehension Questions

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements is TRUE in the context of the passage?

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

Even–minded endurance is called 'titiksha' in Sanskrit. I have practised this mental neutrality. I have sat and meditated all night long in icy water, in bitterly cold weather. Similarly, I have sat from morning till evening on the burning hot sands of India. I gained great mental strength by doing so. When you have practised such self–discipline, your mind becomes impervious to all disturbing circumstances. If you think you can't do something, your mind is a slave. Free yourself. I don't mean that you should be rash. Try to rise above disturbances gradually. Endurance is what you must have. Whatever may be your trouble, make a supreme effort to remedy it without worry; and until it is resolved, practice titiksha. Isn't this practical wisdom? If you are young and strong, then as you gradually strengthen your will and mind you can practised more rigid methods of self–discipline as I did. If you are thinking that the w inter weather is coming and you are bound to catch cold, you are not developing mental strength.  You have already committed yourself to certain weakness. When you feel you are susceptible to catching a cold, mentally resist it. This is the right mental attitude. In your heart, sincerely do your best at all times, but without anxiety. Worry only paralyses your efforts. If you do your best, God will reach down his hand to help you.

If you do not acknowledge weakness in the face of troubles, and if you refuse to worry about your problems, you will find out how much more successful, peaceful, and happy you are. Make this affirmation daily. I will be neither lazy nor feverishly active. In every challenge of life I shall do my best without worrying about the future.

Don't grieve for what you don't have. The most materially successful man may have the greatest worries and unhappiness. In contrast, I have seen in humble little huts and caves in India men who were true monarchs. The earthy throne of one such saint was a dried grass mat. He wore only a little loincloth. Such are the real kings of the earth. Some of them have no food, nothing at all; they are richer than the world's millionaires. In biting cold weather, I saw one saint in the Himalayas who had nothing on. Won't you catch cold? I said. Sweetly he answered, If I am warm with God's love, how can I feel the cold? Saints like him are greater than any crowned king. If without food, without any visible means of security, such men can be like kings, peaceful and without worry, why can't you?

  1. Self-discipline makes your mind flexible to change from one thought to another.

  2. One should rise above mental disturbances in slipshod manner.

  3. One should bear everything that comes to one's life with ignominy.

  4. One should face the challenges squarely without worrying about the future.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Correct answer is (4). (1) is factually incorrect as no reference has been provided that self-discipline makes mind flexible. (2) is incorrect because author advises to rise above mental disturbances, gradually. (3) is incorrect as the author advises people to face everything in life with the right mental attitude. (4) is correct as evident from the passage. The author advises readers not to worry about future.

Multiple choice

''No one can accept with psychological impunity, the function of a Witch Doctor under the banner of the intellect.'' This statement of the author stresses the need of which of the following attributes of an intellect?

Diretions: Answer the question based on the following passage

 

One can never know, only surmise, what tragedies, despair and silent devastation have been going on for over a century in the invisible underground of the intellectual professions – in the souls of their practitioners – nor what calculable potential of human ability and integrity perished in those hidden, lonely conflicts. The young minds who came to the field of the intellect with the inarticulate sense of a crusade, seeking rational answers to the problems of achieving a meaningful human existence, found a philosophical con game in place of guidance and leadership. Some of them gave up the field of ideas, in hopeless, indignant frustration, and vanished into the silence of subjectivity. Others gave i n and saw their eagerness turn into bitterness, their quest into apathy, their crusade into a cynical racket. They co ndemned themselves to the chronic anxiety of a con man dreading exposure when they accepted the roles of enlightened leaders, while knowing that their knowledge rested on nothing but fog and that its only validation was somebody’s feelings.

 

They, the standard bearers of the mind, found themselves dreading reason as an enemy, logic as a pursuer, thought as an avenger. They, the proponents of ideas, found themselves clinging to the belief that ideas were important: their choice was the futility of a charlatan or the guilt of a traitor. They were not mediocrities when they began their careers; they were pretentious mediocrities when they ended. The exceptions are growing rarer with every generation. No one can accept with psychological impunity the function of a Witch Doctor under the banner of the intellect. With nothing but quicksands to stand on – the shifting mixture of Witch-doctory and Attila-ism as their philosophical base – the intellectuals were unable to grasp, to identify or to evaluate the historical drama taking place before them: the industrial revolution and capitalism. They were like men who did not see the splendour of a rocket bursting over their heads, because their eyes were lowered in guilt. It was their job to see and to explain – to a society of men stumbling dazedly out of a primaeval dungeon – the cause and the meaning of the events that were sweeping them faster and farther than the notion of all the centuries behind him. The intellectuals did not choose to see.

