PASSAGE COMPREHENSION - 1

 

passage # 1

1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow : 8

1 The time Uncle Ken and I went for a walk and he insisted on going the zigzag way, I did the same. It was fun. But like all things to do with Uncle Ken, it landed us in a situation where we had to make a hasty exit. While we were being chased away by an irate man from his fields and were dashing away, Uncle Ken’s hat flew off. Later, when we had stopped panting, I remembered what Granny had said about looking at the funny side of situations and had a good laugh. Unfortunately, I don’t think Uncle Ken saw the lighter side at that moment.
2 It helps to have such an outlook on finding oneself in the oddest of circumstances. Like the time I was in Mumbai and my belt decided to have some fun by getting entangled with a fellow passenger’s luggage. After that, I sat quietly at the book festival I had been taken to attend, to keep my belt out of trouble. And it’s not just belts that get me into trouble. There was the time I was sharing a taxi to Delhi with a gentleman with a fierce moustache. He was carrying a book written by me with him. When I told him it was my book, he looked offended that I was trying to lay a claim to his property. I gave up on the conversation quickly and filed it away for future use in a story.
3 I have even been accused by some of my younger audience for being too funny. Once a girl asked me disapprovingly why my ghost stories are not scary enough. ‘‘Your ghosts are too funny,’’ she grumbled. So, I tried to write a few scary ghost stories. But I find benign, friendly ghosts just as delightful. So, I also wrote about my friend Jimmy, who discovered he was a jinn. That meant he could elongate his arms at will. This ensured that he had a starring role to play in the school basketball team. Mostly, I feel I have been able to live this life enjoying its small moments of happiness and been able to laugh when needed.

1 On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, answer any eight of the following questions : 1 X 8=8

(a) While on a walk, what did Uncle Ken insist on ?

(b) What happened when Uncle Ken was chased away from the field of an irate man ?

(c) How did Uncle Ken react to his hat flying off ?

(d) What was the oddest situation that the narrator had faced in Mumbai ?

(e) ‘I was trying to lay claim to his property.’ What is the ‘property’ referred to in this sentence ?

(f) What did the girl accuse the narrator of ?

(g) Why did Jimmy have a starring role to play in the school basketball team ?

(h) What kind of life did the narrator have ?

(i) Which word in paragraph 3 means the same as ‘harmless’ ?

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Answers : 

a) While on walk Uncle Ken insisted on going zigzag way.

b) Uncle Ken dashed out of the field, was panting and his hat flew off.

c) Uncle Ken did not see the lighter / funny side of the incident.

d) The oddest situation that the narrator had faced in Mumbai was his belt got entangled with fellow passenger’s luggage

e) The ‘property’ referred to in this sentence is the book that the gentleman was reading,  written by the narrator himself.

f) The girl accused the narrator of his ghosts were funny and not scary.

g) Jimmy had a starring role to play in the school basketball team because he could elongate his arms at will

h) The narrator lived his life to the fullest, enjoying its small moments of happiness

i) benign