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 cannot be attributed to the carbon dioxide level in the environment (Passage I)?

Passage – I

Every year there are changes in climate in different parts of the world. Some of these changes are due to natural causes. However, some climatic changes are caused by air pollution and these changes may increase. 
If the pollution affects the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the results are likely to be serious. Carbon dioxide constitutes only a small part of the atmosphere. But it has an important function in maintaining the balance between radiation from the sun entering the atmosphere and radiation leaving the Earth. Some of the radiation is absorbed by the Earth and some is radiated back into the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide in the atmosphere prevents some of the radiation from leaving the atmosphere. Thus the heat remains in the atmosphere and carbon dioxide helps to prevent the temperature of the Earth from falling.

If the proportion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increased as a result of air pollution, the temperature of the atmosphere may rise. This might eventually cause the ice in the north and the south poles to melt. If this happened, the sea level would rise and parts of the Earth would be flooded. The likelihood of this happening is remote, but the possibility exists.

There is also a fairly strong possibility that the dust level in the atmosphere will rise as a result of industrial pollution. This dust pollution will reflect sunlight back into space. If this happens, less sunlight will reach the Earth and the temperature will fall.

Another danger comes from the destruction of the Earth's vegetation, such as the forests of Brazil, which are being cleared to make way for farmland and cities. Trees use carbon dioxide and their destruction may upset the balance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

 

Passage – II

An acre of rainforest is destroyed every second for farmland we’ll use for a few years and leave. That rainforest is not replaceable. We complain rainforest is not replaceable. We complain there’s not a cure for HIV or many other diseases, but we destroy forest that it’s plants produce many medicines and one of those plants could contain a cure for a disease.

We use huge machinery to destroy the rainforest. These machines release chemicals into the air which pollutes the stuff we breathe into our bodies. Every time we gun that engine or peel our tires we pollute the air. If we want to breathe healthy air so we can enjoy the outdoors, we’re going to have to be more conscious on what we do. What do you think about a huge flood that kills all living things on land? Well, every time you spray the hairspray or cheese in a can you release aerosol which depletes the ozone. Because of our lack of knowledge or care there is now a huge hole over Antarctica. If to much heat gets to the glaciers they will melt overfilling the oceans causing massive floods on dry land. Floods so bad they would kill all living things. Would it kill you to not drive for the fun of it, possibly walk or car pool? Well, since people have over-used the gas of the world we’re facing a shortage of fossil fuel which is what powers our cars. With this problem other problems occur. Air pollution, noise pollution, and over crowding are some to just name a few. This problem needs to be taken care of quickly. The problem of pollution is something has to end and end soon. If something doesn’t stop the pollution will take over and destroy us which is no body’s fault but ourselves. The problem is bad but if we start to clean up now we could still make it a wonderful life (again).

  1. It is directly affected by the extent of pollution.

  2. Its basic function is regulatory.

  3. It acts as a watch dog both at the entry and the exit.

  4. The effect of carbon dioxide is ineluctable and all encompassing.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

(4) is correct, as according to the passage, the negative effects of increase in CO2 level is a possibility. It is not inevitable as the choice suggests.

Multiple choice

The cost to society of unemployment can be measured by all, except ___________________.

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

The concentrated incidence of unemployment among specific groups in the population  means far greater costs to society than car be measured simply in hours of involuntary idleness or dollars of income lost. The extra costs include disruption of the careers of young people, increased juvenile delinquency, and perpetuation of conditions which breed racial discrimination in employment and otherwise deny equality of opportunity.

There is another and more subtle cost. The social and economic strains of prolonged underutilization create strong pressures from cost-increasing solutions.... On the side of labour, prolonged high unemployment leads to “share-the-work” pressures for sho rter hours, intensifies resistance to technological change and to rationalization of work rules, and, in general, increases incentives for restrictive and inefficient measures to protect existing jobs. On the side of business, the weakness of markets leads to attempts to raise prices to cover high average overhead costs and to pressures for protection against foreign and domestic competition. On the side of agriculture, high prices are necessary to achieve income objectives when urban and industrial demand for foods and fibres is depressed and lack of opportunities for jobs and higher incomes in industry keep people on the farm. In all these cases, the problems are real and the claims understandable. But the solutions suggested raise costs and promote inefficiency. By no means the least of the advantages of full utilization will be a diminution of these pressures. They will be weaker, and they can be more firmly resisted in good conscience, when markets are generally strong and job opportunities are plentiful.

The demand for labour is derived from the demand for the goods and services which labour participates in producing. Thus, employment will be reduced to 4 percent of the labour force only when demand for the myriad of goods and services -automobiles, clothing, food, haircuts, electric generators, highways, and so on - is sufficiently great in total to require the productive efforts of 96 per cent of the civilian labour force.

Although many goods are initially produced as materials or components to meet demands related to the further production of other goods, all goods (and services) are ultimately destined to satisfy demands that can, for convenience, be classified into four categories: consumer demand, business demand for new plants and machinery and for additions to inventories, net export demand of foreign buyers, and demand of government units, Federal, state, and local. Thus gross national product (GNP), our total output. is the sum of four major components of expenditure; personal consumption expenditures, gross private domestic investment, net exports, and government purchases of goods and services.

The primary line of attack on the problem of unemployment must be through measures which will expand one or more of these components of demand. Once a satisfactory level of employment has been achieved in a growing economy, economic stability requires the maintenance of a continuing balance between growing productive capacity and growing demand. Action to expand demand is called for not only when demand actually declines and recession appears but even when the rate of growth of demand falls short of the rate of growth capacity.

