Chapter-wise Worksheets for English Grammar: Reading Comprehension
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Practice English Grammar Worksheets: Reading Comprehension
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This English Grammar page gives two reading comprehension passages in the bank-exam style, one on budget transparency and one on India, China and Africa, with 25 questions in all, with answers and explanations. The questions test inference, author's tone, statement-based options and vocabulary in context. It is useful practice for SBI, IBPS and other competitive exams.
Passage 5: Budget Secrecy and Openness
Directions (Qs. 49-56): Read the following passage and answer the questions given below it. Certain words/phrases are given in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
We have inherited the tradition of secrecy about the budget from Britain where also the system has been strongly attacked by eminent economists and political scientists including Peter Jay. Sir Richard Clarke, who was the originating genius of nearly every important development in the British budgeting techniques during the last two decades, has spoken out about the abuse of budget secrecy: “The problems of long-term tax policy should surely be debated openly with the facts on the table. In my opinion, all governments should have just the same duty to publish their expenditure policy. Indeed, this obligation to publish taxation policy is really essential for the control of public expenditure in order to get realistic taxation implications.” Realising that democracy flourishes best on the principles of open government, more and more democracies are having an open public debate on budget proposals before introducing the appropriate Bill in the legislature. In the United States the budget is conveyed in a message by the President to the Congress, which comes well in advance of the date when the Bill is introduced in the Congress. In Finland the Parliament and the people are already discussing in June the tentative budget proposals which are to be introduced in the Finnish Parliament in September. Every budget contains a cartload of figures in black and white - but the dark figures represent the myriad lights and shades of India’s life, the contrasting tones of poverty and wealth, and of bread so dear and flesh and blood so cheap, the deep tints of adventure and enterprise and man’s ageless struggle for a brighter morning. The Union budget should not be an annual scourge but a part of presentation of annual accounts of a partnership between the Government and the people. That partnership would work much better when the nonsensical secrecy is replaced by openness and public consultations, resulting in fair laws and the people’s acceptance of their moral duty to pay.
(a) in favour of having a mix of secrecy and openness.
(b) indifferent to the budgeting techniques and taxation policies.
(c) very critical about maintenance of budget secrecy.
(d) advocates of not disclosing in advance the budget contents.
(e) None of these
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (c) very critical about maintenance of budget secrecy.
Explanation:
1. The passage says the system of secrecy in Britain has been strongly attacked by eminent economists and political scientists.
2. So they are very critical of budget secrecy, (c).
3. Options (a), (b) and (d) all describe support or indifference, which is the opposite of an attack.
Teacher's Note:
1. “Strongly attacked” = very critical.
2. Eliminate the options that show approval of secrecy.
(a) prevention of tax implications
(b) people’s reluctance to accept their moral duties
(c) exaggerated revelation of the strengths and weaknesses of economy
(d) making our country on par with Finland
(e) None of these
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (e) None of these
Explanation:
1. The passage says openness leads to control of public expenditure, realistic taxation implications, fair laws and the people’s acceptance of their moral duty to pay.
2. None of the options says this, so (e) is correct.
3. Option (b) says the opposite of the people’s acceptance of duty.
Teacher's Note:
1. Read all the effects the author names before judging the options.
2. Watch for options that reverse a statement of the passage.
(a) maintaining secrecy of budget
(b) judicious blend of secrecy and openness
(c) transparency in budget proposals
(d) replacement of public constitution by secrecy
(e) None of these
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (c) transparency in budget proposals
Explanation:
1. The author calls the secrecy “nonsensical” and wants it replaced by openness and public consultations.
2. So he favours transparency in budget proposals, (c).
3. He does not want even a blend of secrecy and openness, because he says secrecy should be replaced.
Teacher's Note:
1. Strong words like “nonsensical” show the author’s side.
2. A blend is a compromise; the author wants a replacement.
A. Finland
B. India
C. United States
(a) Only A
(b) Only B
(c) Only C
(d) A and C
(e) B and C
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (d) A and C
Explanation:
1. India inherited the tradition of budget secrecy from Britain, so India keeps it.
2. In the United States the budget is conveyed to Congress well before the Bill, and in Finland the proposals are discussed publicly in June, so neither keeps secrecy.
