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

Sparrows have been a topic of interest for many

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows:
Years ago, people woke up to find sparrows chirping in their backyard. A noisy lot, they took grains right from your hand if you had befriended them. They got over their fear easily and demanded food or water with their loud chirping if you had forgotten to give them their regular share of food. Tiny pink beaks opened to morsels of food or worms sometimes regurgitated by the parent birds. We had a splendid time watching the bird family bond and as children sat gazing at them as they picked up grain or splashed about us in muddy water.
Many people have written poems and lyrics on sparrows, their noisy chirps, their friendly nature, and their spotty feathers. Sparrows were a menace on the fields. There were guards with slings and stones to chase them away as they ate grains from standing crops. Now, people are trying to woo them back to nature.

  1. poets

  2. scientists

  3. farmers

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

Poets found sparrows a topic of interest 'as many poems and lyrics were written on them'.

Multiple choice

“She knocked on two hundred doors” indicates that Jyoti

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question given after it:
Jyoti lived with her mother in a small village. From a young age, she had witnessed her mother, a widow, being ill treated by the villagers. But when she was in high school,  she began to understand things. She couldn’t take the insults to her mother anymore. She decided to change the way widows were viewed in village society. Jyoti started a “Widow Empowerment Campaign”. She spoke to village elders and knocked on two hundred doors to spread her message. She learned to organise street plays, which she used to make people aware about the plight of widows.

Naturally her ideas were not acceptable to the society entrenched in tradition. People pushed her out of their houses and refused to listen to what she had to say. But she went on relentlessly without faltering. Today, widows are allowed to go out of their homes like others. Many, including her mother, are now employed at organisations and literacy centres.

  1. went knocking at the doors one after the other

  2. visited people at their houses individually

  3. approached a large number of people

  4. spoke to every family in the village
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Approached a large number of people.

Multiple choice

'Regurgitated by the parent birds' means

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows:
Years ago, people woke up to find sparrows chirping in their backyard. A noisy lot, they took grains right from your hand if you had befriended them. They got over their fear easily and demanded food or water with their loud chirping if you had forgotten to give them their regular share of food. Tiny pink beaks opened to morsels of food or worms sometimes regurgitated by the parent birds. We had a splendid time watching the bird family bond and as children sat gazing at them as they picked up grain or splashed about us in muddy water.
Many people have written poems and lyrics on sparrows, their noisy chirps, their friendly nature, and their spotty feathers. Sparrows were a menace on the fields. There were guards with slings and stones to chase them away as they ate grains from standing crops. Now, people are trying to woo them back to nature.

  1. chewed and fed

  2. digested and brought back

  3. chewed and spat out

  4. swallowed and brought back
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

'Regurgitated' means digested and brought back.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements shows that watching sparrows was fun for the author?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows:
Years ago, people woke up to find sparrows chirping in their backyard. A noisy lot, they took grains right from your hand if you had befriended them. They got over their fear easily and demanded food or water with their loud chirping if you had forgotten to give them their regular share of food. Tiny pink beaks opened to morsels of food or worms sometimes regurgitated by the parent birds. We had a splendid time watching the bird family bond and as children sat gazing at them as they picked up grain or splashed about us in muddy water.
Many people have written poems and lyrics on sparrows, their noisy chirps, their friendly nature, and their spotty feathers. Sparrows were a menace on the fields. There were guards with slings and stones to chase them away as they ate grains from standing crops. Now, people are trying to woo them back to nature.

  1. Tiny beaks opened to morsels of food or worms sometimes regurgitated by the parent birds.

  2. Children sat gazing at them as they picked up grain or splashed about us in muddy water.

  3. They demanded food or water with their loud chirping.

  4. They live near our houses.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The statement “Children sat gazing at them...” shows it was fun to watch sparrows.

Multiple choice

What does the line, ‘Fun is what makes them come back for more, makes them learn and remember’ mean?

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

Designing toys for children is challenging yet stimulating. Considering the low attention span of today’s kids, toys with higher play value are able to engage them longer. Young minds are also quite impressionable. So, toy design has to be conscious about ethics and values and also aid their cognitive, physical, emotional and social skills. But above all, fun is the primary objective of play. Fun is what makes them come back for more, makes them learn and remember. Another crucial factor is eco-friendliness.
Some of the best pro-environment design processes can actually be found in the Indian handicrafts industry. One such example is the lathe-turned toy craft of Channapatna, a town near Bengaluru. The age old craft uses wood and colours made completely from natural materials like turmeric, kumkum, indigo, etc. Creating modern designs based on such conventional techniques opens up a new range of products that are unique, educational and organic.

  1. Children learn through fun and play.

  2. Children play more and more for fun.

  3. Children remember things while playing.

  4. Children learn only through play.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Children learn and enjoy when they have fun during play.

Multiple choice

The story of Jyoti is an illustration of

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question given after it:
Jyoti lived with her mother in a small village. From a young age, she had witnessed her mother, a widow, being ill treated by the villagers. But when she was in high school,  she began to understand things. She couldn’t take the insults to her mother anymore. She decided to change the way widows were viewed in village society. Jyoti started a “Widow Empowerment Campaign”. She spoke to village elders and knocked on two hundred doors to spread her message. She learned to organise street plays, which she used to make people aware about the plight of widows.

