READING COMPREHENSION WITH ANSWERS

 READING COMPREHENSION

1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: (Any Twelve)

1. The man with the white face entered the carriage at Rugby. He moved slowly in spite of the urgency of his porter, and even while he was still on the platform I noted how ill he seemed. He dropped into the corner over against me with a sigh, made an incomplete attempt to arrange his travelling shawl and became motionless, with his eyes staring vacantly. Presently he was moved by a sense of my observation, looked up at me, and 

put out a spiritless hand for his newspaper. Then he glanced again in my direction. I feigned to read. I feared 

I had unwittingly embarrassed him and in a moment I

was surprised to find him speaking.

2. "I beg your pardon?" said I.

"That book," he repeated, pointing a lean finger, "is about dreams."

"Obviously," I answered, for it was Fortnum Roscoe's Dream States, and the title was on the cover.

He hung silent for a space as if he sought words.

"Yes," he said at last, "but they tell you nothing."

I did not catch his meaning for a second.

"They don't know," he added. I looked a little more attentively at his face.

"There are dreams," he said, "and dreams."

That sort of proposition I never dispute.

"I suppose--" he hesitated. "Do you ever dream? I mean vividly."

"I dream very little," I answered. "I doubt if I have three vivid dreams in a year."

"Ah!" he said and seemed for a moment to collect his thoughts.

"Your dreams don't mix with your memories?" he asked abruptly.

"You don't find yourself in doubt; did this happen or did it not?"

"Hardly ever. Except just for a momentary hesitation now and

then. I suppose few people do."

"Does he say--?" He indicated the book.

"Says it happens at times and gives the usual explanation about intensity of impression and the like to 

account for its not happening as a rule. I suppose you know something of these theories--"

"Very little--except that they are wrong."

3. His emaciated hand played with the strap of the window for a time. I prepared to resume reading, and that seemed to precipitate his next remark. He leant forward almost as though he would touch me.

"Isn't there something called consecutive dreaming--that goes on night after night?"

"I believe there is. There are cases given in most books on mental trouble."

"Mental trouble! Yes. I daresay there are. It's the right place for them. But what I mean--" He looked at his bony knuckles. "Is that sort of thing always dreaming? Is it dreaming?

Or is it something else? Mightn't it be something else?"

4. I should have snubbed his persistent conversation but for the drawn anxiety of his face. I remember now the look of his faded eyes and the lids red stained--perhaps you know that look.

"I'm not just arguing about a matter of opinion," he said.

"The thing's killing me."

"Dreams?"

"If you call them dreams. Night after night. Vivid!—so vivid . . . this--" (he indicated the landscape that 

went streaming by the window) "seems unreal in comparison! I can scarcely remember who I am, what 

business I am on . . . ."He paused. "Even now--"

"The dream is always the same--do you mean?" I asked.

"It's over."

"You mean?"

"I died."

"Died?"

5. "Smashed and killed, and now, so much of me as that dream was, is dead. Dead forever. I dreamt I was  another man, you know, living in a different part of the world and in a different time.I dreamt that night 

after night. Night after night I woke into that other life. Fresh scenes and fresh happenings--until I came upon the last--"

"When you died?"

"When I died."

"And since then--"

"No," he said. "Thank God! That was the end of the dream.. . "

6. It was clear I was in for this dream. And after all, I had an hour before me, the light was fading fast, and Fortnum Roscoe has a dreary way with him. "Living in a different time," I said: "do you mean in some different age?"

"Yes."

"Past?"

"No, to come--to come."

"The year three thousand, for example?"

"I don't know what year it was. I did when I was asleep, when I was dreaming, that is, but not now--not now that I am awake.

There's a lot of things I have forgotten since I woke out of these dreams, though I knew them at the time when I was--I suppose it was dreaming. They called the year differently from our way of calling the year . . 

. What did they call it?" He put his hand to his forehead. "No," said he, "I forget." He sat smiling weakly. 

For a moment I feared he did not mean to tell me his dream. As a rule, I hate people who tell their dreams, but this struck me differently. I proffered assistance even. "It began--" I suggested.

7. "It was vivid from the first. I seemed to wake up in it suddenly. And it's curious that in these dreams I am speaking of I never remembered this life I am living now. It seemed as if the dream life was enough while it lasted. Perhaps--But I will tell you how I find myself when I do my best to recall it all. I don't remember anything clearly until I found myself sitting in a sort of loggia looking out over the sea. I had been dozing, and suddenly I woke up--fresh and vivid--not a bit dreamlike—because the girl had stopped fanning me." 

(956 words)

-adapted from A Dream of Armageddon by H.G.Wells

On the basis of your reading of the above excerpt, choose the correct option to answer the following 

questions: (Any Twelve)

(a) How did the man with the white face behave as he entered the carriage?