  1. lost incomes

  2. idleness

  3. juvenile delinquency

  4. the death rate
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

First paragraph answers this question. All the factors are mentioned in this paragraph except the 'death rate' in option (4). Hence, (4) is the answer.

Multiple choice

All of the following are the intricacies of making correct premonitions, except that ___________________.

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the questions that follows:

Attempts to explain prophecy must make suppositions about the future. The most fundamental supposition is that events in the future do not yet exist and cannot, therefore, produce effects in the present. The path of explanation that stems from this view leads, of necessary, to various ideas of the future as a potential that somehow exist in the present.

In their simplest form these ideas follow the analogy of the seed and flower. A gardener can examine a seed and predict what flower it will produce. Some premonitions may indeed stem from clues scarcely noticed in a conscious way. An unfamiliar noise in a car, for example, may give rise to an accurate premonition of danger. The weakness of the theory, in this form, is that it requires of the precognizer an uncanny ability to analyze signs and indications that are not only imperceptible to the ordinary eye but impossible to deduce theoretically. What clues in a dreamer's environment could prompt an accurate precognition of a disaster six months and 3,000 miles away? Some extraordinary suggestions have been made to explain how the future may be unrealized but cognizable in the present.

One such suggestion, by Gerhard Dietrich Wasserman, a mathematical physicist at the University of Durham in England, is that all events exist as timeless mental patterns, with which every living and nonliving particle in the universe is associated.

This idea owes something to the ancient belief that the universe - the macrocosm - contains innumerable microcosms, each recapitulating the features and order of the large whole. Thus man was seen as a microcosm of the earth, his veins and arteries corresponding to streams and rivers, and so on.

By the end of the 17th century the idea had undergone many transformations but was still potent. The great philosopher and mathematician Baron Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, for example, wrote: "All the different classes of beings which taken together make up the universe are, in the ideas of God who knows distinctly their essential graduations, only so many ordinates of single curve so closely united that it would be impossible to place other between any two of them, since that would imply disorder and imperfection."

Accordingly, the various orders of beings, animate and inanimate, so gradually approximate each other in their attributes and properties that they form a single chain, "so closely linked one to another that it is impossible...to determine precisely the point at which one ends and the next begins." In this concept of a "chain of being" then, the animate, and therefore the spiritual of psychic, are connected with the inanimate by a gradation of shared attributes. For Leibniz the implication was that someone with enough insight "would see the future in the present as in a mirror."

Another version of the idea that the future lies hidden in the present was advanced by Adrian Dobbs, a mathematician and physicist at the University of Cambridge, in 1965. As events unfold, he proposed, they actualize a relatively small number of the possibilities for change that exist at a subatomic level. In the process disturbances are caused that create, in another dimension of time, what Dobbs calls a positronic wavefront. This wave front can be registered by the brain's neurons, at least in certain especially sensitive people, and interpreted. A metaphor may help to clarify the process.

Imagine a pond, at one side of which a toy ship is launched- At other side of the pond is a very small person. He is unable to see the ship, but as the ship travels forward, the waves it makes reach the shore on which he stands. As they travel across the pond, these waves pass around certain object- weeds, leaves, a log-that are fixed or slowly drifting on its surface. The objects thus create disturbances in the wavefront, which the small person, who has a lifetime's experience in these things is able to note in fine detail. From what he learns of the wavefronts he not only obtains an image of the objects that produced them but calculates how long it will be before they drift to the shore.

In this metaphor the toy ship represents an event unfolding in time. Its course across the pond represents one of many paths it might have taken and the dimension of time it occurs in. The pond itself represents Dobbs's "positronic wavefront," and the small person is, of course, the neuronal apparatus that receives the wavefront and converts it to a prediction, Granting that Dobbs’ theory is purely hypothetical and that no positronic wave has been discovered, the difficulty is in suggesting a neuronal mechanism by which the observer distinguishes the wavefront of a particular event from the presumable maelstrom of wavefronts produced by simultaneously unfolding events. Again the farther away the event is in the future, the more numerous the wavefronts and the more complex the problem.

Such, in general, are some of the theories that regard the future as being, in some way, a potential implicitly accessible in the present, and such are the difficulties and limitations attending them.

  1. extraordinary perception skills may be required as in the car example

  2. future is not yet realized

  3. tremendous in sight is required

  4. positronic fronts are extremely elusive and stay hidden
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Be careful with the question as it is an 'except' question. The answer to be chosen here is the one which is not correct. The car example does require a perception skill. In the very beginning of the passage, the author says that we have not realized yet what the future will bring with it. The passage throughout speaks of having an insight about various events. Hence, (1), (2) and (3) all can't be the answer. The passge talks about events existing as timeless mental patterns. So, option 4 is the correct answer.

Multiple choice

While unemployment is damaging many, it falls most heavily upon all, except the _________________.

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

The concentrated incidence of unemployment among specific groups in the population  means far greater costs to society than car be measured simply in hours of involuntary idleness or dollars of income lost. The extra costs include disruption of the careers of young people, increased juvenile delinquency, and perpetuation of conditions which breed racial discrimination in employment and otherwise deny equality of opportunity.

