Reading Comprehension Test 49

Directions For Questions

[passage-header]Read the passage and accordingly, fill in the blank:
[/passage-header]"Punctuality," said Louis XIV, "is the politeness of kings". It is the mark of a gentleman, and "the necessity of men in business". Washington once took his Secretary to task for being late. The secretary laid the blame upon his watch. Washington retorted, "Then, sir, either you must get a new watch or I must get a new secretary". Much of our success in life depends upon our being punctual in our undertakings and appointments. Hence the necessity of steadily cultivating this virtue in our daily life.

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A little girl was learning a history lesson with her governess. All the morning she had been reading it over and hearing it explained by her governess, but no good came of either the reading or the teaching. The governess went over the lesson several times, explained the meaning, and for the last time, asked her pupil to read it over. After due time had been given, the girl was examined as to her knowledge of the lesson; but not a single answer could she give correctly. The governess lost patience with her and threatened to punish her unless she could state where a certain treaty was signed.

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[passage-header]Read the passage given below and answer the question that follows:[/passage-header]Many doctors flatly refused to believe Jenner when he announced that he had found a preventive against smallpox. They declared vaccination to be a dangerous practice. But the dread of smallpox was in everybody's heart, and people flocked to Jenner to be vaccinated. The Latin word for cow is 'vacca'; it is the root from which the word vaccination was formed. Some of the 'vacca' used by Jenner were not pure and some harms were done; but when supplies of pure vaccine were available, the practice of vaccinating spread all over England and from England to other countries. We hardly hear of outbreaks of smallpox now.

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Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

The unpleasant feeling passed and she glanced guardedly up at him. He was walking unmarked in moonlight, innocent of her reaction to him. She felt then-this thought had come to her before-that there might be more to him than she had imagined. She felt ashamed she had never thanked him for the help he had given her father.

Read the passage given below and pick the option that best fits the question that follows:

The art of growing old is one which the passage of time has forced upon my attention. Psychologically there are two dangers to be guarded against in old age. One of these is undue absorption in the past. It does not do to live in memories, in regrets for the good old days. One's thoughts must be directed to the future. This is not always easy; one's past is a gradually increasing weight. The other thing to be avoided is clinging to youth on the hope of sucking vigour from its vitality.

Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

One December night, a family had gathered around their fireside and piled it high with wood gathered from mountain streams and ruins of great trees that had come falling down the mountain sides. The fire roared and brightened the room with its light. The faces of the father and mother had a quiet gladness; the children laughed; the oldest daughter was the picture of happiness at seventeen;and the aged grandmother who sat sewing in the warmest place was the picture of happiness grown old.

Read the passage given below and pick the option that best fits the question that follows:

I was at the shop early. He was standing behind the counter and as soon as I saw him, I knew that there would be some unpleasantness. Mr. Higson is never at his best unshaven, in slippers and braces and smoking on the empty stomach. The atmosphere of the little shop was heavy with the bitter odour of fresh newspaper print and ink: stacks of crisp newspapers and magazines lay neatly on the counter, and Higson and the boy were making up the daily mend.

Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

Ah! Whatever could be said was said. All held him guilty. Even his own mother who claimed to understand him the best. All had betrayed him in his hour of need. Yet, there he was, still with a sparkling hope and knew that the truth must prevail. In the cold, dark and damp cell he never for a moment lost faith in God and goodness and was waiting anxiously for an angel to come, plead non-guilty for him and free him of his miseries.