Directions (1-5): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.

David Copperfield was born in a village in England. His father had died six months before he was born. David’s mother looked after him well. He was sent to the best school in the village. When David was six years old, his mother married a man by the name of Murdstone. Murdstone did not like David and David did not like Murdstone. Murdstone disliked David so much that he decided to send him to a boarding school. Next day, much to the displeasure of his mother, David’s bags were packed, and he was sent off.

He was in boarding school for two years, when he got the news that his mother had died. He hurried home to find his stepfather seated on a chair, glaring at him. Murdstone said, “Your mother is dead; I have no money to fund your education; you have to start earning. Tomorrow you will leave for London.” So, at the age of ten, David Copperfield was in the streets of London with no money, food or shelter. He remembered his mother having told him that in Dover lived his aunt, his father’s sister. David had never seen her. He walked to Dover to his aunt’s house.

It was morning by the time David reached his aunt’s house. Her name was Miss Trotwood. She was in the garden, when she saw a ragged boy looking at her. She asked, “What is it boy? What do you want?” David said, “I am David Copperfield, your nephew.” He told her everything. Miss Trotwood took David inside, gave him a hot water bath and some food. As days went by, Miss Trotwood put David in a good school and looked after him fondly. Miss Trotwood had a friend, Wickerden, who had a daughter Agnes. David and Agnes became great friends.

Wickerden was a rich lawyer; he had a habit of drinking every night before he went to sleep. His assistant, Micawber, was a dishonest man. He would get valuable documents signed by Wickerden in his drunken state. David would often visit the Wickerden house. One day David happened to see Micawber getting some papers signed by Wickerden. He did not trust Micawber. He asked to see the documents. Micawber said, “David, these papers are related to work and would make no sense to you.” But, David insisted.

When David saw the papers, he realized that Micawber was getting documents signed that would make him a partner in Wickerden’s firm. David had Micawber arrested for deception. Wickerden was happy that David had caught the dishonest Micawber. Agnes too thanked David for saving her father from ruin. A few years later David and Agnes, who were in love with each other, were married. They lived happily for a long time.

1. Which of the following is NOT true as per the passage?
I. David often visited the Wickerden house because he was suspicious about Micawber.
II. David Copperfield went to his aunt’s house because he had no money.
III. At the first sight of Agnes, David fell in love with her.

Ans: 4
The 4th sentence of the 4th paragraph says that “David would often visit the Wickerden house,” but apart from this, nowhere in the passage, has anything been stated in reference to the pretext of David’s visit to the Wickerden house. (I) is not true.The 4th and the 3rd to last sentences of the 2nd paragraph – “So, at the age of ten, David Copperfield was in the streets of London with no money, food or shelter. He remembered his mother having told him that in Dover lived his aunt, his father’s sister” conforms to what (II) is stating. (II) is true.

2. What was Micawber trying to achieve by getting Wickerden to sign the papers?

Ans: 2
The opening sentence of the last paragraph – “When David saw the papers, he realized that Micawber was getting documents signed that would make him a partner in Wickerden’s firm” makes option B the clear answer here. None of the other options have been given in the passage.

3. How did David Copperfield reach his aunt’s house?

Ans: 3
The closing sentence of the 2nd paragraph – “He walked to Dover to his aunt’s house” makes option C the correct answer. None of the other options have been given in the passage.

4. How did David’s mother die?

Ans: 5
The opening sentence of the 2nd paragraph – “He was in boarding school for two years, when he got the news that his mother had died” talks about David’s mother’s death. Now, it can be seen in the passage that the reason for her death has not been outlined anywhere. Also, none of the options have been given in the passage. Hence, option E will be the correct answer.

5. Which of the following is the closest antonym of ‘ragged’, as used in the passage?

Ans: 2
‘Ragged’ means rough, torn or untidy. The opposite of untidy will be ‘tidy’, making option B the correct answer.

Directions (6-10): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.

Long ago, in England in Sherwood forest, lived Robin Hood. As a boy, Robin had been cheated by a few noblemen and since then he had decided that he would not spare the rich. He would rob the rich and give to the poor. The Sheriff of Nottingham had placed many rewards for the capture of Robin Hood but nobody had ever caught him. Robin Hood had a number of men who served him; they had made him their leader. They acted as informers and would warn Robin Hood whenever the Sheriff had any new plan to catch him.

