CBSE Questions for Class 8 English Reading Comprehension Quiz 13 - MCQExams.com

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

A village must have some trade; and this village has always been full of virility and power. Obscure and happy, its splendid energies had found employment in wresting a livelihood out of the earth, whence had come a certain dignity, and kindliness, and love for other men. Civilization did not relax these energies, but it had diverted them; and all the special qualities, which might have helped to heal the world, had been destroyed. The family affection, the affection for the commune, the sane pastoral virtues - all had perished. No villain had done this thing: it was the work of ladies and gentlemen who were rich and often clever. 

Civilization mainly destroys:
  • the ability to create employment.
  • family affection and pastoral virtues.
  • medical facilities for the rural people.
  • agricultural trade.
Read the passage given below and choose the option that best fits the question that follows:

Although Louis Braille died when he was only forty-three years old, he succeeded in devising a system of reading and writing for the blind which is now taught all over the world. Braille lost his sight in an accident as a child. Nevertheless, he was able to complete his education at a school for the blind in Paris and became a teacher. In his day, the few books that were available for blind people were printed in big, raised type; the letters used were those of the ordinary alphabet. The reading of such books required an immense effort. Not only that, the writing was almost impossible, for a blind person was still restricted to an alphabet which was extraordinarily difficult to reproduce on paper. Braille's idea was to use raised dots, instead of raised letters. He evolved a system, which made use of only six dots in all. By various combinations of these dots, it not only proved possible to represent each letter of the alphabet but punctuation marks, numbers and musical notation as well. Reading and writing for the blind have thus become enormously simplified. The sensitive fingers of a blind person can travel rapidly over the dots; and there is a small machine, something like a typewriter, which enables the blind to write quickly and clearly.

Louis Braille:
  • was born blind.
  • lost his sight when he was a child.
  • lost his sight accidently when he was forty-three years old.
  • was not blind, but studied at a school for the blind.
Read the passage given below and choose the option that best fits the question that follows:

It was Galileo and Newton notwithstanding that Newton himself was a deeply religious man who destroyed the old comfortable picture of a friendly universe governed by spiritual values. And this was effected, not by Newton's discovery of the law of gravitation nor by any of Galileo's brilliant investigations, but by the general picture of the world which these men and others of their time made the basis of the science, not only of their own day but of all succeeding generations down to the present. That is why the century immediately following Newton, the eighteenth century, was notoriously an age of religious skepticism. Skepticism did not have to wait for the discoveries of Darwin and the geologists in the nineteenth century. It flooded the world immediately after the age of the rise of science.

The old comfortable picture of a friendly universe' was: 
  • A universe governed by religious beliefs.
  • Universe with men like Newton who were deeply religious.
  • A universe investigated by Galileo and Newton.
  • The century immediately following Newton.
 The main purpose of this passage is _____.
  • to describe the life of popular birds
  • to show our incorrect ideas of bird life
  • to show our perfect knowledge about birds
  • to describe the calls of owls and ducks
Read the passage given below and pick the option that best fits the question that follows:

Popular illusions about birds extend further than the use of the word 'egg-shape' that would suggest that all eggs are alike. For instance, there is the popular idea that owls hoot. Actually, only very few owls hoot and these include the common brown or tawny wood owl. The white barn owl screeches; the little owl has a wailing cry, the long-eared owl barks; and the short-eared owl snorts! Another mistaken idea is that all ducks 'quack' because the common farmyard duck is a domesticated form of the common wild duck or mallard that quacks. Actually, most wild ducks call with whistles.

The common duck is not a separate species but a tamed version of the wild variety because it:
  • whistles like most wild ducks
  • grunts like the tufted duck
  • has the same call as other ducks
  • quacks like the mallard
Read the passage given below and pick the option that best fits the question that follows:

Although Louis Braille died when he was only forty-three years old, he succeeded in devising a system of reading and writing for the blind which is now taught all over the world. Braille lost his sight in an accident as a child. Nevertheless, he was able to complete his education at a school for the blind in Paris and became a teacher. In his day, the few books that were available for blind people were printed in big, raised type; the letters used were those of the ordinary alphabet. The reading of such books required an immense effort. Not only that, the writing was almost impossible, for a blind person was still restricted to an alphabet which was extraordinarily difficult to reproduce on paper. Braille's idea was to use raised dots, instead of raised letters. He evolved a system, which made use of only six dots in all. By various combinations of these dots, it not only proved possible to represent each letter of the alphabet but punctuation marks, numbers and musical notation as well. Reading and writing for the blind have thus become enormously simplified. The sensitive fingers of a blind person can travel rapidly over the dots; and there is a small machine, something like a typewriter, which enables the blind to write quickly and clearly.


