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English Passages for SSC Exams (PRE)

Many aspirants are preparing for SSC Exams (PRE). English plays a vital role to crack the SSC exams. In this post we are providing Passage for SSC exam and some question on based of these passages. Prepare with the help of these passages prepared by our experts. If you need any help or suggestion then feel free to contact us via comment.

PASSAGE – 1

In 776 First Olympic Games were held at the foot of Mount Olympus to honour the Greek’s chief God, Zeus. The Greeks emphasised, physical fitness and strength in their education of youth. Therefore contests in running, boxing, jumping, discus and javelin throwing, horse and chariot racing were held in individual cities and the winners competed every four years at Mount Olympus. Winners were greatly honoured by having poems sung about their deeds. Originalliy these were held as games of friendship and any wars in progress were halted to allow the games to take place. The Greeks attached so much importance to these games that they calculated time in four year cycles called ‘Olympiads’ dating from 776 BC.

1. Where were the First Olympic Games held?

At the foot of

a) Mount Olympus.

(b) Mount Olympiad.

(c) Mount Orels.

(d) Mount of Greeks.

2. Why were the Olympic Games held?

(a) To stop wars.

(b) To crown the best athletes.

c) To honour Zeus.

(d) To sing songs about athletes.

3. Approximately how many years ago did these games originate?

a) 776 years

b) 2279 years

c) 1207 years

d) 2786 years

4. Which of the following contest,was not held?

(a) Discus throwing, (b) Skating.

(c) Boxing. (d) Running.

5. The values connected’ with Olympic Games were:

a)  physical fitness education of youth and friendship.

(b) health, contest and singing.

c). running,jumping, throwing and boxing.

d).  four year cycles, war-time, young age and friendship

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


Passage 2-

Faith in progress is deep within our culture. We have been taught to believe that our lives are better than the lives of those who came before us. The ideology of modem economics suggests that material progress has yielded enhanced satisfaction and well being. But much of our confidence about our own well being comes from the assumption that our lives are easier than those of earlier generations.

The lives of the so called primitive people are thought to be harsh, their existence dominated by the ‘incessant quest for food’. In fact, primitives did very little work. By contemporary standard we’d have to judge them very lazy. The key to understanding why these ‘stone-age people’ failed to act like us, increasing their work effort to get more things, is that they had limited desires. In the race between wanting and having, i they had kept their wanting low and in this way ensured their own kind of satisfaction. They were materially poor by contemporary standards, but in at least one dimension, we have to count them richer. –

1. What is the basis of faith for progress and growth according to the writer?

(a) Faith in progress is deep-rooted in our culture.

(b) We have been taught that progress is necessary.

(c) Material progress has given us strength.

(d) We have assumed progress.

2. What does the writer attribute to modern economics?

(a) That our lives are easier than before.

(b) That progress is a natural process.

(c) That material progress leads to satisfaction and well-being.

d) That it forces us to assume progress.

3. What is the writer’s image of the primitive people?

(a) Their life was harsh.

(b) They did not work.

(c) They were lazy.

(d) Search for food was their primary focus in life.

4. What is the key to understanding the primitive people’s behaviour according to the passage?

(a) They had no desires.

(b) They had everything they needed.

(c) They had limited desires.

(d) They kept their wants high.

5. How does the writer appreciate the primitives?

(a)    They had a low degree of wants.

(b)    They were the masters of their time owing to their contentedness.

(c)    They were materially poor.

(d)    They were highly satisfied.

Answers- 1. a     2. c     3. c     4. c     5. d


PASSAGE-3

In the past 50 years, doctors across the world have accepted the practice of prescribing antibiotics at the firsst sign of a trivial infection or treat patients with a handful of antibiotics. These days it is not uncommon to see practitioners prescribing multiple antibiotics without any real indication or relevance for such a combination of drugs. Antibiotics have traditionally been known as miracle drugs but there is growing evidence that they are overworked miracles, especially in countries like ours where there is easy access to drugs across the counter, including antibiotics. We cannot think of a return to pre-antibiotic days. Yet the unbridled use of these agents is inexorably propelling us in that direction.

1. “We cannot think of a return to pre-antibiotic days’ means-

(a) Antibiotics became indispensable.

(b)    We must go back to pre-antibiotic days.

(c)    We cannot stop using antibiotics.

(d)    We can stop using antibiotics.

2. The passage tells us that-

(a)    The antibiotics work miracles.

(b)    The antibiotics are available at the counters.

