Tag: reading comprehension

Questions Related to reading comprehension

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.


Whatever others said about him, he ________.

  1. betrayed no one

  2. thought over the problem

  3. never lost faith in goodness

  4. raised his voice against injustice


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

When everybody believed him to be guilty, he still had faith that the truth will win out. Even in his darkest moment, he never "lost faith in God and goodness." In this context, option C is the best answer.

Read the passage and answer the questions that follow. 

The New Year is a time for resolutions. Mentally at least, most of us could compile formidable lists of do's and dont's. The same old favourites recur year in and year out with monotonous regularity. Past experience has taught us that certain accomplishments are beyond attainment. If we remain inveterate smokers, it is only because we have so often experienced to frustration that results from failure. Most of us fail in our efforts at self-improvement because our schemes are too ambitious and we never have time to carry them out. We also make the fundamental error of announcing our resolutions to everybody so that we look even more foolish when we slip back into our old bad ways. 

The phrase 'formidable lists of do's and don'ts' means that _______. 

  1. the bad points of our character are formidable

  2. the list is so long that it is frightening

  3. the things that need to be included is frightening

  4. the realisation that we are so imperfect is frightening


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

"Formidable" means intimidating or frightening. So, when the author says "formidable list of do's and don'ts'", he means to say that the list of do's and don'ts' is so long that it is frightening. Option B is the best answer. The other choices are incorrect because they do not fit into the context of the sentence.

Read the passage and answer the questions that follow. 

The New Year is a time for resolutions. Mentally at least, most of us could compile formidable lists of do's and dont's. The same old favourites recur year in and year out with monotonous regularity. Past experience has taught us that certain accomplishments are beyond attainment. If we remain inveterate smokers, it is only because we have so often experienced to frustration that results from failure. Most of us fail in our efforts at self-improvement because our schemes are too ambitious and we never have time to carry them out. We also make the fundamental error of announcing our resolutions to everybody so that we look even more foolish when we slip back into our old bad ways. 

'The same old favourites recur... with monotonous regularity' implies that ______. 

  1. we want to be so perfect that we include some items regularly

  2. we have been so regularly doing certain things that they have become monotonous

  3. in spite of repeated failures, we still would like to try one more time

  4. some favourite actions if repeated often could become monotonous


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

A careful reading of the passage reveals that the author says that we make the same resolution each year which we had failed to keep the previous year and this happens almost every year. In this context, option C is the best answer.

Read the passage given below and pick the option that best fits the question that follows:

Deriving your authority from the government, your position would secure the respect and consideration of everyone, especially in a service where official rank carries so much weight. This would secure you every attention and comfort on your way and there, together with a complete submission to your orders. I know these things are a matter of indifference to you except so far as they may further, the great objects you have in view, but they are of importance in themselves, and of every importance to those who have a right to take an interest in your personal position and comfort. 


The writer's attitude towards the person addressed is characterized by ______.

  1. Officiousness

  2. Flattery

  3. Humility

  4. Arrogance


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

The tone of the author sounds quite official and serious. So, we can conclude that the writer's attitude is officious- option A. The attitude is definitely not one of flattery, arrogance or flattery.

Read the passage given below and pick the option that best fits the question that follows:

It happened one day, about noon, going towards my boat, I was exceedingly surprised with the print of a man's naked foot on the shore, which was very plain to be seen in the sand. I stood like one thunder-struck, or as if I had seen an apparition. I listened, I looked round me, I could hear nothing, nor see anything. I went up the shore, and down the shore, but it was all one; I could see no other impression but that one. I went to it again to see if there were any more, and to observe if it might not be my fancy; but there was no room for that, for there was exactly the very print of a foot-toes, heel and every part of a foot. 


How does the author convince himself that the foot-print is a real one? 

  1. By finding the person who made it

  2. By being told about it by a witness

  3. By thinking about it for some time

  4. By examining it carefully and noticing its details


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

The author goes back to the print, to find out for certain that it was for real and not his "fancy". This time, he observes the foot-print carefully and notices all the details. This is how the author convinces himself that the foot-print is a real one. The correct answer is option D.

Read the passage and answer the question that follows:

He drooped off to sleep. The cigarette slipped out of his mouth and burnt a great black hole in his only shirt. The smell of the burn awoke him, and he got up, cursing under his breath, and fumbled in the dark for a needle in order to sew up the hole. Otherwise, his wife would see it in the morning and would nag away at him for a couple of hours. But he could not find a needle. He fell asleep again.


Which one of the following statements best sums up the man's reaction to his problem? 