There is another and more subtle cost. The social and economic strains of prolonged underutilization create strong pressures from cost-increasing solutions.... On the side of labour, prolonged high unemployment leads to “share-the-work” pressures for sho rter hours, intensifies resistance to technological change and to rationalization of work rules, and, in general, increases incentives for restrictive and inefficient measures to protect existing jobs. On the side of business, the weakness of markets leads to attempts to raise prices to cover high average overhead costs and to pressures for protection against foreign and domestic competition. On the side of agriculture, high prices are necessary to achieve income objectives when urban and industrial demand for foods and fibres is depressed and lack of opportunities for jobs and higher incomes in industry keep people on the farm. In all these cases, the problems are real and the claims understandable. But the solutions suggested raise costs and promote inefficiency. By no means the least of the advantages of full utilization will be a diminution of these pressures. They will be weaker, and they can be more firmly resisted in good conscience, when markets are generally strong and job opportunities are plentiful.

The demand for labour is derived from the demand for the goods and services which labour participates in producing. Thus, employment will be reduced to 4 percent of the labour force only when demand for the myriad of goods and services -automobiles, clothing, food, haircuts, electric generators, highways, and so on - is sufficiently great in total to require the productive efforts of 96 per cent of the civilian labour force.

Although many goods are initially produced as materials or components to meet demands related to the further production of other goods, all goods (and services) are ultimately destined to satisfy demands that can, for convenience, be classified into four categories: consumer demand, business demand for new plants and machinery and for additions to inventories, net export demand of foreign buyers, and demand of government units, Federal, state, and local. Thus gross national product (GNP), our total output. is the sum of four major components of expenditure; personal consumption expenditures, gross private domestic investment, net exports, and government purchases of goods and services.

The primary line of attack on the problem of unemployment must be through measures which will expand one or more of these components of demand. Once a satisfactory level of employment has been achieved in a growing economy, economic stability requires the maintenance of a continuing balance between growing productive capacity and growing demand. Action to expand demand is called for not only when demand actually declines and recession appears but even when the rate of growth of demand falls short of the rate of growth capacity.

  1. black

  2. semiskilled

  3. unskilled

  4. white middle class
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Blacks, semiskilled and unskilled all constitute labour force. On the other hand, white middle class represent those who are designating clerical or professional workers or others employed in work not essentially manual. When there is recession in the country, then the demand for the goods and services which labour is producing decreases. Therefore, the most hit would be the labour force and not the white middle class. Hence, option (4) is the answer.

Multiple choice

According to passage I, the probability of pollution showing its extremity is ______________.

Passage – I

Every year there are changes in climate in different parts of the world. Some of these changes are due to natural causes. However, some climatic changes are caused by air pollution and these changes may increase. 
If the pollution affects the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the results are likely to be serious. Carbon dioxide constitutes only a small part of the atmosphere. But it has an important function in maintaining the balance between radiation from the sun entering the atmosphere and radiation leaving the Earth. Some of the radiation is absorbed by the Earth and some is radiated back into the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide in the atmosphere prevents some of the radiation from leaving the atmosphere. Thus the heat remains in the atmosphere and carbon dioxide helps to prevent the temperature of the Earth from falling.

If the proportion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increased as a result of air pollution, the temperature of the atmosphere may rise. This might eventually cause the ice in the north and the south poles to melt. If this happened, the sea level would rise and parts of the Earth would be flooded. The likelihood of this happening is remote, but the possibility exists.

There is also a fairly strong possibility that the dust level in the atmosphere will rise as a result of industrial pollution. This dust pollution will reflect sunlight back into space. If this happens, less sunlight will reach the Earth and the temperature will fall.

Another danger comes from the destruction of the Earth's vegetation, such as the forests of Brazil, which are being cleared to make way for farmland and cities. Trees use carbon dioxide and their destruction may upset the balance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

 

Passage – II

An acre of rainforest is destroyed every second for farmland we’ll use for a few years and leave. That rainforest is not replaceable. We complain rainforest is not replaceable. We complain there’s not a cure for HIV or many other diseases, but we destroy forest that it’s plants produce many medicines and one of those plants could contain a cure for a disease.

We use huge machinery to destroy the rainforest. These machines release chemicals into the air which pollutes the stuff we breathe into our bodies. Every time we gun that engine or peel our tires we pollute the air. If we want to breathe healthy air so we can enjoy the outdoors, we’re going to have to be more conscious on what we do. What do you think about a huge flood that kills all living things on land? Well, every time you spray the hairspray or cheese in a can you release aerosol which depletes the ozone. Because of our lack of knowledge or care there is now a huge hole over Antarctica. If to much heat gets to the glaciers they will melt overfilling the oceans causing massive floods on dry land. Floods so bad they would kill all living things. Would it kill you to not drive for the fun of it, possibly walk or car pool? Well, since people have over-used the gas of the world we’re facing a shortage of fossil fuel which is what powers our cars. With this problem other problems occur. Air pollution, noise pollution, and over crowding are some to just name a few. This problem needs to be taken care of quickly. The problem of pollution is something has to end and end soon. If something doesn’t stop the pollution will take over and destroy us which is no body’s fault but ourselves. The problem is bad but if we start to clean up now we could still make it a wonderful life (again).

  1. non-existent

  2. detached

  3. aloof

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

(4) is the correct option according to the following lines of the passage, 'If this happened, the sea level would ........... likelihood of this happening is remote'.

Multiple choice

What is the best possible title for the passage I?

