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Year 10 English — Reading a passage closely

Answer questions on an extract — what it states, what it implies, and what its words mean there.

Name: ________________________

  1. 1.Read: "Rooftop gardens cool a building, hold rainwater and give city birds somewhere to feed. They cost little to start and less to keep." What is the main idea?

    • a) City birds are in danger.
    • b) Rainwater should always be collected.
    • c) Buildings are too hot in summer.
    • d) Rooftop gardens are cheap and useful in several ways.

  2. 2.Read: "He had rehearsed the speech forty times, yet his hands would not keep still." What does "yet" do here?

    • a) It offers an example of the first half.
    • b) It gives the result of the first half.
    • c) It sets the second half against the first.
    • d) It gives the reason for the first half.

  3. 3.Read: "The old bridge was rickety, and the villagers crossed it one at a time." What does "rickety" mean here?

    • a) Unsteady
    • b) Crowded
    • c) Newly built
    • d) Very wide

  4. 4.Read: "'Of course you may borrow it,' said Nita, holding the book a little tighter." What does the detail about her hands suggest?

    • a) She had only just bought it.
    • b) The book was very heavy.
    • c) She did not really want to lend it.
    • d) She was about to read it aloud.

  5. 5.Put these four sentences into the order that makes one paragraph. The time words tell you where each one belongs.

    • By September the water has drawn back a little, and the birds arrive.
    • In July, however, the rains fill it to the brim.
    • They stay until the mud returns.
    • For most of the year the lake is a shallow bowl of cracked mud.

  6. 6.Read: "Meera checked the sky twice before she left, and pushed the umbrella deep into her bag." What does this suggest?

    • a) She disliked walking.
    • b) She had lost her umbrella.
    • c) She was expecting rain.
    • d) She was going to the market.

  7. 7.Read: "The letter was terse: three lines, no greeting, no signature." Write one word that gives the meaning of "terse" here.

  8. 8.Match each sentence to what the word in brackets means in it.

    • The keen wind cut through his shirt. (keen)
    • She has a keen interest in birds. (keen)
    • The train drew into the station. (drew)
    • She drew a map on the board. (drew)
    • He could not bear the noise. (bear)
    • The path bears to the left. (bears)
    • moved
    • sketched
    • turns
    • eager
    • sharp
    • tolerate

Answer key — Year 10 English — Reading a passage closely

  1. 1. d) Rooftop gardens are cheap and useful in several ways.
  2. 2. c) It sets the second half against the first.
  3. 3. a) Unsteady
  4. 4. c) She did not really want to lend it.
  5. 5. 1. For most of the year the lake is a shallow bowl of cracked mud. 2. In July, however, the rains fill it to the brim. 3. By September the water has drawn back a little, and the birds arrive. 4. They stay until the mud returns.
  6. 6. c) She was expecting rain.
  7. 7.
    • short
    • brief
    • curt
    • blunt
    • abrupt
    • concise
    • +1 more accepted answer
  8. 8. The keen wind cut through his shirt. (keen) → sharp; She has a keen interest in birds. (keen) → eager; The train drew into the station. (drew) → moved; She drew a map on the board. (drew) → sketched; He could not bear the noise. (bear) → tolerate; The path bears to the left. (bears) → turns