List of top English Questions on Reading Comprehension

Read the extract and complete the activities given below:
Family can be classified into two types: joint family and nuclear family. In the joint family along with parents and children other members like grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc. are included. In such family, socialization of children is quicker. Tasks are shared. Responsibilities are shared.
Establishment of emotional bonds are common leading to mental security. Members learn adjustment. But sometimes there are conflicts and misunderstandings among family members. Children do not get complete attention from their parents.
On the contrary nuclear family consists of parents and their children. So we see flexibility in parental roles. Parents share their responsibilities. Parent child relationships are very intimate. Full attention is paid on children’s personality development. But children lack in making adjustments. Children get too much attention from their parents and so they become demanding and selfish.
Parenting styles do influence children’s behaviour. The best known research on parenting style is Diana Baumrind’s early studies of pre-school children and their parents. She proposed three parenting styles : permissive, authoritarian and authoritative.
Permissive parents are inconsistent in their behaviour. So children of such parents become dependent, immature.
Authoritarian parents are rigid and punitive in nature. Children of such parents become unfriendly, unsocial and uninvolved. Parents provide food and shelter to their children but they neglect them and become emotionally detached. That leads to indifferent, rejecting behaviour on the part of the children.
Authoritative parents encourage independence, they set limits and goals, they are firm in their behaviour. This kind of parenting style makes children self-reliable, independent and develop social skills.

Read the extract and complete the activities given below:
At length Soapy reached one of the avenues to the east where the glitter and turmoil was but faint. He dragged himself toward Madison Square, for the homing instinct survives even when the home is a park bench.
But, on an unusually quiet corner, Soapy came to a standstill. Here was an old church, quaint and rambling and gabled. Through one violet-stained window a soft light glowed, where, no doubt, the organist loitered over the keys, making sure of his mastery of the coming Sabbath Anthem. For there drifted out to Soapy’s ears sweet music that caught and held him transfixed against the convolutions of the iron fence.
The moon was above, full and radiant; vehicles and pedestrians were few; sparrows twittered sleepily in the eaves or a little while the scene might have been a country churchyard. And the anthem that the organist played cemented Soapy to the iron fence, for he had known it well in the days when his life contained such things as mothers and roses and ambitions and friends and immaculate thoughts and collars.
The conjunction of Soapy’s receptive state of mind and the influences about the old church brought a sudden and wonderful change in his soul. He viewed with rising horror the pit into which he had tumbled, the degraded days,
unworthy desires, dead hopes, wrecked faculties and base motives that made up his existence. And also in a moment his heart responded thrillingly to this strange mood. A strong impulse moved him to battle with his desperate fate. He would pull himself out of the mire and would make a man of himself again; he would conquer the evil that had enslaved him. There was time; he was young yet; he would resurrect his old eager ambitions and pursue them without faltering. Those solemn but sweet organ notes had set up a revolution in him. Tomorrow he would go into the roaring downtown district and find work. A fur importer had once offered him a place as driver. He would be somebody in the world. He would .....
Soapy felt a hand laid on his arm. He looked quickly around into the impassive face of a policeman.
“What are you doin’ here?” asked the officer.
“Nothin’,” said Soapy.
“Then come along,” said the policeman.
“Three months on the island,” said the Magistrate in the Police Court the next morning.

“I put the brown paper in my pocket along with the chalks, and possibly other things. I suppose every one must have reflected how primeval and how poetical are the things that one carries in one’s pocket: the pocket-knife, for instance, the type of all human tools, the infant of the sword. Once I planned to write a book of poems entirely about the things in my pocket. But I found it would be too long: and the age of the great epics is past.” 
(From G.K. Chesterton’s “A Piece of Chalk”) 

Based only on the information provided in the above passage, which one of the following statements is true?