Passage – I

Every year there are changes in climate in different parts of the world. Some of these changes are due to natural causes. However, some climatic changes are caused by air pollution and these changes may increase. 
If the pollution affects the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the results are likely to be serious. Carbon dioxide constitutes only a small part of the atmosphere. But it has an important function in maintaining the balance between radiation from the sun entering the atmosphere and radiation leaving the Earth. Some of the radiation is absorbed by the Earth and some is radiated back into the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide in the atmosphere prevents some of the radiation from leaving the atmosphere. Thus the heat remains in the atmosphere and carbon dioxide helps to prevent the temperature of the Earth from falling.

If the proportion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increased as a result of air pollution, the temperature of the atmosphere may rise. This might eventually cause the ice in the north and the south poles to melt. If this happened, the sea level would rise and parts of the Earth would be flooded. The likelihood of this happening is remote, but the possibility exists.

There is also a fairly strong possibility that the dust level in the atmosphere will rise as a result of industrial pollution. This dust pollution will reflect sunlight back into space. If this happens, less sunlight will reach the Earth and the temperature will fall.

Another danger comes from the destruction of the Earth's vegetation, such as the forests of Brazil, which are being cleared to make way for farmland and cities. Trees use carbon dioxide and their destruction may upset the balance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

 

Passage – II

An acre of rainforest is destroyed every second for farmland we’ll use for a few years and leave. That rainforest is not replaceable. We complain rainforest is not replaceable. We complain there’s not a cure for HIV or many other diseases, but we destroy forest that it’s plants produce many medicines and one of those plants could contain a cure for a disease.

We use huge machinery to destroy the rainforest. These machines release chemicals into the air which pollutes the stuff we breathe into our bodies. Every time we gun that engine or peel our tires we pollute the air. If we want to breathe healthy air so we can enjoy the outdoors, we’re going to have to be more conscious on what we do. What do you think about a huge flood that kills all living things on land? Well, every time you spray the hairspray or cheese in a can you release aerosol which depletes the ozone. Because of our lack of knowledge or care there is now a huge hole over Antarctica. If to much heat gets to the glaciers they will melt overfilling the oceans causing massive floods on dry land. Floods so bad they would kill all living things. Would it kill you to not drive for the fun of it, possibly walk or car pool? Well, since people have over-used the gas of the world we’re facing a shortage of fossil fuel which is what powers our cars. With this problem other problems occur. Air pollution, noise pollution, and over crowding are some to just name a few. This problem needs to be taken care of quickly. The problem of pollution is something has to end and end soon. If something doesn’t stop the pollution will take over and destroy us which is no body’s fault but ourselves. The problem is bad but if we start to clean up now we could still make it a wonderful life (again).

  1. Climatic changes- causation and effects

  2. Climate and pollution

  3. Pollution and carbon dioxide

  4. Future of earth
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

(2) is the correct choice as passage I deals with the relationship between pollution and climate, evident from the first paragraph of the passage.

Multiple choice

The sentence, 'Would it kill you.......car pool' belongs to which of the literary categories (Passage II)?

Passage – I

Every year there are changes in climate in different parts of the world. Some of these changes are due to natural causes. However, some climatic changes are caused by air pollution and these changes may increase. 
If the pollution affects the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the results are likely to be serious. Carbon dioxide constitutes only a small part of the atmosphere. But it has an important function in maintaining the balance between radiation from the sun entering the atmosphere and radiation leaving the Earth. Some of the radiation is absorbed by the Earth and some is radiated back into the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide in the atmosphere prevents some of the radiation from leaving the atmosphere. Thus the heat remains in the atmosphere and carbon dioxide helps to prevent the temperature of the Earth from falling.

If the proportion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increased as a result of air pollution, the temperature of the atmosphere may rise. This might eventually cause the ice in the north and the south poles to melt. If this happened, the sea level would rise and parts of the Earth would be flooded. The likelihood of this happening is remote, but the possibility exists.

There is also a fairly strong possibility that the dust level in the atmosphere will rise as a result of industrial pollution. This dust pollution will reflect sunlight back into space. If this happens, less sunlight will reach the Earth and the temperature will fall.

Another danger comes from the destruction of the Earth's vegetation, such as the forests of Brazil, which are being cleared to make way for farmland and cities. Trees use carbon dioxide and their destruction may upset the balance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

 

Passage – II

An acre of rainforest is destroyed every second for farmland we’ll use for a few years and leave. That rainforest is not replaceable. We complain rainforest is not replaceable. We complain there’s not a cure for HIV or many other diseases, but we destroy forest that it’s plants produce many medicines and one of those plants could contain a cure for a disease.

We use huge machinery to destroy the rainforest. These machines release chemicals into the air which pollutes the stuff we breathe into our bodies. Every time we gun that engine or peel our tires we pollute the air. If we want to breathe healthy air so we can enjoy the outdoors, we’re going to have to be more conscious on what we do. What do you think about a huge flood that kills all living things on land? Well, every time you spray the hairspray or cheese in a can you release aerosol which depletes the ozone. Because of our lack of knowledge or care there is now a huge hole over Antarctica. If to much heat gets to the glaciers they will melt overfilling the oceans causing massive floods on dry land. Floods so bad they would kill all living things. Would it kill you to not drive for the fun of it, possibly walk or car pool? Well, since people have over-used the gas of the world we’re facing a shortage of fossil fuel which is what powers our cars. With this problem other problems occur. Air pollution, noise pollution, and over crowding are some to just name a few. This problem needs to be taken care of quickly. The problem of pollution is something has to end and end soon. If something doesn’t stop the pollution will take over and destroy us which is no body’s fault but ourselves. The problem is bad but if we start to clean up now we could still make it a wonderful life (again).

