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Unseen Passage for Class 5 – Mixed

Reading comprehension lesson 20: Class 5 practice test · Set 280 · 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.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 gulal?
    (a) Coloured powder (b) A sweet (c) A water gun (d) A bonfire
  2. 2.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.

    Why did she need to earn money?
    (a) She wanted a car (b) She moved city (c) She lost her shop (d) Her husband fell ill
  3. 3.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) The school sent them (b) She bought new ones (c) People gave old books (d) She wrote them
  4. 4.Imran’s school started a vegetable garden behind the library. Each class got a small patch of land. Class 5 planted tomatoes, spinach and beans. Imran watered the plants every day during the lunch break. One week, insects began to eat the spinach leaves. The teacher showed them how to spray water mixed with neem. The insects went away. In winter, the class cooked a spinach soup for the whole school.

    When did Imran water the plants?
    (a) On Sundays (b) During lunch break (c) After school (d) Before school
  5. 5.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 tripped and fell (b) He won the race (c) He stopped to rest (d) He ran away
  6. 6.Priya’s grandfather grew mangoes in his orchard in Ratnagiri. In summer, Priya visited him during the holidays. Every morning, they walked between the trees to check the ripe fruit. Grandfather taught her to pick a mango gently with a long pole and a net. They packed the mangoes in boxes lined with hay. The hay kept the fruit from getting bruised. On the last day, Priya took a box home for her neighbours.

    For whom did Priya take a box?
    (a) Her friends (b) Her cousins (c) Her teacher (d) Her neighbours
  7. 7.Meera’s class was planning a trip to the zoo. Everyone had to bring a water bottle and a cap. On the day of the trip, it was very hot. Meera saw that her friend Salma had forgotten her cap. Meera had two caps in her bag, so she gave one to Salma. At the zoo, they watched the tigers sleep in the shade. They also fed the deer with leaves. On the bus home, Salma thanked Meera for the cap.

    What did the children feed the deer?
    (a) Bread (b) Leaves (c) Carrots (d) Bananas
  8. 8.The library in Kiran’s school had a dusty corner full of old books. Nobody went there. Kiran asked the librarian if she could tidy it. With two friends, she wiped the shelves and sorted the books by subject. They made colourful labels and a small reading mat. They named the corner “The Treasure Shelf”. Now younger children sit there every lunch break. The librarian says it is the busiest corner of the library.

    How did they sort the books?
    (a) By colour (b) By age (c) By subject (d) By size
  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 did every home get?
    (a) A fridge (b) A solar lamp (c) A radio (d) A heater
  10. 10.Rahul’s family moved from a village to the big city of Mumbai. Everything felt fast and noisy. Trains rushed past every few minutes, and the roads were full of cars. Rahul missed the quiet fields and his old friends. In his new school, a boy named Sameer sat next to him. Sameer showed him the library and the playground. Soon they began to walk home together every day. Rahul started to like the busy city.

    Which word in the passage is the opposite of “quiet”?
    (a) Noisy (b) Fast (c) Old (d) Full
  11. 11.Every winter, Sunil and his father go to the lake near their village in Rajasthan. Thousands of birds fly there from cold countries. Sunil counts the cranes and the ducks in his notebook. This year he saw a flamingo for the first time. Its legs were long and its feathers were pink. Sunil’s father told him never to throw stones at the birds. They watched quietly from behind the bushes. At sunset, the birds flew together across the orange sky.

    What did Father tell Sunil never to do?
    (a) Go near the lake (b) Write in a notebook (c) Throw stones at birds (d) Count the birds
  12. 12.Meghalaya is a hilly state in north-east India. Its name means “the abode of clouds”. Some places in Meghalaya get more rain than almost anywhere else on Earth. In the villages near Cherrapunji, people have made living root bridges. They guide the roots of rubber fig trees across streams. Over many years, the roots grow thick and strong enough to walk on. Some bridges are hundreds of years old. Unlike wooden bridges, they grow stronger with time.

    How are root bridges different from wooden ones?
    (a) They grow stronger (b) They are painted (c) They float (d) They break quickly

Answer key

  1. Coloured powder
  2. Her husband fell ill
  3. People gave old books
  4. During lunch break
  5. He tripped and fell
  6. Her neighbours
  7. Leaves
  8. By subject
  9. A solar lamp
  10. Noisy
  11. Throw stones at birds
  12. They grow stronger

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