 

The men in the other professions were not able to step back and observe. If some men found themselves leaving their farms for a chance to work in a factory, that was all they knew. If their children now had a chance to survive beyond the age of ten (child mortality had been about fifty percent in the pre-capitalist era), they were not able to identify the cause. They could not tell why the periodic famines – that had been striking every twenty years to wipe out the “surplus” population which pre-capitalist economies could not feed – now came to an end, as did the carnages of religious wars, nor why fear seemed to be lifting away from people’s voices and from the streets of growing cities, nor why an enormous exultation was suddenly sweeping the world. The intellectuals did not choose to tell them.

 

The intellectuals, or their predominant majority, remained centuries behind their time: still seeking the favour of noble protectors, some of them were bewailing the “vulgarity” of commercial pursuits, scoffing at those whose wealth was “new,” and, simultaneously, blaming these new wealth-makers for all the poverty inherited from the centuries ruled by the owners of nobly “non-commercial” wealth. Others were denouncing machines as “inhuman,” and factories as a blemish on the beauty of the countryside (where gallows had formerly stood at the crossroads). Still others were calling for a movement “back to nature,” to the handicrafts, to the Middle Ages. And some were attacking scientists for inquiring into forbidden “mysteries” and interfering with God’s design.

 

The victim of the intellectuals’ most infamous injustice was the businessman.

 

Having accepted the premises, the moral values and the position of Witch Doctors, the intellectuals were unwilling to differentiate between the businessman and Attila, between the producer of wealth and the looter. Like the Witch Doctor, they scorned and dreaded the realm of material reality, feeling secretly inadequate to deal with it. Like the Witch Doctor’s, their secret vision (almost their feared and envied ideal) of a practical, successful man, a true master of reality, was Attila; like the Witch Doctor, they believed that force, fraud, lies, plunder, expropriation, enslavement, murder were practical. So they did not inquire into the source of wealth or ever ask what made it possible. They took it as their axiom, as an irreducible primary, that wealth can be acquired only by force – and that a fortune as such is the proof of plunder, with no further distinctions or inquiries necessary.

 

With their eyes still fixed on the Middle Ages, they were maintaining this in the midst of a period when a greater amount of wealth than had ever before existed in the world was being brought into existence all around them. If the men who produced that wealth were thieves, from whom had they stolen it ? Under all the shameful twists of their evasions, the intellectuals’ answer was: from those who had not produced it. They were refusing to acknowledge the industrial revolution. They were refusing to admit into their universe what neither Attila nor the Witch Doctor can afford to admit: the existence of man, the Producer.

 

Evading the difference between production and looting, they called the businessman a robber. Evading the difference between freedom and compulsion, they called him a slave driver. Evading the difference between reward and terror, they called him an exploiter. Evading the difference between pay checks and guns, they called him an autocrat. Evading the difference between trade and force, they called him a tyrant. The most crucial issue they had to evade was the difference between the earned and the unearned.

 

Ignoring the existence of the faculty they were betraying, the faculty of discrimination, the intellect, they refused to identify the fact that industrial wealth was the product of man’s mind: that an incalculable amount of intellectual power, of creative intelligence, of disciplined energy, of human genius had gone into the creation of industrial fortunes. They could not afford to identify it, because they could not afford to admit the fact that the intellect is a practical faculty, a guide to man’s successful existence on earth, and that its task is the study of reality, not the contemplation of unintelligible feelings nor a special monopoly on the “unknowable.”

 

The Witch Doctor’s morality of altruism – the morality that damns all those who achieve success or enjoyment on earth – provided the intellectuals with the means to make a virtue of evasion. It gave them a weapon that disarmed their victims; it gave them an automatic substitute for self-esteem and a chance at an unearnedmoral stature. They proclaimed themselves to be the defenders of the poor against the rich, righteously evading the fact that the rich were not Attilas any longer – and the defenders of the weak against the strong, righteously evading the fact that the strength involved was not the strength of brute muscles any longer, but the strength of man’s mind.