  1. An allegory

  2. An analogy

  3. A rhetoric

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

(3) is the correct option. In the paragraph, the given question is asked only for effect. It is not a literal question. This is called rhetoric.

Multiple choice

What is the meaning of 'sighed'?

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

That evening, Tom told the dragon that he would be getting another surprise the following day.
“Let me guess”, the dragon said, shutting his eyes so tightly that the scales along his forehead buckled and squeaked. “Don’t tell me, don’t tell me…”
“I am not going to”, promised Tom.
The dragon’s eyes flew open, “I know, It’s a … a football.”
Tom laughed and said, “No.” The eyes snapped shut again.
“Don’t tell me, don’t tell me …”
“I won’t.”
“It’s a … firework?”
With his one open eye, the dragon saw Tom shake his head again, smiling.
“You’ll never guess.”
The dragon sighed and unfurrowed his forehead to fix a pleading gaze on Tom’s face. “I give up then. What is it?”
“Wait and see. It’s a surprise.”
“Yes, I know that. But I like to know what my surprises are going to be,” the dragon explained. “It helps me get ready for them.”
Tom relented a little. “I’ll give you a clue, but that’s all. It’s something nice to eat. Not,” he added in a hurry, in case the dragon got the wrong idea, “not what you like best. But something nice.”
Tom reassured him. The surprise was going to be much tastier than the sandwich.
That, thought the dragon, would not be difficult. Finding something less tasty than the sandwich would be a challenge. Even so, he cheered up. Following his own train of thought, he said in a careless voice, “While we’re on the subject of surprises, didn’t you once tell me you had a sister?”
Tom knew perfectly well that the dragon knew perfectly well about Sarah, and he gave his friend a look full of suspicion. “What’s Sarah got to do with surprises?”
You eat surprises and you eat sisters, thought the dragon, trying hard to look harmless. What could be simpler than that?
He didn’t speak out loud, however, because Tom’s disapproving gaze made him feel guilty. He could see that it might have been a mistake to introduce the subject of Sarah as he had. He had spoken without thinking, and was sorry for it.
“How was football this afternoon?” It was a lucky question for the dragon to hit on, just as the silence was threatening to turn awkward. Tom’s expression brightened.
“Didn’t I tell you? We drew, nil-nil, so we get one whole point. Are you sure I didn’t tell you about it before?”
“Quite sure,” lied the dragon. He much preferred hearing Tom’s account of the day’s play again to discussing difficult topics such as a dragon’s diet and its relation to young female relatives.

Ten minutes passed happily; then just as Tom was showing the dragon the proper way to head a football (using pillow as an example), a movement above his head brought him to a sudden standstill.

  1. Exhale

  2. Groan

  3. Painful

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

'Sighed' here means to exhale audibly with weariness. Rest of the options are related to pain.

Multiple choice

What is the meaning of 'squeaked'?

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

That evening, Tom told the dragon that he would be getting another surprise the following day.
“Let me guess”, the dragon said, shutting his eyes so tightly that the scales along his forehead buckled and squeaked. “Don’t tell me, don’t tell me…”
“I am not going to”, promised Tom.
The dragon’s eyes flew open, “I know, It’s a … a football.”
Tom laughed and said, “No.” The eyes snapped shut again.
“Don’t tell me, don’t tell me …”
“I won’t.”
“It’s a … firework?”
With his one open eye, the dragon saw Tom shake his head again, smiling.
“You’ll never guess.”
The dragon sighed and unfurrowed his forehead to fix a pleading gaze on Tom’s face. “I give up then. What is it?”
“Wait and see. It’s a surprise.”
“Yes, I know that. But I like to know what my surprises are going to be,” the dragon explained. “It helps me get ready for them.”
Tom relented a little. “I’ll give you a clue, but that’s all. It’s something nice to eat. Not,” he added in a hurry, in case the dragon got the wrong idea, “not what you like best. But something nice.”
Tom reassured him. The surprise was going to be much tastier than the sandwich.
That, thought the dragon, would not be difficult. Finding something less tasty than the sandwich would be a challenge. Even so, he cheered up. Following his own train of thought, he said in a careless voice, “While we’re on the subject of surprises, didn’t you once tell me you had a sister?”
Tom knew perfectly well that the dragon knew perfectly well about Sarah, and he gave his friend a look full of suspicion. “What’s Sarah got to do with surprises?”
You eat surprises and you eat sisters, thought the dragon, trying hard to look harmless. What could be simpler than that?
He didn’t speak out loud, however, because Tom’s disapproving gaze made him feel guilty. He could see that it might have been a mistake to introduce the subject of Sarah as he had. He had spoken without thinking, and was sorry for it.
“How was football this afternoon?” It was a lucky question for the dragon to hit on, just as the silence was threatening to turn awkward. Tom’s expression brightened.
“Didn’t I tell you? We drew, nil-nil, so we get one whole point. Are you sure I didn’t tell you about it before?”
“Quite sure,” lied the dragon. He much preferred hearing Tom’s account of the day’s play again to discussing difficult topics such as a dragon’s diet and its relation to young female relatives.

Ten minutes passed happily; then just as Tom was showing the dragon the proper way to head a football (using pillow as an example), a movement above his head brought him to a sudden standstill.

