English - Passage Reading

Directions (Q. 1-12): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words are printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
Once upon a time, there were three brothers. They were very clever and one day decided to make a fortune by using their powers of reasoning and logic. As they walked to the nearest city to look for work, they saw some footprints on the mud road. As they stood looking at the marks, a merchant came rushing towards them. ‘Did you see anyone go by this road ?’ he asked in panic. The first brother looked closely at the prints and said, ‘Yes, a large camel’. The second said, ‘The camel could see with only one eye’. The third, who had been looking further down the road, said, ‘The camel was carrying a woman and a child on its back’.

Now the merchant was furious and shouted, ‘You have kidnapped my wife and child. Come with me to the king.’ The brothers could not get him to reason out and the four men ended up in the king’s court. ‘Hmm,’ the king said, after he had heard the entire story. ‘If you three claim to be so clever, let me set a task for you. I will place before you a wooden box which will be locked. You will have to tell me what it contains without looking inside.’
The three brothers agreed, and soon the king’s men placed before them a stout wooden box, firmly shut. The first brother said immediately, ‘It has something round inside.’ The second said, ‘It is a pomegranate.’ ‘An unripe pomegranate,’ added the third. The box was opened and indeed, inside there was an unripe pomegranate.
The king now asked them for an explanation. The first man said, ‘When your servant was bringing the box, I heard something rolling inside. That meant there was a round object in it. The second man said, ‘I saw your servant coming from the pomegranate orchard, so I knew he had placed a pomegranate in the box.’ ‘And this is not the season for pomegranates, so it had to be an unripe one, commented the last brother.
The king had now witnessed the brother’s powers of observation and was curious to know how they had discovered about the merchant’s wife and child being on the camel’s back. ‘The footprints we saw were large ones, so I deduced it was a big camel that had passed that way,’ said the first brother.’ The camel had grazed on only one side of the road,’ said the second, ‘so I knew it was one-eyed.’ ‘And I saw the footprints of a woman and a child where the camel had sat down to rest,’ said the third, ‘which meant they were on the camel’s back.’ The king, now convinced of their cleverness, appointed the three brothers as ministers in his court.

101.Why did the merchant take the three brothers to the king’s court?
1) They confessed to having kidnapped his wife and child.
2) He found them acting very strange.
3) He thought they were responsible for his missing wife and child.
4) He found their observations hilarious and wanted them to narrate them to the king.
5) The king had heard about the clever brothers and was on the lookout for them.

2. How did the second brother arrive at the conclusion that the camel could see with only one eye?
(A) He saw the camel passing by.
(B) He took a guess.
(C) The grass on only one side of the road was eaten.
1) Only (A)
2) Only (B)
3) Only(C)
4) Only (B) and (C)
5) Only (A) and (C)

3.Why did the three brothers come to the city ?
1) They had an appointment with the king.
2) They were in search of the merchant’s wife and child.
3) They wanted to earn a living in the king’s court.
4) They were in search of work wherein they could put their skills to use.
5) They came in search of their lost camel.

4.Why did the king challenge the three brothers with a task?
1) He wanted to see if they would pass the test in order to be ministers in his court.
2) He wanted to show them off to his ministers.
3) He wanted to put their reasoning skills to the test.
4) He wanted the merchant to witness their cleverness.
5) None of these

5.Which of the following word is most opposite of the word ‘panic’ printed in bold in the above story?
1) Calm
2) Frightened
3) Hesitation
4) Anxious
5) Worried

6.Which of the following sentences are true in the context of the three brothers?
(A) They were fortune tellers.
(B) They were responsible for kidnapping the merchant’s wife and child.
(C) They used logic in order to determine the contents of the wooden box.
1) Only (A)
2) Only (B) and (C)
3) Only (B)
4) Only (C)
5) All (A), (B) and (C)

7. The king appointed the three brothers as ministers to his court because
1) the ministers in his court were not as intelligent
2) he was in awe of their upbringing
3) they were in search of a job
4) they were ill-treated by the merchant
5) he was assured of their cleverness

8.What task did the king give to the three brothers on their arrival to the court ?
(A) He asked them to reveal the contents of a wooden box that he placed before them.
(B) The task of handling the day-to-day affairs of the state
(C) He asked them to explain the secret of their reasoning abilities.
1) Only (A)
2) Only (B)
3) Only (C)
4) Only (A) and (B)
5) None of these

9.Which of the following statements is false according to the passage ?
1) One of the brothers saw the king’s servant coming out from the pomegranate orchard.
2) One of the brothers saw the camel carrying a lady along with a child on its back.
3) The three brothers were appointed as ministers in the king’s court.
4) The king was convinced with the brothers’ story after listening to their logic.
5) The merchant doubted the brothers and so took them to the king.

(Q. 10-12): Choose the word which is most nearly the SAME in meaning as the word printed in bold as used in the passage.
10. Closely
1) Openly
2) Watchfully
3) Personally
4) Slyly
5) Carefully

11. Firmly
1) Unevenly
2) Drastically
3) Tightly
4) Steadily
5) Gracefully

12. Deduced
1) Predicted
2) Presented
3) Inferred
4) Confirmed
5) Targeted

Answer
1.- 3
2.- 3
3.- 4
4.- 3
5.- 1
6.- 4
7.- 5
8.- 1
9.- 2
10.- 2
11.- 3
12.- 3

Directions (Q. 1-12): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words are printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
Once upon a time, there were three brothers. They were very clever and one day decided to make a fortune by using their powers of reasoning and logic. As they walked to the nearest city to look for work, they saw some footprints on the mud road. As they stood looking at the marks, a merchant came rushing towards them. ‘Did you see anyone go by this road ?’ he asked in panic. The first brother looked closely at the prints and said, ‘Yes, a large camel’. The second said, ‘The camel could see with only one eye’. The third, who had been looking further down the road, said, ‘The camel was carrying a woman and a child on its back’.

