Sample Reading Comprehension Questions for CLAT 2024

A. Dance involves our sense of rhythm. We have an innate sense of rhythm in us. From the time we are in our mother’s womb, the rhythmic rocking we feel as she walks awakens our instinct for movement. As babies, we are rocked to sleep. As children, we sing nursery rhymes and clap or dance along with them, we have already begun dancing. In many countries, dance is indulged in to cultivate discipline and appreciation for one’s native culture. For instance, in Africa, many tribes initiate their children into adulthood through dance.

Young children imitate ___[1]___ parents’ steps. Perfection of these steps signals their transition __[2]___ adulthood. __[3]___ ungainly, unsure first steps emerge refined steps. From there, an African is ___[4]___ to modify the steps to convey the message he wants to tell.

When we have mastered walking, we learn the rudimentary steps of dance. From there, we are able to choreograph other steps suited to the message we wish to convey. Ironically, we are able to be spontaneous in the midst of discipline.

1. What is the main theme of the passage?

a) Dance and mother’s womb
b) Dance and culture
c) The importance of dance in life
d) African dance styles

2. What is the reason behind dance being taught in many countries?

a) to gain applause
b) to cultivate discipline and appreciation of one’s culture
c) to master walking
d) to attain importance in society

3. Which among the following does not have a similar meaning as the word ‘spontaneous’?

a) Volitional
b) Extemporaneous
c) Visceral
d) Contrived

4. What can be written in place of [1], [2], [3] and [4]?

a) His, to, first, able
b) Their, into, from, able
c)The, from, through, able
d) From, in, inside, not able

5. Which of these words have been spelt incorrectly in the passage?

a) Instinct
b) Appreciation
c) Transition
d) Rudimentary

1. c
2. b
3. d
4. b
5. b


B. We are all explorers. Our desire to discover, and then share that new-found knowledge, is part of what makes us human – indeed, this has played an important part in our success as a species. This questing nature of ours undoubtedly helped our species spread around the globe, just as it nowadays no doubt helps the last nomadic Penan maintain their existence in the depleted forests of Borneo, and a visitor negotiate the subways of New York.

Over the years, we’ve come to think of explorers as a peculiar breed – different from the rest of us, different from those of us who are merely ‘well travelled’, even; and perhaps there is a type of person more suited to seeking out the new, a type of caveman more inclined to risk venturing out. That, however, doesn’t take away from the fact that we all have this enquiring instinct, even today; and that in all sorts of professions – whether artist, marine biologist or astronomer – borders of the unknown are being tested each day.

Thomas Hardy set some of his novels in Egdon Heath, a fictional area of uncultivated land, and used the landscape to suggest the desires and fears of his characters. He is delving into matters we all recognise because they are common to humanity. This is surely an act of exploration, and into a world as remote as the author chooses. Explorer and travel writer Peter Fleming talks of the moment when the explorer returns to the existence he has left behind with his loved ones.

In this book about the exploration of the earth’s surface, I have confined myself to those whose travels were real and who also aimed at more than personal discovery. But that still left me with another problem: the word ‘explorer’ has become associated with a past era. We think back to a golden age, as if exploration peaked somehow in the 19th century – as if the process of discovery is now on the decline, though the truth is that we have named only one and a half million of this planet’s species, and there may be more than 10 million – and that’s not including bacteria. We have studied only 5 per cent of the species we know. We have scarcely mapped the ocean floors, and know even less about ourselves; we fully understand the workings of only 10 per cent of our brains.

I’d best declare my own bias. As a writer, I’m interested in the exploration of ideas. I’ve done a great many expeditions and each one was unique. I’ve lived for months alone with isolated groups of people all around the world, even two ‘uncontacted tribes’. But none of these things is of the slightest interest to anyone unless, through my books, I’ve found a new slant, explored a new idea. Why? Because the world has moved on.

The time has long passed for the great continental voyages – another walk to the poles, another crossing of the Empty Quarter. We know how the land surface of our planet lies; exploration of it is now down to the details – the habits of microbes, say, or the grazing behavior of buffalo. Aside from the deep sea and deep underground, it’s the era of specialists. However, this is to disregard the role the human mind has in conveying remote places; and this is what interests me: how a fresh interpretation, even of a well-travelled route, can give its readers new insights.

1. The writer refers to visitors to New York to illustrate the point that:

a. exploration is an intrinsic element of being human.
b. most people are enthusiastic about exploring.
c. exploration can lead to surprising results.
d. most people find exploration daunting.

2. According to the second paragraph, what is the writer’s view of explorers?

a. Their discoveries have brought both benefits and disadvantages.
b. Their main value is in teaching others.
c. They act on an urge that is common to everyone.
d. They tend to be more attracted to certain professions than to others.

3. The writer refers to a description of Egdon Heath to suggest that-

a. Hardy was writing about his own experience of exploration.
b. Hardy was mistaken about the nature of exploration.
c. Hardy’s aim was to investigate people’s emotional states.
d. Hardy’s aim was to show the attraction of isolation.

4. In the fourth paragraph, the writer refers to ‘a golden age’ to suggest that:

a. the amount of useful information produced by exploration has decreased.
b. fewer people are interested in exploring than in the 19th century.
c. recent developments have made exploration less exciting.
d. we are wrong to think that exploration is no longer necessary.

5. In the last paragraph, the writer explains that he is interested in:

a. how someone’s personality is reflected in their choice of places to visit.
b. the human ability to cast new light on places that may be familiar.
c. how travel writing has evolved to meet changing demands.
d. the feelings that writers develop about the places that they explore.

1. a
2. c
3. c
4. d
5. b