Tag: reading comprehension

Questions Related to reading comprehension

Identify the literary device used in the following passage:

Jesus said: A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. Look after him, he said, and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.

techniques of style reading comprehension english

  1. Synecdoche

  2. Irony

  3. Parable

  4. Satire

Show answer
Correct Option: C
Explanation:

A Parable is a short, simple tale that is used to teach a moral or spiritual lesson - as done by Jesus in the Gospels. The given passage is a parable. So, option  C is the answer.

They marched until dusk, then dug their holes, and that night Kiowa kept explaining how you had to be there, how fast it was, how the poor guy just dropped like so much concrete. Boom-down, he said. Like cement.

The passage above contains an instance of

techniques of style reading comprehension english

  1. hyperbole

  2. synecdoche

  3. indirect dialogue

  4. fable

Show answer
Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The passage uses the statement "Bow-down, he said." which is an example of indirect dialogue. So, the answer to the question asked is option C.

Identify the literary device used in the following lines:

What's the use you learning to do right, when it's troublesome to do right and isn't no trouble to do wrong, and the wages is just the same?

techniques of style reading comprehension english

  1. Metaphor

  2. Paean

  3. Satire

  4. Epigram

Show answer
Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The given lines employ irony to make a comment on issue of wages. This is an illustration of satire. The given lines employ satire to make a social commentary. The correct answer is option C.

Cleopatra: Give me some music; music, moody food
Of us that trade in love.
Attendants. The music, ho!

[Enter Mardian]

Cleopatra: Let it alone; lets to billiards: come, Charmian.
Charmian: My arm is sore; best play with Mardian.

The passage mentions billiards which is a game that was not invented till centuries after Cleopatra's time. The passage contains an instance of

techniques of style reading comprehension english

  1. allusion

  2. anachronism

  3. synecdoche

  4. hyperbole

Show answer
Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Anachronism is the action of attributing something to a period to which it does not belong. The game of Billiards does not belong to the period of Cleopatra. Thus, the answer here is anachronism. Option B is the answer.

Socrates believed that virtue is the outcome of knowledge and that evil is fundamentally ignorance. This is an early instance of the belief that the intellectual or rational is dominant in man and morally superior.

Socrates' point of view as described in the passage implies which of the following conclusions about evil people?

inferences from the text reading comprehension english

  1. They often dominate those who are morally superior

  2. They are unable to achieve complete self knowledge

  3. They are ignorant

  4. They are inherently virtuous but incapable of showing it

Show answer
Correct Option: C
Explanation:

Option C is the correct answer because according to the first sentence, evil is fundamentally ignorance.

Option A is incorrect because according to the statement the intellectual or rational is more dominant. 
Option B is incorrect because Socrates says that they are ignorant and hence have no knowledge. 
Option D is incorrect because Socrates doesn’t make a statement like this in the given passage.

Read the passage and answer the question given below.


There stood at the edge of the road an oak. Probably ten times the age of the birches that formed the bulk of the forest. It was ten times as thick and twice as tall as they are. It was an enormous tree, double a man's span with ancient scars where branches had long ago been lopped off and bark stripped away. With huge limbs sprawling unsymmetrically, with gnarled hands and fingers, it stood, an aged monster angry and scornful, among the smiling birch trees. This oak alone refused to yield to the season's spell, spurning both spring and sunshine.

"Spring, and love, and happiness", this oak seemed to say, "Are you not weary of the same stupid, meaningless late? Always the same old delusion. There is no spring, no happiness! Look at those strangled lifeless fir trees, everlastingly the same and look at me too sticking out broken excoriated fingers, from my back and my sides, where they grew, just as they grew; here I stand, and have no faith in your hopes and illusions".


The oak's attitude to life is ________.

inferences from the text reading comprehension english

  1. sceptical and disdainful

  2. cheerful but superior

  3. pessimistic and despondent

  4. bombastic and angry

Show answer
Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The correct answer for this would be option C, pessimistic and despondent. The speaker of the passage, the oak, has lived long enough to know that nothing lasts and has grown dispirited and cynical of the hope that the younglings have. Option A, sceptical and disdainful, is wrong because there isn't any indication of doubt or worthlessness in the oak. It knows its place in the world and the reality of it; the oak doesn't have any illusions about its existence and is sure of its beliefs. Options B and D are incoherent with the tone of the text, and thus, are incorrect. 