Now the merchant was furious and shouted, ‘You have kidnapped my wife and child. Come with me to the king.’ The brothers could not get him to reason out and the four men ended up in the king’s court. ‘Hmm,’ the king said, after he had heard the entire story. ‘If you three claim to be so clever, let me set a task for you. I will place before you a wooden box which will be locked. You will have to tell me what it contains without looking inside.’
The three brothers agreed, and soon the king’s men placed before them a stout wooden box, firmly shut. The first brother said immediately, ‘It has something round inside.’ The second said, ‘It is a pomegranate.’ ‘An unripe pomegranate,’ added the third. The box was opened and indeed, inside there was an unripe pomegranate.
The king now asked them for an explanation. The first man said, ‘When your servant was bringing the box, I heard something rolling inside. That meant there was a round object in it. The second man said, ‘I saw your servant coming from the pomegranate orchard, so I knew he had placed a pomegranate in the box.’ ‘And this is not the season for pomegranates, so it had to be an unripe one, commented the last brother.
The king had now witnessed the brother’s powers of observation and was curious to know how they had discovered about the merchant’s wife and child being on the camel’s back. ‘The footprints we saw were large ones, so I deduced it was a big camel that had passed that way,’ said the first brother.’ The camel had grazed on only one side of the road,’ said the second, ‘so I knew it was one-eyed.’ ‘And I saw the footprints of a woman and a child where the camel had sat down to rest,’ said the third, ‘which meant they were on the camel’s back.’ The king, now convinced of their cleverness, appointed the three brothers as ministers in his court.

101.Why did the merchant take the three brothers to the king’s court?
1) They confessed to having kidnapped his wife and child.
2) He found them acting very strange.
3) He thought they were responsible for his missing wife and child.
4) He found their observations hilarious and wanted them to narrate them to the king.
5) The king had heard about the clever brothers and was on the lookout for them.

2. How did the second brother arrive at the conclusion that the camel could see with only one eye?
(A) He saw the camel passing by.
(B) He took a guess.
(C) The grass on only one side of the road was eaten.
1) Only (A)
2) Only (B)
3) Only(C)
4) Only (B) and (C)
5) Only (A) and (C)

3.Why did the three brothers come to the city ?
1) They had an appointment with the king.
2) They were in search of the merchant’s wife and child.
3) They wanted to earn a living in the king’s court.
4) They were in search of work wherein they could put their skills to use.
5) They came in search of their lost camel.

4.Why did the king challenge the three brothers with a task?
1) He wanted to see if they would pass the test in order to be ministers in his court.
2) He wanted to show them off to his ministers.
3) He wanted to put their reasoning skills to the test.
4) He wanted the merchant to witness their cleverness.
5) None of these

5.Which of the following word is most opposite of the word ‘panic’ printed in bold in the above story?
1) Calm
2) Frightened
3) Hesitation
4) Anxious
5) Worried

6.Which of the following sentences are true in the context of the three brothers?
(A) They were fortune tellers.
(B) They were responsible for kidnapping the merchant’s wife and child.
(C) They used logic in order to determine the contents of the wooden box.
1) Only (A)
2) Only (B) and (C)
3) Only (B)
4) Only (C)
5) All (A), (B) and (C)

7. The king appointed the three brothers as ministers to his court because
1) the ministers in his court were not as intelligent
2) he was in awe of their upbringing
3) they were in search of a job
4) they were ill-treated by the merchant
5) he was assured of their cleverness

8.What task did the king give to the three brothers on their arrival to the court ?
(A) He asked them to reveal the contents of a wooden box that he placed before them.
(B) The task of handling the day-to-day affairs of the state
(C) He asked them to explain the secret of their reasoning abilities.
1) Only (A)
2) Only (B)
3) Only (C)
4) Only (A) and (B)
5) None of these

9.Which of the following statements is false according to the passage ?
1) One of the brothers saw the king’s servant coming out from the pomegranate orchard.
2) One of the brothers saw the camel carrying a lady along with a child on its back.
3) The three brothers were appointed as ministers in the king’s court.
4) The king was convinced with the brothers’ story after listening to their logic.
5) The merchant doubted the brothers and so took them to the king.

(Q. 10-12): Choose the word which is most nearly the SAME in meaning as the word printed in bold as used in the passage.
10. Closely
1) Openly
2) Watchfully
3) Personally
4) Slyly
5) Carefully

11. Firmly
1) Unevenly
2) Drastically
3) Tightly
4) Steadily
5) Gracefully

12. Deduced
1) Predicted
2) Presented
3) Inferred
4) Confirmed
5) Targeted

Answer
1.- 3
2.- 3
3.- 4
4.- 3
5.- 1
6.- 4
7.- 5
8.- 1
9.- 2
10.- 2
11.- 3
12.- 3

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