IOE entrance English · Chapter 4
Comprehension
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42 questions in 1 syllabus topic · 19 are 2-mark questions.
4.1 Reading passages
42 questions
Read the passage, then answer the questions below
1. In the English language, the animals are
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Look at the adjectives the passage lists.
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Answer: B. used for unpleasant comparisons
The passage says English ‘transfers negative human traits to animals’ and gives the language ‘as many unpleasant adjectives as it could possibly want’.
Read the passage, then answer the questions below
2. Which statement best expresses the main idea of the passage?
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Look at how the passage opens and how it ends.
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Answer: A. Age matters less in language learning than once believed; the amount of exposure and use is also important.
The passage challenges the belief that only children learn well and ends by saying the key question is how much the language will be used.
3. According to the passage, in which area do children usually do better than adults?
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Find the sentence beginning 'Where children usually do better…'.
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Answer: D. pronunciation
The passage says, 'Where children usually do better is in pronunciation.' Adults are said to learn grammar and vocabulary faster at first.
4. Which conclusion is best supported by the passage?
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Focus on what the passage says about 'conditions of learning'.
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Answer: D. An adult who lives and works in the new language will probably progress faster than one who only attends a weekly class.
The second paragraph says that when adults get similar exposure, e.g. by living and working abroad, the gap narrows; exposure drives progress.
5. In the passage, the word 'narrows' (paragraph 2) is closest in meaning to:
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What happens to a gap that narrows?
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Answer: D. becomes smaller
The 'gap' between adults and children 'narrows', i.e. the difference becomes smaller when adults get similar exposure.
Read the passage, then answer the questions below
6. Why did Sarita's father ask her to describe what she had done instead of repairing the chain himself?
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Look at the result of her explanation.
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Answer: C. He wanted her to discover the mistake on her own.
He 'did not take it from her' but asked her to explain step by step, and she 'found the mistake herself' — the method was meant to let her learn.
7. According to the passage, why did students come to Sarita's stall?
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Two groups of customers are mentioned with two different reasons.
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Answer: D. She charged them less.
The passage states, 'Students came because Sarita charged them less.' Curiosity is given as the reason for the older men.
8. The father's action of placing the notebook 'back exactly where it had been' most likely suggests that he:
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Consider what he had never done himself, and how he reacts.
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Answer: C. approved of the way Sarita had been running the stall.
He read it slowly and left it untouched, a quiet sign of respect for a practice he had never had himself; nothing suggests anger or closing the stall.
9. Which is the most suitable title for the passage?
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A good title covers the whole story, not one detail.
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Answer: D. Learning the Trade
The story centres on Sarita growing from an unskilled beginner into a trusted mechanic; the other titles name minor details.
Read the passage, then answer the questions below
10. What is the main purpose of the passage?
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Read the last sentence carefully.
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Answer: A. To argue that city planning should give more importance to pedestrians.
The passage criticises road-centred planning and concludes that ignoring pedestrians is inefficient — an argument for valuing walking.
11. According to the passage, which factor matters MORE than distance in deciding whether people walk?
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See the second paragraph.
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Answer: A. safe crossing points at regular intervals
Shade, continuous pavements and safe crossing points are said to 'matter more than the distance itself'.
12. "The cycle can also run in the opposite direction" means that:
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First identify the cycle described in the previous sentence.
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Answer: B. better walking conditions can lead to more walking and less traffic, which further improves walking.
The 'cycle' described is unpleasant walking → more vehicles → worse walking. In reverse, improvements encourage walking, which helps local shops and reduces traffic.
13. The tone of the passage is best described as:
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Is the writer trying to amuse, remember, or convince?
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Answer: A. persuasive
The writer presents evidence and reaches a firm conclusion ('it is inefficient') to convince the reader — a persuasive tone.
Read the passage, then answer the questions below
14. Why, according to the passage, was lokta paper once used for government records?
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Find the sentence beginning 'For these reasons…'.
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Answer: D. It resists insects and damp better than ordinary paper.
The passage says the paper 'resists insects and damp far better than ordinary machine-made sheets. For these reasons it was once used for government records'. It is described as slow to make and slightly uneven.
15. What nearly brought the lokta papermaking craft to an end?
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Distinguish the past threat from the present worries.
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Answer: B. cheap imported paper
'During the twentieth century cheap imported paper almost ended the craft.' Over-harvesting and dyes are present-day worries, not the past threat.
