Reading Comprehension

What is the passage about?

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

Pigeons have an instinctive ability to navigate by the sun, the earth’s magnetic field and by infrasound or hearing distant low-frequency sound waves. However, due to adverse weather or man-created conditions, e.g. cell tower signals emitting radiation which results in disorientation and windmills which affect all birds and bats too, they increasingly find it difficult to pick up proper directions to reach “home”, but no matter what, most do eventually return safe. Homers are a breed of pigeons named so because many have flown back to their “homes” from long distances. They are made to race between 8 months to 5 years of age. Training is called “tossing” which involves, as just mentioned, taking the birds to a place and releasing them. The time they take to return home needs to be noted.

What is the theme of the passage?

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

The CRPF has an all-India character, both in organisation and in deployment. Its various attributes are mobility, adaptability, wide spectrum of duties and graded response. The force keeps on moving from one corner of the country to the other to deal with internal security challenges. They played a significant role during the amalgamation of the princely States into the Indian Union. It helped the Union Government in disciplining the rebellious princely States of Junagarh and the small principality of Kathiawar in Gujarat which had declined to join the Indian Union. Soon after Independence, contingents of the CRPF were sent on Kutch, Rajasthan and Sindh borders to check infiltration and trans-border crimes. They were, subsequently, deployed on the Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir following attacks launched by the Pakistani infiltrators. The CRPF bore the brunt of the first Chinese attack on India at Hot Springs (Ladakh) on October 21, 1959.

In a disaster, who takes command and dictates the job to firemen?

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

Firefighters
Fire is to blame for countless lives and billions of rupees each and every year. Firefighters help protect people and their property from injury and damage. Firefighters put their life on the line every time they respond to a call.
While on duty, firefighters must be ready to respond in a matter of minutes to just about any disaster that may occur. At every fire scene, superior fire officer takes command and dictates the jobs of all the personnel at the scene. Some personnel man hose lines to hydrants. Others manually operate the pumps to send water to the hoses. Teams of firefighters also operate ladders used to reach distances high in the air.

Which object is used to reach distances high in the air?

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

Firefighters
Fire is to blame for countless lives and billions of rupees each and every year. Firefighters help protect people and their property from injury and damage. Firefighters put their life on the line every time they respond to a call.
While on duty, firefighters must be ready to respond in a matter of minutes to just about any disaster that may occur. At every fire scene, superior fire officer takes command and dictates the jobs of all the personnel at the scene. Some personnel man hose lines to hydrants. Others manually operate the pumps to send water to the hoses. Teams of firefighters also operate ladders used to reach distances high in the air.

In how much time must firefighters be ready to respond?

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

Firefighters
Fire is to blame for countless lives and billions of rupees each and every year. Firefighters help protect people and their property from injury and damage. Firefighters put their life on the line every time they respond to a call.
While on duty, firefighters must be ready to respond in a matter of minutes to just about any disaster that may occur. At every fire scene, superior fire officer takes command and dictates the jobs of all the personnel at the scene. Some personnel man hose lines to hydrants. Others manually operate the pumps to send water to the hoses. Teams of firefighters also operate ladders used to reach distances high in the air.

Firefighters are there to help people from ______.

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

Firefighters
Fire is to blame for countless lives and billions of rupees each and every year. Firefighters help protect people and their property from injury and damage. Firefighters put their life on the line every time they respond to a call.
While on duty, firefighters must be ready to respond in a matter of minutes to just about any disaster that may occur. At every fire scene, superior fire officer takes command and dictates the jobs of all the personnel at the scene. Some personnel man hose lines to hydrants. Others manually operate the pumps to send water to the hoses. Teams of firefighters also operate ladders used to reach distances high in the air.

Fish are called ______.

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

                                                Being a Fish
                                         By Russell E. Erickson 
Would it be fun to be a fish? They are, after all, quite different from us.
Fish have no ears as we do. Their bodies are covered with thin, flat plates called scales. The only sounds they know are what they feel using certain scales along their sides. These are special scales called lateral lines. 
We get oxygen from the air by using our lungs. Fish get oxygen from the water by using the gills on the sides of their heads. We can play in water and on land, but fish must stay in the water all the time. Fish never get hot or cold. They are called cold-blooded because they are always the same temperature as the water around them. That means they have no need for hot soup, or cold lemonade, or cozy blankets, or cool sandals.
All in all, it’s probably more fun being us.