(i) Excited and enthusiastic

(ii) Scared

(iii) Excited and nervous

(iv) showed no enthusiasm.

(b) What was the name of the book which the narrator was reading?

(i) Fortnum Roscoe's Dream States

(ii) Dream States

(iii) Dreams of the States

(iv) State of the Dream

(c) What was the man’s opinion about the theory of dreams given in the narrator’s book?

(i) He felt that it was all correct

(ii) He felt the book painted a wrong picture.

(iii) He felt that the book explained nothing.

(iv) He felt that the book was confusing.

(d) Statement 1: The narrator couldn’t snub the man’s conversation.

 Statement 2: The man with the white face looked anxious.

 (i) Both 1 & 2 are correct and 2 is the reason for 1.

 (ii) Both 1 & 2 are correct and 2 is not the reason for 1.

 (iii) 1 is correct and 2 is incorrect.

 (iv) Both 1 & 2 are incorrect.

(e) What is NOT the reason for narrator being interested in listening to the man’s description of hislast dream?

(i) The man’s dream was about an alien.

(ii) It was getting dark.

(iii) The narrator had still an hour’s journey left.

(iv) His book was getting boring.

(f) What did the man NOT say about the last dream which he had?

(i) It was a dream which wasn’t clear.

(ii) He was sitting in the loggia.

(iii) His last dream was very clear.

(iv) He would wake up in these dreams suddenly.

(g) Choose the correct option:

Which of the following is NOT true for the Man with the white face?

(i) He moved around slowly.

(ii) He looked sickly.

(iii) He didn’t want to talk about his dream.

(iv) He didn’t believe in theories of Fortnum Roscoe's Dream States

(h)"I dream very little," I answered. "I doubt if I have three vivid dreams in a year. This line highlights that 

the narrator did not –

(i) Have normal dreams.

(ii) Good sleep pattern.

(iii) Give much importance to the science behind dreams.

(iv) like talking to the man with the white face.

(i) How does the use of vivid and descriptive language in the passage enhance the reader's 

understanding of the man's experience?

(j) Complete the sentence appropriately.

It is fair to say that the man's experience of consecutive dreaming is similar with being lost 

in a maze because _______________. 

(k) Choose the right answer which explains the phrase:

He hung silent for a space as if he sought words.

(i) he was at a loss of words.

(ii) he was indecisive.

(iii) he was left hanging because of his indecisiveness.

(iv) he stayed silent for some time as if he searched for words.

(l) State whether the following opinion is TRUE or FALSE.

 The author implies that memory and consciousness are not objective, but rather are 

shaped by our subjective experiences and perceptions. 

 

(m) What does the man with the white face, most likely mean by "there are dreams, and dreams"?

(Reference-paragraph 2)

(n) What do the man's "vacant" stare and "spiritless" hand suggest about his condition?

 

(o) In paragraph 2, the narrator says , “I did not catch his meaning for a second.”

 Which of the following expressions correctly display the usage of “catch”?

(a) catch a glimpse (b) catch a hunger (c) catch an anger

 (d) catch a skill

READING COMPREHENSION

1 On the basis of your reading of the above excerpt, answer the following

questions briefly.

a) showed no enthusiasm.

b) Dream States

c) He felt that the book explained nothing.

d) Both 1 & 2 are correct and 2 is the reason for 1.

e) The man’s dream was about an alien.

f) It was a dream which wasn’t clear.

g) He didn’t want to talk about his dream.

h) Give much importance to the science behind dreams.

i) Any one of the following:

 immerses the reader in the man's dream world

 allows for a more empathetic understanding of his experience

j) Any one of the following:

 both experiences involve a sense of being trapped or confined.

[Just as being lost in a maze involves being trapped within the maze's walls,

the man's experience of consecutive dreaming involves being trapped within

his own mind, unable to escape his dream state.]

 both experiences involve a sense of seeking a way out or a path

to resolution [Just as someone who is lost in a maze seeks a way out of the

maze, the man in the story is seeking a way to break the cycle of consecutive

dreaming and return to a normal state of consciousness.]

k) he stayed silent for some time as if he searched for words.

l) TRUE

12

[In the passage, the man is unable to remember his current life while in his

dream state, and his dreams are influenced by his memories and experiences.

The dreams are described as "intensely real" and the man becomes lost in

them, which suggests that his consciousness is fully immersed in the dream

world. This blurring of reality and dream, memory and consciousness, suggests

that our perceptions of the world are shaped by our subjective experiences and

are not necessarily objective or fixed.].

m) Any one of the following:

 It suggests that not all dreams are equal or have the same significance.

 It alludes to the idea that some dreams are merely the product of

random brain activity while others may hold deeper meaning or insight

into one's subconscious.

n) suggests that not only is he physically ill but mentally /emotionally

drained

o) (a)