3. The countries that are the exception are Finland and the United States, which is (d).
Teacher's Note:
1. In “except” questions, find the items that do NOT fit the rule.
2. Examples in the passage (US, Finland) are given to show openness.
(a) The British Government has been religiously maintaining budget secrecy.
(b) Budget secrecy is likely to lead to corrupt practices.
(c) Consulting unjustifiable taxes with public helps make them accept those taxes.
(d) There should be no control on public expenditure in democratic condition.
(e) None of these
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (e) None of these
Explanation:
1. The passage says British economists attack budget secrecy, so there is no proof that the British government has kept it “religiously”.
2. Corruption is never mentioned, the passage speaks of fair laws and not of unjustifiable taxes, and it wants public expenditure controlled.
3. So none of (a)-(d) is definitely true, which makes (e) correct.
Teacher's Note:
1. “Definitely true” needs clear support in the text.
2. Words like “religiously” and “no control” are too strong.
(a) transformation in the British budgetary techniques.
(b) maintenance of secrecy of the British budget.
(c) detection of abuse of transparency in budget.
(d) bringing down the tax load on British people.
(e) None of these
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (a) transformation in the British budgetary techniques.
Explanation:
1. The passage calls him the originating genius of nearly every important development in the British budgeting techniques over two decades.
2. So the credit is for transformation of the techniques, (a).
3. He criticised secrecy and spoke of abuse of secrecy, not transparency, and nothing is said about tax load.
Teacher's Note:
1. Match “originating genius of ... developments” with “transformation”.
2. Check whether the option has secrecy and transparency the right way round.
(a) authoritarian in his approach.
(b) a democratic person.
(c) unaware of India’s recent economic developments.
(d) a conservative person.
(e) None of these
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (b) a democratic person.
Explanation:
1. The author supports open government, public debate and public consultations and says democracy flourishes on open government.
2. These views show a democratic person, (b).
3. The author clearly knows India’s budget, so (c) is wrong.
Teacher's Note:
1. Infer a person’s nature from the values the passage supports.
2. Openness and consultation = democratic.
(a) refrain from making public the proposed provisions before finalisation.
(b) discuss it secretly within themselves.
(c) encourage the public to send in their suggestions.
(d) consult the public, defend their own plans and accept public suggestions.
(e) None of these
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (d) consult the public, defend their own plans and accept public suggestions.
Explanation:
1. The author says an open public debate and public consultations lead to realistic taxation and fair laws.
2. That means the Government should consult the public, explain and defend its plans, and accept good suggestions, which is (d).
3. Options (a) and (b) mean secrecy, and (c) asks only for suggestions without the debate and consultation.
Teacher's Note:
1. Choose the option that covers the full idea of “open public debate”.
2. Any option about secrecy is wrong here.
Directions (Qs. 57-58): Choose the word which is most nearly the SAME in meaning to the word printed in bold as used in the passage.
(a) ritual
(b) presentation
(c) whip
(d) compromise
(e) remedy
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (c) whip
Explanation:
1. A scourge is a whip, and so something that causes great suffering or punishment.
2. Whip is the nearest word, (c).
3. Remedy is the opposite idea, and ritual, presentation and compromise do not carry the idea of punishment.
Teacher's Note:
1. Scourge = whip (literal) or affliction (figurative).
2. Remedy is an opposite trap.
(a) adequate
(b) functional
(c) incompatible
(d) abundant
(e) excellent
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (d) abundant
Explanation:
1. Myriad means countless or very many.
2. Abundant, meaning in very large numbers, is closest, (d).
3. Adequate means just enough, which is not the same as very many.
Teacher's Note:
1. Myriad = innumerable.
2. Adequate means enough, abundant means plenty: different degrees.
Directions (Qs. 59-60): Choose the word which is most OPPOSITE in meaning to the word printed in bold as used in the passage.
