UNSEEN PASSAGE SOLVING (LITERARY PASSAGE)

 Steps To Attempt Reading Comprehension

The following steps have to be attempt while reading comprehension

• Read each and every line in the Passage carefully. Reading the Passage twice is always favourable as it helps in better understanding and makes it easier for a student to find answers.
• If the title of the Passage is given, read it first as it gives the central insight of the Passage.
• Underline all the difficult words while reading the Passage, as you might be tested on these words in the vocabulary Questions.
• Always give emphasis on the beginning and end of the Passages. These paragraphs often hold the most important information of the Passage.
• While answering be sure that you’ve clearly understood the question. The answer must be relevant to the question.
• Ensure that you answer the question according to the marks it carries. Subjective Questions should be answered in complete sentences.
• Try to use your own language and modify the answer according to the question.
• Answers should be based on the information given/inference derived from the information in the Passage.
• Make sure that you use the same tense in which the question has been asked.
• In MCQ’s analyze the Questions and options carefully before selecting the correct option because some of the four options are often closely related.
• Write the correct question number on each answer sheet to avoid mistakes.

Literary Unseen Passage with Answers

Had Dr Johnson written his own life, in conformity with the ppinion which he has given, that every man’s life may be best written by himself; had he employed in the preservation of his own history, that clearness of narration and elegance of language in which he has embalmed so many eminent persons, the world would probably have had the most perfect example of biography that was ever exhibited.

Wherever narrative is necessary to explain, connect, and supply, I furnish it to the best of my abilities; but in the chronological series of Johnson’s life, which I trace as distinctly as I can, year by year, I produce, wherever it is in my power, his own minutes, letters, or conversation, being convinced that this mode is more lively, and will make my readers better acquainted with him, than even most of those were who actually knew him, but could know him only partially; whereas there is here an accumulation of intelligence from various points, by which his character is more fully understood and illustrated.

Indeed I cannot conceive a more perfect mode of writing any man’s life, than not only relating all the most important events of it in their order, but interweaving what he privately wrote, and said, and thought. Had his other friends been as diligent and ardent as I was, he might have been almost entirely preserved. As it is, I will venture to say that he will be seen in this work more completely than any man who has ever yet lived.

And he will be seen as he really was, for I profess to write, not his panegyric, which must be all praise, but his life; which, great and good as he was, must not be supposed to be entirely perfect. To be as he was, is indeed subject of panegyric enough to any man in this state of being; but in every picture there should be shade as well as light, and when I delineate him without reserve, I do what he himself recommended, both by his precept and his example, as quoted below.

“If the biographer writes from personal knowledge, and makes haste to gratify the public curiosity, there is danger lest his interest, his fear, his gratitude, or his tenderness, overpower his fidelity, and tempt him to conceal, if not to invent.”

Questions
(a) On the basis of your reading of the Passage, answer the following Questions briefly.
(i) What was Dr Johnson’s opinion on autobiographies?
(ii) According to the author, what would have happened if Dr Johnson had written his autobiography?
(iii) How does the author intend to acquaint his readers completely with Dr Johnson’s life?
(iv) What does the author seem most proud of, as mentioned in the Passage?
(v) In the quotation given in the last paragraph of the Passage, what is Dr Johnson concerned about?
(vi) What method of writing Dr Johnson’s biography did the author adopt to make his readers better acquainted with him?
Answer:
(a) (i) Dr Johnson believed that anyone’s life can be best written by the person himself / herself. For him, an autobiography was the best and most comprehensive form of biography.

(ii) According to the author, if Dr Johnson had written his own biography, the world’would have seen the best example of how a biography/autobiography should be written.

(iii) The author intends to acquaint his readers completely with Johnson’s life by following a chronological order, giving an account of his personal thoughts and feelings via his letters and conversation and also converging knowledge about his life from different points.

(iv) The author seems most proud of his thoroughness in obtaining the biographical materials.

(v) In the quotation given in the last paragraph of the Passage, Dr Johnson is concerned that if a biographer only wants to satisfy the public, he will not write honestly by concealing some facts and inventing others.

(vi) The author adopted the method of chronologically narrating Dr Johnson’s life along with his own minutes, letters or conversations.