(c)    The use of antibiotics is uncontrollable.

(d)    Antibiotics are used indiscriminately.

3. These days it is not uncommon to prescribe antibiotics’ means-

(a)    It is rare to prescribe antibiotics.

(b)    It is a common practice to prescribe antibiotics,

(c)    It is not a common practice to prescribe antibiotics.

(d)    It is compulsory to prescribe antibiotics.

4. Antibiotics’ are called ‘overworked miracles’ because-

(a) They performed miracles.

(b) They are hardly used.

(c) They are over-used

(d) They exhausted their miracles.

5. The Passage discusses the use of-

(a)    Drugs in general.

(b)    Miracle 4 drugs

(c)    Antibiotics.

(d)    Combination of different drugs.

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


PASSAGE-4

Among nature’s most intriguing phenomena are the partnerships formed by different species. The name used for these relationships, symbiosis, comes from Greek meaning “living together”. Not all symbiotic relationships are the same. There are some called commensal relationship, in which one partner gains a benefit while the other gains little or none but is not harmed. One example is the relationship between two types of fish, remoras and shark. The remora, which is long and often shiped. attaches itself to a shark (sometimes to another type of fish or a whale), using a sucker on its head. When the shark makes a kill, the hitchhiker briefly detaches itself to feed on the scraps. Another Type of symbiotic relationship is parasitism, in which one partner benefits at the expense of other. Ticks and tapeworms are among familiar parasites.

The third type of symbiotic relationship, called mutualism, is a true partnership in which’ both partners benefit. The relationship may be limited as when zebras and wildbeast graze together on the vast African grasslands. Each species can survive on its own, but together their chances for detecting predators are improved because each contribute a specially keen sense, (Zebras have the better eyesight, wildbeast hearing and sense of smell). In few cases partners are so interdependent that one cannot survive without the other. Most mutualistic relationships probably lie somewhere in between.

1.    Remora feeds-

(a)    On the shark it travels with.

(b)    On the left-over parts of the shark’s prey.

(c)    By detaching itself to attack the prey.

(d)    On a whale or another type of fish.

2.    Parasites-

(a)    Are neither beneficial nor harmful to animals they are with.

(b)    Benefit at the expense ol the animals they live with.

(c)    Are beneficial to the animals they live with.

(d)    Harm the animals they live with.

3.    Commensal relationship is a type of symbiosis in which the relationship is beneficial-

(a) To one and harmless to other.

(b)    To one and harmful to other.

(c)    To both.

(d)    To both for a very short time.

4) The passage talks about how animals-

(a)    Help each other.

(b)    Live together.

(c)    Take advantage of the weaker ones.

(d)    Are related to each other.

5. Remora attaches itself to the shark or whale-

(a)    By entwining its long body around the bigger fish.

(b)    By biting into the fish’s body with its teeth.

(c)    With an adhesive organ found on its head.

(d)    With a hook like structure on its head.

Answers- 1. b     2. b     3. a     4. b     5. c


PASSAGE-5

Ah ! whatever could be said was said. All held him guilty. Even his own mother who claimed to understand him the best.  Yet, there he was, still with a sparkling hope and knew that the truth must prevail. In the cold, dark and damp cell he never for a moment lost faith in God and goodness and was waiting anxiously for an angel to come, plead non guilty for him and free him of his miseries.

1. Three of the following statements indicate that he had a sparkling hope. Which statement does not?

(a)    He had never lost faith in God.

(b)    He was sure there was goodness

(c)    He could have evidence in his favour.

(d)    He knew that the truth must prevail.

2. Whatever others said about him, he:

(a)    betrayed no one.

(b)    thought over the problem.

(c)    never lost faith in goodness.

(d)    raised his voice against injustice.

3. In the dark dungeon he always waited for:

(a)    his mother.

b) the jailer

c) the verdict freeing him of his miseries

d) the angel to come and plead for him.

Answers- 1. c     2. c    3. d


PASSAGE-6

With the inevitable growth of specialization, I see the universities facing two great dangers. First, it is very easy to get so involved in the technical details of education that the object of education is lost. And secondly, in an effort to condition a university to the needs of its students and to the needs of the State it may lose its power to make or mould those students into responsible men, capable of thinking for themselves and capable of expressing the results of their thoughts to others.

1. The author calls growth of specialisation ‘inevitable’. Which one of the following statements is likely to be the most correct reason for this inevitability?

(a)    Universities give grants only to do specialised work in different disciplines.