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
It is clear that language is used for more than one purpose. The man who hits his thumb nails with a hammer and utters a string of curses is using language to relieve his feeling and needs no audience but himself. But when a philosopher uses language to clarify his ideas on a subject, he is using it as an instrument of thought. When two women gossip over the fence or two men exchange greetings as they pass in the street, language is being used to strengthen the bonds between the members of society. Language, it seems, is a multipurpose instrument. One function, however, seems to be basic — language enables us to influence people's behaviour and thereby makes human co-operation possible. Some animals co-operate especially the social animals like bees and ants, but human co-operation is more thorough, more detailed, more effective than that found anywhere in the animal kingdom. The human co-operation would be unthinkable without language.
(c) For what purpose do the two women and two men use language?
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
It is clear that language is used for more than one purpose. The man who hits his thumb nails with a hammer and utters a string of curses is using language to relieve his feeling and needs no audience but himself. But when a philosopher uses language to clarify his ideas on a subject, he is using it as an instrument of thought. When two women gossip over the fence or two men exchange greetings as they pass in the street, language is being used to strengthen the bonds between the members of society. Language, it seems, is a multipurpose instrument. One function, however, seems to be basic — language enables us to influence people's behaviour and thereby makes human co-operation possible. Some animals co-operate especially the social animals like bees and ants, but human co-operation is more thorough, more detailed, more effective than that found anywhere in the animal kingdom. The human co-operation would be unthinkable without language.
(b) For what purpose does a philosopher use language?
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
The Indian National Army plans went away with the defeat of Japan. Subhash Bose was killed in a plane accident while on his way to Tokyo. It is true that many leaders did not like the idea of India winning freedom with the assistance of a country like Japan and her fascist allies. But during the closing years of the war, Subhash Bose and the Indian National Army served to hold up the dropping spirits of the nationalist Indians at home, who were feeling helpless and frustrated. They set before all sections of the Indian people, including those serving in the army, an example of courage and patriotism which was both inspiring and ennobling. Therefore, when the Government announced their decision to prosecute some of the Indian National Army officers for treason because they had broken their oath of loyalty to the British crown, there was a wave of nationalist protest. There were massive demonstrations all over the country. There were persistent demands that the officers should be released.
(a) What was the result of the defeat of Japan?
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
The Indian National Army plans went away with the defeat of Japan. Subhash Bose was killed in a plane accident while on his way to Tokyo. It is true that many leaders did not like the idea of India winning freedom with the assistance of a country like Japan and her fascist allies. But during the closing years of the war, Subhash Bose and the Indian National Army served to hold up the dropping spirits of the nationalist Indians at home, who were feeling helpless and frustrated. They set before all sections of the Indian people, including those serving in the army, an example of courage and patriotism which was both inspiring and ennobling. Therefore, when the Government announced their decision to prosecute some of the Indian National Army officers for treason because they had broken their oath of loyalty to the British crown, there was a wave of nationalist protest. There were massive demonstrations all over the country. There were persistent demands that the officers should be released.
(c) Who set an example of courage and patriotism?

Read the extract and complete the activities given below : 
I spent 32 years in Information Technology out of which I was a Chief Executive Officer or MDorthe software head for 23 years for large global multinational software companies with thousands of software professionals worldwide and 6 offices in the US, 3 in Europe, 1 in Japan and 1 in Australia. I had to travel all over the globe around 150 times for business. During this period, I had also written 4 books with 500-700 pages each on Information Technology published by Tata McGraw-Hill and then translated into Chinese for global distribution.
I learnt a lot of things when I was running these large companies. The first one was the importance of team work. In today’s world, nothing is possible without team work. You cannot be successful if you are a loner and an egoistic person. Secondly, you need to lead from the front by setting a good example in front of your staff. Third was that you need to treat your subordinates and your colleagues as friends. In my career, I made a few mistakes, but learnt a lot about motivation, being a good listener, target setting and the art of delegation which forms such an important part of today’s management.
After working for all these software companies for so many years, I wanted to retire from my line of work and write on various subjects concerning human life and existence. Therefore, I gave up two offers of around 3 crore rupees per annum to become a writer. This is how my second innings as a writer in Marathi began.
After this, I have written about 34 books in Marathi. Most of them have become bestsellers with tens of thousands of copies sold for each. However it is not sales or the money that is important to me as much as the fact that these books have brought about very good changes in the lives of thousands of readers.