(a) disappears
(b) degenerates
(c) vanishes
(d) blooms
(e) opens
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (b) degenerates
Explanation:
1. To flourish is to grow and do well.
2. The opposite is to decline and get worse, that is, degenerates, (b).
3. Blooms is a synonym; disappears and vanishes mean ceasing to exist, which is stronger than the simple opposite of doing well.
Teacher's Note:
1. Find and remove the synonym (blooms) first.
2. Flourish - degenerate (decline).
(a) questioned severely
(b) opposed strongly
(c) accepted unconditionally
(d) discussed frankly
(e) implemented forcibly
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (c) accepted unconditionally
Explanation:
1. To debate is to discuss and question different views.
2. The opposite is to accept without any discussion or question, that is, accepted unconditionally, (c).
3. Questioned severely and discussed frankly are close to debating, and opposing strongly is a different idea, not the reverse of discussing.
Teacher's Note:
1. The opposite of discussing is accepting without question.
2. Strong opposing is still a form of debate.
Passage 6: India, China and Africa
Directions (Qs. 61-68): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
The Prime Minister’s recent trip to Nigeria, the first bilateral prime ministerial visit to Africa since Jawaharlal Nehru’s 45 years ago, recalls a long neglected Indian obligation. “It is up to Asia to help Africa to the best of her ability,” Nehru told the Bandung Conference in 1955, “because we are sister continents.” The Prime Minister’s proposed strategic partnership with African nations might at last make good that 52-year old promise and also, perhaps, challenge China’s expedient diplomacy.
In the intervening years, the West’s sanctimonious boycott of many African regimes - after nearly a century of extreme colonial exploitation – left the continent in the grip of oppressive rulers looking for new political sponsors, arms-sellers and trading partners. Not only was it an abdication of the developed world’s responsibility to the world’s least developed region, sanctions actually compounded the sufferings of poorer Africans. The Darfur killings continue and there is no mellowing of Robert Mugabe’s repression in Zimbabwe.
Abandoned by the West Africa looked elsewhere. Beijing filled the vacuum by eagerly embracing dangerous and unsavoury regimes in its search for oil and other minerals. China demonstrated its influence by playing host to 48 out of 53 African leaders a year ago in a jamboree that was historic as well as historical. Historic because China has succeeded in becoming the pre-eminent outside power in Africa and its second biggest trading partner. Historical because modern Chinese diplomacy draws on the Middle kingdom’s ancient formula; the tribute system. It was how the son of Heaven brought those nations whom the Celestial Empire called “barbarians” into his imperial trading and, through it, cultural and political system.
Contemporary China’s economic penetration of Africa also heralds a new era of cultural and political ties though the Chinese foreign ministry repeatedly assure the world that “our cooperation is not designed to be against or preclude any third party.” This is untrue in a world of finite resources. Once the Chinese are established in a country, no one else gets a foothold. Myanmar, where India failed to obtain the desired gas concessions, is a prime example. Aware that the hunt for energy is a zero-sum game, China’s leadership courts African leaders with regular visits and substantial grants.
After decades of neglect – Vajpayee’s Africa visit over a decade ago was to attend a Commonwealth Summit – India will have to move cautiously but quickly if it is to break China’s monopoly. Along with investing in Africa’s human capital, China has outlined a strategic investment plan to build three to five trade economic cooperation zones in Africa by 2009 to boost trade, which is expected to tap 40 billion dollars this year. That could double to 30 billion dollars by 2010 on the back of an insatiable demand for natural resources to feed China’s booming economy.