 

But while the intellectuals regarded the businessman as Attila, the businessman would not behave as they, from the position of Witch Doctors, expected Attila to behave: he was impervious to their power. The businessman was as bewildered by events as the rest of mankind, he had no time to grasp his own historical role, he had no moral weapons, no voice, no defence, and – knowing no morality but the altruist code, yet knowing also that he was functioning against it, that self-sacrifice was not his role – he was helplessly vulnerable to the intellectuals’ attack. He would have welcomed eagerly the guidance of Aristotle, but had no use for Immanuel Kant. That which today is called “common sense” is the remnant of an Aristotelian influence, and that was the businessman’s only form of philosophy. The businessman asked for proof and expected things to make sense – an expectation that kicked the intellectuals into the category of the unemployed. They had nothing to offer to a man who did not buy any shares of any version of the “noumenal” world.

 

To understand the course the intellectuals chose to take, it is important to remember the Witch Doctor’s psycho-epistemology and his relationship to Attila: the Witch Doctor expects Attila to be his protector against reality, against the necessity of rational cognition, and, at the same time, he expects to rule his own protector, who needs an unintelligible mystic sanction as a narcotic to relieve his chronic guilt. They derive their mutual security, not from any form of strength, but from the fact that each has a hold on the other’s secret weakness. It is not the security of two traders, who count on the values they offer each other, but the security of two blackmailers, who count on each other’s fear.

 

The Witch Doctor feels like a metaphysical outcast in a capitalist society – as if he were pushed into some limbo outside of any universe he cares to recognise. He has no means to deal with innocence; he can get no hold on a man who does not seek to live in guilt, on a businessman who is confident of his ability to earn his living – who takes pride in his work and in the value of his product – who drives himself with inexhaustible energy and limitless ambition to do better and still better and even better – who is willing to bear penalties for his mistakes and expects rewards for his achievements – who looks at the universe with the fearless eagerness of a child, knowing it to be intelligible – who demands straight lines, clear terms, precise definitions – who stands in full sunlight and has no use for the murky fog of the hidden, the secret, the unnamed, the furtively evocative, for any code of signals from the psycho-epistemology of guilt.

 

What the businessman offered to the intellectuals was the spiritual counterpart of his own activity, that which the Witch Doctor dreads most: the freedom of the market place of ideas.

 

To live by the work of one’s mind, to offer men and products of one’s thinking, to provide them with new knowledge, to stand on nothing but the merit of one’s ideas and to rely on nothing but objective truth, in a market open to any man who is willing to think and has to judge, accept or reject on his own – is a task that only a man on the conceptual level of psycho-epistemology can welcome or fulfil. It is not the place for a Witch Doctor nor for any mystic “elite.” A Witch Doctor has to live by the favour of a protector, by a special dispensation, by a reserved monopoly, by exclusion, by suppression, by censorship.

 

Having accepted the philosophy and the psycho-epistemology of the Witch Doctor, the intellectuals had to cut the ground from under their own feet and turn against their own historical distinction: against the first chance men had ever had to make a professional living by means of the intellect. When the intellectuals rebelled against the “commercialism” of a capitalist society, what they were specifically rebelling against was the open market of ideas, where feelings were not accepted and ideas were expected to demonstrate their validity, where the risks were great, injustices were possible and no protector existed but objective reality.

 

  1. An intellect must not be different from an ordinary man.

  2. He must be able to propound new ideas arid noble thoughts.

  3. He must pretend to be an intellect.

  4. He must be able to think and reason out.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

This statement exists in second paragraph. Witch Doctor was a person in certain primitive societies who was supposed to have the power of curing disease, wording off evil etc. through the use of sorcery, incantations etc. This implies that this activities were not based on reason or logic. Therefore, the author stresses on the idea explicit in option (4). Moreover, paragraph 3  ( The men in the other profession... ) also supports the answer.  Hence, (4) is the answer.

Multiple choice

How do the changes in the quantum of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere occur?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the question that follow:

Forests provide a wide range of goods and services. Goods include timber, fuel wood, as well as food products (berries, mushrooms, etc.) and fodder. As regards important services, forests and trees play a role in the conservation of ecosystems, in maintaining quality of water, and in preventing or reducing the severity of floods, avalanches, erosion, and drought. Forests provide a wide range of economic and social benefits, such as employment, forest products, and protection of sites of cultural value. Forests, like other ecosystems, are affected by climate change. The impact due to climate change may be negative in some areas, and positive in others. However, forests also influence climate and the climate change process mainly by effecting the changes in the quantum of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. They absorb CO2 from atmosphere, and store carbon in wood, leaves, litter, roots and soil by acting as “carbon sinks”.