(b)    The professors and researchers in universities are competent only for specialised work.

(c)    Specialization helps economic growth of the nation.

(d)    In an age of science and technology specialization becomes necessary.

2. Which one of the following statements most correctly suggests the central theme of the passage?

(a)    The aim of education is specialization.

b )    The aim of education is to enable the youth to work for the State

(c)    The aim of education is to make the youth capable of independent thought and expression.

(d)    The aim of education is to enable the youth to earn a comfortable living.

3. Which one of the following statements most correctly suggests the warning implied in the passage? 

(a)    University education shouId concerned with technical details

(b)    University should not subordinate themselves to the interests of the state

c)      University should be concerned only with the needs of students

d)      University should not go in for any specialization.

Answers- 1. a     2. c    3. a


Passage 7-

One December night, a family had gathered around their fireside and piled’it high with wood gathered from mountain streams and ruins of great trees that had cbme falling down the mountain sides. The fire roared and brightened the room with its light. The faces of the father and mother had a quiet gladness; the children laughed; the oldest daughter was the picture of happiness at seventeen and the aged grandmother who sat sewing in the warmest place was the picture of happiness grown old.

1. The firewood had been:

(a)brought    (b) stolen

(c) collected    (d) found

2. The parents looked

(a)    serene    (b)    cheerful

(c) gloomy    (d) dull

3. The oldest daughter looked:

(a)    moron    (b) jubilant

(c)    inquisitive    (d) mournful

Answers- 1. c     2. a    3. b


PASSAGE-8

The unpleasant feeling passed and she glanced guardedly up at him. He was walking unmarked in moonlight, innocent of her reaction to him. She felt that this thought had come to her before and there might-be more to him than she had imagined. She felt, ashamed she had never thanked him for the help he had given to her father.

1.    She glanced at him when:

(a)    he walked alone and unnoticed in moonlight

(b)    she was sure that she was not being noticed.

(c)   her reactions did not have any effect on him

(d) the unpleasant feeling passed.

2.    Her unpleasant feeling passed when:

(a)  he did not take any notice of her.

(b)  the moonlight was beautiful.

(c)   she realized her sense of shame.

(d)   she looked carefully at him.

3. She was ashamed because:

(a)    she was spying on him.

(b)    there was more to him than she had imagined.

(c)    a recurring thought came back to her.

(d)    she had never thanked him for his help to her father.

Answers- 1. d     2. c    3. d


PASSAGE-9

As I slung my pack onto my shoulders, a big mosquito thudded against my cheek. There had been a few through the day, but it was early in the season-the ice had gone out just two weeks before and I had scarcely noticed them. But now as I would get down the ridge, the last breeze faded, and they were on me. Rising in clouds from the soggy tundra, they pelted against my face. I reached in my pocket for the repellent, and came out empty..

1. The traveller could not feel the breeze because:

(a)    the mosquito had bitten him.

(b)    he was at the foot of the ridge.

(c)    there was no ice in the mountain.

(d)    there was no breeze on the tundra mountain.

2. The traveller carried with him:

(a) mosquito repellent, (b) a pack of food.

(c) a sling.    (d) a back-pack.

3. When he was in the arctic, the time of the year was:

(a) middle of winter. (b) early autumn.

(c) early spring.    (d) middle of summer.

Answers- 1. b     2. d   3. c


PASSAGE-10

Journalism means several things First of all, it means the ability to write and convey thoughts r. a way that people will understand things quickly. It means being able to turn long articles into shape, It means knowing your grammar and composition rules inside out and upside down. It also means a nose for news and feel for words, respect for truth and a sense of mission. A journalist should be able to size up a situation on the spot. He should also develop a deep insight into human conditions. Nobody can teach you the fr.er aspects of journalism. No plastic surgeon can give you a nose for news. No teacher can give you a feel for words.

1. The passage is on.
(a)    the journalists, surgeons and teachers.

(b)    the merits of journalism.

(c)    what journalism is about.

(d)    the journalists’ feel for words.

2. A journalist should be thorough with.

a) all the rules of writing

(b)    the news.

(c)    grammar and composition.

(d)    the insight into human conditions.

3. One of the main requirements for a journalist

(a) edit articles.

(b) have a good nose for news.

(c) respect everyone
(d) exploit a situation.

4. The ethics of journalism is.

a)      respect for truth.

(b)    understating people.

(c)    ability-to write,

d)      search for news

5.) Which of the following statements is not true?

a)     A plastic surgeon can help a journalist.