16. In the passage, objects that 'could be traced to a particular place' are objects that:
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Think of 'tracing' the origin of something.
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Answer: C. could be identified as coming from a specific place
To 'trace' something to a place here means to follow it back to its origin, i.e. to know where it was made.
17. What concern does the writer express in the final paragraph?
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Link the worries in paragraph 3 to the qualities listed in paragraph 1.
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Answer: C. Growing demand might lower the quality and sustainability that made the paper valuable.
Rapid harvesting and chemical dyes would undermine sustainability and durability — exactly 'why the paper was valued in the first place'.
Read the passage, then answer the questions below
18. According to the passage, the power available from a micro-hydro plant depends on:
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Look for 'two quantities'.
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Answer: B. the flow of water and the head
'The power available depends on two quantities: the flow … and the head.' Micro-hydro often has no reservoir.
19. Based on the passage, if a site's head were halved while the flow were doubled, the power output would be roughly:
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Doubling either quantity doubles the output; combine the two effects.
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Answer: C. unchanged
Power is proportional to both flow and head. Halving head gives ½, doubling flow gives ×2, so the output is about ½ × 2 = 1 times the original.
20. In the passage, a 'penstock' is:
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The passage defines the term directly.
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Answer: D. a pipe that carries water down to the turbine
'The water enters a pipe called a penstock and falls to a turbine in a powerhouse below.'
21. According to the passage, many micro-hydro plants have failed mainly because:
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Read the 'not because … but because' sentence.
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Answer: B. no one in the village was trained to maintain them
The passage says plants failed 'not because of engineering faults but because no one in the village was trained to maintain them'.
Read the passage, then answer the questions below
22. What is the main idea of the passage?
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Which statement covers all three paragraphs?
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Answer: B. A cache speeds up computing by keeping copies of likely-needed data in a small, fast memory.
The passage explains why caches are needed (slow main memory), how they work (locality, hits and misses), and where else the idea is used.
23. According to the passage, 'spatial locality' refers to the tendency that:
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'Spatial' relates to space or position.
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Answer: B. data stored next to recently used data is likely to be needed soon
The two tendencies are listed in order: reuse of the same data (temporal) and use of neighbouring data (spatial).
24. According to the passage, what happens on a cache 'miss'?
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Contrast the description of a hit with that of a miss.
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Answer: D. The value and its neighbours are fetched from main memory, and an older entry is removed.
On a miss 'the value is fetched from main memory together with its neighbours, and an older entry in the cache is discarded to make room.'
25. Which situation best illustrates the problem mentioned in the last paragraph?
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Find the sentence starting 'However, a cache brings a new problem'.
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Answer: A. A browser shows an old version of a news page after the website has been updated.
The problem is that a cached copy may become out of date when the original changes — exactly what happens when an old page is shown after an update. Faster second visits are the benefit, not the problem.
Read the passage, then answer the questions below
26. According to the passage, in a suspension bridge:
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Cables pull; towers are pushed down.
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Answer: A. the main cables are in tension and the towers are in compression
'The main cables are in tension, while the towers are compressed.'
27. Why does the passage suggest that stone is well suited to building arches?
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Combine paragraph 1 (material strengths) with paragraph 2 (how an arch works).
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Answer: B. Stone is strong in compression, and an arch keeps its material in compression.
Stone is strong in compression but weak when pulled; an arch carries loads by pressing each stone against its neighbours, so it uses stone's strength.
28. In the passage, 'abutments' are:
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The term is explained in the same sentence.
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Answer: C. the supports at each end of an arch
The passage defines them as 'the supports at each end, called abutments'.
29. According to the passage, the main weakness of suspension bridges is that they:
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See the final paragraph.
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Answer: A. are flexible and can sway or twist in wind
'The weakness of the suspension design is its flexibility. Wind and moving loads can make the deck sway or twist.' They actually cross the widest gaps.
Read the passage, then answer the questions below
30. What is the passage mainly about?
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Choose the option that covers both the problem and the response.
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Answer: D. How warming creates dangerous glacial lakes and how their flood risk is managed.
The passage explains the formation and failure of moraine-dammed lakes and then the monitoring, engineering and warning measures used against outburst floods.
31. According to the passage, why are moraine dams likely to fail?
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Look at how the passage describes moraines.
