Comprehension tests help to gain knowledge from the information shared in the passage, develop a good vocabulary, review the author’s ideas, form an opinion on the facts or information in the passage, and understand the passage stylistically.
Introducing a curated selection of over 25 Comprehension Tests accompanied by detailed explanations, outcome analysis, and time tracking.
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Comprehension Tests
Comprehension Test #1
You may already be aware of the importance of eating a king-size breakfast every morning. Do you understand why? Because you haven’t eaten for about 8-10 hours, your body is hungry in the morning. Breakfast is thus the first meal of the day, and thus the most important. Consider driving without gas; This is how your body feels when it lacks the fuel provided by a nutritious breakfast. Nowadays many people skip breakfast to lose weight. Nutritionists are alarmed by this trend, as it is mandatory to eat breakfast within two hours of waking up.
Comprehension Test #2
Christmas is one of the most famous and light-hearted festivals which is celebrated across the world by billions of people. People of the Christian religion celebrate Christmas to remember the great works of Jesus Christ. 25th December is celebrated as Christmas Day across the world. Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the birth anniversary of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ of Bethlehem was a spiritual leader and prophet whose teachings structured the premise of their religion. People follow popular customs including exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, attending church, sharing meals with family and friends, and, obviously, trusting that Santa Claus will arrive. 25th December, Christmas Day, has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1870.
Comprehension Test #3
Hermes is a Greek Olympian, god. Born to Zeus and Maya, Hermes is known for his quick thinking and cunning nature. He is the youngest of the Olympians and known for moving quickly between the divine and mortal worlds. Because of this power, Hermes often acted as a messenger between the men and the Olympians. A benevolent god, Hermes protects travelers and athletes. He is also known as mischievous as he often plays tricks on other gods. He does this for his own amusement or to save people from the wrath of the gods.
Hermes is also the fastest of all the gods because he has wings with his sandals. Interestingly, even when Hermes was a child he could not resist the urge to steal. Therefore, he is also credited as the patron god of all thieves.
Comprehension Test #4
Atoms of radioactive elements can split. According to Albert Einstein, mass and energy are interchangeable under certain circumstances. When atoms split, the process is called nuclear fission. In this case, a small amount of mass is converted into energy. Thus the energy released cannot do much damage. However, several subatomic particles called neutrons are also emitted during this process.
Each neutron will hit a radioactive element releasing more neutrons in the process. This causes a chain reaction and creates a large amount of energy. This energy is converted into heat which expands uncontrollably causing an explosion. Hence, atoms do not literally explode. They generate energy that can cause explosions.
Comprehension Test #5
Like Mahatma Gandhi, African leader Nelson Mandela battled against the oppression of the South African people by whites. He received a legal lawyer education. However, he joined the African National Congress and dedicated himself to the goal of achieving equality among all Africans—white and black—by fighting against the policy of apartheid, or the segregation of the black native Africans from all positions of power and privilege. Instead of living comfortably and in luxury as a successful lawyer, he did the opposite. Mandela was sentenced to life in jail by the reactionary South African government in 1962.
Mandela was finally released from jail on February 11, 1990, after 27 years and 9 months of imprisonment, as a result of other African National Congress leaders’ ongoing fight for freedom. Nelson Mandela became the first black African to hold the office of President of the Republic of South Africa when the African National Congress won the general election on the basis of the universal adult franchise that had been implemented by the administration of President F.D.H. Clarke.
Mandela’s greatness stems not only from his success in convincing the white South African government to abolish the hateful and inhuman apartheid, but also from his inspiring call to blacks not to seek vengeance on whites for past acts of tyranny, injustice, and exploitation.
Comprehension Test #6
Child labor has been quite a problem down the ages. Child labor means the labor done by children below the age of eighteen. Employing little boys and girls not only saves money but also helps the employer avoid labor unrest. Young boys and girls can be paid lesser wages and they do not form unions to realize demands for higher pay.
The types of work children have to do are many and various. In tea stalls and small hotels, they clean the utensils, mop the floors, and serve at the table. In garages, they wash the cars, buses, and lorries. The female children serve as maid-servants in various families. Though child labor is a cruel practice it saves many families from starvation. The income of the adult members of these families is not sufficient even for their hand-to-mouth living. If the children do not work to supplement their income, the families will have to starve. So simply banning the use of child labor could not solve the problem.
