Reading Comprehension Test 52

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

It happened one day, about noon, going towards my boat, I was exceedingly surprised with the print of a man's naked foot on the shore, which was very plain to be seen in the sand. I stood like one thunder-struck, or as if I had seen an apparition. I listened, I looked around me, I could hear nothing, nor see anything. I went up the shore, and down the shore, but it was all one; I could see no other impression but that one. I went to it again to see if there were any more, and to observe if it might not be my fancy; but there was no room for that, for there was exactly the very print of a foot-toes, heel and every part of a foot.

Directions For Questions

[passage-header]Read the passage and choose the correct answer which follow the question.[/passage-header]The word 'request' in Indian English is generally used in the sense of 'pray' and seldom in the sense of 'ask'-the usual meaning of the term in the Queen's English. If while addressing a vice-chancellor, a student writes: I ask you to grant me leave", or "Could I ask you to grant me leave, "instead of the usual form "I request you to grant me leave", he will be considered rude, and would even invite disciplinary action. Then there is an additional factor, the status which determines the syntactical structure in which the word is going to figure. A subordinate addressing his boss in an office in India writes, "I request you to look into the case", while the boss writing to a subordinate will normally write the passive, "You are requested to look into the case". If the latter form is used by a subordinate it may mean an insult. If bureaucratic usages in other forms of English are also found to be in favor of the passive one can safely endure a generalization that "the more secure in his position (and in his inferior's esteem) the senior person is, the more he can afford to relax his style".

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Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

What is to be the limit of forgiveness? It would probably have been allowed by many of the ancients that an unforgiving temper was not to be commended. They would have said, we are not to exact a penalty for every nice offence; we are to overlook somethings; we are to be blind sometimes. But they would have said at the same time, we must be careful to keep our self-respect, and to be on a level with the world. On the whole, they would have said, it is the part of a man fully to requite to his friends their benefits and to his enemies their injuries.

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

Deriving your authority from the government, your position would secure the respect and consideration of everyone, especially in a service where official rank carries so much weight. This would secure you every attention and comfort on your way and there, together with a complete submission to your orders. I know these things are a matter of indifference to you except so far as they may further, the great objects you have in view, but they are of importance in themselves, and of every importance to those who have a right to take an interest in your personal position and comfort.

Directions For Questions

[passage-header]Read the following passage carefully and complete the sentence that follows:[/passage-header]

Olympia, the original site of Olympic Games in ancient Greece is situated in a quiet, beautiful valley. The old ruins are shaded by evergreen oaks, pines and poplars, as well as olive trees. Olympia was never a city but a sacred ground occupied by temples and dwellings for the priests. At the center was the enclosure known as Altis, dedicated to Zeus, the God of Gods. It was in honor of Zeus that the quadrennial festival and the games were held.
The fame of Olympia rests largely upon Olympic Games. They were a great national festival of the entire Greek race. During the week of the festival the Athenians, the Spartans, the Syracusans and other groups, all forgot their narrow identities. They regarded an Olympic victory as the highest honor. The simple reward of a twig of wild olive immortalized the victor and his family.
The Olympic Games were held regularly in peace and in war at an interval of four years for over a thousand years from 776 B.C. till 393 A.D.
Originally, men who spoke Greek as their mother tongue were allowed to compete in the Olympic Games. No married women were allowed to be present. The athletic program was varied by the presence of historians, orators and writers. After each event, a herald announced the victor's name and handed him a palm. On the last day the successful competitors were each given a garland of wild olive.

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[passage-header]Read the passage given below and answer the question that follows:[/passage-header]On the second day of our stay, we had a skiing lesson. We began with learning how to clip off the special shoes and strap on the skis. Then we tried to master the art of balancing on the skis as we moved sideways and forward. There was a lot of slipping and falling. But we finally managed slow runs down the gentle slope. The helmeted toddlers skimming around like small gnats were an embarrassing contrast to our clumsiness. But we ignored them firmly. Soon, exhausted we cut short the lesson and retreated to the institute. All around us youngsters were happily trying their hand at skiing, snowboarding and floating in hot air balloons like flitting sky gods. It was truly a winter wonderland to revel in.

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[passage-header]Read the passage given below and answer the question that follows:[/passage-header]The dainty swallow is known to be a great air-born acrobatic artist, but its eating habits may come as a surprise. It needs to devour nearly a thousand tiny insects each day to keep its supple body energized. These black and white birds are found in the countryside, especially near water bodies and human habitations. Unlike birds who peck at insects on trees or on the ground, swallows feed on flying insects, houseflies, mosquitoes, gnats, midgets, etc. They spend most of the time in flight and are natural hunters of flying insects. They play a role in our health by reducing the numbers of malaria and dengue-causing mosquitoes. Their bodies and wings allow maneuverability and precision in flight. Their short, wide bills help them feed as they sweep through clouds of swarming insects near water and grasslands bits and above trees.

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Directions For Questions

Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

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Directions For Questions

[passage-header]To You. by Walt Whitman[/passage-header]Let us twain walk aside from the rest;
Now we are together privately, do you discard ceremony,
Come! vouchsafe to me what has yet been vouchsafed to none
Tell me the whole story,
Tell me what you would not tell your brother, wife, husband, or physician

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Directions For Questions

[passage-header]Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein[/passage-header]There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

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