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Unseen Passage for Class 5 – Life Stories

Reading comprehension lesson 19: Life stories · Set 249 · 12 questions
TalentJR

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.

NameDateTime takenScore ___ / 12
  1. 1.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.

    For how many years has Shankar driven the bus?
    (a) Twenty (b) Thirty (c) Twelve (d) Twenty-two
  2. 2.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 happened the next summer?
    (a) He sold his farm (b) His well dried up (c) His well had water (d) His trees died
  3. 3.Savitri sold vegetables from a cart in the lanes of Bhopal. She could not read, so she found it hard to keep accounts. Her granddaughter Komal taught her numbers and letters every night. Within a year, Savitri could read prices and write her own accounts. She started keeping a notebook of what she sold each day. With the money she saved, she bought a bigger cart with a shade on top. Now Savitri helps other sellers learn to count and write.

    Why was it hard for her to keep accounts?
    (a) She was too busy (b) She lost her notebook (c) She could not read (d) She had no pen
  4. 4.Kamala Devi grew up in a village in Bihar where there were no books. She learned to read only after she got married, with help from her daughter. Reading made her feel she could see the whole world. In 2005, she cleared one room of her house and filled it with old books. She asked people in the town to give away books they did not need. Soon, children came every evening to read and do homework. Today the library has over three thousand books. The village calls her “Kitab Amma”.

    What does the village call her?
    (a) Kitab Amma (b) Library Nani (c) Teacher Amma (d) Book Didi
  5. 5.Savitri sold vegetables from a cart in the lanes of Bhopal. She could not read, so she found it hard to keep accounts. Her granddaughter Komal taught her numbers and letters every night. Within a year, Savitri could read prices and write her own accounts. She started keeping a notebook of what she sold each day. With the money she saved, she bought a bigger cart with a shade on top. Now Savitri helps other sellers learn to count and write.

    What did Savitri sell?
    (a) Vegetables (b) Flowers (c) Clothes (d) Fruit
  6. 6.Kamala Devi grew up in a village in Bihar where there were no books. She learned to read only after she got married, with help from her daughter. Reading made her feel she could see the whole world. In 2005, she cleared one room of her house and filled it with old books. She asked people in the town to give away books they did not need. Soon, children came every evening to read and do homework. Today the library has over three thousand books. The village calls her “Kitab Amma”.

    Who helped her learn to read?
    (a) Her husband (b) Her teacher (c) Her mother (d) Her daughter
  7. 7.Kamala Devi grew up in a village in Bihar where there were no books. She learned to read only after she got married, with help from her daughter. Reading made her feel she could see the whole world. In 2005, she cleared one room of her house and filled it with old books. She asked people in the town to give away books they did not need. Soon, children came every evening to read and do homework. Today the library has over three thousand books. The village calls her “Kitab Amma”.

    Where did Kamala Devi grow up?
    (a) In a village in Bihar (b) In Delhi (c) In a town in Assam (d) In a city in Bihar
  8. 8.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.

    What was Gopal’s work?
    (a) Potter (b) Tailor (c) Painter (d) Farmer
  9. 9.Thangam lived in a village in the Nilgiri hills of Tamil Nadu. Her family grew vegetables, but the plants gave few beans. A visitor from the farm college told her that bees help plants make fruit and seeds. Thangam learned to keep bees in wooden boxes. She placed the boxes at the edge of the fields. That season, the plants gave many more beans. She also sold honey at the weekly market. Now many families in her village keep bees too.

    What is the main idea of the passage?
    (a) Hills are cold (b) Bees helped her farm (c) Honey is sweet (d) Markets are busy
  10. 10.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.

    What does he give on a birthday?
    (a) A book (b) A cake (c) A balloon (d) A toffee
  11. 11.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) He was ill (b) People bought plastic (c) Clay was costly (d) His shop closed
  12. 12.Tsering Dorje was an electrician in a small village in Ladakh. In winter, the village often lost power for days. Tsering learned how to set up solar panels at a training camp in Leh. He fixed panels on the roof of the village school first. Now the classrooms have lights even on the coldest days. Then he helped every home in the village get a solar lamp. Children can study after dark. The villagers call him the man who brought the sun indoors.

    What was Tsering’s job?
    (a) Farmer (b) Teacher (c) Electrician (d) Driver

Answer key

  1. Twenty-two
  2. His well had water
  3. She could not read
  4. Kitab Amma
  5. Vegetables
  6. Her daughter
  7. In a village in Bihar
  8. Potter
  9. Bees helped her farm
  10. A toffee
  11. People bought plastic
  12. Electrician

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