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

If it was not so cold the author would have

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

It was a very cold evening and so few people were seen out on the streets. I did not go out myself although it was my habit not to keep indoors after sunset. So I closed all the doors and windows of my room, took the book which had been lying opened on the table, and tried to read it. The cold was getting so severe that I started shivering, so I wrapped myself up with a bigger blanket. But I could not continue reading the book because I was nearly rendered incapable of turning the pages.

  1. liked to work

  2. liked to sit and look out to the streets

  3. liked to read

  4. liked to have gone out
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Lines 2-3 of the passage

Multiple choice

The author could not continue reading the book because

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

It was a very cold evening and so few people were seen out on the streets. I did not go out myself although it was my habit not to keep indoors after sunset. So I closed all the doors and windows of my room, took the book which had been lying opened on the table, and tried to read it. The cold was getting so severe that I started shivering, so I wrapped myself up with a bigger blanket. But I could not continue reading the book because I was nearly rendered incapable of turning the pages.

  1. he did not like to

  2. he was feeling tired

  3. he was feeling very cold

  4. the lights had gone off
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

He felt incapable of even turning pages as it was so cold.

Multiple choice

The strength of bones can be increased by exercise, because it

Directions: Read the passage and answer the question.

The functional declines of advancing age are depressing. The heart’s ability to pump blood drops about one per cent: blood flow to arms and legs decreases by thirty to forty per cent in old age. The amount of air a person can exhale after a deep breath lessens and the chest wall stiffens with age. However, recent studies have shown that most of these age associated declines can be delayed by exercise. Exercise lowers the resting heart - rate and increases the amount of blood pumped with each beat in older people. When stress is placed on bones through exercise, calcium content rises, with the result that resistance to fracture is improved.

  1. increases the amount of blood pumped by the heart

  2. increases calcium content in bones

  3. increases the amount of air exhaled by a person

  4. lessens the stiffness of the chest wall
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Last line of the passage

Multiple choice

The chest wall becomes stiff in old age, because

Directions: Read the passage and answer the question.

The functional declines of advancing age are depressing. The heart’s ability to pump blood drops about one per cent: blood flow to arms and legs decreases by thirty to forty per cent in old age. The amount of air a person can exhale after a deep breath lessens and the chest wall stiffens with age. However, recent studies have shown that most of these age associated declines can be delayed by exercise. Exercise lowers the resting heart - rate and increases the amount of blood pumped with each beat in older people. When stress is placed on bones through exercise, calcium content rises, with the result that resistance to fracture is improved.

  1. The heart’s ability to pump blood to it drops about one per cent

  2. The blood flow to various organs decreases

  3. The resting heart - rate becomes high

  4. The person’s ability to exhale sufficient air lessens
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Line 3 of the passage

Multiple choice

The mule - drawn carts staggered up because

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

An old man with steel-rimmed spectacles and very dusty clothes sat by the side of the road. There was a pontoon bridge across the river and carts, trucks, and men, women and children were crossing it. The mule - drawn carts staggered up the steep bank from the bridge with soldiers helping to push against the spokes of the wheels. The trucks wound up and away heading out of it all. The peasants plodded along in the ankle-deep dust. But the old man sat there without moving.

  1. there were too many mule - carts

  2. the mules were indisciplined

  3. it was a steep uphill journey

  4. the carts were blocked by the peasants
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The mule - drawn carts staggered up the steep bank from the bridge with soldiers helping to push against the spokes.

Multiple choice

The soldiers were “helping to push against the spokes of the wheels” because

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

An old man with steel-rimmed spectacles and very dusty clothes sat by the side of the road. There was a pontoon bridge across the river and carts, trucks, and men, women and children were crossing it. The mule - drawn carts staggered up the steep bank from the bridge with soldiers helping to push against the spokes of the wheels. The trucks wound up and away heading out of it all. The peasants plodded along in the ankle-deep dust. But the old man sat there without moving.

  1. they wanted to stop the carts

  2. the spokes of the wheels were broken

  3. the mules refused to draw the carts

  4. there was a steep elevation
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Carts staggered up the steep bank from the bridge with soldiers helping to push against the spokes of the wheels.

Multiple choice

Polar ice caps develop huge cracks because

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

When vegetation sprouts in the desert, it is a good sign but when the ice in the Arctic and Antarctic begins to turn green, there is something terribly wrong. Reports say that an iceberg, approximately the size of New York city, has broken off from the icy continent. An Argentine team discovered huge cracks in the polar ice caps. These developments can have serious implications. If polar ice fields melt, our coastal cities might be submerged, and sea levels across the world could rise between 3. 65 and 6. 09 metres in different parts of the earth. This is probably due to global warming.

  1. of the movement of the earth

  2. of the breaking off of icebergs

  3. of the crowding of cities like New York

  4. of rising temperatures
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Because of global warming

Multiple choice

Old age is generally a depressing period because

Directions: Read the passage and answer the question.

The functional declines of advancing age are depressing. The heart’s ability to pump blood drops about one per cent: blood flow to arms and legs decreases by thirty to forty per cent in old age. The amount of air a person can exhale after a deep breath lessens and the chest wall stiffens with age. However, recent studies have shown that most of these age associated declines can be delayed by exercise. Exercise lowers the resting heart - rate and increases the amount of blood pumped with each beat in older people. When stress is placed on bones through exercise, calcium content rises, with the result that resistance to fracture is improved.