Change is the only constant and disruptive technologies are only quickening its pace. “I’ve been an entrepreneur all my life. Never has the pace of change been as high as it is today. Today, we are facing a large number of disruptive forces, especially those caused by technology,” Nilekani said. He shared the example of the iPhone, which is currently celebrating its 10th anniversary. “What we have seen in the past 10 years is a complete change in the balance of technology from serving the enterprise to serving the consumer. Today, when you look at the leading companies in the world by Market Capitalisation, they are all companies that service consumers like Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple and so on. This is because the balance of power has shifted to consumer technology,” He said. The constant change will require constant learning and relearning. The core message from Nilekani therefore was: Lifetime learning. “The good news is that you have got degree from IIT Madras. The not so good news is that you can’t stop learning. You will have to keep learning for the rest of your life because we are now entering an era of lifelong learning,” he said. And by life-long learning, he didn’t mean “going to a campus and have fun for five years.” It will be learning in short bursts, any time learning, anywhere learning. It’s going to be just in time learning. A lot of it will even be online learning. 
This need for constant learning and relearning will come because of our collective inability to predict the kind of jobs that will be done in future or the kind of organisations that people will be working for in future. The high rate of automation in the jobs will have an impact on the way jobs are done. We have seen in the past that technology has made repetitive jobs go away as computers became more and more powerful. In the past 10-15 years, you are seeing the rise of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and Machine Learning. And increasingly, in the last 5-6 years, you are seeing the rise of deep learning, which allows you to use a new kind of technology called neural networks that can make computers smarter and smarter.

Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.
Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,
Strong and content I travel the open road.
The earth, that is sufficient,
I do not want the constellations any nearer.
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Early rising leads to health and happiness. The man who rises late, can have little rest in the course of the day. Anyone who lies in bed late is compelled to work till a late hour in the evening. He has to do without the evening exercise which is so necessary for his health. In spite of all his efforts his work will not produce as good results as that of the early riser. The reason for this is that he cannot take advantage of the refreshing hours of the morning. Some people say that the quiet hour of midnight is the best time for working. Several great thinkers say that they can write best only when they burn the midnight oil. Yet it is true to say that few men have a clear brain at midnight when the body needs rest and sleep. Those who work at that time, soon ruin their health. Bad health must, in the long run, have a bad effect on the quality of their work.
What is the effect of health on one's work?
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Early rising leads to health and happiness. The man who rises late, can have little rest in the course of the day. Anyone who lies in bed late is compelled to work till a late hour in the evening. He has to do without the evening exercise which is so necessary for his health. In spite of all his efforts his work will not produce as good results as that of the early riser. The reason for this is that he cannot take advantage of the refreshing hours of the morning. Some people say that the quiet hour of midnight is the best time for working. Several great thinkers say that they can write best only when they burn the midnight oil. Yet it is true to say that few men have a clear brain at midnight when the body needs rest and sleep. Those who work at that time, soon ruin their health. Bad health must, in the long run, have a bad effect on the quality of their work.
What are the advantages of both morning hours and midnight hours?
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Early rising leads to health and happiness. The man who rises late, can have little rest in the course of the day. Anyone who lies in bed late is compelled to work till a late hour in the evening. He has to do without the evening exercise which is so necessary for his health. In spite of all his efforts his work will not produce as good results as that of the early riser. The reason for this is that he cannot take advantage of the refreshing hours of the morning. Some people say that the quiet hour of midnight is the best time for working. Several great thinkers say that they can write best only when they burn the midnight oil. Yet it is true to say that few men have a clear brain at midnight when the body needs rest and sleep. Those who work at that time, soon ruin their health. Bad health must, in the long run, have a bad effect on the quality of their work.
Why do some thinkers burn the midnight oil?
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Early rising leads to health and happiness. The man who rises late, can have little rest in the course of the day. Anyone who lies in bed late is compelled to work till a late hour in the evening. He has to do without the evening exercise which is so necessary for his health. In spite of all his efforts his work will not produce as good results as that of the early riser. The reason for this is that he cannot take advantage of the refreshing hours of the morning. Some people say that the quiet hour of midnight is the best time for working. Several great thinkers say that they can write best only when they burn the midnight oil. Yet it is true to say that few men have a clear brain at midnight when the body needs rest and sleep. Those who work at that time, soon ruin their health. Bad health must, in the long run, have a bad effect on the quality of their work.
Why is early rising better than rising late?
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
We know it well that language is used for more than one purpose. The man who hits his thumb-nails with a hammer and utters a string of curses uses language to relieve his feeling and needs no audience but himself. But when a philosopher uses language to clarify his ideas on a subject, he uses it as an instrument of thought. When the two women gossip over the fence or two men exchange greetings as they pass in the street, language is used to strengthen the bonds between the members of society. It seems that language is a multipurpose instrument. Language enables us to influence people's behaviour and help develop human co-operation. The human co-operation would be unthinkable without language as it makes human co-operation more thorough, more effective and more wide-ranging.
(d) How does language help promote human co-operation?
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
We know it well that language is used for more than one purpose. The man who hits his thumb-nails with a hammer and utters a string of curses uses language to relieve his feeling and needs no audience but himself. But when a philosopher uses language to clarify his ideas on a subject, he uses it as an instrument of thought. When the two women gossip over the fence or two men exchange greetings as they pass in the street, language is used to strengthen the bonds between the members of society. It seems that language is a multipurpose instrument. Language enables us to influence people's behaviour and help develop human co-operation. The human co-operation would be unthinkable without language as it makes human co-operation more thorough, more effective and more wide-ranging.
(b) How is language used by a philosopher?
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
We know it well that language is used for more than one purpose. The man who hits his thumb-nails with a hammer and utters a string of curses uses language to relieve his feeling and needs no audience but himself. But when a philosopher uses language to clarify his ideas on a subject, he uses it as an instrument of thought. When the two women gossip over the fence or two men exchange greetings as they pass in the street, language is used to strengthen the bonds between the members of society. It seems that language is a multipurpose instrument. Language enables us to influence people's behaviour and help develop human co-operation. The human co-operation would be unthinkable without language as it makes human co-operation more thorough, more effective and more wide-ranging.
(c) How can language be said to be a multipurpose instrument?
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
We know it well that language is used for more than one purpose. The man who hits his thumb-nails with a hammer and utters a string of curses uses language to relieve his feeling and needs no audience but himself. But when a philosopher uses language to clarify his ideas on a subject, he uses it as an instrument of thought. When the two women gossip over the fence or two men exchange greetings as they pass in the street, language is used to strengthen the bonds between the members of society. It seems that language is a multipurpose instrument. Language enables us to influence people's behaviour and help develop human co-operation. The human co-operation would be unthinkable without language as it makes human co-operation more thorough, more effective and more wide-ranging.
(a) How does language help relieve the man hitting his finger-nails with a hammer?
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
The Indian National Army plans went away with the defeat of Japan. Subhash Bose was killed in a plane accident while on his way to Tokyo. It is true that many leaders did not like the idea of India winning freedom with the assistance of a country like Japan and her fascist allies. But during the closing years of the war, Subhash Bose and the Indian National Army served to hold up the dropping spirits of the nationalist Indians at home, who were feeling helpless and frustrated. They set before all sections of the Indian people, including those serving in the army, an example of courage and patriotism which was both inspiring and ennobling. Therefore, when the Government announced their decision to prosecute some of the Indian National Army officers for treason because they had broken their oath of loyalty to the British crown, there was a wave of nationalist protest. There were massive demonstrations all over the country. There were persistent demands that the officers should be released.
(d) How can you prove that there was a wave of nationalist protest?
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
The Indian National Army plans went away with the defeat of Japan. Subhash Bose was killed in a plane accident while on his way to Tokyo. It is true that many leaders did not like the idea of India winning freedom with the assistance of a country like Japan and her fascist allies. But during the closing years of the war, Subhash Bose and the Indian National Army served to hold up the dropping spirits of the nationalist Indians at home, who were feeling helpless and frustrated. They set before all sections of the Indian people, including those serving in the army, an example of courage and patriotism which was both inspiring and ennobling. Therefore, when the Government announced their decision to prosecute some of the Indian National Army officers for treason because they had broken their oath of loyalty to the British crown, there was a wave of nationalist protest. There were massive demonstrations all over the country. There were persistent demands that the officers should be released.
(b) What idea did many people not like?
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
It is clear that language is used for more than one purpose. The man who hits his thumb nails with a hammer and utters a string of curses is using language to relieve his feeling and needs no audience but himself. But when a philosopher uses language to clarify his ideas on a subject, he is using it as an instrument of thought. When two women gossip over the fence or two men exchange greetings as they pass in the street, language is being used to strengthen the bonds between the members of society. Language, it seems, is a multipurpose instrument. One function, however, seems to be basic — language enables us to influence people's behaviour and thereby makes human co-operation possible. Some animals co-operate especially the social animals like bees and ants, but human co-operation is more thorough, more detailed, more effective than that found anywhere in the animal kingdom. The human co-operation would be unthinkable without language.
(d) "Is language a multipurpose instrument?" Answer it on the basis of the given paragraph.
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
It is clear that language is used for more than one purpose. The man who hits his thumb nails with a hammer and utters a string of curses is using language to relieve his feeling and needs no audience but himself. But when a philosopher uses language to clarify his ideas on a subject, he is using it as an instrument of thought. When two women gossip over the fence or two men exchange greetings as they pass in the street, language is being used to strengthen the bonds between the members of society. Language, it seems, is a multipurpose instrument. One function, however, seems to be basic — language enables us to influence people's behaviour and thereby makes human co-operation possible. Some animals co-operate especially the social animals like bees and ants, but human co-operation is more thorough, more detailed, more effective than that found anywhere in the animal kingdom. The human co-operation would be unthinkable without language.
(a) Why does the man, who hits his thumb-nails with a hammer, talk to himself?
Many countries are facing water shortage crises in the past few years. A report of the United Nations has named India among the worst countries for poor quality of water. The report ranks 122 countries according to the quality of their water as well as their commitment to improve the situation. Some countries in Europe are considered the worst because of the quality of its groundwater. Rain failed in some parts of India in the past. The vast areas of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh were affected by severe drought. People without water turn desperate and violent. Consequently, the food godowns were attacked in some of the states. Based on the details given in the passage, which of the following option(s) is/ are correct statement(s)?
“I saw on that ivory face the expression of sombre pride, of ruthless power, of craven terror—of an intense and hopeless despair. . . . He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision—he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath: ‘The horror! The horror!’” Which political and existential condition can be inferred from the above passage in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness?

