Unseen Passage for Class 5 – Festivals and Places

Reading comprehension lesson 18: Festivals and places of India · Set 230 · 12 questions

Reading tip (Facts by place and time): Find the place, the time of year and what people do. Answer from the passage, even if you know more about it. For word meanings, read the sentence around the word.

1. 1.In Goa, Christmas is a big festival celebrated on 25 December. Weeks before, families clean and paint their homes. They hang paper stars outside their windows. Many homes make a crib, a small model of the place where Jesus was born. On Christmas Eve, people go to church for midnight Mass. Families share special sweets like kulkuls and neureos with neighbours. Streets glow with lights, and choirs sing carols. Friends of all faiths join in the fun.
   
   What is a crib? (a) A small model (b) A sweet (c) A church (d) A song
2. 2.The Hornbill Festival is held in Nagaland every year from 1 to 10 December. It is named after the hornbill, a large bird with a big curved beak. The bird is important in the stories and songs of the Naga people. The festival takes place at a heritage village called Kisama, near Kohima. Many tribes of Nagaland come together to show their dances, songs and crafts. Visitors can watch traditional games and taste local food. The festival helps keep old traditions alive.
   
   Where does the festival take place? (a) At Imphal (b) At Kisama (c) At Shillong (d) At Guwahati
3. 3.Durga Puja is the biggest festival of West Bengal. It is held in autumn, usually in October. Artists spend months making clay idols of Goddess Durga. The idols are placed in large decorated tents called pandals. For five days, people visit pandals, pray and enjoy music and food. Many pandals are built to look like palaces or temples. On the last day, the idols are carried to a river and immersed in the water. People say goodbye and hope the goddess returns next year.
   
   Durga Puja is the biggest festival of which state? (a) Kerala (b) West Bengal (c) Punjab (d) Gujarat
4. 4.Eid ul-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims at the end of Ramzan, the month of fasting. During Ramzan, people do not eat or drink from sunrise to sunset. Eid begins when the new moon is seen in the sky. On Eid morning, people wear new clothes and offer special prayers. Families give food and money to the poor. Friends hug one another and say “Eid Mubarak”. A sweet dish called sheer khurma is made with milk, vermicelli and dates. Children receive gifts called Eidi from elders.
   
   True or false: During Ramzan, people fast from sunrise to sunset. (a) False (b) True
5. 5.The Rann of Kutch is a huge salt desert in Gujarat. During the monsoon, it is flooded with sea water. When the water dries up in winter, a thick white layer of salt is left behind. On a full-moon night, the white land seems to glow. Every winter, a festival called Rann Utsav is held there. Visitors stay in tents and enjoy folk music and crafts. Flamingos come to the wetlands nearby to breed. Wild asses, found almost nowhere else, also live in this area.
   
   When is Rann Utsav held? (a) In the monsoon (b) Every winter (c) Every summer (d) In spring
6. 6.The backwaters of Kerala are a network of calm lakes, rivers and canals near the sea. Coconut palms line their banks. Many villages lie along the water, and people use boats to go to school, work and market. Houseboats called kettuvallams carry visitors slowly along the canals. Long ago, these boats carried rice and spices. Ducks swim beside the boats, and fishermen throw their nets. Alappuzha is one of the best places to see the backwaters. The quiet waters make it a peaceful place to visit.
   
   Which place does the passage name for seeing the backwaters? (a) Munnar (b) Kochi (c) Alappuzha (d) Kozhikode
7. 7.The Thar Desert lies mostly in Rajasthan, in the north-west of India. It is a land of sand dunes, thorny bushes and very little rain. Days in summer are extremely hot, but nights can be cool. Camels are useful here because they can walk on sand and go without water for days. That is why the camel is called the ship of the desert. People store rainwater in tanks and step-wells. Jaisalmer, a city of golden stone, stands in this desert.
   
   In which state does most of the Thar Desert lie? (a) Gujarat (b) Rajasthan (c) Haryana (d) Punjab
8. 8.Onam is the harvest festival of Kerala. It falls in August or September, after the monsoon. People believe that the kind King Mahabali visits his people at this time. To welcome him, families make pookalam, a carpet of flower petals, in front of their homes. A grand meal called sadya is served on a banana leaf. It has more than twenty dishes. Snake boat races are held on the rivers. Everyone wears new clothes, and the whole state is full of joy.
   
   Onam is the harvest festival of which state? (a) Tamil Nadu (b) Odisha (c) Kerala (d) Bihar
9. 9.Meghalaya is a hilly state in north-east India. Its name means “the abode of clouds”. Some places in Meghalaya get more rain than almost anywhere else on Earth. In the villages near Cherrapunji, people have made living root bridges. They guide the roots of rubber fig trees across streams. Over many years, the roots grow thick and strong enough to walk on. Some bridges are hundreds of years old. Unlike wooden bridges, they grow stronger with time.
   
   What are the living bridges made of? (a) Bamboo (b) Tree roots (c) Iron (d) Stone
10. 10.Pongal is a harvest festival of Tamil Nadu. It is celebrated in the middle of January and lasts for four days. Families thank the Sun God for a good harvest. They boil fresh rice with milk and jaggery in a new clay pot. When the pot boils over, people shout, “Pongalo Pongal!” The overflowing pot is a sign of plenty. On the third day, cattle are washed and decorated with paint and bells. Houses are decorated with colourful kolams at the door.
    
    Pongal is a festival of which state? (a) Kerala (b) Punjab (c) Assam (d) Tamil Nadu
11. 11.Kaziranga National Park is in Assam, on the banks of the Brahmaputra river. It is famous for the one-horned rhinoceros. More than half of all one-horned rhinos in the world live here. The park has tall elephant grass, swamps and forests. Tigers, wild elephants and wild buffaloes also live in the park. Every year, floods cover parts of the park, and animals move to higher ground. Visitors can see the animals from an open jeep.
    
    On the banks of which river is the park? (a) Yamuna (b) Ganga (c) Narmada (d) Brahmaputra
12. 12.Holi is the festival of colours, usually celebrated in March. It marks the end of winter and the coming of spring. On the night before Holi, people light a bonfire called Holika Dahan. The bonfire stands for good winning over evil. Next morning, friends throw coloured powder, called gulal, at one another. Children fill water guns, called pichkaris, with coloured water. Many people now use colours made from flowers, which are safe for the skin. Later, everyone washes up and shares sweets like gujiya.
    
    What is the bonfire called? (a) Holika Dahan (b) Pichkari (c) Gujiya (d) Gulal

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