Comprehension Test (Unseen) No.4 for Class-XII, WBCHSE

1.       Read the following passage: 

When I was at college I used to spend my summer vacations in Dehra at my grandmother’s place. I would leave the plains early in May and return late in July. Deoli was a small station about thirty miles from Deora, it marked the beginning of the heavy jungles of the Indian Terai.

The train would reach Deoli at about five in the morning, when the station would be dimly lit with electric bulbs and oil-lamps, and the jungle across the railway tracks would just be visible in the faint light of dawn. Deoli had only one platform, an office for the station-master and a waiting room. The platform boasted of a tea stall, a fruit vendor, and a few stray dogs; not much else, because the train stopped there for only ten minutes before rushing on into the forests.

Why it stopped at Deoli, I don’t know. Nothing ever happened there. Nobody got off the train and nobody got in. There were never any coolies on the platform. But the train would halt there a full ten minutes, and then a bell would sound, the guard would blow his whistle, and presently Deoli would be left behind and forgotten.

I used to wonder what happened in Deoli, behind the station walls. I always felt sorry for that lonely little platform, and for the place that nobody wanted to visit. I decided that one day I would get off the train at Deoli, and spend the day there, just to please the town.

I was eighteen, visiting my grandmother, and the night train stopped at Deoli. A girl came down the platform, selling baskets. It was a cold morning and the girl had a shawl thrown across her shoulder. Her feet were bare and her clothes were old, but she was a young girl, walking gracefully and with dignity.

A)  Complete each of the sentences which follow, choosing the correct answer from the alternatives given:   1x7=7

    i)  When the author went to visit his grandmother he was – a) seventeen b) eighteen c) nineteen d) twenty.

    ii) The distance between Deoli and Dehra was – a) twenty five miles b) thirty miles c) thirty five miles d) forty miles. 
    iii) The train stopped at Deoli for – a) two minutes b) five minutes c) ten minutes d) fifteen minutes.

    iv) In Deoli platform there was a – a) snack stall b) tea stall c) coffee shop d) a bar.

    v) Deoli is the entrance of – a) Terai forest b) Dooars forest c) Kanha forest d) Geer forest.

    vi) The house of the author’s grandmother was at – a) Deoli b) Dehra c) Hardwar d) Simla.

    vii) The train would reach Deoli – a) at dawn b) at dusk c) at night d) at noon.

B)      Answer the questions which follow (each in about 20 words):   2x4=8

    i)On what occasions would the author cross the station at Deoli?

    ii)What made the writer wonder why the train stopped at Deoli at all?

    iii)Why did the author decide to spend a day at Deoli?

    iv)Who did the author see on the platform at Deoli during one of his journeys to Dehra?

C)      Rearrange the following sentences in their proper order:   5

    i)The train that took the author to Dehra, stopped at a small station called Deoli.

    ii) As a college boy the author used to spend his summer vacations at Dehra.

    iii)The heavy jungles of the Indian Terai began from Deoli.

    iv) He would be in Dehra from early May to late July.

    v)In the faint light of dawn the jungles were only partially visible across the railway tracks.

Answers.

A)

i)        --b) eighteen.

ii)       --b) thirty miles.

iii)     --c) ten minutes.

iv)     --b) tea stall.

v)      --a) Terai forest.

vi)     --b) Dehra.

vii)   --a) at dawn.

B)

i)        The author used to spend his summer vacations at Dehra with his grandmother. He crossed the station at Deoli to reach Dehra and again while returning from there.

ii)       While the train stopped at Deoli, nobody got off the train and nobody got in. There were never any coolies on the platform. That made the writer wonder.

iii)     The author felt sorry for that lonely little platform, and for the place that nobody wanted to visit. So he decided to spend a day at Deoli just to please the town.

iv)     The author saw a young girl on the platform selling baskets during one of his journeys to Dehra.

C)                           The proper order of the given sentences is ---- ii, iv, i, iii, v.