  1. Grate

  2. Rasp

  3. Groan

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

In the context of the dragon's scales making a sound, 'squeaked' means a high-pitched friction sound similar to 'grate'. When the dragon squeezed his eyes shut, the scales on his forehead buckled and made a harsh, grating noise.

Multiple choice

What was the difficult topic discussed between Tom and dragon?

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

That evening, Tom told the dragon that he would be getting another surprise the following day.
“Let me guess”, the dragon said, shutting his eyes so tightly that the scales along his forehead buckled and squeaked. “Don’t tell me, don’t tell me…”
“I am not going to”, promised Tom.
The dragon’s eyes flew open, “I know, It’s a … a football.”
Tom laughed and said, “No.” The eyes snapped shut again.
“Don’t tell me, don’t tell me …”
“I won’t.”
“It’s a … firework?”
With his one open eye, the dragon saw Tom shake his head again, smiling.
“You’ll never guess.”
The dragon sighed and unfurrowed his forehead to fix a pleading gaze on Tom’s face. “I give up then. What is it?”
“Wait and see. It’s a surprise.”
“Yes, I know that. But I like to know what my surprises are going to be,” the dragon explained. “It helps me get ready for them.”
Tom relented a little. “I’ll give you a clue, but that’s all. It’s something nice to eat. Not,” he added in a hurry, in case the dragon got the wrong idea, “not what you like best. But something nice.”
Tom reassured him. The surprise was going to be much tastier than the sandwich.
That, thought the dragon, would not be difficult. Finding something less tasty than the sandwich would be a challenge. Even so, he cheered up. Following his own train of thought, he said in a careless voice, “While we’re on the subject of surprises, didn’t you once tell me you had a sister?”
Tom knew perfectly well that the dragon knew perfectly well about Sarah, and he gave his friend a look full of suspicion. “What’s Sarah got to do with surprises?”
You eat surprises and you eat sisters, thought the dragon, trying hard to look harmless. What could be simpler than that?
He didn’t speak out loud, however, because Tom’s disapproving gaze made him feel guilty. He could see that it might have been a mistake to introduce the subject of Sarah as he had. He had spoken without thinking, and was sorry for it.
“How was football this afternoon?” It was a lucky question for the dragon to hit on, just as the silence was threatening to turn awkward. Tom’s expression brightened.
“Didn’t I tell you? We drew, nil-nil, so we get one whole point. Are you sure I didn’t tell you about it before?”
“Quite sure,” lied the dragon. He much preferred hearing Tom’s account of the day’s play again to discussing difficult topics such as a dragon’s diet and its relation to young female relatives.

Ten minutes passed happily; then just as Tom was showing the dragon the proper way to head a football (using pillow as an example), a movement above his head brought him to a sudden standstill.

  1. dragon's diet

  2. lizard's diet

  3. animal's diet

  4. dragon's food
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

 It is given here: "He much preferred hearing Tom’s account of the day’s play again to discussing difficult topics such as a dragon’s diet and its relation to young female relatives."

Multiple choice

What is the food that dragon usually ate?

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

That evening, Tom told the dragon that he would be getting another surprise the following day.
“Let me guess”, the dragon said, shutting his eyes so tightly that the scales along his forehead buckled and squeaked. “Don’t tell me, don’t tell me…”
“I am not going to”, promised Tom.
The dragon’s eyes flew open, “I know, It’s a … a football.”
Tom laughed and said, “No.” The eyes snapped shut again.
“Don’t tell me, don’t tell me …”
“I won’t.”
“It’s a … firework?”
With his one open eye, the dragon saw Tom shake his head again, smiling.
“You’ll never guess.”
The dragon sighed and unfurrowed his forehead to fix a pleading gaze on Tom’s face. “I give up then. What is it?”
“Wait and see. It’s a surprise.”
“Yes, I know that. But I like to know what my surprises are going to be,” the dragon explained. “It helps me get ready for them.”
Tom relented a little. “I’ll give you a clue, but that’s all. It’s something nice to eat. Not,” he added in a hurry, in case the dragon got the wrong idea, “not what you like best. But something nice.”
Tom reassured him. The surprise was going to be much tastier than the sandwich.
That, thought the dragon, would not be difficult. Finding something less tasty than the sandwich would be a challenge. Even so, he cheered up. Following his own train of thought, he said in a careless voice, “While we’re on the subject of surprises, didn’t you once tell me you had a sister?”
Tom knew perfectly well that the dragon knew perfectly well about Sarah, and he gave his friend a look full of suspicion. “What’s Sarah got to do with surprises?”
You eat surprises and you eat sisters, thought the dragon, trying hard to look harmless. What could be simpler than that?
He didn’t speak out loud, however, because Tom’s disapproving gaze made him feel guilty. He could see that it might have been a mistake to introduce the subject of Sarah as he had. He had spoken without thinking, and was sorry for it.
“How was football this afternoon?” It was a lucky question for the dragon to hit on, just as the silence was threatening to turn awkward. Tom’s expression brightened.
“Didn’t I tell you? We drew, nil-nil, so we get one whole point. Are you sure I didn’t tell you about it before?”
“Quite sure,” lied the dragon. He much preferred hearing Tom’s account of the day’s play again to discussing difficult topics such as a dragon’s diet and its relation to young female relatives.