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Answer: D. They are loose ridges of rock and soil not naturally shaped to hold back water.
Moraines are 'loose ridges of rock and soil' that 'were never shaped by nature to hold back water'.
32. Based on the passage, which lake would scientists most likely treat as the highest priority?
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Check each option against all the conditions listed in paragraph 2.
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Answer: B. A large lake growing quickly, with a village and a hydropower plant downstream.
Priority goes to lakes 'both large and growing fast, with settlements or hydropower plants below them'. Only the first option meets all three conditions.
33. Which of the following would be the best title for this passage on glacial lakes?
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A title should capture the passage as a whole.
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Answer: C. Living Below Melting Ice: Managing Glacial Lake Risk
The passage is about the hazard of glacial lake outburst floods and the combined measures used to reduce it; the other titles are too narrow or off-topic.
34. Read the passage carefully and tick the correct answer: Never a very confident man Hanley was happy to leave all the arrangements of the exhibition to his agent, a young man by the name of Green, who has a talent for organization. Green had been to his studio and, with the help of Hanley's wife, has selected pictures, most important of all, he had seen to it that all invitations went to the right people: critics, reporters and of course people with money to spend on paintings. "There's no doubt about it", Green assured him during exhibition, "everything has gone off very well." Hanley was pleased, but remained shyly in the background, declining to meet his public. Organization was something that Green:
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Look for 'talent'.
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Answer: D. did well
The passage says Green 'has a talent for organization', so he was good at it, i.e. he did it well.
35. Read the passage carefully and tick the correct answer: Never a very confident man Hanley was happy to leave all the arrangements of the exhibition to his agent, a young man by the name of Green, who has a talent for organization. Green had been to his studio and, with the help of Hanley's wife, has selected pictures, most important of all, he had seen to it that all invitations went to the right people: critics, reporters and of course people with money to spend on paintings. "There's no doubt about it", Green assured him during exhibition, "everything has gone off very well." Hanley was pleased, but remained shyly in the background, declining to meet his public. The exhibition was:
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What did Green say about how it went?
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Answer: B. successful
Green says 'everything has gone off very well' and Hanley was pleased, so the exhibition was successful.
36. Read the passage carefully and tick the correct answer: Never a very confident man Hanley was happy to leave all the arrangements of the exhibition to his agent, a young man by the name of Green, who has a talent for organization. Green had been to his studio and, with the help of Hanley's wife, has selected pictures, most important of all, he had seen to it that all invitations went to the right people: critics, reporters and of course people with money to spend on paintings. "There's no doubt about it", Green assured him during exhibition, "everything has gone off very well." Hanley was pleased, but remained shyly in the background, declining to meet his public. During the exhibition Hanley:
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He stayed in the background.
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Answer: C. met no one
Hanley 'remained shyly in the background, declining to meet his public', so he met no one.
37. Read the passage carefully and tick the correct answer: Never a very confident man Hanley was happy to leave all the arrangements of the exhibition to his agent, a young man by the name of Green, who has a talent for organization. Green had been to his studio and, with the help of Hanley's wife, has selected pictures, most important of all, he had seen to it that all invitations went to the right people: critics, reporters and of course people with money to spend on paintings. "There's no doubt about it", Green assured him during exhibition, "everything has gone off very well." Hanley was pleased, but remained shyly in the background, declining to meet his public. Hanley:
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Who made the arrangements?
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Answer: B. allowed his agent to arrange the exhibition
He was 'happy to leave all the arrangements of the exhibition to his agent', so he allowed his agent to arrange it. He did not help him.
38. Read the passage carefully and select the best alternatives: Speech is great blessing but it can also be a great curse, for while it helps us to make out intentions and desires known to our follows, it can also, if we use it carelessly, make our attitude completely misunderstood. A slip of the tongue, the use of an unusual word, or of an ambiguous work and so on, may create an enemy where we had hoped to win a friend. Again, different classes of people use different vocabularies, and the ordinary speech of an educated man may strike and uneducation listener as pompous. Unwittingly, we may use a word which bears a different meaning to our listener from what it does to men of our own class. Thus speech is not a gift to use lightly without thought, but one which demands careful handling. Only a fool will express himself alike to all kinds and conditions of men. Speech can be a curse, because it can
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Look at the first sentence of the passage.