(b) On the basis of your reading of the Passage, complete the statements given below by choosing the most appropriate option.
(i) It can be inferred from the Passage that Dr Johnson
(a) wrote many biographies
(b) wrote his own autobiography
(c) was against writing his autobiography
(d) did not want the author to write about him
Answer:
(a) wrote many biographies

(ii) Dr Johnson would probably have agreed that
(a) a biography tends to over-praise
(b) an autobiography is always misleading
(c) an autobiographer is the greatest authority on his own life
(d) All of the above
Answer:
(c) an autobiographer is the greatest authority on his own life

(iii) The word is a synonym of ‘panegyric’ used in paragraph 4.
(a) eulogy
(b) myth
(c) portrait
(d) fame
Answer:
(a) eulogy

(iv) In paragraph 1, the word means ‘preserved someone or something in an unalterable state’.
(a) perfect
(b) preservation
(c) frozen
(d) embalmed
Answer:
(d) embalmed

(v) In paragraph 4, the word means ‘describe or portray precisely’.
(a) perfectly
(b) tilted
(c) delineate
(d) precept
Answer:
(c) delineate

(vi) In paragraph 5, the word is the antonym of‘dissatisfy’.
(a) interest
(b) gratify
(c) gratitude
(d) please
Answer:
(b) gratify

Literature Unseen Passage with Questions 

Literature Passage 1

Justin was always prepared. His motto was “Never throw anything out, you never know when it might come in handy.” His bedroom was so full of flat bicycle tires, bent tennis rackets, deflated basketballs and games with missing pieces that you could barely get in the door. His parents pleaded with him to clean out his room.

“What use is a fish tank with a hole in the bottom?” his father asked. But Justin simply smiled and repeated his motto, “Never throw anything out, you never know when it might come in handy.”

When Justin was away from home, he always carried his blue backpack. He liked to think of it as a smaller version of his bedroom, a place to store the many objects that he collected. It was so worn and stretched that it hardly resembled a backpack anymore. It was full of the kind of things that seemed unimportant, but when used with a little imagination, might come in handy.

Justin had earned a reputation for figuring things out and getting people out of otherwise hopeless situations. Many of his classmates and neighbours sought him out when they needed help with a problem. On the first day of school, his friend Kenny came looking for Justin.

“Do you think you have something in your bag that could help me remember my locker combination?” he asked. “I lost the scrap of paper it was written on. I have science class in two minutes and if I’m late on the first day it’ll make me look bad for the rest of the year.” Kenny looked genuinely worried.

‘Relax,’ Justin said, taking his backpack off and unzipping the top. “Remember how you borrowed my notebook in homeroom to write the combination down? Well, I know how we can recover what you wrote.”

He took the notebook and a soft lead pencil out of his bag. The page that Kenny had written on had left faint indentations on another page in the notebook. Justin held the pencil on its side and rubbed it lighdy over the indentations. Slowly but surely the numbers of the locker combination appeared in white, set off by the gray pencil rubbings.

‘That’s amazing!’ Kenny said. “I owe you one”. And he dashed off to open his locker.

Questions
(a) On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer thefollowing Questions briefly,
(i) What is the author’s purpose in writing this story?
(ii) How does the author achieve this purpose?
(iii) How did Justin justify keeping a fish tank with a hole in the bottom?
(iv) Mention three attributes of Justin’s character.
(v) What was Kenny’s problem which he expected Justin to solve?
(vi) How did Justin solve Kenny’s problem?

(b) Onthe basis ofyour reading ofthe passage, answer the following Questions by choosingthe most appropriate option.
(i) In what way is Justin’s backpack a smaller version of his bedroom?
(a) His parents tell him to clean it all the time
(b) He uses it to carry his books and sports equipment
(c) He uses it as a place to store objects
(d) He’s had it for as long as he can remember

(ii) Why is Justin’s room such a mess?
(a) He never throws anything away
(b) He has no time to clean
(c) He shares the room with his brother
(d) He always forgets to clean his room

(iii) What does the word ‘reputation’ in paragraph 4 mean?
(a) Supporting others
(b) One’s personality
(c) An award
(d) How one is thought of by others

(iv) Which of the following words used in paragraph 8 is a synonym of‘surprising’?
(a) dashed
(b) bravo
(c) indentations
(d) mazing

