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Class 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: "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 was expecting rain.
    • c) She was going to the market.
    • d) She had lost her umbrella.

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

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

  3. 3.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)
    • sketched
    • eager
    • moved
    • sharp
    • tolerate
    • turns

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

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

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

  6. 6.Passage: "Arun put down his bag, switched off the fan and locked the door behind him. The corridor lights were already off." Sort each statement by whether the passage states it or only implies it.

    Groups: Stated in the passage · Only implied

    • Other people had already gone.
    • Arun was leaving for the day.
    • The corridor lights were off.
    • Arun locked the door.
    • Arun switched off the fan.
    • The fan had been on before Arun reached it.

  7. 7.Read: "By the time the inspector arrived, the register had been signed by everyone." Which happened first?

    • a) Both happened at the same moment.
    • b) The extract does not say.
    • c) The register was signed.
    • d) The inspector arrived.

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

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

Answer key — Class 10 English — Reading a passage closely

  1. 1. b) She was expecting rain.
  2. 2. 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.
  3. 3. 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
  4. 4. c) She did not really want to lend it.
  5. 5. c) It sets the second half against the first.
  6. 6. Arun switched off the fan. → Stated in the passage; Arun locked the door. → Stated in the passage; The corridor lights were off. → Stated in the passage; Arun was leaving for the day. → Only implied; Other people had already gone. → Only implied; The fan had been on before Arun reached it. → Only implied
  7. 7. c) The register was signed.
  8. 8. d) Unsteady