The rich were scared of going through Sherwood Forest because they knew Robin Hood would attack. The pressure mounted on the Sheriff of Nottingham to capture Robin Hood. He went to take the help of the king. The king refused to send any of his men to help in the capture of Robin Hood. Finally, the Sheriff thought of a plan. “Let us have a competition to choose the best shooter in Nottingham. Robin Hood cannot resist such a competition. He will surely come and when he does, my guards will capture him,” he told his noblemen. All of them agreed.

Now, Robin Hood was an excellent shooter; there was none better than him with a bow and arrow in the whole of Nottingham. And Robin Hood could surely not resist taking part in any competition to prove that he was the best. Robin Hood’s loyal men dissuaded him. “Robin, this competition is being held to trap you,” said one of the men. “It would be foolish to talk into the lion’s den,” said another. But Robin Hood was not willing to listen. So, the next day all arrangements for the competition were made. The crowds were all seated and ten contestants were there.

The Sheriff turned to one of the guards and asked in a whisper, “Has Robin come?” “No, Your Highness, Robin has red hair. None of the contestants have red hair.” The Sheriff said, “He must be scared.” The competition began. William, the Sheriff’s man, who had also participated and another man in a green outfit were vying for the first prize, a golden arrow, after ten rounds. It was time for the last arrow to be shot; the winner of this round would be declared the best shooter in Nottingham. William took aim first and shot; it was very close to the center. The Sheriff applauded. “Good shot, William,” he said. Then it was the turn of the man in green; he let go of his arrow.

The crowd cheered hysterically. It went through William’s arrow and bull’s eye. And within a flash the man in green let go of two more arrows which came flying towards the chair on which the Sheriff sat and stuck on either side of it. The Sheriff was stunned. The man in green was none other than Robin Hood. Before the Sheriff recovered, he pulled off his black wig, threw it in the ground, jumped over a wall on to his waiting horse and was gone. “Get him, you fools. That is Robin Hood,” shouted the helpless Sheriff, but it was too late. Robin Hood had escaped again.

6. Which of the following will be true as per the passage?
I. The sheriff of Nottingham wanted the help of the king because he was scared to face Robinhood alone.
II. Robinhood used a black wig to hide his red hair, because he didn’t want to get recognized.
III. A number of poor men who served Robinhood, made him their leader.

Ans: 2
The 2nd and 3rd sentences of the 2nd paragraph – “The pressure mounted on the Sheriff of Nottingham to capture Robin Hood. He went to take the help of the king,” is where the context of the question lies. It can be noticed, that the author has not outlined the reason as to why the sheriff was seeking the help of the king. This negates (I).The context of Robinhood’s hair has been mentioned at a couple of places in the passage – the 2nd sentence of the 4th paragraph – “No, Your Highness, Robin has red hair” and the 3rd sentence of the last paragraph – “And within a flash the man in green let go of two more arrows which came flying towards the chair on which the Sheriff sat and stuck on either side of it.” Now, although it’s not explicitly mentioned that the wig was a result of him trying not to get recognized, the passage indicates towards this reasoning. (II) will be true.

Contained in the 2nd to last sentence of the opening paragraph – “Robin Hood had a number of men who served him; they had made him their leader,” it can be clearly seen that nowhere it’s mentioned that the men who served him were “poor”. (III) will not be true.

Since, only (II) is true here, option B will be the correct answer.

7. What was the pretext of the shooting competition conducted by the sheriff?

Ans: 3
The answer is contained in the 3rd to last sentence of the 2nd paragraph – “Robin Hood cannot resist such a competition.” This makes option C the most obvious choice. None of the other options are contained anywhere in the passage, for them to be correct. Hence, option C will be the correct answer.

8. What stunned the sheriff?

Ans: 5
Given in the 3rd sentence of the last paragraph – “And within a flash the man in green let go of two more arrows which came flying towards the chair on which the Sheriff sat and stuck on either side of it,” option E can be clearly deduced from it. Apart from this, options A, B and C are also correct, but they were not the reason that stunned the sheriff. Hence, option E will be the correct answer.

9. Why the king refused to help the Sheriff?

Ans: 5
The context of the question is contained in the 4th sentence of the 2nd paragraph – “The king refused to send any of his men to help in the capture of Robin Hood.” Now, E will be the correct answer here as the passage does not mention the reason as to why the king did not help the sheriff.

