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Unseen Passage for Class 5 – Life Stories

Reading comprehension lesson 19: Life stories · Set 371 · 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.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 Sherin learn to drive first?
    (a) A truck (b) A bus (c) A car (d) A scooter
  2. 2.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 helped (b) They clapped (c) They cried (d) They laughed
  3. 3.Noor Bano learned sewing from her grandmother in Lucknow. After her husband fell ill, she needed to earn money for the family. She started stitching school uniforms on an old sewing machine at home. Her work was neat, and soon many parents came to her. She taught five women from her lane to sew as well. Together, they opened a small shop called Noor Stitches. Now they make uniforms for three schools. Noor Bano says that a skill grows when it is shared.

    What was the shop called?
    (a) Bano Tailors (b) Grandma’s Shop (c) Lucknow Uniforms (d) Noor Stitches
  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”.

    Who helped her learn to read?
    (a) Her husband (b) Her teacher (c) Her mother (d) Her daughter
  5. 5.Noor Bano learned sewing from her grandmother in Lucknow. After her husband fell ill, she needed to earn money for the family. She started stitching school uniforms on an old sewing machine at home. Her work was neat, and soon many parents came to her. She taught five women from her lane to sew as well. Together, they opened a small shop called Noor Stitches. Now they make uniforms for three schools. Noor Bano says that a skill grows when it is shared.

    How many women did she teach?
    (a) Ten (b) Two (c) Three (d) Five
  6. 6.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.

    Where did he dig the pond?
    (a) Near his house (b) At the field’s low end (c) In the village square (d) On top of the hill
  7. 7.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) People bought plastic (b) He was ill (c) Clay was costly (d) His shop closed
  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.”

    How old was she when she became a bus driver?
    (a) Eighteen (b) Twenty (c) Thirty (d) Twenty-four
  9. 9.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.”

    Who was a bus driver in her family?
    (a) Her brother (b) Her mother (c) Her father (d) Her uncle
  10. 10.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”.

    How did she get more books?
    (a) She bought new ones (b) She wrote them (c) The school sent them (d) People gave old books
  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 did visitors like the clay bottles?
    (a) They were plastic (b) They were cheap (c) They were light (d) Clay keeps water cool
  12. 12.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 town in Assam (b) In a village in Bihar (c) In a city in Bihar (d) In Delhi

Answer key

  1. A scooter
  2. They laughed
  3. Noor Stitches
  4. Her daughter
  5. Five
  6. At the field’s low end
  7. People bought plastic
  8. Twenty-four
  9. Her uncle
  10. People gave old books
  11. Clay keeps water cool
  12. In a village in Bihar

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