Reading Comprehension with Shortcut tricks Set 05

Answer: (a) Grief

Explanation:
1. In “so full of care that they have no time to stand and stare”, care means worry and anxiety.
2. Of the options, grief (sorrow and trouble of mind) is the closest, (a).
3. Pleasure is the opposite idea, and want, needs and prejudices do not mean worry.

Teacher's Note:
1. “Care” has two meanings: worry (noun) and looking after. Use the sentence to decide.
2. A busy and stressful life points to worry.

Answer: (b) Conceal

Explanation:
1. To unfold means to open out and reveal.
2. The opposite is to hide, that is, conceal, (b).
3. Declare, describe and evolve all have the sense of revealing or developing.

Teacher's Note:
1. Unfold = reveal, so the opposite is conceal or hide.
2. Three options are close to the meaning of the given word.

Answer: (e) The early man was scared of Nature

Explanation:
1. The first four statements appear almost word for word in the passage.
2. The passage says the early man was thrilled with the beauty and wonders of nature, not scared of it.
3. So (e) is the statement that is not made.

Teacher's Note:
1. In a “NOT stated” question, four options are in the text and one is not.
2. Check each option against the passage line by line.

Answer: (c) Healthy attitude

Explanation:
1. The passage says, “To develop a balanced personality, one needs to have a healthy attitude”.
2. So (c) is correct.
3. Going back to villages is only a cry of people, and the other options are not mentioned.

Teacher's Note:
1. The question uses the same words as the passage, so locate the sentence first.
2. Do not mix up personality with the cry to go back to villages.

Answer: (c) Their life is full of worries and tensions

Explanation:
1. The passage says the strife, stress and tension of modern life have made people immune to nature’s beauty, and their life is so full of care that they have no time to stand and stare.
2. That is (c).
3. Material pleasures and fear of nature are never mentioned, and (b) is a result of not enjoying nature.

Teacher's Note:
1. Choose the reason given in the text, not a general idea.
2. “Care” in the passage = worries.

Answer: (d) Enjoy the nature around us

Explanation:
1. The last paragraph says we should enjoy nature fully to lead a balanced and harmonious life, full of peace and tranquility.
2. So we should enjoy the nature around us, (d).
3. Being immersed in daily routine is what stops people from enjoying nature, and exercise and discipline are not mentioned.

Teacher's Note:
1. Look at the end of the passage for the final message.
2. Believing in nature is not the same as enjoying it.

Answer: (a) Providing facilities for enjoying nature

Explanation:
1. The passage says town planners pay special attention to provide enough natural scenic spots in town planning.
2. That means they are providing facilities for enjoying nature, (a).
3. They respond to the cry to go back to villages by creating scenic spots in towns, not by supporting a return to villages.

Teacher's Note:
1. Pick the option that restates the sentence in simple words.
2. “Natural scenic spots” = facilities for enjoying nature.

Answer: (a) active

Explanation:
1. Listless means without energy or interest.
2. The opposite is active, full of energy, (a).
3. Progressive is about moving forward in ideas, and the others do not concern energy.

Teacher's Note:
1. Listless = lacking energy; opposite = lively or active.
2. Choose the word connected with energy, not with progress.

Answer: (b) excite

Explanation:
1. To soothe is to calm or comfort.
2. The opposite is to excite or stir up, (b).
3. Stabilize is close to calming, and propagate, nature and strengthen are unrelated.

Teacher's Note:
1. Soothe = calm; opposite = disturb or excite.
2. Stabilize is a near-synonym, so it cannot be the opposite.

Answer: (e) is abundantly glorious and divine

Explanation:
1. The author says nature is an infinite source of beauty and that everything in nature is splendid and divine.
2. So nature is abundantly glorious and divine, (e).
3. Salvation, creation of the universe and uniformity in all seasons are never claimed, as every season has its own beauty.

Teacher's Note:
1. “Splendid and divine” = glorious and divine.
2. Be careful with options that bring in ideas from outside the passage.

Answer: (b) The Elephant was lonely

Explanation:
1. The Minister told the King that the Elephant was not sick but lonesome without his dear friend, the Dog.
2. Lonesome means lonely, so (b) is correct.
3. He had already found nothing wrong with the Elephant’s body, so (d) is wrong.

Teacher's Note:
1. A diagnosis is the cause the Minister names, so quote his words.
2. Lonesome = lonely.

Answer: (a) To declare that whoever had that particular Dog would be punished

Explanation:
1. The Minister suggested making a declaration that whoever has the dog will be penalized.
2. Penalized means punished, so (a) is correct.
3. The other methods are never mentioned.

Teacher's Note:
1. Penalized = punished.
2. Simple fact questions are answered by finding the exact line.

Answer: (c) He missed his friend the Dog

Explanation:
1. The passage says the Elephant missed his friend a lot after the Dog was taken away.
2. So (c) is correct.
3. It was the Elephant-keeper, not the King, who sold the Dog, so (b) is wrong, and the Elephant was not sold.

Teacher's Note:
1. Who did what is the trap here: the keeper sold the Dog.
2. Read the sentence after “very sad”.

Answer: (a) He sold the Dog to an unknown man for a price

Explanation:
1. The Elephant-keeper did not own the Dog but sold it to a man who offered to buy it and received money.
2. So (a) is correct.
3. Nothing is said about hitting or killing the Dog, and the keeper did not mention the Dog to the King.

Teacher's Note:
1. Be careful to pick facts, not guesses.
2. “Unknown man” = a stranger.

Answer: (e) The Bond of Friendship

Explanation:
1. The story is about the close friendship of an Elephant and a Dog, the Elephant’s grief when separated, and their happy reunion.
2. The best title is therefore “The Bond of Friendship”, (e).
3. There are no enemies, and the other titles cover only one character.

Teacher's Note:
1. A title should show the theme of the whole story.
2. Choose the title that includes all events.

Answer: (e) None of these

Explanation:
1. The passage says the elephant was very dear to the king, so he was well-fed and well-treated.
2. None of the options gives this reason, so (e) is correct.
3. The Elephant is not shown as weak, strong or talking to dogs.

Teacher's Note:
1. When the real reason (“dear to the king”) is not listed, choose “None of these”.
2. Do not pick a reason that sounds nice.

Answer: (d) He liked the taste of the rice being fed to the Elephant

Explanation:
1. The Dog could not resist the aroma of the rice and liked it so much that he started going there daily to eat it.
2. So (d) is correct.
3. The friendship came later, after the Elephant noticed him.

Teacher's Note:
1. Check the order of events: rice first, friendship later.
2. A later result cannot be the first reason.

Answer: (d) He ran back to his friend the Elephant

Explanation:
1. The passage says, “As soon as he was freed, the Dog ran back as fast as he could to the Elephant’s Shed.”
2. So (d) is correct.
3. Eating rice and thanking the King are not mentioned.

Teacher's Note:
1. Direct-detail questions have the answer in one sentence.
2. Use the exact line from the passage.

Answer: (c) Only 1 and 2

Explanation:
1. He sold a Dog that was not his and took the money, which shows greed (1).
2. He saw the Elephant grow sad and stop eating, and did not tell the King about the Dog, which shows insensitivity (2).
3. Nothing in the story shows bravery, so (c) Only 1 and 2 is correct.

Teacher's Note:
1. Judge character from what the person does in the story.
2. Do not accept a quality for which there is no action.

Answer: (b) Only 1 and 3

Explanation:
1. The King was concerned about his Elephant’s sadness and worked to make him happy again, which shows compassion (1) and love for animals (3).
2. He was not deceitful in the story, since it was the Elephant-keeper who hid the truth.
3. So (b) is correct.

Teacher's Note:
1. Do not give one character the faults of another.
2. Concern for an animal shows both compassion and love for animals.

Answer: (e) received

Explanation:
1. To extract money from a deal means to get it out of the deal, so the keeper got the money.
2. Received fits the sentence in both meaning and form, (e).
3. Inserted is the opposite, wring is not in the past form, and dug out and pulled describe physical removal.

Teacher's Note:
1. Check the form of the word too: past form for past sentences.
2. Extract = obtain or get out.

Answer: (c) announcement

Explanation:
1. A declaration is a formal public statement.
2. An announcement means the same, (c).
3. A pact is an agreement between parties and a writ is a legal order, which are narrower.

Teacher's Note:
1. Declare = announce.
2. The King’s proclamation was an announcement to the public.

Answer: (d) deep

Explanation:
1. Keen understanding means sharp and thorough understanding.
2. Deep, meaning thorough and penetrating, is closest, (d).
3. Shallow is the opposite, and eager means enthusiastic, which is the meaning in “keen to go”, not here.

Teacher's Note:
1. Keen has more than one meaning: sharp or eager. Use the noun it describes.
2. “Understanding” goes with deep or sharp.

Answer: (a) give in

Explanation:
1. To resist is to hold out against something, not to yield.
2. The opposite is to give in, (a).
3. Struggle and defy are similar to resisting.

Teacher's Note:
1. Resist - yield or give in.
2. Do not choose words that match the meaning of the given word.

Answer: (b) united

Explanation:
1. Separated means kept apart.
2. The opposite is united, together as one, (b).
3. Estranged and divided mean kept apart, so they are synonyms, and stuck and bound mean fixed or tied physically, which is not the idea for friends.

Teacher's Note:
1. Pick the word that gives the idea of togetherness.
2. Estranged = no longer friendly, which is similar to separated.