Comprehension Test (Unseen) No.3 for Class-XII, WBCHSE

Read the following passage:

The Postmaster felt like a fish out of water in village like this. His office was in a dark thatched hut. There was a pond next to it, scummed over with weeds, jungle all around. The indigo agents and employees in the village had hardly any spare time. They were not suitable company for him. His Calcutta background made him a bad mixer. In a totally unfamiliar place he appeared either arrogant or ill at ease. So there was not much contact between him and the residents of the village where he had come to work. But he had very little work to do. Sometimes he tried to write poems. His poems expressed the bliss of solitude, the pleasure of watching leaves trembling in the light breeze or the sailing cloudlets in the sky. But, God knew, if a genie out of an Arab tale had come and cut down all the trees overnight, made a road and blocked out the sky with rows of tall buildings, this half-dead, well-bred, educated young man would have come alive again and thrown away all his poems only too eagerly.

The Postmaster’s salary was meager. He had to cook for himself. An orphaned village-girl did his house work in return for a little food twice. Her name was Ratan and she was about twelve or thirteen. In the evenings the Postmaster would light a dim oil-lamp in a corner of the room and call for Ratan. As smoke curled up from the village cowsheds, crickets grated in the bushes, leaves made rustling sounds in the evening darkness, the Postmaster, seated alone on the dark verandah, might have shuddered a little and longed for human company. Ratan, sitting at the door-step, would call back, “What is it Dadababu, what do you want?”

    A)    Complete each of the sentences which follow, choosing the correct answer from the alternatives given:     1x7=7

   i) Feeling like “a fish out of water” means – a) feeling uncomfortable; b) feeling feverish; c) feeling out of sorts.

   ii) There was jungle all around – a) the post office; b) the Postmaster’s hut; c) a pond next to the post office.

  iii)The Postmaster could not mix with the village people – a) because he was arrogant; b) because he was educated; c) because of his Calcutta background.

   iv) Rattan was a – a) teenage girl; b) an adult; c) a baby.

   v) In return of her service Ratan got – a) a very poor salary; b) a little food twice; c) only tiffin.

   vi) Rattan was an orphan. It means she had lost – a) her father; b) her mother; c) both her parents.

   vii)The Postmaster wanted human company – a) during his work in the post office; b) in his spare time; c) in the evenings when darkness engulfed his surroundings.

   B)  Answer the questions which follow (each in about 20 words):  2x4=8

   i)Where was the village post office situated?

   ii) What did the postmaster’s poems express?

   iii)What did Ratan do at postmaster’s hut?

   iv) How were the evenings in the village?

   C)     Rearrange the following sentences in their proper order:  5

   i)Sometimes he tried to write poems.

   ii)He would go inside and light a dim lamp in a corner of the room.

   iii) The postmaster had not much work to do in the post office.

   iv) Postmaster’s background made him a bad mixer.

   v)The post office was in a thatched hut.

   

    Answers:

A)    i—a; ii—c; iii—c; iv—a; v—b; vi—c; vii—c.

B)

            i) The village post office was situated in a dark thatched hut beside a pond, scummed over with weeds, jungle all around.

           ii)The postmaster’s poems expressed the bliss of solitude, the pleasure of watching leaves trembling in the light breeze or the sailing cloudlets in the sky.

           iii) Rattan, an orphaned village-girl did house work at the postmaster’s hut in return for a little food twice.

           iv)In the evening, smoke curled up from the cowsheds, crickets grated in the bushes, leaves made rustling sounds in darkness in the village.

    C) The proper order of the given sentences is ----v, iv, iii, i, ii.

Comprehension Test (Unseen) No.2 for Class-XII, WBCHSE

Read the following passage:

The girl got up and began to collect her things. I wondered if she wore her hair in a bun, or if it was plaited, or if it hung loose over her shoulders, or if they were cut very short.

The train drew slowly into the station. Outside, there was the shouting of porters and vendors and a high-pitched female voice near the carriage door which must have belonged to the girl’s aunt.

