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Unseen Passage for Class 5 – Life Stories

Reading comprehension lesson 19: Life stories · Set 659 · 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.

    What does he give on a birthday?
    (a) A cake (b) A book (c) A balloon (d) A toffee
  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.

    Where did he dig the pond?
    (a) In the village square (b) Near his house (c) At the field’s low end (d) On top of the hill
  3. 3.Ramesh was a cobbler who sat under a neem tree near the bus stand in Nagpur. He mended shoes and bags from morning till night. He earned very little, but he saved a few coins every day in a tin box. His dream was to send his daughter, Pooja, to college. Pooja studied hard under the street lamp after helping her father. When she finished school, Ramesh opened the tin box. There was enough money for her first year at college. Today Pooja is a nurse.

    Where did he save coins?
    (a) Under his mat (b) In a bank (c) In a bag (d) In a tin box
  4. 4.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) Chalk and slates (b) A blackboard (c) Story books (d) Uniforms
  5. 5.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) Twenty-two (c) Thirty (d) Twelve
  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 daughter (d) Her mother
  7. 7.Rekha always loved fixing things. As a girl in Indore, she opened up old radios and clocks to see how they worked. After school, she joined a training course for motor mechanics. She was the only girl in a class of thirty. At first, some customers did not trust her to repair their scooters. Rekha did not give up and worked carefully. Slowly, people saw that her repairs lasted longest. Today she runs her own garage and trains other girls.

    What did some customers not trust her to do?
    (a) Run a garage (b) Teach girls (c) Drive a car (d) Repair their scooters
  8. 8.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 pick up a child (c) To help an old woman (d) To fix a tyre
  9. 9.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) Teacher (b) Farmer (c) Electrician (d) Driver
  10. 10.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) Five (b) Two (c) Three (d) Ten
  11. 11.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 is Ravi now?
    (a) A tea seller (b) A doctor (c) A driver (d) A teacher
  12. 12.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) Lucknow Uniforms (b) Grandma’s Shop (c) Noor Stitches (d) Bano Tailors

Answer key

  1. A toffee
  2. At the field’s low end
  3. In a tin box
  4. Chalk and slates
  5. Twenty-two
  6. Her daughter
  7. Repair their scooters
  8. To help an old woman
  9. Electrician
  10. Five
  11. A teacher
  12. Noor Stitches

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