Ten minutes passed happily; then just as Tom was showing the dragon the proper way to head a football (using pillow as an example), a movement above his head brought him to a sudden standstill.

  1. sandwich

  2. toast

  3. bread

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

 Sandwich is the correct answer. It is given here: "The surprise was going to be much tastier than the sandwich." It is the only food mentioned in the passage.

Multiple choice

What did Tom say to the dragon?

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

That evening, Tom told the dragon that he would be getting another surprise the following day.
“Let me guess”, the dragon said, shutting his eyes so tightly that the scales along his forehead buckled and squeaked. “Don’t tell me, don’t tell me…”
“I am not going to”, promised Tom.
The dragon’s eyes flew open, “I know, It’s a … a football.”
Tom laughed and said, “No.” The eyes snapped shut again.
“Don’t tell me, don’t tell me …”
“I won’t.”
“It’s a … firework?”
With his one open eye, the dragon saw Tom shake his head again, smiling.
“You’ll never guess.”
The dragon sighed and unfurrowed his forehead to fix a pleading gaze on Tom’s face. “I give up then. What is it?”
“Wait and see. It’s a surprise.”
“Yes, I know that. But I like to know what my surprises are going to be,” the dragon explained. “It helps me get ready for them.”
Tom relented a little. “I’ll give you a clue, but that’s all. It’s something nice to eat. Not,” he added in a hurry, in case the dragon got the wrong idea, “not what you like best. But something nice.”
Tom reassured him. The surprise was going to be much tastier than the sandwich.
That, thought the dragon, would not be difficult. Finding something less tasty than the sandwich would be a challenge. Even so, he cheered up. Following his own train of thought, he said in a careless voice, “While we’re on the subject of surprises, didn’t you once tell me you had a sister?”
Tom knew perfectly well that the dragon knew perfectly well about Sarah, and he gave his friend a look full of suspicion. “What’s Sarah got to do with surprises?”
You eat surprises and you eat sisters, thought the dragon, trying hard to look harmless. What could be simpler than that?
He didn’t speak out loud, however, because Tom’s disapproving gaze made him feel guilty. He could see that it might have been a mistake to introduce the subject of Sarah as he had. He had spoken without thinking, and was sorry for it.
“How was football this afternoon?” It was a lucky question for the dragon to hit on, just as the silence was threatening to turn awkward. Tom’s expression brightened.
“Didn’t I tell you? We drew, nil-nil, so we get one whole point. Are you sure I didn’t tell you about it before?”
“Quite sure,” lied the dragon. He much preferred hearing Tom’s account of the day’s play again to discussing difficult topics such as a dragon’s diet and its relation to young female relatives.

Ten minutes passed happily; then just as Tom was showing the dragon the proper way to head a football (using pillow as an example), a movement above his head brought him to a sudden standstill.

  1. It's a surprise

  2. it's a wonder

  3. it's disbelief

  4. it's a shock
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

 It is given here: "Wait and see. It’s a surprise.”

Multiple choice

What is the meaning of 'suspicion' as per the context of the passage?

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

That evening, Tom told the dragon that he would be getting another surprise the following day.
“Let me guess”, the dragon said, shutting his eyes so tightly that the scales along his forehead buckled and squeaked. “Don’t tell me, don’t tell me…”
“I am not going to”, promised Tom.
The dragon’s eyes flew open, “I know, It’s a … a football.”
Tom laughed and said, “No.” The eyes snapped shut again.
“Don’t tell me, don’t tell me …”
“I won’t.”
“It’s a … firework?”
With his one open eye, the dragon saw Tom shake his head again, smiling.
“You’ll never guess.”
The dragon sighed and unfurrowed his forehead to fix a pleading gaze on Tom’s face. “I give up then. What is it?”
“Wait and see. It’s a surprise.”
“Yes, I know that. But I like to know what my surprises are going to be,” the dragon explained. “It helps me get ready for them.”
Tom relented a little. “I’ll give you a clue, but that’s all. It’s something nice to eat. Not,” he added in a hurry, in case the dragon got the wrong idea, “not what you like best. But something nice.”
Tom reassured him. The surprise was going to be much tastier than the sandwich.
That, thought the dragon, would not be difficult. Finding something less tasty than the sandwich would be a challenge. Even so, he cheered up. Following his own train of thought, he said in a careless voice, “While we’re on the subject of surprises, didn’t you once tell me you had a sister?”
Tom knew perfectly well that the dragon knew perfectly well about Sarah, and he gave his friend a look full of suspicion. “What’s Sarah got to do with surprises?”
You eat surprises and you eat sisters, thought the dragon, trying hard to look harmless. What could be simpler than that?
He didn’t speak out loud, however, because Tom’s disapproving gaze made him feel guilty. He could see that it might have been a mistake to introduce the subject of Sarah as he had. He had spoken without thinking, and was sorry for it.
“How was football this afternoon?” It was a lucky question for the dragon to hit on, just as the silence was threatening to turn awkward. Tom’s expression brightened.
“Didn’t I tell you? We drew, nil-nil, so we get one whole point. Are you sure I didn’t tell you about it before?”
“Quite sure,” lied the dragon. He much preferred hearing Tom’s account of the day’s play again to discussing difficult topics such as a dragon’s diet and its relation to young female relatives.

Ten minutes passed happily; then just as Tom was showing the dragon the proper way to head a football (using pillow as an example), a movement above his head brought him to a sudden standstill.