Before Braille's invention, the blind had difficulty in reading because: 
  • there were only printed books.
  • there were no schools for the blind.
  • the few books available used the raised letters of the ordinary alphabet.
  • the books meant for the blind were heavy.
Read the passage given below and choose the option that best fits the question that follows:

The Indian culture of our times is in the making. Many of us are striving to produce a blend of all cultures that seem today to be in clash with one another. No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive. There is no such thing as a pure Aryan culture in existence in India today. Whether the Aryans were indigenous to India or were unwelcome intruders, does not interest me much. What does interest me is the fact that my remote ancestors blended with one another with the utmost freedom and we of the present generation are a result of that blend. I do not want my house to be walled in, on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any. I would have any young men and women with literary tastes to learn as much of English and other world-languages as they like, and then expect them to give the benefits of their learning to India and the world alike like a Bose, a Ray or Tagore. But I would not have a single Indian forget, neglect or be ashamed of his mother tongue, or feel that he or she cannot think or express the best thoughts in his or her own vernacular. Mine is not a religion of the prison house.

The author thinks that _________.
  • the Aryans were indigenous to India
  • the Aryans were unwelcome intruders
  • the question whether the Aryans were indigenous or not is not of interest
  • the culture that we have inherited is the Aryan culture
Read the passage given below and pick the option that best fits the question that follows

A village must have some trade; and this village has always been full of virility and power. Obscure and happy, its splendid energies had found employment in wresting a livelihood out of the earth, whence had come a certain dignity, and kindliness, and love for other men. Civilization did not relax these energies, but it had diverted them; and all the special qualities, which might have helped to heal the world, had been destroyed. The family affection, the affection for the commune, the sane pastoral virtues - all had perished. No villain had done this thing: it was the work of ladies and gentlemen who were rich and often clever.
 
The tone used by the author in the last sentence of the passage is:
  • Lamenting
  • Sarcastic
  • Complimentary
  • Ironic
Read the passage given below and choose the option that best fits the question that follows:

The Indian culture of our times is in the making. Many of us are striving to produce a blend of all cultures that seem today to be in clash with one another. No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive. There is no such thing as a pure Aryan culture in existence in India today. Whether the Aryans were indigenous to India or were unwelcome intruders, does not interest me much. What does interest me is the fact that my remote ancestors blended with one another with the utmost freedom and we of the present generation are a result of that blend. I do not want my house to be walled in, on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any. I would have any young men and women with literary tastes to learn as much of English and other world-languages as they like, and then expect them to give the benefits of their learning to India and the world alike like a Bose, a Ray or Tagore. But I would not have a single Indian forget, neglect or be ashamed of his mother tongue, or feel that he or she cannot think or express the best thoughts in his or her own vernacular. Mine is not a religion of the prison house.

The author wants: 
  • the cultures of others to be kept out.
  • the cultures of others to replace our old culture.
  • the freedom to blend other cultures with our own.
  • the preservation of the culture of our ancestors.
Read the passage given below and choose the option that completes the blank:
The Indian culture of our times is in the making. Many of us are striving to produce a blend of all cultures that seem today to be in clash with one another. No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive. There is no such thing as a pure Aryan culture in existence in India today. Whether the Aryans were indigenous to India or were unwelcome intruders, does not interest me much. What does interest me is the fact that my remote ancestors blended with one another with the utmost freedom and we of the present generation are a result of that blend. I do not want my house to be walled in, on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any. I would have any young men and women with literary tastes to learn as much of English and other world-languages as they like, and then expect them to give the benefits of their learning to India and the world alike like a Bose, a Ray or Tagore. But I would not have a single Indian forget, neglect or be ashamed of his mother tongue, or feel that he or she cannot think or express the best thoughts in his or her own vernacular. Mine is not a religion of the prison house.

The author wants Indians to _____________________.
  • learn only English, as much as they like
  • learn English and other world languages
  • learn only the mother tongue or the vernacular
  • learn English and other world languages in addition to the mother tongue
Read the passage and answer the question that follows. 

Once while travelling by the local bus, I got a seat beside a very strange man. He seemed interested in every passenger aboard. He would stare at a person, scribble some odd mathematical notations on his long notebook and then move on to the next. Being quite interested in what he was doing I asked him what all those notations meant and then came the startling reply. He saw a man's face not as a single unit but as thousands of squares put together. He was in fact a statistical expert and a budding artist learning the art of graphics. 