In recent times the government of India has become aware of the evils of the system. But it can be hard to do away with it all of a sudden. Abolition of the employment of child labor must be preceded by a process of improving the economic condition of the families concerned. Proper methods should be adopted so that the children are educated and not sent to workplaces that destroy both the body and the soul of these unfortunate creatures.
Comprehension Test #7
Long ago, a village faced famine, and hunger became a terrible problem. In the village lived a kind-hearted rich man who cared deeply for the people. Seeing their suffering, he decided to provide bread to feed them daily. Every day, children gathered outside his house, eagerly waiting for loaves of bread. But when the servants brought out the bread, chaos erupted. Kids fought and pushed to get their share, except for one little girl.
This girl stood apart from the commotion. Patiently, she waited her turn and always chose the smallest loaf, even though it meant waiting till the end. The rich man noticed her and admired her patience. He wanted to reward her. He placed some money inside the smallest loaf of bread the following day.
As usual, the girl received the smallest loaf. When she was about to eat it, she discovered two hundred rupees inside. She believed it was a mistake and thought of returning the money to the rich man. Although she was hungry, her honesty guided her actions. She promptly returned the money to the rich man.
Impressed by her integrity, the rich man was pleased. He not only gave her two hundred rupees but also an additional two hundred rupees as a reward. The story teaches us that being honest and patient can lead to rewards of their own.
Comprehension Test #8
There was an old tiger who used to be cruel and eat humans when he was young. But as he grew old and weak, he couldn’t hunt for food anymore and suffered from hunger. He had a gold bangle, which he kept with him while sitting in an open area in the forest.
One day, he saw a man passing by on the road and called out to him, saying he had a good bangle to give away. The tiger told the man not to be afraid and that he now prayed to God five times a day, hoping that it would be useful to him. The tiger said that the bangle was of no use to him and would be helpful to the man.
The man was simple and religious, and he believed in the tiger. He thought that he could help a poor man with the gold bangle. He went close to the tiger to receive it. But the wicked tiger caught him by the neck and killed him. The moral of the story is to never trust the wicked.
Comprehension Test #9
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time’s waste:
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death’s dateless night,
And weep afresh love’s long since cancelled woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanished sight:
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o’er
The sad account of fore-bemoanèd moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored and sorrows end…..by William Shakespeare
Comprehension Test #10
Once, a king named Midas helped a Satyr, and as a reward, he got a wish from Dionysus, the god of wine. Midas asked that everything he touched should turn into gold. Although Dionysus tried to discourage him, Midas insisted, and his wish was granted. Happy with his new power, Midas touched various things, turning them into gold.
But soon, he felt hungry and tried to eat. Unfortunately, the food turned into gold in his hands. Midas realized his mistake and exclaimed, “I’ll starve! Maybe this wasn’t a good wish after all!” His daughter tried to comfort him, but when he touched her, she turned into gold too. Midas finally understood that the golden touch was not a blessing, and he was filled with sorrow.
Comprehension Test #11
If it is not my portion to meet thee in this life
then let me ever feel that I have missed thy sight
—let me not forget for a moment,
let me carry the pangs of this sorrow in my dreams
and in my wakeful hours.
As my days pass in the crowded market of this world
and my hands grow full with the daily profits,
let me ever feel that I have gained nothing
—let me not forget for a moment,
let me carry the pangs of this sorrow in my dreams
and in my wakeful hours.
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When I sit by the roadside, tired and panting,
when I spread my bed low in the dust,
let me ever feel that the long journey is still before me
—let me not forget a moment,
let me carry the pangs of this sorrow in my dreams
and in my wakeful hours.
When my rooms have been decked out and the flutes sound
and the laughter there is loud,
let me ever feel that I have not invited thee to my house
—let me not forget for a moment,
let me carry the pangs of this sorrow in my dreams
and in my wakeful hours-……………..Rabindranath Tagore
Comprehension Test #12
After his father Bindusara, Ashoka became king. When he became king, he called himself Devanamapriya (loved by the Gods) and Priyadarshi (the beautiful one). He ruled until 232 BC. Kalinga was in an important place. It was at the center of routes for trade and pilgrimages. So, Ashoka wanted to take control of it. In 261 BC, there was a big fight called the Kalinga War.
According to Megasthenes, Kalinga had a strong army. Ashoka had a hard time fighting them. He won over Kalinga, but a lot of people died in the war, about 150,000. This war changed Ashoka a lot and had big effects on him.
