Reading Comprehension

 

PRACTICE TESTS

Passage 1

Read the following passage and answer the questions given below it.

 

It was in Germany and France that the first successful attempts were made to produce an internal-combustion engine driven by petrol. In England, people were strangely timid about horseless vehicles. English inventors were handicapped by a quaint old law that forbade any such vehicle to attain a greater speed than four miles an hour, and compelled each one to be preceded by a man carrying a red flag. This law was not repealed until 1896.

 

The earliest motor cars were looked upon as mere jokes, or as rather dangerous playthings, by everyone except their inventors. Some of them were single seaters, others would carry two or even three people; but all were noisy, clumsy, queer looking things. When in 1888, Carl Benz, a German, produced a three-wheeled, internal-combustion car, a great forward stride had been made. Another German, whose name, Daimler, is often seen on motor cars to this day, was experimenting about the same time, and testing a petrol-driven engine.

 

It is easy to understand how the introduction of the petrol -driven engine revolutionised road transport throughout the world. Until then the necessary power to push a vehicle along could not be obtained without the cumbersome tanks, boilers and furnaces of the steam engine. The internal-combustion engine is light in weight and small in size by comparison; the fuel is burned in it, so that there is no waste, like the dusty cinders of a coal fire.

 

Questions

1. How did most people regard early motor cars?

(a) Not better than horse-driven vehicles (b) A mere joke, or as rather dangerous playthings

(c) A mere scientific experiment (d) A cumbersome vehicle

2. What were all early motor cars?

(a) A plaything or toy (b) A vehicle better than horse-driven vehicle

(c) Noisy, clumsy, queer-looking things (d) Dangerous and risky

3. What made the English inventors handicapped?

(a) The general public did not welcome the invention

(b) The quaint old law that forbade any such vehicle to attain a greater speed than four miles/hour

(c) Non-availability of adequate fuel to power the engine

(d) None of these

4. What does ‘repealed’ mean?

(a) repeated (b) abolished

(c) contradicted (d) enforced

5. Which among the following words is as closely opposite to ‘clumsy’?

(a) unhandy (b) refined

(c) unusually large (d) unusual

6. What is incorrect about the internal combustion engine?

(a) fuel burnt in it as waste (b) light in weight

(c) noisy and clumsy (d) small in size

 

 

 

 

 

Passage 2

 

Read the following passage and answer the questions given below.

 

At one time, in the history of India, most women knew very well how to bring up their infants and they lived a perfectly healthy life, free from diseases. The overall standard of women and children in the country was much better than those of other civilisations of that period. But ever since India was exposed to frequent invasions by foreign nations, life became unsafe and property was unprotected, and people were forced to congregate in towns in such a compact way, that it led to awful insanitation and diseases. The traditional knowledge of domestic and personal health and hygiene was ignored. Women were confined indoors for fear of insults and a train of social and unhealthy dangers followed. It is a problem now, how we can restore the original conditions of healthy and happy life in India. This is a socio-economic problem which needs to be given priority to bring back the original culture and restore welfare of women and children in India.

 

 

Questions

1. What was the main cause of the poor health conditions of women in India?

(a) Women were confined indoors (b) Illiteracy among women

(c) Frequent foreign invasions (d) Awful sanitation

 

2. What question has the writer posed before the readers?

(a) How to check foreign invasion?

(b) Why has the traditional knowledge been ignored?

(c) What should be done for infants and women?

(d) How can the original conditions of healthy and happy life be restored in India?

 

3. How did life become unsafe and property unprotected?

(a) Because of awful insanitation and diseases (b) Because the women were confined indoors

(c) Exposure to frequent foreign invasion (d) People were forced to congregate in towns

 

4. Why were the women confined indoors?

(a) To improve sanitation and healthy atmosphere (b) To keep them away from disease

(c) Because of foreign invasions (d) None of these

5. When were women leading a perfectly healthy life?

(a) After being confined indoors

(b) Before foreign invasions

(c) After restoring original conditions of healthy and happy life

(d) Cannot be determined from the passage

6. What does the word ‘congregate’ mean in the passage?

(a) forced (b) assemble

(c) live (d) settle

7. How are foreign invasions responsible for poor health conditions?

(a) Foreigners maltreated the public

(b) People were forced to congregate in towns in a compact way, leading to insanitation

(c) Foreigners brought in unhealthy ways of life

(d) People were made to serve as labour

8. Select from the answer choices the word that is as nearly opposite in meaning to ‘confine’.

(a) forced (b) directed

(c) to keep out (d) reject

 

 

Passage 3

Read the following passage carefully. Note the words italicised in the passage and try to understand their meanings in the context of the passage and answer the questions given below it.

