Reading Comprehension Questions and Answers

Answer: C

A birder should have sharp ears because one can easily locate the birds from their chirping.

The writer says that spotting birds in foliage is hard enough, 'but if you hear them, you know they are there'. Hearing the call tells the birder where a bird is even when it is hidden among leaves.

Mating calls, morning greetings and shrieks of alarm are not mentioned as the reason; the passage speaks only of finding the birds.

Answer: C

The key takes both (a) and (b) as right.

(a) The writer says that 'every bird call evokes a different reaction, memory or emotion in the listener', as the flameback's laugh set a cheerful mood and the mynas recalled people in Delhi.

(b) The passage does not mention nests, so this statement does not come from the text. It is, however, generally true that birds often hide their nests among foliage, and the key counts it as right. Read strictly from the passage, only (a) is supported, so this is a question where the key relies on general knowledge for the second statement.

Answer: B

Statements (b) and (c) are right and (a) is wrong, which is option (2).

(b) The writer says mynas remind him of people who are 'always ready to argue and pick a fight, belligerent and in your face'. (c) A pair on the window sill in the afternoons hold 'meaningful civilised conversations' with affection in their voices, so a myna couple can be found enjoying themselves.

(a) is wrong: the writer is comparing the mynas to Delhi people to describe them as quarrelsome, and goes on to say they taught him not to make sweeping generalisations. He does not approve of that conduct.

Answer: B

A birder is one who watches the birds.

A birder (or birdwatcher) is a person who observes and identifies birds in their natural surroundings, by sight and by their calls, as a hobby or for study.

Birders do not catch, rear or hunt birds; those activities belong to trappers, bird keepers and hunters, so the other options are wrong.

Answer: B

The relationship is mother and daughter.

The anecdote begins with the writer walking in a garden when 'my daughter' spots red flowers, pulls her down to her height and whispers a secret. The writer is the girl's mother, and the later questions on the passage refer to 'the mother' in the same way.

The 'friend' in paragraph 2 is a school friend from the writer's own childhood, which is a memory within the story, so 'best friends' and 'school-mates' describe a different pair. A grandmother and grand-child are not mentioned anywhere.

Answer: A

According to the mother, it was not a good idea to taste sweet nectar from flowers.

In paragraph 1 the daughter whispers a secret, and the writer is 'about to tell her that it was probably not a good idea to do so' when memory takes over. The secret is only revealed by the end: in paragraph 3 the writer decides that the child 'too needed to know the joy of tasting sweet nectar from beautiful blooms'. So what the mother first thought unwise was the child's wish to taste the nectar of the flowers.

Raiding the ixora plants, walking in the garden all day and walking alone along the pathway belong to the writer's own childhood story in paragraphs 2 and 3, and are not what the mother is about to advise against in paragraph 1.

Answer: D

Statements (b) and (c) are correct and (a) is incorrect, which is option (4).

(b) is correct: the daughter's whispered secret transports the writer back to her school days, and the memory is a happy one. (c) is correct: the writer decides that her child too must know the joy of tasting sweet nectar from blooms, so she wants the child to be connected to the pleasures of nature.

(a) is incorrect: the memories are fond and playful ('we really had a lot of fun', 'I could still taste the sweetness till today'), not traumatising.

Answer: C

The poet thinks himself fortunate because he has light at night by his door.

The poem says, 'For we are very lucky, with a lamp before the door; / And Leerie stops to light it as he lights so many more'. The luck is the lamp at the door, which the lamplighter lights.

His father is a banker, but the poem does not give that as the reason for his luck. The poet wishes to go round lighting lamps with Leerie, so (2) is not what he says, and nothing is said about being strong enough to avoid choices.

Answer: D

The phrase indicates that it is evening time.

The poem begins with tea nearly ready and Leerie coming up the street 'every night at tea time' with a lantern and ladder. A lamplighter lights the lamps when it grows dark, so the sun having left the sky means that evening has come.

Morning, forenoon and afternoon are all times when the sun is up, and no lamps are lit.

Answer: C

Only statement (c) is correct, so the answer is '(a) and (b) are incorrect, (c) is correct'.

(c) is correct: the poet watches for Leerie, says he will go round at night and light the lamps with him, and asks him to 'nod to him tonight', which shows he is fascinated by the profession.

(a) is incorrect: Leerie comes 'every night', so the light is not occasional. (b) is incorrect: the poet mentions that his papa is a banker, but his own wish is to go round lighting lamps with Leerie, not to become a banker.