“Good-bye,” said the girl.

There was some confusion in the doorway. A man, getting into the compartment, stammered an apology. Then the door banged shut, and the world was shut out again. I returned to my berth. The guard blew his whistle and we moved off. Once again, I had a game to play and a new fellow-traveller.

The train gathered speed, the wheels took up their song, the carriage groaned and shook. I found the window and sat in front of it, staring into the daylight that was darkness for me.

So many things were happening outside the window. It could be a fascinating game, guessing what went on out there.

The man who had entered the compartment broke into my reverie.

“you must be disappointed,” he said. “I’m sorry I’m not as attractive a travelling companion as the one who just left.”

“she was an interesting girl,” I said. “Can you tell me—did she keep her hair long or short?”
“I don’t remember,” he said, sounding puzzled. “It was her eyes I noticed, not her hair. She had beautiful eyes—but they were of no use to her. She was completely blind. Didn’t you notice?”                        [Adapted from The Eyes Are Not Here by Ruskin Bond]
  

A) Complete each of the sentences which follow, choosing the correct answer from the alternative given:  1x7=7 

i)  The high-pitched voice belonged to a – a) man b) woman c) child. 

ii)  The girl bade good-bye to -- a) the narrator b) her aunt c) the guard. 

iii) The word ‘groaned’ evokes the image of – a) a hermit in meditation b) an animal in pain c) children at play. 
iv) The narrator stared into the daylight which – a) looked like the light of Heaven on the earth b) was totally dark for him c) increased the pain in his eyes. 
v) The word ‘reverie’ means – a) sleep b) day-dream c) anger. 
vi) The new fellow-traveller – a) thanked himself for being an agreeable companion b) appreciated the narrator’s power of observation c) regretted that he was not an attractive companion. 
vii) The narrator asked the man if the girl – a) had beautiful eyes b) kept her hair long or short c) was dressed gorgeously. 

B) Answer the questions which follow (each in about 20 words):   2x4=8 
i) What did the narrator wonder when the girl got up to collect the things? 
ii) What were the noises that came to the narrator in the station? 
iii) What did the narrator do as the train groaned and shook? 
iv) What did the man say about the girl’s eyes? 

C) Rearrange the following sentences in their proper order:    5

                     i.            The girl bade good-bye.

                   ii.            The train drew into the station.

                  iii.            The door was shut with a bang.

                 iv.            The girl got up to collect her things.

                   v.            A man got into the compartment.

Answers:

A)

                                 i.            b) woman.

                               ii.            a) the narrator.

                              iii.            b) an animal in pain.

                             iv.            b) was totally dark for him.

                               v.            b) day-dream.

                             vi.            c) regretted that he was not an attractive companion.

                            vii.            b) kept her hair long or short.

B)

                                 i.            The narrator wondered if she wore her hair in a bun, or if it was plaited, or if it hung loose over her shoulders, or if they were cut very short.

                               ii.            In the station, there was the shouting of porters and vendors and a high pitched female voice near the carriage door which must have belonged to the girl’s aunt.

                              iii.            The narrator found the window and sat in front of it, staring into the daylight that was darkness for him.

                             iv.            The man said that the girl had beautiful eyes, but they were of no use to her. She was completely blind.

C) The proper order of the given sentences is ---- (iv), (ii), (i), (v), (iii).

 

Comprehension Test (Unseen) No.1 for Class-XII, WBCHSE

Read the following passage:
  When Sue awoke from an hour’s sleep the next morning, she found Johnsy with dull, wide-open eyes staring at the green shade.

“Put it up; I want to see,” she ordered, in a whisper.

Wearily Sue obeyed.

But, lo! After the beating rain and fierce gusts of wind that had endured through the livelong night, there yet stood out against the brick wall one ivy leaf. It was the last on the vine. Still dark green near its stem, but with its edges tinted with the yellow of decay, it hung bravely from a branch some twenty feet above the ground.

