Reading Comprehension practice by Iswaran the Storyteller By RK Laxman :
Reading Comprehension practice by Iswaran the Storyteller By RK Laxman: Here are three key passages from “Iswaran the Storyteller,” each followed by 10 multiple-choice questions designed for reading comprehension.
Reading Comprehension Test: Passage 1 ✍️
Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Iswaran also had an amazing capacity to produce vegetables and cooking ingredients, seemingly out of nowhere, in the middle of a desolate landscape with no shops visible for miles around. He would miraculously conjure up the most delicious dishes made with fresh vegetables within an hour of arriving at the new workplace.
Meanwhile Iswaran would tidy up the shed, wash the clothes, and have a leisurely bath. After eating, he would read for a while before dozing off. The book was usually some popular Tamil thriller. Its imaginative descriptions and narrative flourishes would hold Iswaran in thrall. His own descriptions were greatly influenced by the Tamil authors that he read. When he was narrating even the smallest of incidents, he would try to work in suspense and a surprise ending into the account. For example, instead of saying that he had come across an uprooted tree on the highway, he would say, with eyebrows suitably arched, “The road was deserted… Suddenly I spotted something that looked like an enormous bushy beast lying sprawled across the road.” Mahendra would listen to Iswaran’s tales uncritically.
Multiple-Choice Questions (Passage 1)
- What was Iswaran’s “amazing capacity”?
a) Finding water
b) Predicting weather
c) Producing vegetables
d) Taming animals
Answer: c) Producing vegetables - Where could Iswaran find these ingredients?
a) In a nearby market
b) In a desolate landscape
c) From a local farmer
d) In a hidden garden
Answer: b) In a desolate landscape - What did Iswaran do after his bath and lunch?
a) Went for a walk
b) Cleaned the kitchen
c) Read for a while
d) Wrote stories
Answer: c) Read for a while - What kind of books did Iswaran usually read?
a) English comedies
b) Historical novels
c) Tamil thrillers
d) Science fiction
Answer: c) Tamil thrillers - What effect did these books have on Iswaran?
a) They bored him
b) They held him in thrall
c) They made him sleepy
d) They confused him
Answer: b) They held him in thrall - What did Iswaran try to add to his stories?
a) Jokes and humour
b) Facts and figures
c) Songs and poems
d) Suspense and surprise
Answer: d) Suspense and surprise - How did Iswaran describe a simple uprooted tree?
a) A sleeping giant
b) A fallen monster
c) A bushy beast
d) A long, dark snake
Answer: c) A bushy beast - The word “desolate” means…?
a) Crowded
b) Beautiful
c) Empty
d) Green
Answer: c) Empty - How did Mahendra listen to Iswaran’s tales?
a) Critically
b) Uncritically
c) With disbelief
d) With boredom
Answer: b) Uncritically - Iswaran’s storytelling was greatly influenced by…?
a) His grandmother
b) Tamil authors
c) His own travels
d) Mahendra
Answer: b) Tamil authors
Reading Comprehension Test: Passage 2 🐘
Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
“One day a tusker escaped from the timber yard and began to roam about, stamping on bushes and tearing up wild creepers. It came into the main road and smashed all the stalls selling fruits, mud pots and clothes. People ran helter-skelter in panic! The elephant now entered a school ground where children were playing, breaking through the brick wall. All the boys ran into the classrooms and shut the doors tight. The beast grunted and wandered about, pulling out the football goal-post and tearing down the volleyball net. Meanwhile all the teachers had climbed up to the terrace of the school building.
“I was studying in the junior class at that time, and was watching the whole drama from the rooftop. I grabbed a cane from the hands of one of the teachers and ran down the stairs. The elephant looked at me red-eyed, ready to rush towards me. It lifted its trunk and trumpeted loudly. At that moment I moved forward and, mustering all my force, whacked its third toenail on the quick. The beast looked stunned for a moment; then it shivered from head to foot — and collapsed.” At this point Iswaran would leave the story unfinished.