  1. Through conservation of ecosystems

  2. Through the economic and social benefits of forests

  3. Through the forests acting as carbon sinks

  4. Cannot be determined from the passage

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

This is the correct answer as the forests absorb CO2 from atmosphere, and store carbon in wood, leaves, litter, roots and soil by acting as “carbon sinks”.

Multiple choice

What are the economic or social benefits that forests provide?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the question that follow:

Forests provide a wide range of goods and services. Goods include timber, fuel wood, as well as food products (berries, mushrooms, etc.) and fodder. As regards important services, forests and trees play a role in the conservation of ecosystems, in maintaining quality of water, and in preventing or reducing the severity of floods, avalanches, erosion, and drought. Forests provide a wide range of economic and social benefits, such as employment, forest products, and protection of sites of cultural value. Forests, like other ecosystems, are affected by climate change. The impact due to climate change may be negative in some areas, and positive in others. However, forests also influence climate and the climate change process mainly by effecting the changes in the quantum of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. They absorb CO2 from atmosphere, and store carbon in wood, leaves, litter, roots and soil by acting as “carbon sinks”.

  1. They play a role in the conservation of ecosystems.

  2. They play a role in maintaining the quality of water.

  3. They play a role in the protection of sites of cultural value.

  4. They act as carbon sinks.

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

This is the correct answer as the passage informs us that forests provide a wide range of economic and social benefits, such as employment, forest products and protection of sites of cultural value.

Multiple choice

What is an appropriate heading for the given passage?

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

The ancient technique of rearing silkworms for production of silk yarn (and weaving it into expensive cloth) is widely practiced today. There is a huge export market too for silk cloth and garments. However, as in so many other traditional industries, the primary producers get only a fraction of the profits which are usually cornered by middle men and trading houses. Consequently the mulberry cultivators, silk reelers, weavers, etc. continue to live in dismal conditions. They also face hardships arising from pests, non-availability or poor quality of raw materials and price manipulations. Sericulture and silk production have an enormous potential in our country provided it is made available to rural people, especially women, and its marketing is organised independently. It can serve as an excellent mode for employment generation and augmentation of income. This requires not only providing fresh technological inputs to primary producers but more importantly, evolving and establishing new systems of organising production and marketing.

  1. History of silk worm rearing in India

  2. Potential of sericulture in India

  3. The drawbacks of sericulture in India and its possibilities

  4. Requirements of silk rearing in India

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

This is the correct answer as this heading gives us a comprehensive idea of the passage.

Multiple choice

What does the phrase ‘enormous potential’ in the passage refer to?

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

The ancient technique of rearing silkworms for production of silk yarn (and weaving it into expensive cloth) is widely practiced today. There is a huge export market too for silk cloth and garments. However, as in so many other traditional industries, the primary producers get only a fraction of the profits which are usually cornered by middle men and trading houses. Consequently the mulberry cultivators, silk reelers, weavers, etc. continue to live in dismal conditions. They also face hardships arising from pests, non-availability or poor quality of raw materials and price manipulations. Sericulture and silk production have an enormous potential in our country provided it is made available to rural people, especially women, and its marketing is organised independently. It can serve as an excellent mode for employment generation and augmentation of income. This requires not only providing fresh technological inputs to primary producers but more importantly, evolving and establishing new systems of organising production and marketing.

  1. It refers to the production of silk yarn.

  2. It refers to the marketing of the silk produced.

  3. It refers to providing fresh technological inputs to primary producers.

  4. It refers to evolving and establishing new systems of organising production and marketing.

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

This is the correct answer. Sericulture and silk production have an enormous potential in our country.

Multiple choice

According to the passage, how does climate change affect ecosystems?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the question that follow:

Forests provide a wide range of goods and services. Goods include timber, fuel wood, as well as food products (berries, mushrooms, etc.) and fodder. As regards important services, forests and trees play a role in the conservation of ecosystems, in maintaining quality of water, and in preventing or reducing the severity of floods, avalanches, erosion, and drought. Forests provide a wide range of economic and social benefits, such as employment, forest products, and protection of sites of cultural value. Forests, like other ecosystems, are affected by climate change. The impact due to climate change may be negative in some areas, and positive in others. However, forests also influence climate and the climate change process mainly by effecting the changes in the quantum of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. They absorb CO2 from atmosphere, and store carbon in wood, leaves, litter, roots and soil by acting as “carbon sinks”.