  1. Doubt

  2. Hunch

  3. Intuition

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

 Here 'suspicion' means a doubt. Tom looked at the dragon doubtfully. Rest of the options are in context with a clue.

Multiple choice

What is the meaning of 'clue' as used in the passage?

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

That evening, Tom told the dragon that he would be getting another surprise the following day.
“Let me guess”, the dragon said, shutting his eyes so tightly that the scales along his forehead buckled and squeaked. “Don’t tell me, don’t tell me…”
“I am not going to”, promised Tom.
The dragon’s eyes flew open, “I know, It’s a … a football.”
Tom laughed and said, “No.” The eyes snapped shut again.
“Don’t tell me, don’t tell me …”
“I won’t.”
“It’s a … firework?”
With his one open eye, the dragon saw Tom shake his head again, smiling.
“You’ll never guess.”
The dragon sighed and unfurrowed his forehead to fix a pleading gaze on Tom’s face. “I give up then. What is it?”
“Wait and see. It’s a surprise.”
“Yes, I know that. But I like to know what my surprises are going to be,” the dragon explained. “It helps me get ready for them.”
Tom relented a little. “I’ll give you a clue, but that’s all. It’s something nice to eat. Not,” he added in a hurry, in case the dragon got the wrong idea, “not what you like best. But something nice.”
Tom reassured him. The surprise was going to be much tastier than the sandwich.
That, thought the dragon, would not be difficult. Finding something less tasty than the sandwich would be a challenge. Even so, he cheered up. Following his own train of thought, he said in a careless voice, “While we’re on the subject of surprises, didn’t you once tell me you had a sister?”
Tom knew perfectly well that the dragon knew perfectly well about Sarah, and he gave his friend a look full of suspicion. “What’s Sarah got to do with surprises?”
You eat surprises and you eat sisters, thought the dragon, trying hard to look harmless. What could be simpler than that?
He didn’t speak out loud, however, because Tom’s disapproving gaze made him feel guilty. He could see that it might have been a mistake to introduce the subject of Sarah as he had. He had spoken without thinking, and was sorry for it.
“How was football this afternoon?” It was a lucky question for the dragon to hit on, just as the silence was threatening to turn awkward. Tom’s expression brightened.
“Didn’t I tell you? We drew, nil-nil, so we get one whole point. Are you sure I didn’t tell you about it before?”
“Quite sure,” lied the dragon. He much preferred hearing Tom’s account of the day’s play again to discussing difficult topics such as a dragon’s diet and its relation to young female relatives.

Ten minutes passed happily; then just as Tom was showing the dragon the proper way to head a football (using pillow as an example), a movement above his head brought him to a sudden standstill.

  1. Hint

  2. Mace

  3. Trace

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

 'Clue' here means a hint. Tom told the dragon that he would give a hint about what the surprise is going to be about.

Multiple choice

How did dragon feel on Tom's disapproval?

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

That evening, Tom told the dragon that he would be getting another surprise the following day.
“Let me guess”, the dragon said, shutting his eyes so tightly that the scales along his forehead buckled and squeaked. “Don’t tell me, don’t tell me…”
“I am not going to”, promised Tom.
The dragon’s eyes flew open, “I know, It’s a … a football.”
Tom laughed and said, “No.” The eyes snapped shut again.
“Don’t tell me, don’t tell me …”
“I won’t.”
“It’s a … firework?”
With his one open eye, the dragon saw Tom shake his head again, smiling.
“You’ll never guess.”
The dragon sighed and unfurrowed his forehead to fix a pleading gaze on Tom’s face. “I give up then. What is it?”
“Wait and see. It’s a surprise.”
“Yes, I know that. But I like to know what my surprises are going to be,” the dragon explained. “It helps me get ready for them.”
Tom relented a little. “I’ll give you a clue, but that’s all. It’s something nice to eat. Not,” he added in a hurry, in case the dragon got the wrong idea, “not what you like best. But something nice.”
Tom reassured him. The surprise was going to be much tastier than the sandwich.
That, thought the dragon, would not be difficult. Finding something less tasty than the sandwich would be a challenge. Even so, he cheered up. Following his own train of thought, he said in a careless voice, “While we’re on the subject of surprises, didn’t you once tell me you had a sister?”
Tom knew perfectly well that the dragon knew perfectly well about Sarah, and he gave his friend a look full of suspicion. “What’s Sarah got to do with surprises?”
You eat surprises and you eat sisters, thought the dragon, trying hard to look harmless. What could be simpler than that?
He didn’t speak out loud, however, because Tom’s disapproving gaze made him feel guilty. He could see that it might have been a mistake to introduce the subject of Sarah as he had. He had spoken without thinking, and was sorry for it.
“How was football this afternoon?” It was a lucky question for the dragon to hit on, just as the silence was threatening to turn awkward. Tom’s expression brightened.
“Didn’t I tell you? We drew, nil-nil, so we get one whole point. Are you sure I didn’t tell you about it before?”
“Quite sure,” lied the dragon. He much preferred hearing Tom’s account of the day’s play again to discussing difficult topics such as a dragon’s diet and its relation to young female relatives.

Ten minutes passed happily; then just as Tom was showing the dragon the proper way to head a football (using pillow as an example), a movement above his head brought him to a sudden standstill.

  1. made him feel guilty

  2. made him feel sorry

  3. made him feel happy

  4. made him feel thinking
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

 It is given here: "He didn’t speak out loud, however, because Tom’s disapproving gaze made him feel guilty."