10. Which of the following is the closest synonym of ‘dissuade’, as used in the passage?

Ans: 1
Except option A, all the other options are antonyms of ‘dissuade’, and they largely mean to cause/ask (someone) to do something through reasoning or argument. Dissuade means preventing (someone) from taking a particular course of action, which is the same with ‘discourage’ as well. Hence, option A will be the correct answer.

Directions:(1-10) Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.

What else can be more resembling, embarrassing and ironic than the use of animals as characters entangled by the worst enemies of human emotions- stupidity, jealousy, ego centrism, being intriguing, and all other despicable acts that are contrary to animals. In this story, the ‘animal kingdom; is equated to an office, or a workplace and the animals that man this place are the employees.

Once there was a lion who headed a small department in the animal kingdom. He reported directly to the CEO. The CEO was an elephant (the largest animal on land). The management had total confidence and trust on the lion-a solitary animal that has a high pedigree of sharpness and famed for being very meticulous. The lion, thanking the management for their trust on him, worked inter-dependently and diligently, carrying out the organization’s vision, mission, policies and expectations.

The lion was a tireless worker who knew his job over the finger tips. His decision-making skills, excellent rapport with his colleagues, management style, simplicity, practical solutions and client-oriented preferences and priorities were the envy of many. His writing skills were exceptional that the CEO will initiate, execute actions for damage control, if any, at the first reading.

The lion thrived on nothing but integrity, loyalty, hard work and ownership. The management was more than satisfied with the lion’s competency, hence decided to offer him a raise. With that, the lion was on cloud nine. The recognition and the positive appraisal spurred him to work even harder.

Meanwhile, there were some who envied the achievement of the lion and decided to seek an audience with the CEO. They demanded that the lion be placed under scrutiny, meaning to have a superior above him to report the successes to the CEO instead. The CEO, being oblivious to the ‘depth’ of the request, assigned a fox, yes, the same old cunning animal that we all knew from our childhood folklore reading.

The lion, still unperturbed by the presence of the sly fox, carried on his duties in the same manner as prior to the appointment of his new Head. As time went by, the fox began to micromanage the lion’s work. Micromanagement, in stinking office politics, is a subtle name for interference. The fox began to over-shadow the lion in most decision-making areas and other department matters. The fox even carried tales to the CEO, maliciously character assassinating the lion.

The plot orchestrated by the fox became habitual, hence the beginning of a hellish- nightmare for the lion. The lion had lost all its ‘natural instincts’-being focused, target-oriented, problem solver, a go-getter and other strengths as his focus radar was now turned towards on ‘how to manage the fox’ rather than his department. The lion has lost all interest. His family life was also affected as he now brings office tales; ‘The Tales of Lost Tooth’ back home. The lion had lost all sense of direction. He was at his wits’ end.

The management took note of the sudden decline and re-deployed the lion to an area very unfamiliar to him. The root cause for this decline was neither found-out by the management nor were they interested in doing so. The fox took over the helm. That closed the chapter of the lion. Soon after, the lion left the organization.

‘The Lion is King only when it lives in the Jungle’. If this deserved privilege is ripped off from him, he is just a cat, like any other cat.
The above story is a dilemma faced by many talented employees in most employment. How many of us had faced a top-brass like the elephant? How many foxes do we know roaming within our office fraternity? How many of us have become a victim just like the lion?
Life is an analysis of events and purpose around us. Obviously, moving on is an option but characters like the fox is abound, aplenty everywhere. They are like shadows, stalking us all the time. Some might want to seek God’s favour but assertively speaking, God must be loving these fox like characters very much because there are just too many of them. Whom are we to blame? What is the solution? Is there one, in the first place? The solution lies in the hands of all those who work like the lion.

My since apologies to all the animals in the real animal kingdom for equating you with humans. Never, not even in the near future, will we, humans be able to emulate your purposeful life of not only preserving your sustainability but also all those surrounding you.

1. What is the author’s main purpose behind writing this passage?

Ans:4
A is incorrect. Instead the author regards animals to better than humans in the context of morality.
B is also incorrect. He doesn’t warns his readers to be aware of fox like characters. Rather he is illustrating the plight of ‘lion’ like employees.
Option C is very vague and is open to many interpretations.
E is also incorrect as the author never states that there is no place for hard working employees in corporations.
Through the story, the author illustrates how presence of a fox, which is a euphemism for dirty office politics, affects the performance of a talented and successful employee as the lion. He tries to explain the dilemma faced by many ‘lion’ like employees.
This is best captured by option D.