(v) Which of the following means the same as ‘pleaded with’used in paragraph 1?
(a) pushed
(b) begged
(c) asked
(d) ignored

(vi) Which of the following words used in paragraph 3 is an antonym of‘contracted’?
(a) worn
(b) stretched
(c) carried (d) resembled

Literature Passage – 2

Ode To A Nightingale
My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains
My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains,
One minute past and Lethe-wards had sunk:
Tis not through envy of thy happy lot,
But being too happy in thine happiness,—
That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees
In some melodious plot
Of beechen green, and shadows numberless,
Singest of summer in full-throated ease.
O, for a draught of vintage! that hath been
Cool’d a long age in the deep-delved earth,
Tasting of Flora and the country green,
Dance, and Provencal song and sunburnt mirth!
O for a beaker full of the warm South,
Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,
With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,
And purple-stained mouth;
That I might drink, and leave the world unseen,
And with thee fade away into the forest dim:
Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget
What thou among the leaves hast never known,
The weariness, the fever, and the fret
Here, where men sit and hear each other groan;
Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last grey hairs,
Where youth grows pale, and spcccrethin, and dies;
Where but to think is to be full of sorrow
And leaden-eyed despairs,
Where beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes,
Or new Love pine at them beyond to-morrow.

—by John Keats

Questions
On the basis of your reading of the poem, answer the following Questions briefly.
(i) What does the poet declare in the first four lines of the poem?
(ii) What reason does the poet give for feeling ‘a drowsy numbness’?
(iii) What longing is expressed by the poet in the second stanza?
(iv) What is the poet’s desire in the third stanza?
(v) How is this desire of the poet graphically illustrated by him?
(vi) What is the basic theme of this extract from the poem?

(b) On the basis of your reading of the poem, answer the following Questions by choosing the most appropriate option,
(i) What are the feelings expressed by the poet in lines 19-20?
(a) He wants to run away into the forest with the nightingale
(b) He wants to escape from reality by experiencing the nightingale’s feelings
(c) He wants to die after enjoying life like the nightingale
(d) None of the above

(ii) Identify the figure of speech used in the line, ‘With beaded bubbles winking at the brim’.
(a) Simile
(b) Transferred epithet
(c) Metaphor
(d) Personification

(iii) Which word used in the first stanza means ‘poison’?
(a) Hemlock
(b) Opiate
(c) Dryad
(d) Beechen

(iv) Which word used in the second stanza means ‘dug’?
(a) Draught
(b) Delved
(c) Blushful
(d) Beaded

(v) Which word used in the third stanza means ‘worry’?
(a) Pine
(b) Groan
(e) Forget
(d) Fret
(vi) Which word in the last stanza means ‘shining or radiant’?
(a) Palsy
(b) Pale
(c) Lustrous
(d) Leaden

PASSAGE 3
I have said this much because it is my wish that the principles which have guided me in the composition of these memoirs may be understood. I am aware that they will not please every reader; that is a success to which I cannot pretend. Some merit, however, may be allowed me on account of the labour I have undergone. It has neither been of a slight nor an agreeable kind. I made it a rule to read everything that has been written respecting Napoleon, and I have had to decipher many of his autographed documents, though no longer so familiar with his scrawl as formerly.

I say decipher, because a real cipher might often be much more readily understood than the handwriting of Napoleon. My own notes, too, which were often very hastily made, in the hand I wrote in my youth, have sometimes also much embarrassed me.

My long and intimate connection with Bonaparte from boyhood, my close relations with him when he was General, Consul and Emperor, enabled me to see and appreciate all that was projected and all that was done during that considerable and momentous period of time. I not only had the opportunity of being present at the conception and the execution of the extraordinary deeds of one of the ablest men nature ever formed, but, notwithstanding an almost unceasing application to business, I found means to employ the few moments of leisure which Bonaparte left at my disposal in making notes, collecting documents and in recording for history the facts respecting which the truth could otherwise with difficulty be ascertained; and more particularly in collecting those ideas, often profound, brilliant, and striking, but always remarkable, to which Bonaparte gave expression in the overflowing frankness of confidential intimacy. The knowledge that I possessed much important information has exposed me to many inquiries, and wherever I have resided since my retirement from public affairs, much of my time has been spent in replying to Questions. The wish to be acquainted with the most minute details of the life of a famous man is very natural; and the observation on my replies by those who heard them always was, “You should publish your memoirs!”