The author found that man's reply quite startling because ____. 
  • a statistical expert cannot be a budding scientist
  • a budding artist cannot be a statistical expert
  • graphics is still a rare art form and he was learning it while travelling in a bus
  • the fact that "a man's face can be analysed as thousands of squares" was, a strange concept.
Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.

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.

Which one of the following is the correct statement? In ancient times, people were __________. 
  • ordered to lose their tempers
  • permitted to lose their tempers and not forgive their enemies
  • told that it was not good to have an unforgiving temper
  • advised to forgive each and every offence committed by both friends and foes
Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.

The psychological causes of unhappiness, it is clear, are many and various. But all have something in common. The typical unhappy man is one who, having deprived in youth of some normal satisfaction, has come to value this one ' kind of satisfaction more than any other, and has therefore given to his life a one-sided direction, together with a quite undue emphasis upon the achievement as opposed to the activities connected with it. There is, however, a further development which is very common in the present day. A man may feel so completely thwarted that he seeks no form of satisfaction, but only distraction and oblivion. He then becomes a devotee of "pleasure". This is to say, he seeks to make life bearable by becoming less alive. Drunkenness, for example, is temporary suicide-the happiness that it brings is merely negative, a momentary cessation of unhappiness. 

Who is a typical unhappy man?
  • One who has been deprived of normal satisfaction in youth
  • One who finds life unbearable and attempts suicide
  • One who does not mind momentary unhappiness
  • One who seeks every form of satisfaction
Read the passage given below and choose the option that best fits the question that follows:

While I stood drinking in the beauty of this placid scene I became conscious of an alteration. In a moment the sole porter emerged from his midday nap, operated a signal that clanked noisily into position, and then ambled slowly towards me for my return half-ticket, whilst I remarked that his red amiable face and easy-going gait were in perfect harmony with the tranquil surroundings.
 A wisp of smoke on the horizon with a dark snake crawling beneath it announced the approach of the train. As it drew nearer, the deep silence of the place was gradually displaced by a creaking of brakes and a hissing of steam. Save for myself, no one entered the train and no one alighted. The porter with leisurely expertness, trundled a couple of milk churns on board, the door was slammed, the guard signalled to the driver, and we moved off, leaving the small station once more to its drowsy silence.

The central idea of the passage is _____________.
  • Leisure and peace
  • Hurry and noise
  • Activity
  • The porter
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 offense; 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.

Which one of the following is the correct statement? We must ______. 
  • be blind if we want to forgive others
  • be blind to the faults of our friends
  • be indifferent to what others do
  • overlook certain things
Read the passage and answer the question that follows. 

With the inevitable growth of specialization, I see the universities facing two great dangers. First, it is very easy to get so involved in the technical details of education that the object of education is lost. And secondly, in an effort to condition a university to the needs of its students and to the needs of the State it may lose its power to make or mould those students into responsible men, capable of thinking for themselves and capable of expressing the results of their thoughts to others. 

The author calls the growth of specialization 'inevitable'. Which one of the following statements is likely to be the correct reason for this inevitability?
  • Universities give grants only to do specialised work in different disciplines
  • The profeisors and researchers in universities. are competent only for specialised work
  • Specialization, helps economic growth of the nation
  • In an age of science and technology specialization becomes necessary
Read the passage and answer the question that follows. 

Once while travelling by the local bus, I got a seat beside a very strange man. He seemed interested in every passenger aboard. He would stare at a person, scribble some odd mathematical notations on his long notebook and then move on to the next. Being quite interested in what he was doing I asked him what all those notations meant and then came the startling reply. He saw a man's face not as a single unit but as thousands of squares put together. He was in fact a statistical expert and a budding artist learning the art of graphics. 

The man caught author's attention because ______. 
  • he was sitting next to him
  • he was staring at every person in the bus
  • he would stare at every person and then scribble down some mathematical notation
  • he was a budding artist learning the art of graphics
Read the passage given below and choose the option that best fits the question that follows:

While I stood drinking in the beauty of this placid scene I became conscious of an alteration. In a moment the sole porter emerged from his midday nap, operated a signal that clanked noisily into position, and then ambled slowly towards me for my return half-ticket, whilst I remarked that his red amiable face and easy-going gait were in perfect harmony with the tranquil surroundings.
 A wisp of smoke on the horizon with a dark snake crawling beneath it announced the approach of the train. As it drew nearer, the deep silence of the place was gradually displaced by a creaking of brakes and a hissing of steam. Save for myself, no one entered the train and no one alighted. The porter with leisurely expertness, trundled a couple of milk churns on board, the door was slammed, the guard signalled to the driver, and we moved off, leaving the small station once more to its drowsy silence. 

