Tag: reading comprehension

Questions Related to reading comprehension

Identify the meaning of the sentence given below:
"I got to the airport at $9.15$. My plane left ten minutes later."

inferences from the text reading comprehension english

  1. My plane had left ten minutes ago

  2. Before I got to the airport, my plane had taken off

  3. I got to the airport just before my plane left

  4. I couldn't catch my plane

Show answer
Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The speaker in the sentence says that he/she reached the airport at 9.15 and the plane left just ten minutes later which indicates that the speaker was just in time. This is presented in C, so C is the answer.

Directions for questions 96 to 100: The passage given below is followed by a set of five questions. Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.


True, it is the function of the army to maintain law and order in abnormal times. Though in normal times there is another force that compels citizens to obey laws and  to act with due regard to the rights of others. The force also protects the lives and properties of law abiding people. Laws are made to secure the personal safety of its subjects and to prevent murder or crimes of violence. They are made to secure the properly of the citizens against theft and damage and to protect the rights of communities and castes to carry out  their customs and ceremonies, so long as they do not conflict with the rights of others. Now the good citizen, of her/his own free will obeys these laws and s/he takes care that everything s/he does is done with due regard to the rights and well being of others.
Though the bad citizen is only restrained from breaking these laws by fear of the consequence of her/his action. And the necessary steps to compel the bad citizen to act as a good citizen are taken by this force. The supreme ontrol of law and order in a state is in the hands of a Minister, who is responsible to the State Assembly and acts through the State Assembly and the Inspector General of Police.

Which of the following statements is not implied in the passage?

inferences from the text reading comprehension english

  1. The forces of law help to transform irresponsible citizens into responsible ones.

  2. Law protects those who respect it

  3. Law ensures people's religious and social rights absolutely and unconditionally

  4. A criminal is deterred from committing crimes only for fear of the law

Show answer
Correct Option: C
Explanation:

Option (3) is not implied in the passage, as not unconditionally means without any condition; whereas there is a condition that these rights should not conflict with the rights of others. In that case, the law can't ensure that people enjoy that right.

School Dance Competition
Tickets available with Mr. Johri in computer lab 3 from 2 P.M. to 3 P.M. today and tomorrow, (Monday & Tuesday).
Tickets Rs. 50 : each. Special concession for group bookings.
Seats can also be reserved but payment must be before the show on Thursday evening.

Which of the following statements is correct ?

inferences from the text reading comprehension english

  1. You cannot book tickets now and pay later.

  2. You can book tickets now and pay later.

  3. You can only buy or book tickets later.

  4. The show is on Tuesday evening.

Show answer
Correct Option: B
Explanation:

"Seats can also be reserved but payment must be before the show on Thursday evening" lets the reader know that seats can be reserved or booked 'now' and the payment could be made later but before the show on Thursday. This makes statement B the correct answer. Rest of the options do not fit the context.

The iridescent nature of opals is a result of water trapped inside silica material. With time, this water will escape. Unlike advice given for most precious stones, experts advocate frequent handling of opals, which transmit body oils to the stones and helps them maintain their  water content.

Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

inferences from the text reading comprehension english

  1. Opals will eventually lose their colour if left alone

  2. Body oils give opals their iridescent colours

  3. Opals require the same care as most precious stones

  4. An opal stone rarely maintains its value for longer than a century

Show answer
Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Option A is the correct answer because according to the statement , the iridescent (colourful) nature of opals is due to its water, and as the water content will be lost, they will lose their colour. 

Option B is incorrect because water gives opals their colour, not body oils, they only help them maintain their water content. 
Option C is incorrect because other stones require even more intensive care, here they only need to be exposed to body oils. 
Option D is incorrect because that is not mentioned in the passage. 

Neuroscientists: Memory evolved to help animals react appropriately to situations they encounter by drawing on the past experience of similar situations. But this does not require that animals perfectly recall every detail of all their experiences. Instead, to function well, memory should generalize from past experiences that are similar to the current one.


The neuroscientists' statement, if true, most strongly supports which of the following conclusions?

inferences from the text reading comprehension english

  1. At least some animals perfectly recall every detail of at least some past experiences.

  2. Perfectly recalling every detail of all their past experiences could help at least some animals react more appropriately than they otherwise would to new situations they encounter.

  3. Generalizing from the past experiences requires clear memories of most if not all the details of those experiences.

  4. Recalling every detail of all past experiences would be incompatible with any ability to generalize from those experiences.

  5. Animals can often react more appropriately than they otherwise would to situations they encounter if they draw on generalizations from past experiences of similar situations.

Show answer
Correct Option: E
Explanation:

Conclusion E is the only option that befits the context. 

A company is considering changing its policy concerning daily working hours. Currently, this company requires all employees to arrive at work at 8 a.m. The proposed policy would permit each employee to decide when to arrive from as early as 6 a.m. to as late as 11 a.m.