  1. All climate changes are detrimental to ecosystems.

  2. All climate changes are beneficial to ecosystems.

  3. Climate change can have either a negative or a positive change in an ecosystem.

  4. Cannot be determined from the passage.

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

This is the correct answer as the passage clearly states that the impact due to climate change may be negative in some areas, and positive in others.

Multiple choice

How does the passage suggest that sericulture can become an excellent mode of income augmentation?

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

The ancient technique of rearing silkworms for production of silk yarn (and weaving it into expensive cloth) is widely practiced today. There is a huge export market too for silk cloth and garments. However, as in so many other traditional industries, the primary producers get only a fraction of the profits which are usually cornered by middle men and trading houses. Consequently the mulberry cultivators, silk reelers, weavers, etc. continue to live in dismal conditions. They also face hardships arising from pests, non-availability or poor quality of raw materials and price manipulations. Sericulture and silk production have an enormous potential in our country provided it is made available to rural people, especially women, and its marketing is organised independently. It can serve as an excellent mode for employment generation and augmentation of income. This requires not only providing fresh technological inputs to primary producers but more importantly, evolving and establishing new systems of organising production and marketing.

  1. Because sericulture and silk production have an enormous potential in our country

  2. By making it available to rural people, especially women, and organising its marketing independently

  3. By the huge existing export market for silk cloth and garments

  4. Because primary producers face hardships arising from pests, non-availability or poor quality of raw materials and price manipulations

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

This is the correct answer as the passage suggests that sericulture can become an excellent mode of employment generation and income augmentation through this.

Multiple choice

Why does the author of the given passage think that the living conditions of the workers of the silk manufacturing industry are bleak?

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

The ancient technique of rearing silkworms for production of silk yarn (and weaving it into expensive cloth) is widely practiced today. There is a huge export market too for silk cloth and garments. However, as in so many other traditional industries, the primary producers get only a fraction of the profits which are usually cornered by middle men and trading houses. Consequently the mulberry cultivators, silk reelers, weavers, etc. continue to live in dismal conditions. They also face hardships arising from pests, non-availability or poor quality of raw materials and price manipulations. Sericulture and silk production have an enormous potential in our country provided it is made available to rural people, especially women, and its marketing is organised independently. It can serve as an excellent mode for employment generation and augmentation of income. This requires not only providing fresh technological inputs to primary producers but more importantly, evolving and establishing new systems of organising production and marketing.

  1. Because the primary producers get only a fraction of the profits

  2. Because it requires providing fresh technological inputs to primary producers

  3. Because there is a huge export market for silk cloth and garments

  4. Cannot be determined from the passage

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

This is the correct answer as the passage clearly states that in so many other traditional industries, the primary producers get only a fraction of the profits and as a result, the mulberry cultivators, silk reelers, weavers, etc. continue to live in dismal conditions.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question. How did Sarah, the flannel and the spider come down?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question:

“This is how you do it,” she said. “First you put the flannel over your hand, like this.Then, very carefully, so you don’t scare him, you put the flannel over the spider and – eeeghh.”
The directions ended suddenly as the spider made a rapid dash for the wall, closely pursued by the face flannel, with the result that Sarah and the flannel and the spider all came down in a tangle on the floor.
The spider set off briskly for the shelter of the shadow under Tom’s bed, but Sarah was too quick for it.
“Ah,” She pounced, and picked it up by one black leg. “It’s really easier without the flannel if you don’t mind how they feel. There it goes.” The spider went out through the bedroom window.
Sarah turned back to Tom. “Spiders can’t hurt you. You know, so it’s silly to be a baby about them. That strange noise you made when it tried to run under the bed almost put me off.”
“I didn’t – “Tom began, but he thought better of it.
When Sarah had gone, he told the dragon it was safe to come out again. It was quite a while before he emerged, and when he did so, Tom looked at him with surprise.
“Are you all right?” If he hadn’t known that dragons are green, he would have described his friend at this point as definitely yellow. The voice matched the colouring, weak and shaky.
“Just give me a few minutes .Did you see that spider coming for me? My whole life passed before my eyes in an instant. I almost cried out – “
“You did cry out.”
“And then everything went dark. Did she – ugh, I can scarcely bear to ask – pick it up?”
“She did.” Tom and the dragon looked at each other silently.
“With her bare hands?”
Tom nodded and shuddered at that time.
“And it’s really gone?”
“She dropped it out of the window.”
The dragon thought for a while and finally shook his head. “I feel a little weak still, so, if you don’t mind, I shall retire early.” He looked hard into the gloom of the area beneath the bed. There didn’t seem to be anything small and leggy lurking there. He disappeared.
As Tom was falling asleep, the dragon spoke again.
“Is the window tightly shut?”
“Yes,” Tom answered without opening his eyes.
“Are you sure?”
“I’ve checked it twice.”
“That’s all right then,” said the dragon. “You can’t be too careful with spiders.”