(a) The people in the continent were extremely backward
(b) The Bandung Conference was held in African Continent
(c) African Continent is emotionally related to Asian Continent
(d) Nehru had promised the British rulers to help Africa after independence
(e) The West had exploited African people
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (c) African Continent is emotionally related to Asian Continent
Explanation:
1. Nehru said Asia must help Africa “because we are sister continents”.
2. That means he felt an emotional bond between the two continents, (c).
3. The Bandung Conference was only the place of the speech, and the passage does not give backwardness or a promise to British rulers as his reason.
Teacher's Note:
1. Find the speaker’s own reason, which is introduced by “because”.
2. “Sister continents” = emotional relation.
(a) that when China patronizes a country it does not allow other nations to enter
(b) India’s foresight to feed its growing hunger for energy
(c) Myanmar’s political acumen to have symbiosis with China
(d) that a country’s political wisdom does not necessarily establish economic stability
(e) None of these
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (a) that when China patronizes a country it does not allow other nations to enter
Explanation:
1. The author says that once the Chinese are established in a country, no one else gets a foothold, and gives Myanmar, where India failed to get gas concessions, as a prime example.
2. So the example proves option (a).
3. India failed in Myanmar, so (b) is wrong.
Teacher's Note:
1. An example in a passage supports the sentence just before it.
2. Check the outcome for India: it lost the deal.
(a) Move away cautiously but quickly from the African nations
(b) Arrange P. M.’s regular visits to African countries
(c) Outline a strategic plan of investment in the African countries
(d) Plan for an increased economic help to African countries
(e) None of these
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (e) None of these
Explanation:
1. The author says India will have to move cautiously but quickly if it is to break China’s monopoly, which means moving into Africa, not away from it.
2. Regular visits, a strategic investment plan and grants are what China does, and the author does not directly suggest India copy them.
3. So none of the options states his suggestion, (e).
Teacher's Note:
1. Do not confuse China’s actions with advice to India.
2. Option (a) twists “move” into “move away”.
(a) in favour of India gaining an edge over China
(b) against India’s entering into a competition with China
(c) in favour of not making any investment in African countries
(d) appreciate of oppressive and barbaric African rulers
(e) None of these
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (a) in favour of India gaining an edge over China
Explanation:
1. The author criticises China’s monopoly and its claims, and wants India to move quickly to break it.
2. So he favours India gaining an edge over China, (a).
3. He says India has neglected Africa for decades, so he is not against competing or against investment.
Teacher's Note:
1. The tone of the passage shows the side the author takes.
2. Words like “neglect” and “monopoly” show disapproval.
(a) just and worthy of trust
(b) true but slightly exaggerated
(c) too exorbitant to be true
(d) an underestimate of the quality and quantity of their help
(e) None of these
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (e) None of these
Explanation:
1. The Ministry says its cooperation is not designed to be against or to exclude any third party.
2. The author says this is untrue in a world of finite resources, because no one else gets a foothold once China is established.
3. He thus calls the claim simply untrue. Exorbitant means excessive, which does not describe this claim, so (e).
Teacher's Note:
1. Quote the author’s own verdict: “This is untrue”.
2. Exorbitant is used for prices or demands, not for a false statement.
(a) Rendering free hand for political, cultural & commercial upliftment
(b) Influencing the underdeveloped countries through apparently patronizing policy
(c) Referring the underdeveloped folks as barbarians and mistreating them
(d) Becoming pre-eminent outside power and thus ruling over them
(e) None of these
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (b) Influencing the underdeveloped countries through apparently patronizing policy
Explanation:
1. The formula is the tribute system, by which the emperor brought nations called “barbarians” into his trading, cultural and political system.
2. Today China does the same by seeming to help weaker countries with grants, so the formula is influencing underdeveloped countries through apparently patronizing policy, (b).
3. Calling people barbarians is part of the old story, but mistreating them is not stated.
Teacher's Note:
1. Link the ancient formula to its modern use in the next paragraph.
2. “Apparently” means it looks like help but works as influence.
1. Mistreatment by the alien rulers
2. Tyrannical leaders governing the gullible masses
3. Exploitation and neglect by Western countries
(a) (1) and (2) only
(b) (2) and (3) only
(c) (1) and (3) only
(d) None of these
(e) All the three
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (e) All the three
Explanation:
1. The passage says the West’s boycott after a century of extreme colonial exploitation left Africa in the grip of oppressive rulers.
2. Colonial mistreatment (1), oppressive rulers (2) and the West’s exploitation and abdication of responsibility (3) are all named.
3. So all three apply, (e).
Teacher's Note:
1. Tick each numbered statement against the paragraph.
2. When one sentence names several causes, “all the three” is likely.
(a) China’s modern policy of rendering social service on humanitarian considerations
(b) stepping up its campaign of universal brotherhood among nations
(c) rendering selfless service to certain underdeveloped countries to beat the western countries.
(d) calculated selfish motive to fulfill its energy needs
(e) None of these
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (d) calculated selfish motive to fulfill its energy needs
Explanation:
1. The passage says China is aware that the hunt for energy is a zero-sum game and so courts African leaders with visits and grants.
2. Its search for oil and minerals drives this, so the grants are a calculated selfish motive, (d).
3. Humanitarian and selfless motives are never claimed by the author.
Teacher's Note:
1. The author gives the reason for the grants in the same sentence.
2. Words like “selfless” and “humanitarian” do not fit a critical passage.
Directions (Qs. 69-71): Choose the word which is most OPPOSITE in meaning of the word given in bold as used in the passage.
(a) Fashionable
(b) Modern
(c) Current
(d) Existing
(e) Old
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (e) Old
Explanation:
1. Contemporary means belonging to the present time.
2. The opposite is old (of an earlier time), (e).
3. Modern, current and existing are all synonyms.
Teacher's Note:
1. Four options are synonyms here, so the odd one out is the answer.
2. Contemporary - modern; opposite - ancient or old.
(a) striving
(b) sounding
(c) failing
(d) thriving
(e) degrading
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (c) failing
Explanation:
1. A booming economy is one that is growing fast and doing very well.
2. The opposite is a failing economy, one that is going down, (c).
3. Thriving is a synonym, and degrading means lowering in rank or quality, which is not the usual opposite.
Teacher's Note:
1. Boom - slump or failure.
2. Remove the synonym (thriving) first.
(a) disqualify
(b) permit
(c) prevent
(d) pre-empt
(e) include
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (e) include
Explanation:
1. To preclude is to shut out or make impossible.
2. The opposite is to let in, that is, include, (e).
3. Disqualify, prevent and pre-empt all carry the idea of stopping, and permit means allow, which is a weaker contrast than include here.
Teacher's Note:
1. Preclude = exclude, so the opposite is include.
2. Prevent and disqualify are synonyms here.
Directions (Qs. 72-73): Choose the word which is most nearly the SAME in meaning as the word given in bold as used in the passage.
(a) permissive
(b) incongruent
(c) poetic
(d) holy
(e) scrupulous
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (d) holy
Explanation:
1. Sanctimonious describes someone who makes a show of being very holy and morally superior.
2. Of the options, holy carries this religious flavour, so (d) is the nearest.
3. Permissive (allowing too much), incongruent (not fitting) and poetic have no link with piety.
Teacher's Note:
1. Sanct- means holy (as in sanctity).
2. Scrupulous means very careful about doing right; it lacks the idea of showing off.
(a) abandonment
(b) obligation
(c) instigation
(d) addiction
(e) spiritualization
Show Answer & Explanation
Answer: (a) abandonment
Explanation:
1. Abdication means giving up a duty or responsibility.
2. Abandonment, leaving a responsibility behind, is the nearest, (a).
3. Obligation is the opposite idea, since it means duty.
Teacher's Note:
1. Abdicate = give up (a throne or duty).
2. Obligation is an opposite trap.
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