Read the passage and answer the question given below. 


This country now needs a new equilibrium, a new spirit of national reconciliation that can be brought about only by moving forward to the new frontiers of true equality, fuller opportunity and greater compassion for the weaker sections of its people. Our goal is total freedom for the people that can fully reflect their urges and aspirations for a better life. We cannot remain content by merely reliving our past even under the condition of complete freedom, without a matching concept of the present and the future. We can survive only by seizing every constructive opportunity that can offer a creative alternative to the legacies of the past. It is only through such a lofty endeavour that the country can discover itself with a new sense of adventure and faith in ourselves.

We cannot remain satisfied with the past. We should think of ____. 

inferences from the text reading comprehension english

  1. the present and the future as well

  2. matching the present with the past

  3. the past only

  4. none of the above 

Show answer
Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Option A is the correct answer. The passage speaks of building a better country, a better world, which can be done with the consideration of the future, without forgetting or foregoing the present conditions. Options B,C and D wrong because their statements are not supported by the text. Moreover, The author has emphasized the necessity of thinking about the preset and the future simultaneously, and not being confined in the past. 

Read the passage and answer the question given below.


It must be realized to make compulsory education a success, it is absolutely necessary to make it entirely free. India is a poor country and we cannot expect our people to pay directly for the education of their children. Even in rich countries like England and U.S.A. mas education is not only free but there are many additional facilities like mid-day meal for children, free medical service, and scholarship on a generous scale. Since education is a fundamental civil and human right and basic to the health of the body politics, funds must be found for the purpose whatever the cost of the scheme. If we consider educational and cultural activities to be important, funds will be forthcoming. What we have to do is to rearrange our priority. With this in view, we have to adopt a many-sided programme of national planning and economic and industrial reconstruction. If not there will always be arguments and statistics to prove that it is impossible to introduce free, compulsory and universal education in India.

Which of the following statements is incorrect?

inferences from the text reading comprehension english

  1. Free compulsory education is necessary for India.

  2. Universal education is free in U.S.A.

  3. Education is civic right.

  4. Education is necessary for a poor country.

Show answer
Correct Option: D
Explanation:

While the passage mentions the other three choices, it never once mentions option D and neither is option D conveyed by the tone of the passage nor is it implied in any other manner. So, we can conclude that option D is the required answer.

Read the passage and answer the question given below.


It must be realized to make compulsory education a success, it is absolutely necessary to make it entirely free. India is a poor country and we cannot expect our people to pay directly for the education of their children. Even in rich countries like England and U.S.A. mas education is not only free but there are many additional facilities like mid-day meal for children, free medical service, and scholarship on a generous scale. Since education is a fundamental civic and human right and basic to the health of the body politics, funds must be found for the purpose whatever the cost of the scheme. If we consider educational and cultural activities to be important, funds will be forthcoming. What we have to do is to rearrange our priority. With this in view, we have to adopt a many-sided programme of national planning and economic and industrial reconstruction. If not there will always be arguments and statistics to prove that it is impossible to introduce free, compulsory and universal education in India.

Why should we adopt a many sided programme of national planning and economic reconstruction?

inferences from the text reading comprehension english

  1. For making education popular

  2. For mass education

  3. For providing mid-day meals

  4. None of the above

Show answer
Correct Option: A
Explanation:

The passage states that since education is a fundamental and civic human right, funds must be found to implement a scheme that would make it popular so that free education could be made a success. This is where a many sided programme of national planning and economic reconstruction comes in- it is the kind of scheme that needs to be implemented. So, we can conclude that the scheme is need to make education popular. Option A is the correct answer.

Read the passage and answer the question that follows. 

Ah! Whatever could be said was said. All held him guilty. Even his own mother who claimed to understand him the best. All had betrayed him in his hour of need. Yet, there he was, still with a sparkling hope and knew that the truth must prevail. In the cold, dark and damp cell he never for a moment lost faith in God and goodness and was waiting anxiously for an angel to come, plead non-guilty for him and free him of his miseries.


The truth must prevail means?

inferences from the text reading comprehension english

  1. He was true

  2. Angel will reveal truth

  3. Truth always wins in the end

  4. We must plead for the truth

Show answer
Correct Option: C
Explanation:

"Prevail" literally means to win out. In the given passage, when everybody believed the protagonist to be guilty, he still had hope that his innocence would be proved and that the truth would win out. So, Option C is the correct answer.