Questions
(a) On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the following Questions briefly.
(i) How does the author express his difficulties in writing Napoleon’s memoirs?
(ii) On what basis can we say that Napoleon’s handwriting was very difficult to read?
(iii) How does the author justify his statement that he could understand all that Napoleon actually achieved?
(iv) What method did the author employ to ensure that he could relate afterwards all that happened in Napoleon’s time?
(v) Why is the author pestered by people even after he has retired from public life?
(vi) Why do people want the author to publish his memoirs?

(b) On the basis of your reading of the passage, complete the statements given below by choosing the most appropriate option.
(i) The author is embarrassed, as stated in paragraph 1, because
(a) Napoleon’s handwriting was unreadable
(b) the author’s handwriting was very poor in his youth
(c) he cannot please every reader
(d) None of these

(ii) The author was known to Napoleon Bonaparte since
(a) Bonaparte became General
(b) Bonaparte became Consul and Emperor
(c) birth
(d) boyhood

(iii) The phrase ‘on account of’ used in paragraph 1 means the same as
(a) as a consequence of
(b) under no circumstances
(c) makes up
(d) None of these

(iv) The word ‘scrawl’ used in paragraph 1 means the same as
(a) sayings
(b) method of working
(c) style of dress
(d) careless handwriting

(v) The word ‘conception’ used in paragraph 2 is the synonym of
(a) birth
(b) proposal
(c) death
(d) pregnancy

(vi) The word ‘profound’ used in paragraph 2 is the antonym of
(a) wise
(b) sincere
(c) superficial
(d) comical

Literature Passage – 4

Thanks for the start to the lives that we’ve had.
Thanks for the nights that you went without rest.
So many memories, most happy, some sad;
If you weren’t perfect, you still passed the test,
Holding our hands, holding back all the fears.
Thank you sincerely for all of those years.

So many hours that you worked to provide
Multiplied by all the days that we grew,
When we behaved and the times we defied,
Never a doubt we could still count on you,
Making our laughter and drying our tears.
Thank you sincerely for all of those years.

Thanks for the rules that we wished were not there.
Thanks for the wisdom we sometimes denied.
All the attention and all of the care,
All the forgiveness and all of the pride,
Pointing out faults but then calling out cheers.
Thank you sincerely for all of those years.

For the examples you set every day,
Teaching with actions, those lessons hold tight.
We hardly knew just how much you could say
Simply by doing what you knew was right.
Now that we’re older, the logic appears.
Thank you sincerely for all of those years.

Thank you for love not required to be earned,
Not ever fading as time moves along.
You have to know that the love is returned,
Not always showing, but always so strong,
And you still care as your golden time nears.
Thank you sincerely for all of the years.

Questions
(a) On the basis of your reading of the poem, answer the following Questions briefly.
(i) For what all does the poet thank ‘you’ in the first stanza?
(ii) How did ‘you’ teach important lessons of life?
(in) How does the poet express his gratitude to ‘you’ in the last stanza?
(iv) What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?
(v) Which word in the second stanza is the antonym of ‘obeyed’?
(vi) Which word in the third stanza is the synonym of ‘pardon’?

(b) On the basis of your reading of the poem, complete the statements given below by choosing the most appropriate option.
(i) The tone of the poem is
(a) nostalgic
(b) sad
(c) grateful
(d) condemnatory

(ii) The poem is addressed to all
(a) people in general
(b) parents universally
(c) past memories
(d) golden years

(iii) ‘You’ have always worked
(a) tirelessly and selflessly
(b) in a selfish manner
(c) with lots of complaints
(d) with grace

(iv) The poet thanks ‘you’ for the rules which
(a) were badly laid down during childhood
(b) were accepted willingly during childhood
(c) brought happiness during childhood
(d) were not liked during childhood

(v) The phrase ‘to provide’ in the second stanza means
(a) to provide enough time
(b) to provide whatever I asked for
(c) to provide the necessities of life
(d) None of these

(vi) The meaning of the phrase ‘golden time’ in the last stanza is
(a) rebirth
(b) time when your hair will become golden
(c) time when you will go to heaven
(d) old age