English Language and Comprehension

Directions (Q. 1–9): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words/phrases are given in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions. I was ten years old then, and my brother, Nick, was fourteen. For both of us this buying of a gift our mother on Mother's daywas a time of excitement and great imprtance.

It was our first gift to her. We were very poor. It was just after the first World War and we lived in difficult times of trouble. Our father worked now sometimes as a waiter. Birthday and Christmas gifts were taken care of by him as well as he could, but such a thing as a mother's day gift was out-of-theordinary luxury. But we had been lucky, Nick and myself. A second hand furniture store had opened on the block, and deliveries were made by means of loading the furniture on a wobbly pushcart, which we carefully pushed through traffic, to the customer's home. We got a nickel each and, perhaps, a tip.

I remember how Nick's thin, dark face lighted up with the joy of the present. He had first thought of it in shool; and the thought of surprise and giving grew in him, and myself, andwe were highly excited.When, we secretly told our father, he was very pleased. He stroked our heads proudly. "It's a fine idea", he said. "It will make your mother very happy". From his town, we knew what he was thinking. He had given our mother very little in their life together. She worked all day, cooking and buying, looking after us in illness and stoking the stove in the kitchen with wood and coal to keep us warm in winter. She did her own washing of the family clothes in the bath tub. And she did all these things silently. She did not laugh much, but when she smiled at us it was a beautiful thingwell worth waiting for.

1. How old is the narrator, the one who is telling you the story and how old is Nick?(1) Fourteen years and ten years.
(2) Ten years and fourteen years.
(3) Fourteen years and thirteen years.
(4) Thirteen years and fourteen years.

2. Why were the narrator and his brother excited?(1) Because they were going to give a gift to theirmother.
(2) It was their first gift.
(3) They were learning French.
(1) Only (1) and
(2) (2) Only (2) and (3)
(3) Only (1) and (3)
(4) Only (1)

3. Nick came to know aboutMother's day at .......(1) Home
(2) Office
(3) The shop
(4) School

4. To whom did the boys tell their secret?(1) to their mother
(2) to their master
(3) to their father
(4) to their teacher

5. How do you know that the narrator's family was poor?(1) they live in difficult times
(2) father worked as a waiter
(3) father worked only sometimes
(4) giving gifts was a luxury
(1) (1) and (2)
(2) (2) and (3)
(3) (3) and (4)
(4) All the above

6. What work did the two boys do?(1) They delivered the furniture.
(2) They work in Mines.
(3) They worked as waiters.
(4) They worked as labourers.

7. According to the given passage, what work did the father do?(1) Heworked as a teacher.
(2) He worked as a waiter.
(3) He worked as an artist
(4) Heworked as an intelligent artisan.

8. Which sentence tells us that Nick was very happy at the thought of giving his mother a gift?(1) Hetook advice of his brother happily.
(2) His face had lighted up with the joy of the present.
(3) Heworked when he was merely ten years old.
(4) He encouraged his brother to bring a gift.

9. Which of the following is NOT TRUE?(1) The mother was a lazy woman.
(2) Their fatherworked sometimes as awaiter.
(3) Brithday and Christmas gifts were taken care of by them.
(4) Nick and his brother had been very lucky.

Directions (Q. 10): Choose the word/group of wordswhich is most nearly the SAME inmeaning as the word given in CAPITALS as used in the passage.

10. OUT-OF THE ORDINARY LUXURY(1) something for sadness and not common.
(2) something for enjoyment and not need; not common.
(3) something dirty.
(4) something indifferent to social problems.

Answer

1. (4) 2. (1) 3. (4) 4. (3) 5. (4) 6. (1) 7. (2) 8. (2) 9. (1) 10. (2)