Unseen Passage for Class 5 – Life Stories

Reading comprehension lesson 19: Life stories · Set 240 · 12 questions

Reading tip (Follow the person): Find the person and the problem they saw. Follow what they did, in order. Find what changed in the end, and why.

1. 1.Gopal was a potter in a small town in West Bengal. People had started buying plastic pots, and his business was slow. One day, his son suggested making clay water bottles and lamps with painted designs. Gopal was unsure, but he tried. His son showed the new pots at a town fair. Many visitors liked them because clay keeps water cool naturally. Soon orders came from other cities. Now Gopal teaches young people in his town to make pottery.
   
   Why did visitors like the clay bottles? (a) They were cheap (b) They were plastic (c) They were light (d) Clay keeps water cool
2. 2.Uncle Shankar has driven the school bus in Mysuru for twenty-two years. He knows the name of every child who rides with him. He keeps a notebook with all their birthdays. On each birthday, he plays a song and gives the child a toffee. He never drives fast, even when the bus is late. Once, he stopped the bus to help an old woman cross the road. Many of his first students now send their own children on his bus. They say he is part of their family.
   
   True or false: Shankar drives fast when the bus is late. (a) True (b) False
3. 3.Suresh worked as a guard in a factory in Ranchi. On Sundays, he coached cricket in an empty field near his home. At first only boys came. One day, a girl named Salma asked if she could play too. Suresh gave her a bat and watched her hit the ball over the fence. Soon more girls joined, and he started a girls’ team. He bought balls and pads with his own savings. Last year, his team won the district cup.
   
   When did he coach cricket? (a) Every morning (b) On Saturdays (c) Every evening (d) On Sundays
4. 4.Bhimrao was a farmer in a dry village in Maharashtra. For many years, his wells dried up before summer. He watched the rainwater rush away down the hill every monsoon. One year, he dug a small pond at the low end of his field. He also planted trees along the edges to hold the soil. The pond filled with rain and slowly soaked into the ground. The next summer, his well still had water. Soon, ten other farmers in the village dug ponds too.
   
   What was the problem with his wells? (a) They were too deep (b) They were dirty (c) They overflowed (d) They dried up
5. 5.Suresh worked as a guard in a factory in Ranchi. On Sundays, he coached cricket in an empty field near his home. At first only boys came. One day, a girl named Salma asked if she could play too. Suresh gave her a bat and watched her hit the ball over the fence. Soon more girls joined, and he started a girls’ team. He bought balls and pads with his own savings. Last year, his team won the district cup.
   
   What did his team win last year? (a) The state cup (b) The district cup (c) A school prize (d) The world cup
6. 6.Joseph Pinto was the postman of a group of hill villages in Goa for thirty years. He walked about fifteen kilometres every day, because there were no roads for vehicles. In the rains, he wrapped the letters in plastic to keep them dry. Many old people could not read, so he read their letters aloud to them. He also wrote replies for them. When he retired, the villagers held a party under the big mango tree. They gave him a walking stick carved with all their names.
   
   Why did he walk every day? (a) Doctors told him to (b) There were no roads (c) He liked walking (d) He had no bicycle
7. 7.Uncle Shankar has driven the school bus in Mysuru for twenty-two years. He knows the name of every child who rides with him. He keeps a notebook with all their birthdays. On each birthday, he plays a song and gives the child a toffee. He never drives fast, even when the bus is late. Once, he stopped the bus to help an old woman cross the road. Many of his first students now send their own children on his bus. They say he is part of their family.
   
   Why did he once stop the bus? (a) To buy toffees (b) To fix a tyre (c) To pick up a child (d) To help an old woman
8. 8.As a child in Kochi, Sherin loved watching the big blue buses go by. Her uncle was a bus driver, and he sometimes let her sit in the front seat. People laughed when she said she would drive a bus one day. Sherin learned to drive a scooter, then a car, and then a heavy vehicle. She practised for months and passed a difficult driving test. At twenty-four, she became the first woman bus driver in her depot. She says, “Never let anyone laugh away your dream.”
   
   What did people do when she spoke of her dream? (a) They cried (b) They clapped (c) They laughed (d) They helped
9. 9.Every evening, Mohan closed his tea stall near the railway station in Kanpur. Then he spread a mat under a street light. Children who could not go to school came there to learn. Mohan had studied only up to Class 10, but he taught them reading and simple maths. He bought chalk and slates with the money he earned from selling tea. Some of his students later joined the government school nearby. One of them, Ravi, is now a teacher himself. Mohan still runs his stall and his evening class.
   
   What did he buy with his money? (a) Uniforms (b) Story books (c) A blackboard (d) Chalk and slates
10. 10.Every morning, Rupa rows a boat across the wide river in her village in Assam. Before, children had to wait for a ferry that came only twice a day. Many of them missed school. Rupa had grown up rowing with her father, who was a boatman. She decided to take the children across herself. She leaves at seven every morning and comes back for them at three. She asks for no money. Parents say their children have not missed a day since.
    
    In which state does Rupa live? (a) Bihar (b) Assam (c) Kerala (d) Odisha
11. 11.Ammini Amma lived beside a river in Kerala but never learned to swim. When she was sixty, floods came to her village. She was scared and had to be rescued in a boat. After the floods, she decided to learn swimming. Every morning, she practised in the river with a young coach named Arun. Within three months, she could swim across the river. Now, at sixty-five, she teaches swimming to village children for free. She says it is never too late to learn.
    
    Where did Ammini Amma live? (a) Near a mountain (b) Beside a river (c) In a big city (d) In a desert
12. 12.Gopal was a potter in a small town in West Bengal. People had started buying plastic pots, and his business was slow. One day, his son suggested making clay water bottles and lamps with painted designs. Gopal was unsure, but he tried. His son showed the new pots at a town fair. Many visitors liked them because clay keeps water cool naturally. Soon orders came from other cities. Now Gopal teaches young people in his town to make pottery.
    
    Why was his business slow? (a) Clay was costly (b) His shop closed (c) People bought plastic (d) He was ill

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