Read the following passage carefully:
(1) A recent survey conducted by an independent research firm sought to measure levels of happiness among youth aged 16–24 years in seven countries. The findings revealed some intriguing insights into what makes today’s youth happiest, as well as which factors influence their overall well-being. In India, an overwhelming majority of the youth reported feeling satisfied with their lives, with 87% rating their overall happiness as ‘high’ or ‘very high.’ Financial security was identified as the primary source of happiness for 66%, followed by family support (89%), having a purpose in life (50%), and work or studies (40%). Unfortunately, 65% reported feeling stress related to academic performance or workload, while 25% reported feeling lonely. These figures point to a need for increased mental health support among India’s youth.
(2) These surveys also revealed that family support is an important source of contentment for young people across countries. In Europe, 59% of respondents said that their families were a major source of happiness; in France this figure was 67%, and 63% in Germany. In North America, 64% rated family as an important factor for well-being in Canada, while 61% did so in the United States. Similarly, 89% of survey respondents in India named family support as a major contributor to their overall contentment level.
(3) It is clear that stress has a significant impact on the happiness of today’s youth. The findings suggest that young people need better resources to manage their mental health and well-being. This may include access to counselling services, mindfulness activities and support groups to help them cope with challenging circumstances. It is also important to provide financial support so as to reduce some of the economic pressures.
(4) In India, 65% of youth surveyed reported feeling anxious about their academic performance or workload, while 25% felt lonely. These figures are especially significant given how important family support is for young people’s overall contentment.
Answer the following question, based on the above passage: