Dear future Air force Army, practice Reading Comprehension Questions here and test your preparation level from below. Answers are also given at the post’s end.
Table of Contents
Reading Comprehension Practice For AFCAT with Answers
Directions: Read the following passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives given below.
PASSAGE 01
Personally, I have been very fortunate, and almost inevitably, I have received courtesy from my own countrymen as well as from the English. Even my gaolers and the policemen, who have arrested me or escorted me as a prisoner from place to place have been kind to me, and much of the bitterness of conflict and the sting of gaol-life has been toned down because of this human touch. It was not surprising that my own countrymen should treat me so, for I had gained a measure of notoriety and popularity among them. Even for Englishmen I was an individual and not merely one of the mass and, I imagine the fact that I had received my education in England, brought me nearer to them.
01. The phrase ‘almost inevitably’ in this passage means.
(a) without precedence (b) unexpectedly
(c) invariably (d) considerably
02. The writer is of the opinion that the bitterness of conflict has been toned down because of
(a) the adversary’s courteous behaviour
(b) the adversary’s diplomatic behaviour
(c) his good behaviour
(d) the writer being close to the Englishmen
03. The writer’s own countrymen treated him with love and regard because of
(a) a human touch in their nature
(b) his good political work
(c) his courage and generosity
(d) his widespread popularity among the masses
PASSAGE 02
The weeks following demonetisation have been accompanied by growing intrusiveness of the state. Big governments seem to be back with a vengeance. But, India’s earlier experiment in this area led to an inspector raj and created opportunities for corruption to flourish. It must not be repeated. A legitimate expectation of demonetisation was that, it would leave trails which could be used to bring tax evaders to book. This was in line with a series of steps taken over the last decade to create an audit trail in myriad areas to allow tax authorities to mine data. This is a sound way of widening the tax net. In addition to tax authorities, agencies such as the Financial Intelligence Unit processed information related to suspicious financial transactions. India was switching to a more sophisticated way of enforcing tax rules. It is important that government now builds upon a decade’s work. Threats of tax raids and allowing bureaucrats to exercise excessive power will be counterproductive. The return of an inspector raj will have a chilling effect on economic activity. It will only prolong the ongoing economic disruption. Government must send the right message to all economic agents. Legitimate economic activities ought to be encouraged and needless impediments removed. Exhorting people to use digital modes of payment is not enough. Different arms of the government should make better use of technology to do their work.
01. Consequent to demonetisation, it was expected that
(a) law and order situation would improve.
(b) people who avoid paying tax would be caught.
(c) people would pay more tax.
(d) it would have not much of impact on tax-collections.
02. After demonetisation, it has been seen that
(a) government has increased interference in lives of people.
(b) government has stopped interference with people’s lives.
(c) it has made no difference in people’s lives.
(d) nobody is bothered about it.
03. Which of the following statements is not true?
(a) Legal economic activities must be given a boost.
(b) Demonetisation done earlier had decreased inspector raj.
(c) Using cashless transaction will not resolve all problems.
(d) None of the above
PASSAGE 03
He came out of a stormy February night. Two large eyes glared at me through the darkness of my rain-drenched cabin window and in the gleam of lightning, I saw a large brown body and huge jaws. I feared it was a mountain lion. I had gone to British Columbia, on the Pacific coast of Canada to write a novel. For 7 months, I had lived all alone in my wooden cabin. Scared, I slowly backed into the kitchen for my torch and an axe. Keeping away from the window, I shone the torch to find myself facing a large black and brown dog, his tail wagging wildly. I opened the door slightly and he rushed into the room, bringing pools of water, going half-mad with delight. In spite of his big head he was very, very thin. The bones showed through his coat. But the look in his eyes said more clearly than any words: Please may I have something to eat?
01. The writer kept away from the window because
(a) it was rain-drenched
(b) the lightning flashed through it
(c) he was scared of the form he saw
(d) he was scared of the darkness outside
02. The dog was delighted as he rushed into the room because he
(a) saw the light from the torch
(b) could shake off the water from his body
(c) could not see the flashes of lightning anymore
(d) felt that he might get some food there
PASSAGE 04
It seems to me that we cannot learn too early in life to respect the privacy of the individual. When my daughter began to write her memoirs at the age of four, I decided that she must have a place to keep them, if only a section of a bureau drawer or as it happened, a box with a key. I remembered the agonies of my own childhood when my sister discovered I was writing poems and began to tease me by chanting them in public. I tried desperately to hide the notebook of poems. No place in the house seemed secure. For a while I carried it around in the right leg of my trousers until the elastic broke and the book fell out at the feet of my enemy.
01. The author arranged a safe place to keep the memoirs written by her daughter because she
(a) thought that memoirs would be lost otherwise
(b) recognised the need for respecting the privacy of her daughter
(c) decided that the memoirs should not be read by strangers
(d) knew that the memoirs could fetch a lot of money
02. The author’s sister caused great agony to her by
(a) openly reciting the poems written by the author
(b) discovering that the author was in the habit of writing poems
(c) teasing her for the mistakes found in the poems
(d) warning the author against writing any more poems
03. No place in the house seemed secure enough to keep the notebook of poems; so the author
(a) kept it in a bureau drawer
(b) kept it in a box with a key
(c) carried it inside the trousers
(d) threw it at the feet of the enemy
PASSAGE 05
At low tide he walked over the sands to the headland and round the corner to the little bay facing the open sea. It was inaccessible by boat because seems of rock jutted out and currents swirled round them treacherously. But you could walk there if you choose one of the lowest ebb tides that receded a very long way. You could not linger on the expedition, for once the tide was on the turn, it came in rapidly. For this reason very few people cared to explore the little bay and the cave at the back of it. But the unknown always drew this man like a magnet. He found the bay fresh and unlittered, as it was completely covered by the sea at high tide. The cave looked mysteriously dark, cool and inviting, and he penetrated to the farthest corner where he discovered a wide crack, rather like a chimney. He peered up and thought he could see a patch of daylight.
01. According to the writer, the bay could not be reached by boat, because
(a) it had numerous layers of rock
(b) there were too many eddies
(c) it was facing the open sea
(d) there were seems of rock and treacherously swirling currents
02. One could visit the bay
(a) at any time one choose (b) on certain specified occasions
(c) when there was a low tide (d) during the evening walk
PASSAGE 06
India is a country of villages. Rural population still dominates the urban population as far as the no. is considered. This is despite the fact that there is a rampant migration of rural families to urban centres. Generally, the gains of being a unit of the urban population are less than the disadvantages and risks that are in-built in the urban life. Crime, riots, etc are some of the examples of such risks of urban life. The forces that generate conditions conducive to crime and riots are stronger in urban communities than in rural areas. Urban living is more anonymous living.
It often releases the individual from community restraints more common in tradition-oriented societies. But more freedom from constraints and controls also provides greater freedom to deviate. And living in the more impersonalised, formally controlled urban society means that regulatory orders of conduct are often directed by distant bureaucrats. The police are strangers executing these prescriptions on an anonymous set of subjects. Minor offences in small town or village are often handled without resort to official police action.
As disputable as such action may seem to be, it results in fewer recorded violations of the law compared to the big cities. Although perhaps causing some decision difficulties for the police in small town, formal and objective law enforcement is not always acceptable to the villagers. Urban area with mass population, greater wealth, more commercial establishments and more products of our technology also provide more frequent opportunities for theft. Victims are impersonalised, property is insured, consumer goods in more abundance are vividly displayed and are more portable. The crime rate increases despite formal moral education given in schools.
01. Which of the following statements is true in the context of the passage?
(a) The display of consumer goods is the main cause crime
(b) Lack of personal contacts increases crimes in urban areas
(c) Small communities have more minor crimes than urban centres
(d) Urban crimes cannot be prevented
02. Which of the following is a characteristic of an urban setting?
(a) Unreported minor crimes
(b) Deviation from freedom
(c) Less forceful social control
(d) Minimal opportunities of crime due to better law enforcement
03. The author thinks that risks and disadvantages are
(a) more than the gains in urban life
(b) almost negligible in rural life
(c) outweigh the gains of rural life
(d) surpassed by the gains of urban life
PASSAGE 07
One of the major crises facing the country is the looming water shortage. A recent report of the UN has named India among the worst countries for poor quality of water. The report ranks 122 countries according to the quality of their Verbal Ability in English 05 water as well as their ability and commitment to improve the situation. Belgium is considered the worst basically because of the quality of its ground water. Rains failed in most parts of India last year and the vast areas of Rajasthan, M.P., A.P. and Orissa were in the grip of devastating drought. People without turn water desperate and violent. Villagers in Rajasthan last year attacked the Food Corporation godowns. Worse may becoming. With main polluter refusing to control pollution (America, the world’s greatest polluter, refuses to cooperate with other countries) the world is getting hotter. This means that the great ice shelves
(weighing billions of tons) of the Antarctic are collapsing. We cannot even conceptualise the dangerous consequences. Last century, sea levels in Venice rose by one step of a staircase. This century. they are expected to rise by five steps. An additional cause for Venice’s sinking is the draining of underground water table due to industrialisation. The water tables in our cities have also been going lower and lower. When ocean level rises, Tuvalu in the Pacific ocean will be the first to go under the waves. Citizens of that country are already migrating to New Zealand. Will citizens of Maldives crowd into Kerala? Will another mass migration from Bangladesh turn West Bengal upside down?
01. Citizens of Tuvalu are migrating to
(a) Belgium (b) West Indies
(c) Morocco (d) New Zealand
02. Belgium is suffering acutely because of
(a) the sluggish pace of its economy
(b) the discharge of industrial effluents
(c) quality of its ground water
(d) rising cost of living
03. Villagers in Rajasthan attacked Food Corporation godowns because of
(a) low prices offered to them for wheat
(b) refusal of Food Corporation to buy wheat from the local farmers
(c) no financial help from the government bodies
(d) shortage of water
PASSAGE 08
Today the game reserves of East Africa are facing a number of threats. Although they earn considerable revenue by attracting tourists, they take up land which is increasingly sought by the local people. While these reserves feed and protect animals they are in danger of turning into barren areas or deserts. Trees, shrubs and grass are gradually being eaten by grazing herds. Another problem is to be found in the changing attitudes of the animals themselves. Many of them are losing their hereditary fear of man. In this way they may become a danger to visitors and thus to themselves. Attacks on vehicles are beginning to increase and it is possible that the problem will become serious in a few years time. The problem of shortage of land is not a simple one. As the population increases, more and more people look hungrily at the land set aside for game reserves. They claim that Government’s first duty is to its inhabitants and not to tourists or to wild animals. Despite the income obtained from tourism, this is an argument which is difficult to answer satisfactorily.
01. Why many local people look hungrily at the game reserves?
(a) They may seek land for their own cultivation
(b) The animals may be a danger to them and their villages
(c) They may dislike living in a deserted place
(d) They may be hungry and want to eat the animals
02. What is causing soil erosion in the game reserves?
(a) The tropical heat
(b) The disappearance of vegetation, which is eaten by the animals
(c) The violent storms, which are caused by grazing herds
(d) The animals are losing their hereditary fear of man
03. As far as you can tell from the passage, why does the Government bother to maintain game reserves?
(a) To stop the people from using the land
(b) To keep the vegetation under control
(c) To obtain income from tourism
(d) To make the country beautiful
PASSAGE 09
Crude mineral oil comes out of the Earth as a thick brown or black liquid with a strong smell. It is a complex mixture of many different substances, each with its own individual qualities. Most of them are combinations of hydrogen and carbon in varying proportions. Such hydrocarbons are also found in other forms such as bitumen, asphalt and natural gas. Mineral oil originates from the carcasses of tiny animals and from plants that live in the sea. Over millions of years, these dead creatures form large deposits under the sea-bed and ocean currents cover them with a blanket of sand and silt. As
this material hardens, it becomes sedimentary rock and effectively shuts out the oxygen, so preventing the complete decomposition of the marine deposits underneath. The layers of sedimentary rock become thicker and heavier. Their pressure produces heat, which transforms the tiny carcasses into crude oil in a process that is still going on today.
01. Marine deposits under the sea do not get decomposed because they
(a) become rock and prevent oxygen from entering them
(b) are covered by the sand and silt brought by the current
(c) contain a mixture of hydrogen and carbon
(d) are constantly washed by the ocean current
02. Sedimentary rock leads to the formation of oil deposits because
(a) it becomes hard and forms into rocks which produce oil
(b) its pressure produces heat and turns the deposits of animal carcasses and plants into oil
(c) it turns heavy and shuts out the oxygen
(d) it becomes heavy and hard, and applies pressure to squeeze oil
03. In order to have mineral oil, hydrogen and carbon are combined in
(a) equal proportions (b) fixed proportions
(c) varying proportions (d) the proportion of two and one
PASSAGE 10
But perfect organisation, faultless team-work, indomitable courage, super human endurance, even the latest equipment all these are unavailing unless the weather is kind. In the mountains it is the weather that rules every thing. It may be fair in the early morning when the climb begins, but unexpectedly blizzards may halt the climbers with inadequate protection on an exposed slope. The villains of the piece are cold wind and snow and in the Himalayas these conspire together for the whole year, except for two short periods. In early May and in October there may be short intervals between the tremendous gales of winter and the treacherous snows of the monsoon. Only in these intervals is there any chance of finding the right weather conditions for an assault upon a peak. Cold can atleast be kept at bay by warm clothing and scientifically planned food and a certain amount of exercise; but against the wind and the snow of the worst Himalayan weather there is no defence.
01. The two greatest enemies of the Himalayan climber are
(a) altitude and scarcity of oxygen (b) wind and snow
(c) ice fields and rocks (d) slopes and valleys
02. It is best to attempt scaling a peak
(a) in the summer months (b) between storms and gales
(c) early in May or in October (d) when the monsoons are over
03. The perils of intense cold may be counteracted by
(a) a special kind of food and clothing
(b) the use of alcohol
(c) climbing only during the morning hours
(d) the use of drugs and medicines
| NOTE : – If you need any help regarding your exam, preparation, or demand of e-books, video lectures, syllabus etc then let us know 📌 in the Comment Section below. |
Answer
| Passage 01 | 1 – [c] | 2 – [b] | 3 – [d] | |
| Passage 02 | 1 – [b] | 2 – [a] | 3 – [b] | |
| Passage 03 | 1 – [c] | 2 – [d] | ||
| Passage 04 | 1 – [b] | 2 – [a] | 3 – [c] | |
| Passage 05 | 1 – [d] | 2 – [c] | ||
| Passage 06 | 1 – [b] | 2 – [c] | 3 – [a] | |
| Passage 07 | 1 – [d] | 2 – [c] | 3 – [d] | |
| Passage 08 | 1 – [a] | 2 – [b] | 3 – [c] | |
| Passage 09 | 1 – [a] | 2 – [b] | 3 – [c] | |
| Passage 10 | 1 – [b] | 2 – [c] | 3 – [a] |