Naturally her ideas were not acceptable to the society entrenched in tradition. People pushed her out of their houses and refused to listen to what she had to say. But she went on relentlessly without faltering. Today, widows are allowed to go out of their homes like others. Many, including her mother, are now employed at organisations and literacy centres.

  1. rigidity of traditional families

  2. organisation of street plays

  3. the spread of employment opportunities for widows

  4. crusade of a young girl for social change
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Options 1, 2 and 3 are partially correct. Option 4 provides the complete solution.

Multiple choice

Jyoti’s relentless campaign

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question given after it:
Jyoti lived with her mother in a small village. From a young age, she had witnessed her mother, a widow, being ill treated by the villagers. But when she was in high school,  she began to understand things. She couldn’t take the insults to her mother anymore. She decided to change the way widows were viewed in village society. Jyoti started a “Widow Empowerment Campaign”. She spoke to village elders and knocked on two hundred doors to spread her message. She learned to organise street plays, which she used to make people aware about the plight of widows.

Naturally her ideas were not acceptable to the society entrenched in tradition. People pushed her out of their houses and refused to listen to what she had to say. But she went on relentlessly without faltering. Today, widows are allowed to go out of their homes like others. Many, including her mother, are now employed at organisations and literacy centres.

  1. created an unrest

  2. created a dent in society

  3. left people untouched

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

Jyoti's campaign created a dent in society and made people change their thinking.

Multiple choice

The words ‘entrenched in tradition’ imply that villagers

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question given after it:
Jyoti lived with her mother in a small village. From a young age, she had witnessed her mother, a widow, being ill treated by the villagers. But when she was in high school,  she began to understand things. She couldn’t take the insults to her mother anymore. She decided to change the way widows were viewed in village society. Jyoti started a “Widow Empowerment Campaign”. She spoke to village elders and knocked on two hundred doors to spread her message. She learned to organise street plays, which she used to make people aware about the plight of widows.

Naturally her ideas were not acceptable to the society entrenched in tradition. People pushed her out of their houses and refused to listen to what she had to say. But she went on relentlessly without faltering. Today, widows are allowed to go out of their homes like others. Many, including her mother, are now employed at organisations and literacy centres.

  1. deeply believed in traditions

  2. were opposed to traditions

  3. had begun to shed traditions

  4. had begun to follow traditions
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

It means that the villagers deeply believed in traditions and found it difficult to change themselves.

Multiple choice

The author calls sparrow a friendly bird because

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows:
Years ago, people woke up to find sparrows chirping in their backyard. A noisy lot, they took grains right from your hand if you had befriended them. They got over their fear easily and demanded food or water with their loud chirping if you had forgotten to give them their regular share of food. Tiny pink beaks opened to morsels of food or worms sometimes regurgitated by the parent birds. We had a splendid time watching the bird family bond and as children sat gazing at them as they picked up grain or splashed about us in muddy water.
Many people have written poems and lyrics on sparrows, their noisy chirps, their friendly nature, and their spotty feathers. Sparrows were a menace on the fields. There were guards with slings and stones to chase them away as they ate grains from standing crops. Now, people are trying to woo them back to nature.

  1. they chirp in the backyard

  2. they demand food

  3. they eat from our hand

  4. they are with humans always
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

They are friendly as they are always near humans.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is true for the toy craft of Channapatna?

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

Designing toys for children is challenging yet stimulating. Considering the low attention span of today’s kids, toys with higher play value are able to engage them longer. Young minds are also quite impressionable. So, toy design has to be conscious about ethics and values and also aid their cognitive, physical, emotional and social skills. But above all, fun is the primary objective of play. Fun is what makes them come back for more, makes them learn and remember. Another crucial factor is eco-friendliness.
Some of the best pro-environment design processes can actually be found in the Indian handicrafts industry. One such example is the lathe-turned toy craft of Channapatna, a town near Bengaluru. The age old craft uses wood and colours made completely from natural materials like turmeric, kumkum, indigo, etc. Creating modern designs based on such conventional techniques opens up a new range of products that are unique, educational and organic.

  1. This age old craft is famous for beautiful shapes and bright colours.

  2. This age old craft is made by using artificial materials.

  3. This age old craft is based on modern design principles and efficient machines.

  4. This age old craft is an old and traditional practice.

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

Channapatna toy craft is an old and traditional practice.

Multiple choice

Which of the following words in the passage aptly mean, “No longer in existence”?

Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

DINOSAURS

The word “dinosaur”, coined by Sir Richard Owen in the year 1842, literally means “terrifying lizard.” Long, long before humans had been on the earth, the world was ruled by dinosaurs. They were gigantic, land dwelling reptiles that lived in the Mesozoic Era or the “Age of Reptiles” around 245 million years ago. For around 165 million years, dinosaurs walked on the earth. Then, around 65 million years ago, the dinosaurs and most of the animals of the era, except some ancestral birds and some fish, died out and became extinct for unknown reasons. What we know of the dinosaurs is only from studying their fossils. The proof of dinosaurs makes us think of a world that was very different from what we see today.

