English: Reading Comprehension – Passages with Solved Questions

1. Read the questions first, then the passage, so you know what to look for.
2. Find the main idea – usually in the first or last sentence of the passage.
3. For vocabulary questions, replace the word with each option and keep the one that fits the sentence.
4. For inference questions, choose the answer the passage suggests, not one you merely agree with.
5. Reject options that are too broad, too narrow, or that add information not in the passage.
6. For a title, pick the option that covers the whole passage, not one detail.

When the only school in Goth Allah Bux lost its second teacher, everyone expected Miss Rukhsana to request a transfer as well. Instead, she divided her single classroom into corners: one for reading, one for numbers and one for drawing. Older pupils helped younger ones, and every Friday parents were invited to see what their children had made. Within two years, enrolment had doubled, and three girls from the village had passed their matric examination – the first in its history. "A school is not its building," she often said. "It is the trust between a teacher and a village."

Vocabulary: enrolment – number of pupils registered; transfer – move to another post.

Questions and answers

• What did people expect Miss Rukhsana to do? – To ask for a transfer and leave the village.
• How did she manage several classes in one room? – She made learning corners and let older pupils help younger ones (peer tutoring).
• Why were parents invited on Fridays? – To see their children's work and build trust with the school.
• What does "doubled" tell us? – The number of pupils became twice as large.
• Main idea – A committed teacher can improve a school by building trust with the community.
• Suitable title – "The Teacher Who Stayed" or "A School Built on Trust."

Sindh depends almost entirely on the Indus for its water. Canals from the Sukkur, Guddu and Kotri barrages carry water to millions of acres of farmland. Yet a large share of this water is lost before it reaches the crops: earthen channels leak, and fields are often flooded far more than plants need. In the cities, leaking pipes and careless use waste even more. Experts suggest lining watercourses with bricks, levelling fields with laser equipment and using drip irrigation for orchards. These steps are not expensive compared with the cost of a future in which there is simply not enough water to share.

Vocabulary: lining – covering the inside surface; scarce – not enough.

Questions and answers

• Where does Sindh get most of its water? – From the River Indus, through canals from its barrages.
• Give two ways water is wasted on farms. – Leaking earthen channels and over-flooding fields.
• Name two solutions suggested. – Lining watercourses, laser land levelling, drip irrigation (any two).
• What is the writer's attitude? – Concerned but hopeful: the problem is serious, yet solutions are affordable.
• Main idea – Saving water now through simple methods is cheaper than facing future shortage.

Supporters of technology in schools argue that a single tablet can hold a whole library and that videos make difficult ideas easy to see. Critics reply that screens distract children, reduce face-to-face discussion and widen the gap between rich and poor schools. The truth may lie between the two. Technology is a tool, not a teacher. In the hands of a teacher who plans carefully, it can open windows on the world; without such planning, it becomes an expensive toy. The real question, therefore, is not whether schools should use technology but how wisely they use it.

Questions and answers

• What two benefits do supporters mention? – Access to many books on one device; videos make ideas easier to understand.
• State one objection of the critics. – Distraction, less discussion, or a wider gap between rich and poor schools.
• What does "technology is a tool, not a teacher" mean? – Technology is useful only when a teacher uses it with a clear purpose.
• What type of passage is this? – Argumentative/discursive – it presents both sides and reaches a balanced conclusion.
• Writer's conclusion – What matters is how wisely technology is used.

For months the empty plot beside the primary school in Hala had been a dumping ground. Plastic bags blew into the classrooms, and mosquitoes bred in pools of dirty water. One Saturday, the head teacher, a few parents and forty pupils arrived with gloves, sacks and spades. By evening the plot was clear. The union council sent a tractor to remove the rubbish, and a local nursery donated twenty neem saplings. Today the plot is a shady garden where pupils read during break. What began as one day's work taught the town a lasting lesson: shared problems need shared effort.

Questions and answers

• What problems did the plot cause? – Plastic blew into classrooms and mosquitoes bred in dirty water.
• Who took part in the clean-up? – The head teacher, parents and pupils, with help from the union council and a nursery.
• What is the plot used for now? – As a shady garden where pupils read during break.
• What lesson did the town learn? – Problems that affect everyone are solved when everyone works together.
• Which word in the passage means "young plants"? – Saplings.