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Answer: D. create misunderstanding
The passage says careless speech can make our attitude 'completely misunderstood', i.e. it creates misunderstanding.
39. Read the passage carefully and select the best alternatives: Speech is great blessing but it can also be a great curse, for while it helps us to make out intentions and desires known to our follows, it can also, if we use it carelessly, make our attitude completely misunderstood. A slip of the tongue, the use of an unusual word, or of an ambiguous work and so on, may create an enemy where we had hoped to win a friend. Again, different classes of people use different vocabularies, and the ordinary speech of an educated man may strike and uneducation listener as pompous. Unwittingly, we may use a word which bears a different meaning to our listener from what it does to men of our own class. Thus speech is not a gift to use lightly without thought, but one which demands careful handling. Only a fool will express himself alike to all kinds and conditions of men. The best way to win a friend is to avoid ___ in speech.
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Which fault turns a friend into an enemy in the passage?
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Answer: A. ambiguity
The passage lists an 'ambiguous word' among the things that may create an enemy where we hoped to win a friend, so we should avoid ambiguity.
40. Read the passage carefully and select the best alternatives: Speech is great blessing but it can also be a great curse, for while it helps us to make out intentions and desires known to our follows, it can also, if we use it carelessly, make our attitude completely misunderstood. A slip of the tongue, the use of an unusual word, or of an ambiguous work and so on, may create an enemy where we had hoped to win a friend. Again, different classes of people use different vocabularies, and the ordinary speech of an educated man may strike and uneducation listener as pompous. Unwittingly, we may use a word which bears a different meaning to our listener from what it does to men of our own class. Thus speech is not a gift to use lightly without thought, but one which demands careful handling. Only a fool will express himself alike to all kinds and conditions of men. While talking to an uneducated person, we should use
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Pompous speech puts off an uneducated listener.
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Answer: D. simple words
The ordinary speech of an educated man may seem pompous to an uneducated listener, so we should use simple words he understands.
41. Read the passage and answer the questions. Most people may think it's hard to follow a weight - loss diet and exercise regime. But people with diabetes ignore the risks at their peril! all diabetes is serious, and can lead to devastating complications that are usually irreversible and often fatal. Too much sugar in your blood damages the vascular system and organs. That means people with diabetes are much more pone to cardiovascular disease and are three times more likely than most people to have high cholesterol, high blood pressure or obesity. Many people with diabetes end up dying as a result of a heart attack or stroke. Blood glucose can also damage the small blood vessels, which causes problems in the eyes, kidneys, feet and nerves. That means that if the diabetes isn't well-controlled, people are looking at kidney failure or lower limb damage requiring amputation. Exercising losing weight can reduce the risk of all of these complications, but what many people don't realize is that their diabetes is a progressive disease. "Only about 10% of patients are able to maintain normal glucose levels with lifestyle modifications, and that too only up to one or two years, says Dr. Makkar." "Most patients will eventually require lifelong medication." This passage is mainly about ..........
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What does the passage list: causes or consequences?
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Answer: C. effect of diabetes
The passage describes the harmful complications diabetes leads to (vascular disease, kidney failure, amputation), so it is mainly about the effects of diabetes.
42. Read the passage and answer the questions. Most people may think it's hard to follow a weight - loss diet and exercise regime. But people with diabetes ignore the risks at their peril! all diabetes is serious, and can lead to devastating complications that are usually irreversible and often fatal. Too much sugar in your blood damages the vascular system and organs. That means people with diabetes are much more pone to cardiovascular disease and are three times more likely than most people to have high cholesterol, high blood pressure or obesity. Many people with diabetes end up dying as a result of a heart attack or stroke. Blood glucose can also damage the small blood vessels, which causes problems in the eyes, kidneys, feet and nerves. That means that if the diabetes isn't well-controlled, people are looking at kidney failure or lower limb damage requiring amputation. Exercising losing weight can reduce the risk of all of these complications, but what many people don't realize is that their diabetes is a progressive disease. "Only about 10% of patients are able to maintain normal glucose levels with lifestyle modifications, and that too only up to one or two years, says Dr. Makkar." "Most patients will eventually require lifelong medication." The term 'obesity' means ............
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It appears among health risks.
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Answer: C. unhealthy weight growth
Obesity is the condition of being seriously overweight, i.e. unhealthy weight gain; the passage lists it among the risks.