Tag: reading comprehension

Questions Related to reading comprehension

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

While I stood drinking in the beauty of this placid scene I became conscious of an alteration. In a moment the sole porter emerged from his midday nap, operated a signal that clanked noisily into position, and then ambled slowly towards me for my return half-ticket, whilst I remarked that his red amiable face and easy-going gait were in perfect harmony with the tranquil surroundings.
 A wisp of smoke on the horizon with a dark snake crawling beneath it announced the approach of the train. As it drew nearer, the deep silence of the place was gradually displaced by a creaking of brakes and a hissing of steam. Save for myself, no one entered the train and no one alighted. The porter with leisurely expertness, trundled a couple of milk churns on board, the door was slammed, the guard signalled to the driver, and we moved off, leaving the small station once more to its drowsy silence.

What does the author suggest by the word 'placid'?

  1. The scene was filled with noise of the train

  2. The place was filled with lively humanity

  3. The place was quite and lonely

  4. The horizon looked smoke laden


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The word "placid" literally means pleasantly calm or peaceful; unruffled; tranquil; serenely quiet or undisturbed. Here, the author uses "placid" to imply that the scene was quite and peaceful. In this context, option C is the best fit.

Read the passage given below and choose 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 around 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. 


The passage is full of short simple sentences. Their purpose is to ______.

  1. facilitate easy understanding

  2. give a plain narration

  3. convey breathless excitement

  4. imply the inability of the author to write in an better way


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The passage focuses on bringing out the surprise and excitement felt by the author when he notices a foot-print. The passage uses short simple sentence in order to convey this surprise and excitement of the author. Option C is the best answer.

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

While I stood drinking in the beauty of this placid scene I became conscious of an alteration. In a moment the sole porter emerged from his midday nap, operated a signal that clanked noisily into position, and then ambled slowly towards me for my return half-ticket, whilst I remarked that his red amiable face and easy-going gait were in perfect harmony with the tranquil surroundings.
 A wisp of smoke on the horizon with a dark snake crawling beneath it announced the approach of the train. As it drew nearer, the deep silence of the place was gradually displaced by a creaking of brakes and a hissing of steam. Save for myself, no one entered the train and no one alighted. The porter with leisurely expertness, trundled a couple of milk churns on board, the door was slammed, the guard signalled to the driver, and we moved off, leaving the small station once more to its drowsy silence.


The meaning of drowsy is 

  1. Untidy

  2. Sleepy

  3. Freezing

  4. Drugged


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

The word "drowsy" means half-asleep or sleepy. So, option B is the answer.


Read the passage given below and choose 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 around 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. 

Which one of the following words best describes the emotion evoked by the foot-print in the author? 

  1. Curiosity

  2. Indifference

  3. Fear

  4. Surprise


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

The statement, "I was exceedingly surprised" implies that curiosity was the emotion evoked by the foot-print in the author. So, option A is the answer.

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

While I stood drinking in the beauty of this placid scene I became conscious of an alteration. In a moment the sole porter emerged from his midday nap, operated a signal that clanked noisily into position, and then ambled slowly towards me for my return half-ticket, whilst I remarked that his red amiable face and easy-going gait were in perfect harmony with the tranquil surroundings.
 A wisp of smoke on the horizon with a dark snake crawling beneath it announced the approach of the train. As it drew nearer, the deep silence of the place was gradually displaced by a creaking of brakes and a hissing of steam. Save for myself, no one entered the train and no one alighted. The porter with leisurely expertness, trundled a couple of milk churns on board, the door was slammed, the guard signalled to the driver, and we moved off, leaving the small station once more to its drowsy silence.


The central idea of the passage is _____________.

  1. Leisure and peace

  2. Hurry and noise

  3. Activity

  4. The porter


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

The correct answer for this would be option A, leisure and peace. The author of the passage has tried to illustrate the serene nature and surrounding of the speaker, juxtaposing it with the humdrum of a train station. The tone of the speaker conveys a peaceful environment. The statements of options B,C and D are incoherent with the tone of the passage, and thus, are incorrect. 

Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

The psychological causes of unhappiness, it is clear, are many and various. But all have something in common. The typical unhappy man is one who, having deprived in youth of some normal satisfaction, has come to value this one ' kind of satisfaction more than any other, and has therefore given to his life a one-sided direction, together with a quite undue emphasis upon the achievement as opposed to the activities connected with it. There is, however, a further development which is very common in the present day. A man may feel so completely thwarted that he seeks no form of satisfaction, but only distraction and oblivion. He then becomes a devotee of "pleasure". This is to say, he seeks to make life bearable by becoming less alive. Drunkenness, for example, is temporary suicide-the happiness that it brings is merely negative, a momentary cessation of unhappiness. 


