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Unseen Passage for Class 5 – Mixed

Reading comprehension lesson 20: Class 5 practice test · Set 245 · 12 questions
TalentJR

Reading tip (Scan, then read closely): Read the passage once for the main idea. Scan for the key word of the question. Read that sentence closely and choose the option it proves.

NameDateTime takenScore ___ / 12
  1. 1.Lakshmi’s village had no bridge over the stream. In the rainy season, the water rose high and children could not reach school. One year, the villagers decided to build a bamboo bridge. The men cut bamboo, and the women tied it with strong ropes. The children carried water and food for the workers. In ten days, the bridge was ready. Now everyone could cross the stream even in the rains. Lakshmi called it the “Together Bridge”.

    How long did the bridge take to build?
    (a) Two days (b) Ten days (c) One month (d) One year
  2. 2.Nandini lived in a fishing village in Odisha. Her father went to sea every morning in a small boat. One evening, dark clouds gathered and the wind grew strong. Her father’s boat had not come back. Nandini ran to the lighthouse keeper, Uncle Biju. He turned on the bright lamp at the top of the tower. The light guided the boats safely to the shore. Nandini hugged her father as he stepped onto the sand.

    In which state was Nandini’s village?
    (a) Kerala (b) Goa (c) Odisha (d) Gujarat
  3. 3.Arjun wanted to win the school running race. Every evening, he ran three rounds of the playground. His grandfather timed him with an old watch. On the day of the race, Arjun started fast. Near the end, his friend Tenzin tripped and fell. Arjun stopped to help him up. They crossed the finish line together, last of all. The principal gave them a special prize for kindness.

    What happened to Tenzin near the end?
    (a) He ran away (b) He won the race (c) He tripped and fell (d) He stopped to rest
  4. 4.Riya and her brother found a lost puppy outside their building in Pune. It was wet and shivering after the rain. Riya wrapped it in an old towel. Her brother brought a bowl of warm milk. The puppy had a blue collar with a phone number on it. Their mother called the number. An hour later, a young girl came running to their door. She hugged the puppy and thanked them again and again.

    How did they find the owner?
    (a) Asked the guard (b) Put up posters (c) Called the number (d) Went to a vet
  5. 5.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.

    How old was she when the floods came?
    (a) Sixty-five (b) Sixty (c) Seventy (d) Fifty
  6. 6.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 mother (b) Her uncle (c) Her brother (d) Her father
  7. 7.Fatima lived in a village in Rajasthan where the nearest doctor was forty kilometres away. When she was eleven, her little brother fell very sick. They had to travel all night to reach a hospital. That night, Fatima decided to become a doctor. She studied by a kerosene lamp and walked five kilometres to school. Her teachers helped her prepare for the medical exam. She became a doctor at twenty-six. Then she came back and opened a small clinic in her own village.

    How old was Fatima when her brother fell sick?
    (a) Twenty-six (b) Eleven (c) Nine (d) Fifteen
  8. 8.Arjun wanted to win the school running race. Every evening, he ran three rounds of the playground. His grandfather timed him with an old watch. On the day of the race, Arjun started fast. Near the end, his friend Tenzin tripped and fell. Arjun stopped to help him up. They crossed the finish line together, last of all. The principal gave them a special prize for kindness.

    How many rounds did Arjun run every evening?
    (a) Two (b) Four (c) Five (d) Three
  9. 9.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.

    Where are the snake boat races held?
    (a) In the hills (b) On the roads (c) In school (d) On the rivers
  10. 10.Arjun wanted to win the school running race. Every evening, he ran three rounds of the playground. His grandfather timed him with an old watch. On the day of the race, Arjun started fast. Near the end, his friend Tenzin tripped and fell. Arjun stopped to help him up. They crossed the finish line together, last of all. The principal gave them a special prize for kindness.

    Which word in the passage is the opposite of “first”?
    (a) Late (b) Last (c) Next (d) Fast
  11. 11.Lalita Ben lived at the foot of a bare, rocky hill in Gujarat. When she was young, the hill had many trees, but people had cut them for firewood. Lalita Ben decided to plant one sapling every week. She carried water up the hill in two pots every morning. Goats ate many of her young plants, so she built fences of thorny branches. After twenty years, a small forest covered the hill. Birds and rabbits came back to live there. Children now call it “Lalita’s Forest”.

    Why had the trees on the hill gone?
    (a) Too much rain (b) A forest fire (c) Cut for firewood (d) Insects ate them
  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) Gulal (b) Gujiya (c) Pichkari (d) Holika Dahan

Answer key

  1. Ten days
  2. Odisha
  3. He tripped and fell
  4. Called the number
  5. Sixty
  6. Her uncle
  7. Eleven
  8. Three
  9. On the rivers
  10. Last
  11. Cut for firewood
  12. Holika Dahan

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