“It is the last one,” said Johnsy. “I thought it would surely fall during the night. I heard the wind. It will fall today, and I shall die at the same time.”

“Dear, dear!” said Sue, leaning her worn face down to the pillow, “think of me, if you won’t think of yourself. What would I do?”

But Johnsy did not answer. The loneliest thing in the world is a soul when it is making ready to go on its mysterious, far journey. The fancy seemed to posses her more strongly as one by one the ties that bound her to friendship and to earth were loosed.

The day wore away! And even through the twilight, they could see the lone ivy leaf clinging to its stem against the wall. And then, with the coming of the night, the north wind was again loosed, while the rain still beat against the windows.

When it was light enough, Johnsy commanded that the shade be raised.

The ivy leaf was still there.

Johny lay for a long time looking at it. And then she called to Sue, who was stirring her chicken broth over the gas stove.

“I’ve been a bad girl, Sudie,” said Johnsy. “Something has made that last leaf stay there to show me how wicked I was. It is a sin to want to die. You may bring me a little broth now, and some milk with a little port in it, and – no, I will sit up and watch you cook.”

Ah hour later she said: “Sudie, someday I hope to paint the Bay of Naples.”

[Adapted from The Last Leaf by O. Henry]

[Word notes: livelong =very long; ivy =a climbing plant with smooth, shiny, evergreen leaves; vine =a climbing plant; worn =looking tired; tint =give a shade of colour; port =strong sweet wine]

A)     Complete each of the sentences which follow, choosing the correct answer from the alternative given: 1x7=7 
i)        Awakening from sleep, Sue saw Johnsy – a) still sleeping b) gazing at the shade c) glaring at the window-sill. 
ii)       Here the word ‘shade’ refers to – a) soul after death b) a screen or cover that blocks or moderates light c) darkness. 
iii)     That night, Sue slept for – a) only a few hours b) several hours c) an hour only. 
iv)     “It will fall today...” Here, the word ‘It’ refers to – a) the green shade b) the ivy leaf c) the vine. 
v)      “I thought it would surely fall during the night." The night mentioned in the line was – a) calm and quiet b) stormy c) hot and humid. 
vi)     Lying for a long time, Johnsy was looking at the – a) green shade b) last ivy leaf c) wall. 
vii)   Johnsy wanted to take “a little broth” because she wanted to – a) die peacefully b) start living afresh c) make a journey to a far country. 

B)      Answer the questions which follow (each in about 20 words):    2x4=8 
i)        How was the ivy leaf? 
ii)       What did Johnsy think after seeing the ivy leaf? 
iii)     How did Sue react to Johnsy’s thought? 
iv)     What lesson did Johnsy learn from the leaf finally? 

C)      Rearrange the following sentences in their proper order:     5 
i)        She saw that Johnsy was staring at the green shade. 
ii)       Sue put the shade up. 
iii)     Sue got up in the morning. 
iv)     Johnsy saw that the ivy leaf was hanging from a branch. 
v)      Johnsy ordered Sue to raise it up.

Answers:

A)

(i) --b) gazing at the shade.

(ii) -- b) a screen or cover that blocks or moderates light.

(iii) -- c) an hour only.

(iv) -- b) the ivy leaf.

(v) -- b) stormy.

(vi) -- b) last ivy leaf.

(vii) -- b) start living afresh.

B)

i)        The ivy leaf was the last on the vine. It was dark green near its stem, but its edges were tinted with the yellow marks of decay. 
ii)       Johnsy thought that the ivy leaf would surely fall during the night and she would die at the same time. 
iii)     Sue felt very sad. She appealed to Johnsy to live for her and to consider what would happen to her if she lost hope. 
iv)     Finally, Johnsy learnt the lesson that she was very wicked. It was a sin on her part to want to die. She should live afresh.

(C) The proper order of the given sentences is ---- (iii), (i), (v), (ii), (iv).