What does "becoming less alive" imply?

  1. Neglect of health

  2. Decline in moral values

  3. Living in a make-believe world

  4. Leading a sedentary way of living


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

As the author says, "A man may feel so completely thwarted that he seeks no form of satisfaction, but only distraction and oblivion. He then becomes a devotee of 'pleasure'. This is to say, he seeks to make life bearable by becoming less alive." So, he starts living in his own world of distractions. So, the answer is option C.

Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

The psychological causes of unhappiness, it is clear, are many and various. But all have something in common. The typical unhappy man is one who, having deprived in youth of some normal satisfaction, has come to value this one ' kind of satisfaction more than any other, and has therefore given to his life a one-sided direction, together with a quite undue emphasis upon the achievement as opposed to the activities connected with it. There is, however, a further development which is very common in the present day. A man may feel so completely thwarted that he seeks no form of satisfaction, but only distraction and oblivion. He then becomes a devotee of "pleasure". This is to say, he seeks to make life bearable by becoming less alive. Drunkenness, for example, is temporary suicide-the happiness that it brings is merely negative, a momentary cessation of unhappiness. 


"One sided direction" refers to the pursuit of which one of the following? 

  1. Drinking and forgetfulness

  2. The satisfaction one had been deprived of

  3. Activities leading to happiness

  4. Every form of psychological satisfaction


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

In the given passage the author clearly states, "The typical unhappy man is one, who having been deprived in youth of some normal satisfaction, comes to value this one kind of satisfaction more than any other, and has therefore given to his life a one- side direction." This clearly implies that "one- side direction" refers to the satisfaction that one had been deprived of. Hence, the answer should be option B.

Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.

It is said that ideas are explosive and dangerous. To allow them unfettered freedom is, in fact, to invite disorder. But, to this position, there are at least two final answers. It is impossible to draw a line round dangerous ideas, and any attempt at their definition involves monstrous folly. If views, moreover, which imply disorder are able to disturb the foundations of the State; there is something supremely wrong with the governance of the State. For disorder is not a habit of mankind. We cling so eagerly to our accustomed ways that, as even Burke insisted; popular violence is always the outcome of a deep popular sense of wrong. 


Which of the following statements may most correctly bring out the significance of the opinion of Burke quoted in the passage?

  1. Burke advocated violence against injustice

  2. Burke's opinion coincides with the author's opinion on explosive and dangerous ideas

  3. Burke hated any popular uprising

  4. Burke had no belief in political liberty


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

In the given context, the author agrees with Burke's viewpoint: how violence against injustice is a natural consequence. They both seem to agree that some ideas are explosive and dangerous as they invite injustice. So, the answer is option B.

Read the following sentences and answer the question that follows:
a. A hunter, however, comes to the rescue and cuts the wolf open. Immediately, Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother emerge unharmed.
b. This tale is about a girl called Little Red Riding Hood, she always wears the red hooded cape. Every day, the girl walks into the woods to deliver food to her grandmother.
c. One day, a wolf approaches the girl and she naively tells him where she is going.
d. In the meantime, the wolf goes to the grandmother's house and eats her. When the girl arrives he eats her too.
e. He suggests the girl pick some flowers for her grandmother who was keeping unwell. She does so.


What is the moral of the story?

  1. Always meet your grandmother in the forest.

  2. Never listen to strangers.

  3. Never be friends with a wolf.

  4. Never tell the truth.


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

After Red Riding Hood naively tells the wolf where and why she was going, he distracts her by asking her to pick some flowers for her grandmother and meanwhile goes to her grandmother's place and eats the grandmother. From this we can deduce that it never serves well to trust strangers and talk or listen to them. So, we can say that the moral of the story is choice B- never listen to strangers. The other choices are incorrect as they do not fit the context of the story.


Select the option that is closest in meaning to the given sentence:
"They built a statue of him lest people should forget what he had done."

  1. They built a statue of him so that people would not forget what he had done.

  2. They built a statue of him because people wouldn't forget what he had done.

  3. As people would forget what he had done one day, they built a statue of him.

  4. Believing that it was necessary for people not to forget what he had done, they had a statue of him built.


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Option A is the only sentence that captures the meaning of the given sentence and presents it in a clear, concise manner without adding any further errors. The other choices are incorrect because they either carry grammatical errors or change the meaning of the given sentence. Option A is the answer.