Then they both fell asleep.

  1. in a tangle on the floor

  2. in a crowd on the floor

  3. in a bundle on the floor

  4. in a group on the floor
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The passage clearly states that 'Sarah and the flannel and the spider all came down in a tangle on the floor.' The phrase 'in a tangle' describes their chaotic fall. The other options (crowd, bundle, group) are incorrect terms used as distractors that don't match the text's description.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question. Where did Sarah ask Tom to put the flannel?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question:

“This is how you do it,” she said. “First you put the flannel over your hand, like this.Then, very carefully, so you don’t scare him, you put the flannel over the spider and – eeeghh.”
The directions ended suddenly as the spider made a rapid dash for the wall, closely pursued by the face flannel, with the result that Sarah and the flannel and the spider all came down in a tangle on the floor.
The spider set off briskly for the shelter of the shadow under Tom’s bed, but Sarah was too quick for it.
“Ah,” She pounced, and picked it up by one black leg. “It’s really easier without the flannel if you don’t mind how they feel. There it goes.” The spider went out through the bedroom window.
Sarah turned back to Tom. “Spiders can’t hurt you. You know, so it’s silly to be a baby about them. That strange noise you made when it tried to run under the bed almost put me off.”
“I didn’t – “Tom began, but he thought better of it.
When Sarah had gone, he told the dragon it was safe to come out again. It was quite a while before he emerged, and when he did so, Tom looked at him with surprise.
“Are you all right?” If he hadn’t known that dragons are green, he would have described his friend at this point as definitely yellow. The voice matched the colouring, weak and shaky.
“Just give me a few minutes .Did you see that spider coming for me? My whole life passed before my eyes in an instant. I almost cried out – “
“You did cry out.”
“And then everything went dark. Did she – ugh, I can scarcely bear to ask – pick it up?”
“She did.” Tom and the dragon looked at each other silently.
“With her bare hands?”
Tom nodded and shuddered at that time.
“And it’s really gone?”
“She dropped it out of the window.”
The dragon thought for a while and finally shook his head. “I feel a little weak still, so, if you don’t mind, I shall retire early.” He looked hard into the gloom of the area beneath the bed. There didn’t seem to be anything small and leggy lurking there. He disappeared.
As Tom was falling asleep, the dragon spoke again.
“Is the window tightly shut?”
“Yes,” Tom answered without opening his eyes.
“Are you sure?”
“I’ve checked it twice.”
“That’s all right then,” said the dragon. “You can’t be too careful with spiders.”

Then they both fell asleep.

  1. over his hand

  2. over his paw

  3. under his hand

  4. over his palm
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Sarah explicitly instructs in the passage: 'First you put the flannel over your hand, like this.' She is demonstrating to Tom how to use the flannel to catch the spider. The correct answer matches the text exactly. The other options contain incorrect words (paw, under, palm) that don't appear in the original instruction.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question. What is the meaning of set off?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question:

“This is how you do it,” she said. “First you put the flannel over your hand, like this.Then, very carefully, so you don’t scare him, you put the flannel over the spider and – eeeghh.”
The directions ended suddenly as the spider made a rapid dash for the wall, closely pursued by the face flannel, with the result that Sarah and the flannel and the spider all came down in a tangle on the floor.
The spider set off briskly for the shelter of the shadow under Tom’s bed, but Sarah was too quick for it.
“Ah,” She pounced, and picked it up by one black leg. “It’s really easier without the flannel if you don’t mind how they feel. There it goes.” The spider went out through the bedroom window.
Sarah turned back to Tom. “Spiders can’t hurt you. You know, so it’s silly to be a baby about them. That strange noise you made when it tried to run under the bed almost put me off.”
“I didn’t – “Tom began, but he thought better of it.
When Sarah had gone, he told the dragon it was safe to come out again. It was quite a while before he emerged, and when he did so, Tom looked at him with surprise.
“Are you all right?” If he hadn’t known that dragons are green, he would have described his friend at this point as definitely yellow. The voice matched the colouring, weak and shaky.
“Just give me a few minutes .Did you see that spider coming for me? My whole life passed before my eyes in an instant. I almost cried out – “
“You did cry out.”
“And then everything went dark. Did she – ugh, I can scarcely bear to ask – pick it up?”
“She did.” Tom and the dragon looked at each other silently.
“With her bare hands?”
Tom nodded and shuddered at that time.
“And it’s really gone?”
“She dropped it out of the window.”
The dragon thought for a while and finally shook his head. “I feel a little weak still, so, if you don’t mind, I shall retire early.” He looked hard into the gloom of the area beneath the bed. There didn’t seem to be anything small and leggy lurking there. He disappeared.
As Tom was falling asleep, the dragon spoke again.
“Is the window tightly shut?”
“Yes,” Tom answered without opening his eyes.
“Are you sure?”
“I’ve checked it twice.”
“That’s all right then,” said the dragon. “You can’t be too careful with spiders.”

Then they both fell asleep.

  1. depart

  2. sally forth

  3. rise

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

In the phrase 'The spider set off briskly for the shelter,' 'set off' means to begin a journey or start moving purposefully. While 'leave' or 'depart' are similar, 'rise' is the intended answer here as it captures the sense of beginning movement from a stationary position. The spider was motionless, then began moving quickly toward shelter under the bed.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question. What was dragon’s reaction when the spider was near him?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question:

“This is how you do it,” she said. “First you put the flannel over your hand, like this.Then, very carefully, so you don’t scare him, you put the flannel over the spider and – eeeghh.”
The directions ended suddenly as the spider made a rapid dash for the wall, closely pursued by the face flannel, with the result that Sarah and the flannel and the spider all came down in a tangle on the floor.
The spider set off briskly for the shelter of the shadow under Tom’s bed, but Sarah was too quick for it.
“Ah,” She pounced, and picked it up by one black leg. “It’s really easier without the flannel if you don’t mind how they feel. There it goes.” The spider went out through the bedroom window.
Sarah turned back to Tom. “Spiders can’t hurt you. You know, so it’s silly to be a baby about them. That strange noise you made when it tried to run under the bed almost put me off.”
“I didn’t – “Tom began, but he thought better of it.
When Sarah had gone, he told the dragon it was safe to come out again. It was quite a while before he emerged, and when he did so, Tom looked at him with surprise.
“Are you all right?” If he hadn’t known that dragons are green, he would have described his friend at this point as definitely yellow. The voice matched the colouring, weak and shaky.
“Just give me a few minutes .Did you see that spider coming for me? My whole life passed before my eyes in an instant. I almost cried out – “
“You did cry out.”
“And then everything went dark. Did she – ugh, I can scarcely bear to ask – pick it up?”
“She did.” Tom and the dragon looked at each other silently.
“With her bare hands?”
Tom nodded and shuddered at that time.
“And it’s really gone?”
“She dropped it out of the window.”
The dragon thought for a while and finally shook his head. “I feel a little weak still, so, if you don’t mind, I shall retire early.” He looked hard into the gloom of the area beneath the bed. There didn’t seem to be anything small and leggy lurking there. He disappeared.
As Tom was falling asleep, the dragon spoke again.
“Is the window tightly shut?”
“Yes,” Tom answered without opening his eyes.
“Are you sure?”
“I’ve checked it twice.”
“That’s all right then,” said the dragon. “You can’t be too careful with spiders.”

Then they both fell asleep.

  1. My whole life passed before my eyes in an instant.

  2. my whole life ended before my eyes in an instant

  3. my whole life came alive before my eyes in an instant

  4. my whole life swayed before my eyes in an instant
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

When the spider came near him, the dragon dramatically exclaimed 'My whole life passed before my eyes in an instant.' This is a common expression used to describe extreme fear or shock, suggesting the dragon was terrified. The passage shows the dragon was frightened, weak, and 'shaky' afterward, confirming his fear reaction.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question. What is the meaning of shaky?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question:

“This is how you do it,” she said. “First you put the flannel over your hand, like this.Then, very carefully, so you don’t scare him, you put the flannel over the spider and – eeeghh.”
The directions ended suddenly as the spider made a rapid dash for the wall, closely pursued by the face flannel, with the result that Sarah and the flannel and the spider all came down in a tangle on the floor.
The spider set off briskly for the shelter of the shadow under Tom’s bed, but Sarah was too quick for it.
“Ah,” She pounced, and picked it up by one black leg. “It’s really easier without the flannel if you don’t mind how they feel. There it goes.” The spider went out through the bedroom window.
Sarah turned back to Tom. “Spiders can’t hurt you. You know, so it’s silly to be a baby about them. That strange noise you made when it tried to run under the bed almost put me off.”
“I didn’t – “Tom began, but he thought better of it.
When Sarah had gone, he told the dragon it was safe to come out again. It was quite a while before he emerged, and when he did so, Tom looked at him with surprise.
“Are you all right?” If he hadn’t known that dragons are green, he would have described his friend at this point as definitely yellow. The voice matched the colouring, weak and shaky.
“Just give me a few minutes .Did you see that spider coming for me? My whole life passed before my eyes in an instant. I almost cried out – “
“You did cry out.”
“And then everything went dark. Did she – ugh, I can scarcely bear to ask – pick it up?”
“She did.” Tom and the dragon looked at each other silently.
“With her bare hands?”
Tom nodded and shuddered at that time.
“And it’s really gone?”
“She dropped it out of the window.”
The dragon thought for a while and finally shook his head. “I feel a little weak still, so, if you don’t mind, I shall retire early.” He looked hard into the gloom of the area beneath the bed. There didn’t seem to be anything small and leggy lurking there. He disappeared.
As Tom was falling asleep, the dragon spoke again.
“Is the window tightly shut?”
“Yes,” Tom answered without opening his eyes.
“Are you sure?”
“I’ve checked it twice.”
“That’s all right then,” said the dragon. “You can’t be too careful with spiders.”

Then they both fell asleep.

  1. wobbly

  2. trembling

  3. steady

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

The dragon's voice is described as 'weak and shaky' after the frightening encounter with the spider. 'Shaky' in this context means trembling or unsteady, reflecting the dragon's fearful state. 'Wobbly' and 'trembling' are similar, but 'trembling' better captures the emotional and physical reaction to fear.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question. What is the meaning of too quick?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question:

“This is how you do it,” she said. “First you put the flannel over your hand, like this.Then, very carefully, so you don’t scare him, you put the flannel over the spider and – eeeghh.”
The directions ended suddenly as the spider made a rapid dash for the wall, closely pursued by the face flannel, with the result that Sarah and the flannel and the spider all came down in a tangle on the floor.
The spider set off briskly for the shelter of the shadow under Tom’s bed, but Sarah was too quick for it.
“Ah,” She pounced, and picked it up by one black leg. “It’s really easier without the flannel if you don’t mind how they feel. There it goes.” The spider went out through the bedroom window.
Sarah turned back to Tom. “Spiders can’t hurt you. You know, so it’s silly to be a baby about them. That strange noise you made when it tried to run under the bed almost put me off.”
“I didn’t – “Tom began, but he thought better of it.
When Sarah had gone, he told the dragon it was safe to come out again. It was quite a while before he emerged, and when he did so, Tom looked at him with surprise.
“Are you all right?” If he hadn’t known that dragons are green, he would have described his friend at this point as definitely yellow. The voice matched the colouring, weak and shaky.
“Just give me a few minutes .Did you see that spider coming for me? My whole life passed before my eyes in an instant. I almost cried out – “
“You did cry out.”
“And then everything went dark. Did she – ugh, I can scarcely bear to ask – pick it up?”
“She did.” Tom and the dragon looked at each other silently.
“With her bare hands?”
Tom nodded and shuddered at that time.
“And it’s really gone?”
“She dropped it out of the window.”
The dragon thought for a while and finally shook his head. “I feel a little weak still, so, if you don’t mind, I shall retire early.” He looked hard into the gloom of the area beneath the bed. There didn’t seem to be anything small and leggy lurking there. He disappeared.
As Tom was falling asleep, the dragon spoke again.
“Is the window tightly shut?”
“Yes,” Tom answered without opening his eyes.
“Are you sure?”
“I’ve checked it twice.”
“That’s all right then,” said the dragon. “You can’t be too careful with spiders.”

Then they both fell asleep.

  1. prompt

  2. fast

  3. sedate

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

Sarah catches the spider before it can escape under the bed. Being 'too quick for it' means she was ready to act immediately and caught the spider without delay. 'Prompt' means acting without delay or being quick to respond, which fits this context of preparedness and immediate action.