 

On August 15, 1947, India was granted independence from British colonial dominance. This was an event of international significance. From this day onwards, the Indian Union assumed a role in world politics that was appropriate enough to modify the thinking of nations. Concepts like non-alignment, tolerance, non-violence and peaceful coexistence were introduced by India into the international vocabulary.

 

“Our dreams concern India”, said the first Prime Minister of the country, Pt Jawaharlal Nehru, on the eve of achieving freedom, “but they also concern the whole world, for the world has become one”.

 

Mahatma Gandhi chose Nehru to become the first PM of independent India. With his vision of unity of the nation, he became the architect of modern India. It was to be a federal state based on secularism—the commitment to an Indian

identity, which was above all races, castes, and religions. It was a vision of extraordinary dimensions.

 

Both Nehru as well as his daughter and successor, Smt. Indira Gandhi, were well aware that only a firm anchorage in the Indian identity could unite the nation and enable it to make an impact on the world. In these days of mutual interdependence, the western powers and America cannot afford to ignore what is happening in this region. It is possible that the fate of the Asian democracies would one day be decided on the banks of the Ganges. If India fails to remain a democracy, this would trigger the fall of the whole of South and South-east Asia. That is why the Indian Prime Minister has to play a role that goes well beyond duties related to internal affairs only. It is of international political significance.

 

 

Questions

1. What made Pt Jawaharlal Nehru the architect of modern India?

(a) He secured independence for India

 (b) His vision of the unity of the nation

(c) Because he was the first Prime Minister of India

 (d) He wanted India to make an impact on the world

 

2. Which of the following concepts have been introduced by India into the international vocabulary?

(a) Mutual interdependence and democracy

 (b) Non-alignment and tolerance

(c) Non-violence and peaceful co-existence

(a) A and C only (b) A and B only (c) B and C only (d) All the above

 

3. Which word in this passage is used to describe the phrase “to live together with mutual tolerance”?

(a) non-alignment (b) coexistence (c) secularism (d) anchorage

 

4. Which among the following words best describes the meaning of the word ‘trigger’ used in the passage?

(a) to set in action

 (b) to become uncontrollable

 (c) to become inactive

 (d) aggravate

 

5. Select from the answer choices, the word that is synonymous to ‘Dimensions’.

(a) support (b) size (c) importance (d) height

 

6. Which of the following words can be used to replace the word ‘repercussion’, used in the passage, without altering the meaning of the writer?

(a) impression (b) reaction (c) suppression (d) alteration

 

7. Why does the role of the Indian Prime Minister go beyond the duties related to internal affairs of the country?

(a) To create an impact on foreign countries

(b) Because happenings in India influence politics and democracies of South and South-east Asia

(c) To avoid interference of America and other big powers

(d) None of these

 

8. Select the word that is as nearly opposite in meaning to ‘dominance’ used in this passage.

(a) government (b) rule (c) subordination (d) importance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers

Passage 1

1. (b) A mere joke, or as rather dangerous playthings

2. (c) Noisy, clumsy, queer-looking things

3. (b) The quaint old law which forbade any such vehicle to attain a reater speed than four miles/hour

4. (b) Abolished

5. (b) Clumsy means awkward or ill designed, its antonym is refined or graceful

6. (c) Noisy and clumsy

 

Passage 2

1. (c) Frequent foreign invasions

2. (d) How to restore the original conditions of healthy and happy life in India?

3. (c) Exposure to frequent foreign invasions

4. (c) Because of foreign invasions

5. (b) Before foreign invasions

6. (b) Assemble or gather

7. (b) People were forced to congregate in towns in a compact way leading to awful sanitation

8. (c) Confine means to keep shut up or imprison, its opposite is to keep out

 

 

Passage 3

1. (b) His vision of the unity of the nation.

2. (c) Non-alignment, tolerance, non-violence and peaceful coexistence.

3. (c) Secularism

4. (a) To set in action

5. (c) Importance

6. (b) Reaction

7. (b) Because happenings in India influence politics and democracies of South and South-east Asia.

8. (c) Subordination