Reading Comprehension Questions and Answers

Direction for [ Question No: 1 To 5 ] :

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow, by selecting the correct/most appropriate options :

1. Each drop represents a little bit of creation and of life itself. When the monsoon brings to northern India the first rains of summer, the parched earth opens its pores and quenches its thirst with a hiss of ecstasy. After baking in the sun for the last few months, the land looks cracked, dusty and tired. Now, almost overnight, new grass springs up, there is renewal everywhere, and the damp earth releases a fragrance sweeter than any devised by man.

2. Water brings joy to earth, grass, leaf-bud, blossom, insect, bird, animal and the pounding heart of man. Small children run out of their homes to romp naked in the rain. Buffaloes, which have spent the summer listlessly around lakes gone dry, now plunge into a heaven of muddy water. Soon the lakes and rivers will overflow with the monsoon's generosity. Trekking in the Himalayan foothills, I recently walked for kilometres without encountering habitation. I was just scolding myself for not having brought along a water-bottle, when I came across a patch of green on a rock face. I parted a curtain of tender maiden hair fern and discovered a tiny spring issuing from the rock-nectar for the thirsty traveller.

3. I stayed there for hours, watching the water descend, drop by drop, into a tiny casement in the rocks. Each drop reflected creation. That same spring, I later discovered, joined other springs to form a swift, tumbling stream, which went cascading down the hill into other streams until, in the plains, it became part of a river. And that river flowed into another mightier river that kilometres later emptied into the ocean. Be like water, taught Laotzu, philosopher and founder of Taoism. Soft and limpid, it finds its way through, over or under any obstacle. It does not quarrel; it simply moves on.

Direction for [ Question No: 6 To 9 ] :

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow.

Lack of self-control has brought grief to more people than any other shortcoming known to the human race. Every successful person must have some sort of a balance wheel for his or her emotions. When a person becomes extremely angry, certain glands triggered by negative emotions begin to empty their contents into the blood and if this is kept up for more time, it will result in serious damage to the entire system, sometimes leading to death. The blood coagulates at that time. Nature created this system for the protection of the young human race during the savage stage of development, when anger usually preceding a fight might mean opening of the veins and loss of blood.

There is a reason of developing self-control. One who lacks self-control may be easily mastered by one who has such control. Success in life is very largely a matter of harmonious negotiation with other people and this requires self-control in abundance.

The author of the 'Law of Success Philosophy' once observed a long line of angry woman in front of the 'Complaint Desk' of a large Chicago department store. The young woman who was hearing the complaints, kept cool and smiled all the time not withstanding the fact that some of the women were very abusive. One by one, this young woman directed the women to the right department and she did it with such poise that it caused the author to walk up closer where he could see just what was happening.

Direction for [ Question No: 10 To 10 ] :

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow :

People are drawn to vegetarianism by all sorts of motives. Some of us want to live longer, healthier lives or do our part to reduce pollution. Others have made the switch because we want to preserve earth's natural resources or because we've always loved animals and are ethically opposed to eating them.

Vegetarianism promotes a natural way of life. But despite its implicit message of universal love and non-violence it has not spread as it should have. This may be because it usually is an inward-looking habit and is best cultivated in the mind.

Leading a vegetarian way of life helps the animal kingdom co-exist with man. The animals supply milk, manure and energy. This has been central to the Indian culture for thousands of years. A vegetarian life style is natural, multifaceted and helps self-preservation in a healthy way. Food and health are closely related.

Vegetarian foods provide an infinite variety of flavours whereas non-vegetarian foods have hardly any taste of their own. In fact, non-vegetarian foods have to be seasoned with ingredients from the vegetable kingdom to make them palatable.