(b)    A teacher can hardly assist a journalist.

(c)    Everyone cannot be a journalist.

(d) A journalist should be able to convey his thoughts to his readers .

Answers- 1. c     2. c   3. b   4. a   5. a


PASSAGE-11

The beauty of the Japanese landscape is that it conveys philosophical messages through each feature. The use of curving pathways rather than straight lines, for instance. This feature springs from the belief that only evil travels in straight lines, good forces tend to wander. Then, odd numbers of plants on trees are used in these gardens because these numbers are considered auspicious. Even the plants used are symbolic. For example, the Cyprus represents longevity and the bamboo symbolises abundance,” says Sadhana Roy Choudhary.

In Japan nature is said to be so closely intertwined with human life that parents actual^ plant a sapling in their garden when a child is born in the family, letting the growth of the cv* .d coincide with the growth of the plant.

1.    ‘Abundance’ means.

(a)    long life    (b) happiness

(c) plenty    (d) permanent

2 The Japanese parents plant a sapling at the time of birth of a child because

(a)    it is auspicious to plant a sapling.

(b)    it is closely associated with the growth the child.

(c)    it gives longevity of the child.

(d)    it gives happiness to the child.

3.According to the passage the Japanese are

(a)  superstitious.    ,

(b)  philosophical.

c)   lovers of nature

d)   lovers of numerology

4. The Japanese pathways tend to be

(a)    symbolic    (b) beautiful

(c) curved    (d) straight

5. They prefer curving .pathways because

(a)    they are inauspicious.

(b)    they can walk easily.

(c)    they stumble over straight ones.

(d)    good spirits walk on them.

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


PASSAGE-12

A recent investigation by scientists at the USA Geological survey shows that strange animal night help predict future earthquakes. Investigators found such occurrences in a ten KM radius of the epicentre of a fairly recent quake. Some birds screeched and flew about wildly, dogs yelped and ran uncontrollably. Scientists believe that animals can perceive these environmental changes as early as several days before the mishap.

In 1976, after observing the animal behaviour, the Chinese were able to predict a devastating quake. Although hundreds of thousands of people were killed, the government was able to evacuate millions of others and thus keep the death toll at a lower level.

1. What prediction may be made by observing animal behaviour?

(a)    An impending earthquake.

(b)    The number of people who will die.

(c)    The ten Km radius of epicentre.

(d)    Ecological conditions.

2. Which of the following is not true?

(a)    Some animals may be able to sense an approaching earthquake.

(b)    By observing animal behaviour scientists perhaps can predict earthquakes.

(cl     The Chinese failed to predict the earthquake.

(d)    Ail birds and dogs in a ten KM range went wild before the quake.

3. In this passage the word ‘evacuate’ means

(a)    remove    (b) exile

(c) destroy    (d) expel

4. If scientists can accurately predict earthquakes there will be

(a)    fewer animals going crazy.

(b)    a lower death rate.

(c)    fewer people evacuated.

(d)    fewer environmental changes.

5. How can animals perceive these changes when human beings cannot?

(a)    Animals are smarter than human beings.

(b)    Animals have certain instincts that human beings don’t possess.

(c)    By running round the house, they can feel the vibrations.

(d)    Human beings don’t know where to look.

Answers- 1. a    2. c     3. a     4. b     5. b


PASSAGE-13

A 23. year old British woman was yesterday sentenced to six months in jail for leaving her two year-old daughter home alone eight hours a day, five days a week for a year while she went to work. The young mother from the central town of Warwick initially hired a babysitter, when she landed a job in a travel agency but eventually reached the point when she could no longer afford the facility, prosecutors said. The woman then started leaving the child home by herself, providing it with food and toys and removing all potentially dangerous objects from its reach. At first the mother came home at lunch time but had to stop because her daughter threw tantrums every time she left to go back to work.

The mother, who was not identified, told the court, “If I had money I would not have done it. It was a case of that or not keeping my job and living on benefit”.
The judge, Mr Harrison Hall, however said “Having had a child, the absolute priority is to look after it. There must be an alternative to leaving a I child alone all day, a thing you would not do even to a dog ’.

1. The young mother had to work in the office

(a)    40 hours a week.

(b)    S hours a week.

(c)    48 hours a week.

(d)    all the seven days a week.

2.    The word ‘Facility’ in sentence refers to

(a)    her job in the travel agency.

(b)    living in a well furnished apartment.

