Reading Comprehension Questions and Answers

Answer: B

The device in 'to do and die' is Alliteration.

Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of nearby words. 'Do' and 'die' both begin with the d sound, which gives the line its strong, rhythmic beat.

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds, a simile compares two things using like or as, and personification gives human qualities to non-human things. None of these is present in the phrase.

Answer: D

In the first stanza the soldiers are seen riding fast to the enemy territory.

The first lines say 'Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred', and the order is 'Charge for the guns'. The soldiers are therefore riding forward into the enemy's fire. The poem calls it a charge, so the ride is fast.

There is no talk among the soldiers about personal problems, no waiting (they are already riding), and no thought of the result of the war in this stanza.

Answer: D

The earth forests look amazing because of the pillars formed by rocks that resemble a forest.

Paragraph 2 says these earth forests are 'full of pillars formed by rocks that collectively appear like a forest from afar', an 'out of the world' landscape shaped by geological movements and by erosion from wind and water. That striking look is what the question asks about.

The ruins on the Sutlej's bank are the Khyunglung ruins, a separate feature mentioned afterwards, not the cause of the forests' appearance. The passage speaks of no flora and fauna abundance in these forests, and says nothing of a cool breeze or of drowsy people.

Answer: A

The river is a boon for the North of India because it is a major source of water supply and power generation.

Paragraph 4 says the river enters the Punjab plains at the Bhakra Dam, 'a major point of water supply and electricity generation for the North of India'. It is also used extensively for irrigation, which adds to the benefit.

The passage never mentions mountain soil and minerals being carried down, and it does not say the prosperity of the whole of India depends on the river; the claim is limited to the North. Aquatic animals are not discussed at all.

Answer: C

Both A and B are true.

Statement A: paragraph 1 calls the Kangri Karchok 'the Kailash Purana of the Tibetans' and speaks of 'this holy book', so it is a holy book of the Tibetans. Statement B: paragraph 3 says the river, after entering Himachal Pradesh, is responsible for the rich cultivation of grapes, apples and apricots along its banks, and these are fruits of various types grown in Himachal Pradesh.

Since both statements follow from the passage, the options calling either one false, or both false, cannot be right.

Answer: B

'Lake unconquerable' refers to Lake Manasarovar.

Paragraph 1 says the river 'rises from the 'lake unconquerable', the Tso Maphan or Manasarovar'. The phrase is simply an epithet for the lake whose names follow it, so it points to Manasarovar.

Langchen Khambab is the river that rises from the lake, not the lake itself. Lake Rakshatal is not mentioned in the passage, and the Sutlej is the name the river takes after its confluence with the Spiti, not a lake.

Answer: C

According to the Kangri Karchok, the river does not flow very gently through the hills.

The other three options are stated in paragraph 1: the river has 'sands of gold', it 'circles the holy Manasarovar seven times', and it is described as a 'cold river'. The passage presents the river as mighty, one that cuts across ranges and creates a terrifying gorge, and never as a gently flowing one, so this is the item the holy book does not support. The question is answered by elimination on the printed statements; the passage does not use the word gently at all.

Answer: B

The change is the arrival of social media on the scene.

The passage says 'in today's cultural landscape of muddled relationships scattered across various platforms for connecting, amidst constant debates about whether our Facebook "friendships" are making us more or less happy, it pays to consider what friendship actually is'. The new situation is online platforms and Facebook 'friends'.

Bacon and Thoreau are cited as past views, with no suggestion they cannot be read. Interest in science is not the cause, and the passage never says friendships are impossible.

Answer: A

The answer is yes, researches have proven that friendship does lead to happiness.

The passage says 'philosophers and cognitive scientists agree that friendship is an essential ingredient of human happiness' and refers to 'a body of compelling research that sheds light on how, precisely, friendship augments happiness'.

The options that deny a link, or say friends cannot make one another happy or that happiness must be found alone, contradict this. Strictly, the word 'proven' is stronger than the passage's 'compelling research', so option A is the best of the four.

Answer: D

The answer is yes.

The passage says Pigliucci explores friendship in Answers for Aristotle, 'which also gave us this provocative read on the science of what we call "intuition"'. So the book also dealt with intuition.

'No, it only discussed friendship' contradicts that sentence. 'It just explained science and philosophy' and 'it discussed Aristotle's theories' do not answer the question about intuition.