  1. old people worry more than others

  2. old people tend to regret their past

  3. various organs of the body function less efficiently

  4. old people do very little work
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The functional declines of advancing age are depressing.

Multiple choice

The term “pontoon bridge” means:

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

An old man with steel-rimmed spectacles and very dusty clothes sat by the side of the road. There was a pontoon bridge across the river and carts, trucks, and men, women and children were crossing it. The mule - drawn carts staggered up the steep bank from the bridge with soldiers helping to push against the spokes of the wheels. The trucks wound up and away heading out of it all. The peasants plodded along in the ankle-deep dust. But the old man sat there without moving.

  1. a temporary bridge constructed with the help of ropes

  2. a bridge made by soldiers during a war

  3. a bridge supported by floating flat - bottomed boats

  4. a bridge made with wooden planks
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

It is a floating bridge supported from below by boat like structures.

Multiple choice

What can be considered as a “good sign” in the desert?

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

When vegetation sprouts in the desert, it is a good sign but when the ice in the Arctic and Antarctic begins to turn green, there is something terribly wrong. Reports say that an iceberg, approximately the size of New York city, has broken off from the icy continent. An Argentine team discovered huge cracks in the polar ice caps. These developments can have serious implications. If polar ice fields melt, our coastal cities might be submerged, and sea levels across the world could rise between 3. 65 and 6. 09 metres in different parts of the earth. This is probably due to global warming.

  1. when shrubs and trees grow there

  2. when it snows in the desert

  3. when ice caps melt and there is water

  4. when there is vegetation found in the desert
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

1st line of the passage

Multiple choice

Which one of the following statements is correct?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the question.

The functional declines of advancing age are depressing. The heart’s ability to pump blood drops about one per cent: blood flow to arms and legs decreases by thirty to forty per cent in old age. The amount of air a person can exhale after a deep breath lessens and the chest wall stiffens with age. However, recent studies have shown that most of these age associated declines can be delayed by exercise. Exercise lowers the resting heart - rate and increases the amount of blood pumped with each beat in older people. When stress is placed on bones through exercise, calcium content rises, with the result that resistance to fracture is improved.

  1. Exercise delays natural decay of old age.

  2. Old age problems increase due to exercise.

  3. Exercise increases the heart - beat which is dangerous.

  4. Exercise creates stress which is harmful to bones.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Mentioned in Lines 4-6 of the passage

Multiple choice

What do you think the intention of the author is?

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

When vegetation sprouts in the desert, it is a good sign but when the ice in the Arctic and Antarctic begins to turn green, there is something terribly wrong. Reports say that an iceberg, approximately the size of New York city, has broken off from the icy continent. An Argentine team discovered huge cracks in the polar ice caps. These developments can have serious implications. If polar ice fields melt, our coastal cities might be submerged, and sea levels across the world could rise between 3. 65 and 6. 09 metres in different parts of the earth. This is probably due to global warming.

  1. to describe a strange phenomena in nature

  2. to report the findings of research teams working in the polar regions

  3. to make us aware of the dangers of global warming

  4. to compare developments in deserts and Arctic regions caused by global warming
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

To make us aware of the dangers of global warming

Multiple choice

The melting of ice fields in the Arctic and Antarctic regions is dangerous because

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

When vegetation sprouts in the desert, it is a good sign but when the ice in the Arctic and Antarctic begins to turn green, there is something terribly wrong. Reports say that an iceberg, approximately the size of New York city, has broken off from the icy continent. An Argentine team discovered huge cracks in the polar ice caps. These developments can have serious implications. If polar ice fields melt, our coastal cities might be submerged, and sea levels across the world could rise between 3. 65 and 6. 09 metres in different parts of the earth. This is probably due to global warming.

  1. the ice will turn green and poisonous

  2. it will cause huge floods which will destroy coastal regions

  3. it will create global warming and will badly affect our climate

  4. huge cracks will develop all over the world
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

2nd last line of the passage

Multiple choice

There were not many people outside because

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

It was a very cold evening and so few people were seen out on the streets. I did not go out myself although it was my habit not to keep indoors after sunset. So I closed all the doors and windows of my room, took the book which had been lying opened on the table, and tried to read it. The cold was getting so severe that I started shivering, so I wrapped myself up with a bigger blanket. But I could not continue reading the book because I was nearly rendered incapable of turning the pages.

  1. it was a rainy evening

  2. it was a cold evening

  3. it was a dark evening

  4. there was heavy snow outside
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

1st line of the passage

Multiple choice

The author’s habit was to

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

It was a very cold evening and so few people were seen out on the streets. I did not go out myself although it was my habit not to keep indoors after sunset. So I closed all the doors and windows of my room, took the book which had been lying opened on the table, and tried to read it. The cold was getting so severe that I started shivering, so I wrapped myself up with a bigger blanket. But I could not continue reading the book because I was nearly rendered incapable of turning the pages.

  1. read in the evening

  2. sleep in the evening

  3. go out in the evening

  4. play in the evening
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Lines 2-3 of the passage