Unseen Passage for Class 5 – Mixed
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
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1.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.
Who timed Arjun? (a) His grandfather (b) His coach (c) His father (d) Tenzin -
2.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”.
Why could children not reach school in the rainy season? (a) The school was shut (b) The road was closed (c) It was too cold (d) The water rose high -
3.Shimla is a hill station in Himachal Pradesh. It is built on the slopes of green hills covered with pine and deodar trees. In summer, the weather is cool, so many families visit to escape the heat of the plains. In winter, snow often covers the roofs and roads. A small toy train climbs up to Shimla from Kalka. It passes through more than a hundred tunnels. The main street, called the Mall Road, has no cars. People walk there and enjoy the views of the mountains.
Why do families visit Shimla in summer? (a) To see the snow (b) To escape the heat (c) To see the desert (d) To swim in the sea -
4.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.
Who do people believe visits during Onam? (a) A sea king (b) The Sun God (c) Their teacher (d) King Mahabali -
5.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) Nine (b) Fifteen (c) Eleven (d) Twenty-six -
6.Durga Puja is the biggest festival of West Bengal. It is held in autumn, usually in October. Artists spend months making clay idols of Goddess Durga. The idols are placed in large decorated tents called pandals. For five days, people visit pandals, pray and enjoy music and food. Many pandals are built to look like palaces or temples. On the last day, the idols are carried to a river and immersed in the water. People say goodbye and hope the goddess returns next year.
Durga Puja is the biggest festival of which state? (a) Gujarat (b) Punjab (c) Kerala (d) West Bengal -
7.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) Gujarat (c) Goa (d) Odisha -
8.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) Uniforms (b) Story books (c) Chalk and slates (d) A blackboard -
9.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.
Who was her coach? (a) Arun (b) Rahul (c) Ammini (d) Her son -
10.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 Pooja study? (a) In a library (b) At a friend’s house (c) Under the street lamp (d) In a coaching class -
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”.
How long did it take for a forest to grow? (a) Two years (b) Twenty years (c) Fifty years (d) Five years -
12.Grandma Sushila could not read the small letters in her newspaper. Her glasses had broken last week. Her grandson Dev had an idea. Every morning before school, he read the news aloud to her. Grandma listened and asked many questions. Dev learned new words and began to read faster. After a month, Grandma got new glasses. But she still asked Dev to read to her on Sundays.
When did Dev read the news to her? (a) After dinner (b) Before school (c) At lunch time (d) At night
Answer key
- His grandfather
- The water rose high
- To escape the heat
- King Mahabali
- Eleven
- West Bengal
- Odisha
- Chalk and slates
- Arun
- Under the street lamp
- Twenty years
- Before school
Free reading comprehension lessons, practice and worksheets at talentjr.in/reading-comprehension