  1. The man is extremely upset to find the shirt burnt and frantically tries to repair the damage.

  2. The hole in the shirt and the wife's anticipated nagging are minor problems, the greater one is that the man cannot find a needle.

  3. None of these: the shirt-hole, the nagging and the lack of a needle, are of great consequence.

  4. The man is terrified of his wife and dreads her discovering the burnt shirt.


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The man wanted to sew the hole because he didn't want to be scolded by his wife in the morning. However, the shirt -hole, the nagging and the lack of a needle are of not much importance because even though he worried over these, he went back to sleep. So, the correct answer is option C.

Read the passage given below and choose the option that best fits the question that follows:

Deriving your authority from the government, your position would secure the respect and consideration of everyone, especially in a service where official rank carries so much weight. This would secure you every attention and comfort on your way and there, together with a complete submission to your orders. I know these things are a matter of indifference to you except so far as they may further, the great objects you have in view, but they are of importance in themselves, and of every importance to those who have a right to take an interest in your personal position and comfort. 


The person addressed in most likely a ______.

  1. social worker

  2. government servant

  3. commercial agent

  4. foreign dignitary


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

The writer is talking in the context of government service. So, the person addressed is most likely a government servant. Option B is the correct answer. 

Read the passage given below and pick the option that best fits the question that follows:

The New Year is a time for resolutions. Mentally at least, most of us could compile formidable lists of do's and dont's. The same old favourites recur year in and year out with monotonous regularity. Past experience has taught us that certain accomplishments are beyond attainment. If we remain inveterate smokers, it is only because we have so often experienced to frustration that results from failure. Most of us fail in our efforts at self improvement because our schemes are too ambitious and we never have time to carry them out. We also make the fundamental error of announcing our resolutions to everybody so that we look even more foolish when we slip back into our old bad ways. 



The author seems to imply that many are inveterate smokers because 

  1. they have not really tried to give up smoking

  2. they know from past experience that they can never succeed in their attempt to give up

  3. they want to forget the frustration of not smoking

  4. they do not have the will power to stop smoking


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

In this passage, the author has tried to illustrate humans' habit to going back to their habits and being unable to hold true to our actions, despite numerous trials and failures. Option A is correct in assuming that many have not succeeded in giving up smoking simply because they haven't tried hard enough, trying to test their limits and being confined in those limitations. Options B,C and D do not convey the same resilience that the author has tried to convey. For that, option A is the correct answer. 

Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.

As civilization proceeds in the direction of technology, it passes the point of supplying all the basic of life, food, shelter, clothes and warmth. Then we are faced with a choice between using technology to provide and fulfil needs which have hitherto been regarded as unnecessary or, on the other hand, using technology to reduce the number of hours of work which a man must do in order to earn a given standard of living. In other words, we either raise our standard of living above that necessary for comfort and happiness or we leave it at this level and work shorter hours. I shall take it as axiomatic that mankind has, by that time, chosen the later alternative. Men will be working shorter and shorter hours in their paid employment.

"Then we are faced with a choice...." what does "then" refer to? 

  1. When automation takes over many aspects of human life

  2. The present state of civilization

  3. The past stage of civilization

  4. After having provided the basic essentials of life


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

The author says that technology is now well beyond being used only for supplying the basic necessities of life. Now, the question regarding its use comes to whether we use technology to fulfill needs which till now were deemed unnecessary or to use it to reduce man hours required for a certain standard  of living. In this context, "then" ("Then we are faced with a choice") refers to "after having provided the basic essentials of life." So, the answer is D.

Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.

Once upon a time, I went for a week's holiday to the Continent with an Indian friend. We both enjoyed ourselves and were sorry when the week was over, but on parting, our behaviour was absolutely different. He was plunged in despair. He felt that because the holiday that was overall happiness was over until the world ended. He could not express his sorrow too much. But in me, the Englishman came out strong. I could not see what there was to make a fuss about. It wasn't as if we were parting forever or dying. 'Buck up', I said, 'do buck up'. He refused to buck up and I left him plunged in gloom. 

What is the Continent in the context of the passage? 

  1. An island

  2. The countryside

  3. Africa

  4. Europe


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

Option D, Europe, is the correct answer. The speaker, being an Englishman, the Continent, to him, world mean the European mainland, And not any other place near or beyond that. The Options A and B are wrong because they refer to an island and the countryside, respectively, whereas the passage clearly refers to the Continent. Option C, Africa, is incorrect because the reference of the Continent in context of an Englishman means the European continent, which is linear to England, than Africa.