The adoption of this policy would be most likely to decrease employees productivity if the employees' job functions required them to _______.

inferences from the text reading comprehension english

  1. work without interruption from other employees

  2. consult at least once a day with employees from other companies

  3. submit their work for a supervisors eventual approval

  4. interact frequently with each other through out the entire workday

  5. undertake projects that take several days to complete

Show answer
Correct Option: D
Explanation:

Going through the options, we note that A is incorrect because the time people come in (central to the argument) has no relation whatsoever  with whether people get interrupted or not, option B is out because consulting with other companies is a non-issue as people would still putting in at least 6 hours of work on a normal day, and option C is also incorrect because it implies that the supervisor would 'eventually' sign off on everybody's work, it is not time bound. However, if C had stated that the supervisor would need to sign off that very day, then C could have been the answer. Option E is also incorrect as people would still be at work 5 days a week so this should not be an issue. This leaves us with D - if the workers are required to interact with each other throughout the ENTIRE day, then the adoption of the given policy would most likely decrease the employee's productivity. Thus, D is the correct answer.

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

I was at the shop early. He was standing behind the counter and as soon as I saw him, I knew that there would be some unpleasantness. Mr Higson is never at his best unshaven, in slippers and braces and smoking on the empty stomach. The atmosphere of the little shop was heavy with the bitter odour of fresh newspaper print and ink: stacks of crisp newspapers and magazines lay neatly on the counter, and Higson and the boy were making up the daily mend. 


The overall atmosphere in the shop was:

inferences from the text reading comprehension english

  1. pleasant, wholesome and welcome.

  2. heavy with a lot of goods placed there.

  3. with the inactivity of the early morning.

  4. congenial and businesslike.

Show answer
Correct Option: D
Explanation:

Even though the author assumes that there would be some unpleasantness because "Mr. Higson is never at his best unshaven", the overall atmosphere of the shop is congenial and business-like: we see Mr. Higson and "the boy" busy and engaged in some work, the magazines and newspaper were stacked neatly in their place and a general pleasantness hinted by everybody being busy and going about their way. So, option D is the correct answer.

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

Popular illusions about birds extend further than the use of the word 'egg-shape' that would suggest that all eggs are alike. For instance, there is the popular idea that owls hoot. Actually, only very few owls hoot and these include the common brown or tawny wood owl. The white barn owl screeches; the little owl has a wailing cry, the long-. eared owl barks; and the short-eared owl snorts! Another mistaken idea is that all ducks 'quack' because the common farmyard duck is a domesticated form of the common wild duck or mallard that quacks. Actually, most wild ducks call with whistles.


The impression created by repeating the terms, 'popular' and 'common' are:

inferences from the text reading comprehension english

  1. human beings are closely attached to birds.

  2. our ideas about birds are derived from the most common types.

  3. owls and ducks are our favourite birds.

  4. domesticated birds are our source of information about the bird world.

Show answer
Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Here, the words "popular" and "common" imply general ideas. We derive these "popular" ideas by observing only the common types of birds and make a generalization. This claim is supported by the statement: "For instance, there is the popular idea that owls hoot. Actually, only very few owls hoot and these include the common brown or tawny wood owl." So, the answer to the required question is option B.

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

A village must have some trade, and this village has always been full of virility and power. Obscure and happy, its splendid energies had found employment in wresting a livelihood out of the earth, whence had come a certain dignity, and kindliness, and love for other men. Civilization did not relax these energies, but it had diverted them; and all the special qualities, which might have helped to heal the world, had been destroyed. The family affection, the affection for the commune, the sane pastoral virtues - all had perished. No villain had done this thing: it was the work of ladies and gentlemen who were rich and often clever. 

Village life is praised by the author because it ____________. 

inferences from the text reading comprehension english

  1. helps villagers to achieve material prosperity.

  2. makes men complacent.

  3. breeds humane virtues.

  4. is free from the din and hurry of city life.

Show answer
Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The author says that village life breeds virtues like dignity, kindness and love for fellow humans whereas "civilization" destroyed them. Thus, we can conclude that this becomes the main reason why the author praises village life: it breeds humane virtues. So, the answer is option C.

Read the passage and answer the question that follows. 

Once while travelling by the local bus, I got a seat beside a very strange man. He seemed interested in every passenger aboard. He would stare at a person, scribble some odd mathematical notations on his long notebook and then move on to the next. Being quite interested in what he was doing I asked him what all those notations meant and then came the startling reply. He saw a man's face not as a single unit but as thousands of squares put together. He was in fact a statistical expert and a budding artist learning the art of graphics. 


From the passage we gather that _____. 

inferences from the text reading comprehension english

  1. the author is very inquistive

  2. the author tries to poke his nose in other people's business

  3. the author is interested in mathematical notations

  4. the author wants to talk to fellow passengers in the bus

Show answer
Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Here, the author having seen a man whom he had thought of as being strange, asked the same man what his seemingly strange ways meant. This shows that the author is curious and wanted to know more. So, we can conclude that the author is very inquisitive. So, option A is the answer.