(c)    getting adequate salary.

(d)    employing someone to look after the child.

3.    The mother stopped coming home for lunch because  .

(a)    her house was far away from the office.

(b)    she was not able to control her angry baby.

(c)    she had to work extra hours to earn more.

(d)    she was not interested in looking after the baby-

4. The sentence “If I had money, I would not have done it” means

(a)    I had money and so I did hot leave the body alone.

(b)    I had money and so I left the baby alone.

(c)    I had no money and so I left the baby alone.

(d)    I had no money and so I did not leave the baby alone.

Answers- 1. a    2. d     3. b     4. c


PASSAGE-14

Read- not to contradict-and confuse, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and son: few to be chewed and digested. That is some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some books may also be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others but that would be only in the less important arguments and the meaner sort of books; else distilled books are like common distilled waters, flashy things. Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.

1.    What should be the purpose of reading a book?

(a)    To contradict.

(b)    To weigh and consider.

(c)    To take it for granted.

(d)    To understand the contents.

2.    Why are some books to be tasted?

(a)    To be read with great care.

(b)    To be read with great attention.

(c)    To be read only in parts.

(d)    To be read for fun.

3.    How is man’s character influenced by the art of writing?

(a)    It makes him a great writer.

(b)    It makes him a ready man.

(c)    It makes him a full man.

(d) It makes him an exact man.

4.    What kind of books is to be read by the deputy?

(a)   Extraordinary books.

(b)   Ordinary books.

(c)   Interesting books.

(c)   Meaner sort of books.

5.  What is meant by ‘chewed and digested?

(a)    Thoroughly read and understood.

(b)    Partly read and understood.

(c)    Understood without any effort.

(d)    None of the above.

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


PASSAGE-15

The Printing Press has. made knowledge available to the vast multitude of people – Pray, what kind of knowledge is it? Is it of any permanent character? Books have become common and, when we say that books like the Sexton Blake series sell like hot cakes, we have an index of the nature of knowledge which a typical person in a vast multitude seeks. Let me tell you of an incident that took place in America a few years ago. An American publisher printed a million copies of the work of Charles Dickens in the hope that he could easily sell them on the name of the author. But to his disappointment, not-even the widest publicity and advertisement could “enable him to sell the books. Being sorely tired, he nit on a plan. He tore off the cover pages, substituted covers containing sensational love headings for the titles and again advertised the new books. In a week, all the books were sold out. We are not concerned here .with the moral of the bookseller’s action. What we have to note is that only books of a sensational type are really sought for by the ordinary folk who have a great aversion to serious study. So, you will see that the grand argument that the Printing Press has made knowledge available even to the masses is certainly fallacious and quite misleading. To put it correctly, it has created a taste for a low order of books.

1.    Sexton Blake series are big. seller’s because they  

(a)    disseminate knowledge.

(b)    are informative.

(c)    satisfy a typically, serious reader.

(d)    are sensational.

2.    The American, publisher had chosen the works of Charles Dickens to .

(a)    give wide publicity to Dickens works.

(b)    offer the readers what best he could.

(c)    counter the trash.

(d)    make money easily.

3.    What is the main contention of the passage?

(a)    To stress the popularity of the printing press

(b)   To paint out the disappointment of serious readers.

(c)   To shed light on the morale of the publishers.

(d)   To bring out the evil impacts of the printing press

Answers- 1. d    2. d     3. b

Study Plan for English Passages for SSC Exams (PRE)

Make a study schedule that fits your way of studying and do not leave anything for the last minute. While some students do seem to thrive on last-minute studying, often this way of partial studying is not the best approach for exam preparation. Write down how many exams you have, how many pages you have to learn, and the days you have left. Afterwards, organize your study habits accordingly.

You need to give yourself enough time to review everything that you have studied, and make sure that you understand it (or to read round the subject or ask for help if you are struggling). Last minute cramming is much less productive.

Ideally, review each subject as you go, and make sure that you understand it fully as this will make revision much easier. Ultimately, the best tip is to study hard and know your subject, and starting early is the best way to achieve this. Make your planner accordingly o that you can prepare well for the examination.


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Mansi Agarwal
Mansi Agarwal

Hey, I am Mansi Agarwal - owner of this site. I am basically from Lucknow. I did B.Tech and now working as a full time blogger. Blogging is my passion and my permanent job also. If you have any suggestion for the improvement of this site then feel free to tell me. You can connect with me on FB and Twitter for more updates.

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