2. Why did the lion’s performance get poorer?
I: Due to the micromanagement done by the fox.
II: Due to the Lion’s inability to adapt to the new structure.
III: He focussed more on fox than on his work.
IV: His family being affected by the office tales.

Ans:3
Before answering the question, we should note that the author never criticizes Lion throughout the passage. Lion is living embodiment of honesty, loyalty, and hard work. The change in his performance comes due to the negative environment around him.
In the sixth para, the author says that the micromanagement done by fox resulted in the lion being focussed more on managing fox rather than managing his tasks. This resulted in the lion losing all his ‘natural instincts’-being focused, target-oriented, problem solver, a go-getter and other strengths. This resulted in his poor performance.
The author never mentions that the Lion was inefficient in adapting to the new structure.
Also, it cannot be inferred from the passage that the lion’s family being affected resulted in his poor performance. Thus, I and III are correct.
So, C is the correct answer.

3. Which of the following best describes the character of the fox according to the story?

Ans:2
A and E can both be eliminated straightforwardly as it was none of the fox’s work responsibilities to take the lion down.
C is also incorrect as it is not mentioned in the passage that the fox pretended to be the Lion’s friend.
D is also correct as it was not in the organization’s better good to lose a hard-working and loyal employee.
B correctly summarizes the fox’s character as mentioned in the passage.

4. What does the author means when he says ‘seek an audience’ in the fifth para?

Ans: 1
If you have an audience with someone important it means that you have a formal meeting with them. Among the option only A expresses this meaning.
Thus, A is the correct answer to choose.

5. Why did the author use animals to make his point?

Ans: 5
The passage starts with “What else can be more resembling, embarrassing and ironic than the use of animals as characters entangled by the worst enemies of human emotions- stupidity, jealousy, ego centrism, being intriguing, and all other despicable acts that are contrary to animals”
And ends with “My since apologies to all the animals in the real animal kingdom for equating you with humans. Never, not even in the near future, will we, humans be able to emulate your purposeful life of not only preserving your sustainability but also all those surrounding you.”
So, it is clear that the author thinks that now the life of animals is more purposeful than humans. Throughout the passage, the author tries to convey that our corporate culture is inefficient and consists of dirty politics where good employees such as lion are shunted out of the system.
Thus, by using animals as an example, the author is trying to insult and embarrass the whole corporate culture to make them realize the inefficiencies present in the system.
This is mentioned in none of the options. Thus, E is the correct answer.

6. Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the word ‘despicable’ as used in the passage?

Ans:4
‘Despicable’ means morally reprehensible or deserving hatred and contempt.
Among the options only ‘contemptible’ is a negative word which means the same as ‘despicable’.
Thus, D is the correct answer.

7. Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the word ‘unperturbed’ as used in the passage?

Ans:2
‘Unperturbed’ means someone who is free from emotional agitation or nervous tension.
Among the options, ‘riled’ and ‘anxious’ means exactly opposite to it.
The only word that expresses a similar meaning is ‘composed’.
Thus, B is the correct answer.

8. Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the word ‘emulate’ as used in the passage?

Ans:1
‘Emulate’ means match or surpass, typically by imitation.
We can see that among the options, only A ‘imitate’ expresses a meaning similar to it.
Thus, A is the correct answer.

9. Which of the following is the opposite in meaning to the word ‘meticulous’ as used in the passage?

Ans:3
‘Meticulous’ means showing great attention to detail; very careful and precise.
Among the options, only ‘careless’ expresses a meaning which is opposite to it.
Thus, C is the correct answer.

10. Which of the following is the opposite in meaning to the word ‘oblivious’ as used in the passage?

Ans:5
‘Oblivious’ means lacking conscious or awareness.
Among the options only attentive means opposite to it.
Thus, E is the correct answer.
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13 thoughts on “Reading Comprehension for Bank Exams, MBA, SSC and other exams”

  2. KSHITIJA Mishra

    Content relevant for rrb po
    Level and structure is same as banking exams ask for.
    Heartily thanks to the hardworking team who provided this content😊 🙏😇

  3. Kshitija Mishra

    Content relevant for rrb po
    Level and structure is same as banking exams ask for.
    Heartily thanks to the hardworking team who provided this content😊 🙏😇
    Thank you

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