From where do fish get oxygen?

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

                                                Being a Fish
                                         By Russell E. Erickson 
Would it be fun to be a fish? They are, after all, quite different from us.
Fish have no ears as we do. Their bodies are covered with thin, flat plates called scales. The only sounds they know are what they feel using certain scales along their sides. These are special scales called lateral lines. 
We get oxygen from the air by using our lungs. Fish get oxygen from the water by using the gills on the sides of their heads. We can play in water and on land, but fish must stay in the water all the time. Fish never get hot or cold. They are called cold-blooded because they are always the same temperature as the water around them. That means they have no need for hot soup, or cold lemonade, or cozy blankets, or cool sandals.
All in all, it’s probably more fun being us.

From the above passage, according to the author, whose life is referred to as fun?

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

                                                Being a Fish
                                         By Russell E. Erickson 
Would it be fun to be a fish? They are, after all, quite different from us.
Fish have no ears as we do. Their bodies are covered with thin, flat plates called scales. The only sounds they know are what they feel using certain scales along their sides. These are special scales called lateral lines. 
We get oxygen from the air by using our lungs. Fish get oxygen from the water by using the gills on the sides of their heads. We can play in water and on land, but fish must stay in the water all the time. Fish never get hot or cold. They are called cold-blooded because they are always the same temperature as the water around them. That means they have no need for hot soup, or cold lemonade, or cozy blankets, or cool sandals.
All in all, it’s probably more fun being us.

In the passage, the author compares fish with ______.

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

                                                Being a Fish
                                         By Russell E. Erickson 
Would it be fun to be a fish? They are, after all, quite different from us.
Fish have no ears as we do. Their bodies are covered with thin, flat plates called scales. The only sounds they know are what they feel using certain scales along their sides. These are special scales called lateral lines. 
We get oxygen from the air by using our lungs. Fish get oxygen from the water by using the gills on the sides of their heads. We can play in water and on land, but fish must stay in the water all the time. Fish never get hot or cold. They are called cold-blooded because they are always the same temperature as the water around them. That means they have no need for hot soup, or cold lemonade, or cozy blankets, or cool sandals.
All in all, it’s probably more fun being us.

Find the error in line 1.

Directions: This passage contains errors and omissions. Choose the correct option from the list given below to correct the corresponding error and complete the passage.

1. His father met him in the street and said “You are bringing shame upon me.”

2. “do you think I can not provide for you and your followers?"

3. “o king!" the Buddha explained,

4. “This is the custom we always observe?”

Find the error in line 4.

Directions: This passage contains errors and omissions. Choose the correct option from the list given below to correct the corresponding error and complete the passage.

1. His father met him in the street and said “You are bringing shame upon me.”

2. “do you think I can not provide for you and your followers?"

3. “o king!" the Buddha explained,

4. “This is the custom we always observe?”

Which of these fits gap (i)?

Directions: Read the following passage having some numbered gaps.

In old Greece, there was a wise man called Diogenes who lived in Athens. He was eccentric and bad tempered and ____(i)____ in a tub. One day he came to the market place with a lighted lantern in his hand, although it was broad day light. He went about peering at everyone he met, with his lantern. Soon ___(ii)___ to know what he was doing. At last he blew out his lantern and ____(iii)_____ to his tub. But the people who still followed him kept asking him what he had been looking for. At last he stopped and said, “I was looking for an honest man, but ____(iv)_____."

Which of the following could replace “savouring” as used in the passage?

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

Winter is the time of the year when the intensity of the heat and light emitted by the sun is reduced. Dogs abandon the shadowy retreats of houses, trees and ditches for the open spaces of yards, lawns, terraces and verandas where they stretch out savouring the affection of the balmy sun. Their elderly human companions catch its benign rays to thaw out their joint pains while having settled comfortably in recliners, easy chairs and other comfartable perches. Morning walk routes also burst into colours as the morning walkers come out draped in a variety of colourful winter dressings.

Which of these fits gap (i)?

Directions: Read the following passage having some numbered gaps.

Gandhiji’s views were too spiritual to be strictly adopted in life. However, his influence and importance were ___(i)___. It was he who got us freedom without bloodshed and ___(ii)____ other nations to demand their freedom. He championed against many ___(iii)___. He loved India but more importantly he loved God and man. His name has become a ___(iv)____. There has hardly been any revolutionary who was so powerfully good.