The sadness and deaths caused by the war changed Ashoka’s life a lot. He gave up the policy of conquest by force. After the war, Ashoka decided not to hunt or eat meat on some days. He also abandoned the life of luxury. Ashoka was inspired by the ideas of Buddhism. So, he made Buddhism the main religion in his kingdom.
People captured during the war were made to work on farms. This increased the productivity of the land and brought economic prosperity to the empire. Ashoka decided to stop fighting in wars and believed in not hurting anyone. This made the Mauryan army less strong.
After winning over Kalinga, Ashoka’s empire became much bigger. It went from the northwest Hindukush Mountains to the southern River Pennar. His empire also included the parts of Nepal, Kabul, Heart, and Kandahar provinces in the west.
Comprehension Test #13
The Constitution of India safeguards the independence of the judiciary through various means:
Appointment of Supreme Court judges involves consultation with the President, Prime Minister, Cabinet, and other judges from the Supreme Court and High Court, ensuring participation from both the executive and judiciary. Removal of a judge is a rigorous process, requiring proven misbehavior or incapacity. The President addresses charges against the judge before both Houses of Parliament, necessitating a two-thirds majority in both Houses for removal through impeachment. A judge can serve until the age of 65 and can only be removed through the impeachment process.
The salaries and allowances of judges are drawn from the Consolidated Fund of India and cannot be diminished to their disadvantage. Judges are free to deliver their decisions without fear of public or press criticism. The Highest Court has the power to punish individuals for contempt if they refuse to abide by the court’s decisions.
Parliament cannot engage in discussions or debates regarding a judge’s conduct or their court decisions. After retirement, judges are not allowed to continue practicing law to prevent any potential influence on their former colleagues in the judiciary.
Comprehension Test #14
An underdeveloped economy is characterized by low per capita income and a low standard of living for its people. The majority of the population lives below the poverty line. Consequently, people in this economy live in miserable conditions. In most underdeveloped economies, the population growth rate is very high as compared to other economies. Also, because of improved medical facilities, the mortality rate among all sections of society is reduced. As a result, as the population increases, the consumption of limited resources also increases, resulting in less saving of resources and a slower growth rate.
For many underdeveloped economies enriched with large and sufficient resources, most of these resources remain underutilized because of a lack of skilled personnel and technology. Underdeveloped economies suffer from widespread unemployment. Because of various reasons, such as rapid population growth and lack of investment, unemployment prevails in such an economy. Inequality in the distribution of income is prevalent in these economies. As a large part of the national income goes to smaller sections of society, the larger sections of society have to be satisfied with whatever part of income is available to them.
Comprehension Test #15
Human evolution has been a remarkable journey, extensively studied using various tools like excavations, carbon dating, fossil analysis, and DNA sequencing to trace evolutionary relationships.
The diversity in the human body and its features has always been vast.
Research indicates that early Homo sapiens originated in Africa. Over a hundred years ago, some of our ancestors migrated from Africa, while others remained. Thus, regardless of our current locations, all human species can be traced back to Africa. The earliest human fossils include Australopithecus, followed by Homo habilis, H. erectus, H. heidelbergensis, and eventually modern-day Homo sapiens.
Around 25-30 million years ago, hominoid stock began transitioning from tree-dwelling to ground-dwelling creatures, leading to the evolution of apes and humans.
The separation between apes and human ancestors is estimated to have started around 5 million years ago, which eventually led to the development of the Pongidae (apes) and Hominidae (humans) families.
Comprehension Test #16
Mahatma Gandhi was born in 1869 at Porbandar in the Kathiawar district of Gujarat. He went to England in 1888 to study Law. From 1893 to 1914, he practiced law in South Africa. He witnessed racial discrimination in South Africa and soon became the leader of a struggle against racist authorities in the country. He formed the Natal Indian Congress to fight against the racist policies of the South African government. It was here that the unique technique of Satyagraha evolved. Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha was based on truth and nonviolence.
Mahatma Gandhi returned to India in January 1915 and made an extensive tour of the country in the next three years. In 1917 and 1918, he was involved in three significant struggles in Champaran (Bihar), Ahmedabad, and Kheda in Gujarat.
Comprehension Test #17
Education is an essential part of our life. It not only helps us acquire knowledge and skills but also helps in building our character and values. Education plays an important role in our personal and professional development and is an investment in our future. Education is an essential part of our life. It not only helps us acquire knowledge and skills but also helps in building our character and values. Education plays an important role in our personal and professional development and is an investment in our future.