Who had a midday nap? 
  • The author
  • The passenger
  • The Station-master
  • The porter
'Usual form' means ____.
  • normal construction
  • accepted shape
  • sentence construction in common use
  • rare construction 
The author's new house was situated at Bangalore.
  • True
  • False
State whether the following statement is true or false:
The writer was delighted because their new house was the biggest they ever lived in.
  • True
  • False
State the following statement is true or false:
Hearing Mataprasad's footsteps the cobra glided out of the wall.
  • True
  • False
State whether true or false:
Kids should start their day with yogurt, fruits, and veggies.
  • True
  • False
Angina results from the weakening of the ____________.
  • Heart
  • Liver
  • Stomach
  • Lungs
State whether the following statement is true or false:
Kids in the age group of 6-12 years should get an average sleep of a little less than 7 hours.
  • True
  • False
Choose whether the following statement is true or false. 
Cross cutting swords were used to seal the wall.
  • True
  • False
The teachers helped the narrator to become ___________.
  • Confident
  • Happy
  • Independent
  • Successful
We pay a price for this revolution as we ________________.
  • Only receive useless information
  • Forget our identities
  • Get agitated
  • Surrender our privacy
Why are more and more people consuming packaged food? 
  • It is cheap
  • It is convenient, tasty and fulfilling
  • It is time consuming
  • It is good for health
In what sense was Asma the 'odd one out'?
  • She could not swim
  • She did not know who her parents were
  • She took action when no-one else was willing
  • She did not mind that the other inmates did not help her
Hitler became a leader because ________.
  • He exhibited leadership qualities
  • Germany was a free country
  • Germany was in despair
  • Germans wanted a dictator
In a free country, one who becomes a leader ________.
  • Must be of outstanding character and ability
  • Must show qualities of character from an early age
  • Is generally of a remarkable character and ability
  • Must see that his country is free from despair
Read the poem carefully and fill the appropriate word for blank $$5$$.
  • destruction
  • disturbance
  • rain
  • storm
Read the poem carefully and fill the appropriate word for blank $$6$$.
  • throws
  • damages
  • crushes
  • breaks
Read the poem carefully and fill the appropriate word for blank $$3$$.
  • flings
  • upsets
  • topples
  • removes
Read the poem carefully and fill the appropriate word for blank $$2$$.
  • carelessly
  • harshly
  • strongly
  • calmly
The poet wants to say that life is ____ anywhere.
  • Different
  • Common
  • Difficult
  • Comfortable
Read the poem carefully and answer the questions that follow:
By betraying someone we ____.
  • Defile our earth.
  • Betray ourselves.
  • Honour our earth.
  • Spread humanity on earth.
All the people in the world work ____.
  • With same name.
  • At same place.
  • In same style.
  • With same effort.
Read the poem carefully and fill the appropriate word for blank $$1$$.
  • carefully
  • slowly
  • gently
  • violently
Read the poem carefully and fill the appropriate word for blank $$4$$.
  • tearing
  • splitting
  • crushing
  • removing
If we hate our brothers, we hate _____.
  • Our brothers
  • Our enemies
  • Ourselves
  • All of these
The fishermen are the friends of ___. 
  • Sea
  • Clouds
  • Water animals
  • Waves
In the beginning of the poem, a fisherman tells other fisherman to_____. 
  • Do exercise.
  • Wake up.
  • Catch fish.
  • Sell fish.
The phrase the leaping wealth of the tide, here refers to ___.
  • Fire
  • Water plants
  • Fish
  • Waves
How Anne Sullivan tried to teach Helen Killer?
  • By Showing some picture
  • By writing on her hand
  • By Speaking
  • All of above
The sea-god will take care of the fisherman's lives by ___.
  • Keeping the storm away.
  • Bringing heavy rainfall.
  • Sending mighty storm.
  • Filling their nets with plenty of fish.
Give a suitable title to this passage.
  • 'A Doctor and a Patient'
  • 'Qualities of a Leader'
  • 'Prompt Decision-Making: Tool for success'
  • 'Say Yes or No'
How are tides useful in cold countries?
  • They bring fish for eating.
  • They bring water for drinking.
  • They don't allow sea water to be frozen.
  • They keep the port silted.
How are tides useful for the economy of the country?
  • Tides bring treasure of sea with them
  • During high tides, big ships can reach the ports thus opening new vistas for business.
  • Tides destroy enemies of the country.
  • None of the above.
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