 

  1. Died out

  2. Dwelling

  3. Extinct

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

The passage states that dinosaurs 'died out and became extinct for unknown reasons'. The word 'extinct' literally means no longer in existence or having no living members. 'Died out' is the process, but 'extinct' is the state of no longer existing. The question asks for a word meaning 'no longer in existence', which is the definition of extinct.

Multiple choice

The passage is the study of

Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

DINOSAURS

The word “dinosaur”, coined by Sir Richard Owen in the year 1842, literally means “terrifying lizard.” Long, long before humans had been on the earth, the world was ruled by dinosaurs. They were gigantic, land dwelling reptiles that lived in the Mesozoic Era or the “Age of Reptiles” around 245 million years ago. For around 165 million years, dinosaurs walked on the earth. Then, around 65 million years ago, the dinosaurs and most of the animals of the era, except some ancestral birds and some fish, died out and became extinct for unknown reasons. What we know of the dinosaurs is only from studying their fossils. The proof of dinosaurs makes us think of a world that was very different from what we see today.

 

  1. the life cycle of a dinosaur

  2. the evolution of life on Earth

  3. the shapes and sizes of dinosaurs

  4. the age of the dinosaurs
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The passage covers the entire history of dinosaurs - when they lived, how long they existed, what they were, when they became extinct, and what we know about them. This comprehensive overview is about 'the age of the dinosaurs' (the Mesozoic Era when dinosaurs ruled the Earth for 165 million years). The other options are too narrow or incorrect.

Multiple choice

The passage provides answer to which of the following questions?

Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

THE COMMON COLD

Sneezes, and coughs, watery eyes, running noses and sore throats, are common sights that mark a person infected with the common cold. The common cold is a viral infection that seems incurable. The reason is that antibiotics and ordinary medicine cannot treat a viral infection. The additional reason is that the conditions, under which we say that somebody has caught a cold, can be brought about by a range of viruses that list more than a hundred. So, catching a cold, getting cured and developing immunity towards the virus that caused it doesn’t protect you from catching a cold again on the very next day. The next common cold virus in the line may be knocking on your door. Thoroughly washing your hands and not touching your face, remaining clean, and trying to avoid infected patients may help to prevent a common cold. You can avoid a common cold by good habits, but can’t cure it yet by medicines..

 

  1. What causes chicken pox?

  2. How to prevent common cold from turning into chicken pox?

  3. Can we really cure common cold?

  4. How to kill the common cold virus?

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

The passage explains that common cold is 'a viral infection that seems incurable' and explicitly states 'you can't cure it yet by medicines'. This directly addresses the question 'Can we really cure common cold?' The passage explains why it's currently incurable (many different viruses, antibiotics don't work on viruses). The other questions are not addressed in the passage.

Multiple choice

What is the main idea of this passage?

Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

THE EARTH KEEPS TURNING

Days follow nights and nights follow days because the earth keeps turning from west to east. The light around us keeps on changing slowly through the day, as the sun’s place in sky moves from east to west. People love the moments when the light around us changes suddenly, as that makes everything look so different. When, the sun springs up and colors the clouds with its light, we call it a sunrise. A sunrise is a beautiful sight. When at the end of the day the sun goes down, evening falls with the moment of sunset. It is the beginning of night. Since the earth keeps on turning through the night without rest, the sun comes up with another day. However, in the old days people believed that the earth stood still, while the sun went around the earth bringing day and night.

 

  1. The sunlight and its beauty

  2. Earlier people believed that the earth stood still.

  3. A sunrise is a beautiful sight.

  4. The movement of the earth
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The passage begins by explaining that 'Days follow nights and nights follow days because the earth keeps turning from west to east.' The entire passage focuses on how Earth's continuous rotation causes day and night cycles, sunrise and sunset, and changing light patterns. Option D captures this central theme - the passage is fundamentally about the movement of the earth and its effects.

Multiple choice

The sun's in the sky moves from east to west. So it means, the sun rises in the_____

Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

THE EARTH KEEPS TURNING

Days follow nights and nights follow days because the earth keeps turning from west to east. The light around us keeps on changing slowly through the day, as the sun’s place in sky moves from east to west. People love the moments when the light around us changes suddenly, as that makes everything look so different. When, the sun springs up and colors the clouds with its light, we call it a sunrise. A sunrise is a beautiful sight. When at the end of the day the sun goes down, evening falls with the moment of sunset. It is the beginning of night. Since the earth keeps on turning through the night without rest, the sun comes up with another day. However, in the old days people believed that the earth stood still, while the sun went around the earth bringing day and night.

 

  1. west

  2. east

  3. south

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

The passage states that 'the sun's place in sky moves from east to west.' If the sun moves across the sky from east toward west, it must first appear in the east (sunrise) and then set in the west. This is basic astronomical fact caused by Earth's west-to-east rotation.