Education has many benefits. It helps us understand the world around us and think critically and creatively. It also gives us the skills we need to succeed in the workforce and contribute to our communities Education can open up new opportunities and give us a sense of accomplishment and self-satisfaction.
Additionally, education helps promote equality and social mobility. It gives individuals the tools and knowledge they need to rise out of poverty and achieve their full potential. Education is also a key factor in reducing discrimination and promoting understanding and tolerance between different cultures and groups. In short, education is an important part of our lives and has the power to transform individuals and communities.
Comprehension Test #18
The All India Congress Committee met in Mumbai on 8 August 1942 and passed the Quit India Movement which was adopted at Wardha in July 1942. Before the movement could start, the government arrested Gandhi and other prominent Congress leaders and declared the party illegal. Strikes and demonstrations were organized all over the country. People attacked the symbols of British rule such as post offices, police stations, and railway stations.
In many towns of Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Odisha, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh, people set up a parallel government. Some popular leaders of the movement were Aruna Asaf Ali, Jai Prakash Narayanan, Ram Manohar Lohia, and Nana Patil. These leaders kept the movement alive despite the brutal suppression by the government. The government intended to crush the movement. The press was censored and the protesting crowds were fired upon and even bombarded.
About ten thousand people were killed and sixty thousand were arrested by the government by the end of 1942. The military was deployed in many villages and towns. It has been said that India had not witnessed such kind of repression since the Revolt of 1857. In the end, the government successfully crushed the movement.
Comprehension Test #19
The Roman Empire was one of the greatest and most influential civilizations in world history. At its height, it spanned three continents and included more than 50 million people. The Romans were known for their military prowess, their sophisticated system of government, and their impressive architectural achievements, including the construction of roads, aqueducts, and public buildings.
The Roman Republic, which lasted from the 6th century BC to the 1st century BC, was a model of governance that influenced many later civilizations. It was a federal system of government that divided power between the Roman Senate and the People’s Assembly.
In the 1st century BC, the Roman Republic was replaced by the Roman Empire, which was ruled by a dictator called the Roman Emperor. The Roman Empire saw the construction of many impressive buildings and the expansion of the Roman military. However, it has also seen numerous internal conflicts, including the rise of various factions vying for power.
Despite these challenges, the Roman Empire was able to endure for more than five centuries, until it finally collapsed in the 5th century. Today, the legacy of the Roman Empire can be seen in the many cultural and architectural achievements it left behind.
Comprehension Test #20
A commercial bank is a financial institution that provides services such as accepting deposits, giving business loans, mortgage lending, and basic investment products such as savings accounts and certificates of deposit. The commercial bank is also called a joint-stock bank because it is organized on the lines of joint-stock companies. A commercial bank deals with money accepts deposits and advances short-term loans to traders. Its main aim is to earn profit and create demand deposits which serve as a medium of exchange.
A commercial bank helps traders and industrialists by providing financial assistance. Its cheques and drafts are useful for large-scale trading. It accepts deposits from people who have a surplus amount and provides loans to investors who are in need of productive activity. Thus, they encourage savings and promote production activities by investing in them. It helps in the distribution of surplus capital from regions where it is abundant and transfers it to a scarce region. It provides concessional loans to the priority sectors such as agriculture, small-scale industry, retail trade, and export.
Comprehension Test #21
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said:—Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter’d visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp’d on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock’d them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Comprehension Test #22
The athletes had come from all over the country
To run for the gold, for the silver and bronze
Many weeks and months of training
All coming down to these games.
The spectators gathered around the old field
To cheer on all the young women and men
The final event of the day was approaching
Excitement grew high to begin.
The blocks were all lined up for those who would use them
The hundred-yard dash and the race to be run
These were nine resolved athletes in back of the starting line
Poised for the sound of the gun.
The signal was given, the pistol exploded
And so did the runners all charging ahead
But the smallest among them, he stumbled and staggered
And fell to the asphalt instead.
He gave out a cry in frustration and anguish
His dreams and his efforts all dashed in the dirt
But as sure as I’m standing here telling this story
The same goes for what next occurred.
The eight other runners pulled up on their heels
The ones who had trained for so long to compete
One by one they all turned around and went back to help him
And brought the young boy to his feet. ——David Roth
Comprehension Test #23
It is important that you recognize the signs of stress in your behavior, and be healthy enough to enjoy your success. Stress can strike anytime, in a fashion that may leave you unaware of its presence in your life. While a certain amount of pressure is necessary for performance, it is important to be able to recognize your individual threshold. For instance, some individuals accept competition healthily. Others collapse into weeping wrecks before an exam or compare mark sheets and find that their mates have scored better.