Multiple-Choice Questions (Passage 2)
- In the story, where did the tusker escape from?
a) A circus
b) A temple
c) A timber yard
d) A national park
Answer: c) A timber yard - What did the elephant do when it entered the main road?
a) Smashed stalls
b) Attacked people
c) Sat down calmly
d) Drank water
Answer: a) Smashed stalls - Where did the elephant go after leaving the main road?
a) A forest
b) A marketplace
c) A school ground
d) A residential area
Answer: c) A school ground - What did the teachers do to save themselves?
a) Ran into classrooms
b) Hid under desks
c) Climbed to the terrace
d) Called the police
Answer: c) Climbed to the terrace - Where was Iswaran watching the “whole drama” from?
a) A classroom window
b) The rooftop
c) Behind a tree
d) A nearby house
Answer: b) The rooftop - What did Iswaran grab from a teacher’s hands?
a) A book
b) An iron rod
c) A chair
d) A cane
Answer: d) A cane - The elephant looked at Iswaran with __ eyes.
a) Sad
b) Red
c) Sleepy
d) Blue
Answer: b) Red - According to his story, where did Iswaran hit the elephant?
a) On its trunk
b) On its third toenail
c) On its leg
d) On its tusk
Answer: b) On its third toenail - What was the immediate effect of Iswaran’s strike?
a) The elephant ran away
b) The elephant got angry
c) The elephant collapsed
d) The elephant trumpeted
Answer: c) The elephant collapsed - The word “helter-skelter” means running in…?
a) A straight line
b) A slow manner
c) An orderly way
d) Panic and confusion
Answer: d) Panic and confusion
Reading Comprehension Test: Passage 3 👻
Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
He went on to narrate how he sometimes saw ghosts at night. “But one horrible ghost of a woman which appears off and on at midnight during the full moon… It is an ugly creature with matted hair and a shrivelled face, like a skeleton holding a foetus in its arms.” Mahendra shivered at the description and interrupted rather sharply, “You are crazy, Iswaran. There are no such things as ghosts or spirits. It is all a figment of your imagination.”
From that day on Mahendra, for all his brave talk, went to bed with a certain unease. One night, Mahendra was woken up from his sleep by a low moan close to his window. At first he put it down to a cat prowling around for mice. But the sound was too guttural for a cat. He could not resist the temptation any more. Lowering himself to the level of the windowsill he looked out at the white sheet of moonlight outside. There, not too far away, was a dark cloudy form clutching a bundle. Mahendra broke into a cold sweat and fell back on the pillow, panting. As he gradually recovered, he concluded that it must have been some sort of auto suggestion, some trick that his subconscious had played on him.
Multiple-Choice Questions (Passage 3)
- When did the horrible female ghost supposedly appear?
a) During a new moon
b) Every single night
c) During the full moon
d) On stormy nights
Answer: c) During the full moon - The ghost’s face was described as…?
a) Pale
b) Hidden
c) Shrivelled
d) Beautiful
Answer: c) Shrivelled - What was the ghost said to be holding in its arms?
a) A skull
b) A foetus
c) A candle
d) A doll
Answer: b) A foetus - What was Mahendra’s immediate reaction to Iswaran’s ghost story?
a) He was amused
b) He was terrified
c) He called Iswaran crazy
d) He asked for more details
Answer: c) He called Iswaran crazy - Mahendra called ghosts a “figment of the…”?
a) Story
b) Past
c) Imagination
d) Future
Answer: c) Imagination - What woke Mahendra up one night?
a) A loud scream
b) A dog barking
c) A low moan
d) A tapping sound
Answer: c) A low moan - Initially, Mahendra thought the sound was from a…?
a) Dog
b) Cat
c) Bird
d) Person
Answer: b) Cat - The sound was too _ for a cat.
a) Loud
b) Soft
c) Feline
d) Guttural
Answer: d) Guttural - What did Mahendra see outside his window?
a) A swaying tree
b) A dark cloudy form
c) Iswaran sleepwalking
d) A stray animal
Answer: b) A dark cloudy form - After the ghastly experience, Mahendra concluded it was just a…?
a) Real ghost
b) Trick of his mind
c) Prank by Iswaran
d) Passing shadow
Answer: b) A trick of his mind
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