Whenever there is a change in the external environment such as temperature, pollutants, humidity, and working conditions, it leads to stress. In these days of competition, when a person makes up his mind to surpass what others have achieved, leading to an imbalance between demands and resources causes psycho-social stress. It is a part and parcel of everyday life.
Stress has a different meaning depending on the stage of life you’re in. The loss of a toy or a reprimand from the parents might create a stress shock in a child. An adolescent who fails an examination may feel as if everything has been lost and life has no further meaning. In an adult, the loss of a companion, job, or professional failure may appear as if there is nothing more to be achieved.
Stress can be seen in the attitude and behavior of the individual, such as muscle tension in various parts of the body, palpitation and high blood pressure, indigestion, and hyperacidity, and ultimately in self-destructive behavior such as eating and drinking too much, smoking excessively, relying on tranquilizers, trembling, shaking, nervous blinking, dryness of throat and mouth and difficulty in swallowing. The professional under stress behaves as if he is a perfectionist followed by depression, lethargy, and weakness for further work. Periodic mood shifts also indicate the stress status of students, executives, and professionals.
Comprehension Test #24
The first two years of life are a critical ‘window of opportunity.’ In this period, it is possible to prevent the largely irreversible damage that follows early childhood undernutrition. There are 805 million undernourished people in the world today. That means one in nine people do not get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life.
Hunger and malnutrition are in fact the number one risk to health worldwide—greater than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. Three-quarters of all hungry people live in rural areas, mainly in the villages of Asia and Africa. An estimated 146 million children in developing countries are underweight—the result of acute or chronic hunger. Poverty trap, lack of investment in agriculture, natural calamities, war and displacement, unstable markets, and food wastage are the major causes for the presence of hunger in the world. Hunger leads to malnutrition, which in turn causes diseases. Malnutrition is the largest single, According to the UN’s Standing Committee on Nutrition (SCN), a contributor to disease in the world.
Malnutrition at an early age leads to reduced physical and mental development during childhood. According to the World Bank, India is one of the highest-ranking countries in the world for the number of children suffering from malnutrition. One of the major causes of malnutrition in India is gender inequality. Because of the low social status of Indian women, their diet often lacks in both quality and quantity. Women who suffer from malnutrition are less likely to have healthy babies. In India, mothers generally lack proper knowledge in feeding children. Consequently, newborn infants are unable to get an adequate amount of nutrition from their mothers.
Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Bihar have very high rates of undernutrition. Studies show that individuals belonging to Hindu, Jain, or Muslim backgrounds in India tend to be more malnourished than those from Sikh or Christian backgrounds. The Akshaya Patra Foundation runs the world’s largest NGO-run midday meal program serving freshly cooked meals to over 1.3 million schoolchildren in government and government-aided schools in India. However, the challenge for all these programs and schemes is how to increase efficiency, impact, and coverage.
Comprehension Test #25
In these trying times, when buying ordinary foodstuff can burn a hole in our pockets, comes the news that can actually help us save some hard cash when we go out to shop the next time. According to a Stanford University study, a first of its kind in the world, there is no evidence to suggest that there are more nutritional benefits from expensive organic food than those grown by conventional methods.
The researchers add that there is no difference in protein and fat content between organic and conventional milk and the vitamin count is similar in both types. The only benefit is that organic foods are not contaminated with pesticides, but then, before you chew on that plate of organic okra with roti made from organic wheat, they are not 100% pesticide-free either.
In India, organic food has been growing at 20–22% and the export market is valued at `1,000 crores. Obviously, the study is not good news for that sector and for people who are big on organic food.
In India, eating organic food is more of a style statement than due to health worries because the stuff is expensive. But people can, do indulge in not only organic vegetables but even organic eggs laid by ‘happy hens’, who are allowed to roam around freely, whereas ‘unhappy hens’ are kept in coops.
Then some companies have installed music channels in their cowsheds and the milk from those sheds is sold at a marked-up price since it has more nutritional value because the animals are happy thanks to lilting 24 × 7 music. We don‘t know yet of any farmer using music to improve his crop quality, but then you never know: plants are known to respond to music.
Why such pickiness about food? These days, the huge number of TV shows and articles that we see and read on food provide bread and butter for specialists. But instead of decoding food, its sources, and what has gone into growing it, isn‘t it much better to enjoy what‘s on the plate?
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