Reading Comprehension
Reading Comprehension: English Reading Comprehension Exercises with Answers, Sample Passages for Reading Comprehension Test for GRE, CAT, IELTS preparation
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English Reading Comprehension Test Questions and Answers. Improve your ability to read and comprehend English Passages
Q156. > The 2015 Review of the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) will take
> place in New York from April 27 to May 22 and the process is
> expected to be stormy and contentious. The event marks some
> significant anniversaries of conflict: the 100th — of the use of
> chemical weapons in Ypres, Belgium; the 70th — of the bombings of
> Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and the 20th — of the indefinite extension of
> the NPT. A new set of geopolitical drivers will work the agendas of
> nuclear and non-nuclear members of the Treaty. Coming into force in
> 1970, the Treaty has been subjected to numerous pulls and pressures
> which have left the dream of nuclear disarmament unattained and the
> purpose of preventing proliferation defeated. The last review, in
> 2010, followed the complete failure of the 2005 Review conference, as
> a consequence of serious disagreements which had emerged over a
> decade. The desire of non-nuclear states to see better progress on
> disarmament by the Nuclear Weapons States (NWS) will figure as before.
> The discourse on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons has given
> a new shape to the NPT debate. The NWS have not been enthused by
> either of these two concepts. Relations among the NWS after Russian
> actions in Ukraine will have a substantial impact on the conference.
> Moscow’s rhetoric and responses have led to a rethink on the role and
> relevance of nuclear deterrence, even among the non-nuclear states of
> eastern Europe. As if this is not enough, the situation in West Asia
> will loom large since it involves the uncertainties of Iran, Israel,
> Syria and the Islamic State (IS) in particular and the rest of the
> Arab world in general. In comparison, the nuclear shenanigans of North
> Korea which were once viewed as a major global danger, would remain a
> marginal issue. The NPT Review Conference in 2010 built a
> hard-fought consensus based on more than 60 action points spread over
> three broad areas. These three “pillars” were nuclear disarmament,
> non-proliferation and peaceful uses of nuclear energy. West Asia
> figured large, which primarily meant finding a way to a nuclear-free
> zone, which in turn meant addressing the issue of Israel’s nuclear
> weapons. This has now been much muddied by Iran’s own nuclear
> programme which in turn could now be resolved if the Joint
> Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between the P5+1 (the United
> States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, and China,
> facilitated by the European Union) and Iran comes to fruition. Three
> preparatory committee (Prepcom) meetings have been held so far to
> prepare an agenda or work plan for the 2015 Review Conference next
> week. Reconciling the wide range of views of 190-member states has
> never been easy. Consequently, various consensus drafts have been
> attempted and what emerges as the agreed agenda for the conference
> remains to be seen. The three pillars are in themselves complex and
> intractable as examined hereon. Nuclear disarmament is possibly the
> easiest issue on the table, more so because there is no solution
> possible or even conceivable. As a result, a formulaic approach is
> likely to get used in which non-nuclear weapon states deplore the
> NWS’s lack of progress on reducing their arsenals and making good on
> promises made in the past. On their part, the NWS will reaffirm their
> commitment to disarmament, but point to the strategic security
> scenario to justify the incremental and slow progress so far. This
> will be contested strongly at the conference. The discourse on the
> humanitarian dangers, from the use, deliberate or accidental, of
> nuclear weapons either by states or non-state actors, has gathered
> strength. This requires, from the NWS, greater transparency and
> tangible steps on nuclear security. U.S. President Barack Obama has
> led the initiative on nuclear security through international
> conferences, which have yielded more statements of intentions than
> specific actions. This will coalesce the non-nuclear states into a
> large bloc demanding tangible action from the NWS. They would seek
> time bound progress on the long promised consultative process among
> the NWS.
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
- Hillary Clinton will be one of the presidential candidate for the next Election
- The non-nuclear states are demanding tangible action from the NWS.
- NWS will reaffirm their commitment to disarmament, but point to the strategic security scenario.
- North Korea is ready for the disarmament which is a global asset to the world.
- None of these
Solution : NWS will reaffirm their commitment to disarmament, but point to the strategic security scenario.
Q157. > Women’s grassroots activism and their vision of a new civic
> consciousness lay at the heart of social reform in the United States
> throughout the Progressive Era, the period between the depression of
> 1893 and America’s entry into the Second World War. Though largely
> disenfranchised except for school elections, white middle-class women
> reformers won a variety of victories, notably in the improvement of
> working conditions, especially for women and children. Ironically,
> though, child labor legislation pitted women of different classes
> against one another. To the reformers, child labor and industrial
> homework were equally inhumane practices that should be outlawed, but,
> as a number of women historians have recently observed, working-class
> mothers did not always share this view. Given the precarious finances
> of working-class families and the necessity of pooling the wages of as
> many family members as possible, working-class families viewed the
> passage and enforcement of stringent child labor statutes as a
> personal economic disaster and made strenuous efforts to circumvent
> child labor laws. Yet reformers rarely understood this resistance in
> terms of the desperate economic situation of working class families,
> interpreting it instead as evidence of poor parenting. This is not to
> dispute women reformers’ perception of child labor as a terribly
> exploitative practice, but their understanding of child labor and
> their legislative solutions for ending it failed to take account of
> the economic needs of working-class families.
The primary purpose of the passage is to
- explain why women reformers of the Progressive Era failed to achieve their goals
- discuss the origins of child labor laws in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
- compare the living conditions of working-class and middle-class women in the Progressive Era
- discuss an oversight on the part of women reformers of the Progressive Era
- revise a traditional view of the role played by women reformers in enacting Progressive Era Reforms
Solution : discuss an oversight on the part of women reformers of the Progressive Era
Q158. > Women’s grassroots activism and their vision of a new civic
> consciousness lay at the heart of social reform in the United States
> throughout the Progressive Era, the period between the depression of
> 1893 and America’s entry into the Second World War. Though largely
> disenfranchised except for school elections, white middle-class women
> reformers won a variety of victories, notably in the improvement of
> working conditions, especially for women and children. Ironically,
> though, child labor legislation pitted women of different classes
> against one another. To the reformers, child labor and industrial
> homework were equally inhumane practices that should be outlawed, but,
> as a number of women historians have recently observed, working-class
> mothers did not always share this view. Given the precarious finances
> of working-class families and the necessity of pooling the wages of as
> many family members as possible, working-class families viewed the
> passage and enforcement of stringent child labor statutes as a
> personal economic disaster and made strenuous efforts to circumvent
> child labor laws. Yet reformers rarely understood this resistance in
> terms of the desperate economic situation of working class families,
> interpreting it instead as evidence of poor parenting. This is not to
> dispute women reformers’ perception of child labor as a terribly
> exploitative practice, but their understanding of child labor and
> their legislative solutions for ending it failed to take account of
> the economic needs of working-class families.
The view mentioned in line 17 of the passage refers to which of the following?
- Some working-class mothers’ resistance to the enforcement of child labor laws
- Reformers’ belief that child labor and industrial homework should be abolished
- Reformers’ opinions about how working-class families raised their children
- Certain women historians’ observation that there was a lack of consensus between women of
- Working-class families’ fears about the adverse consequences that child labor laws would have
Solution : Reformers’ belief that child labor and industrial homework should be abolished
Q159. > Women’s grassroots activism and their vision of a new civic
> consciousness lay at the heart of social reform in the United States
> throughout the Progressive Era, the period between the depression of
> 1893 and America’s entry into the Second World War. Though largely
> disenfranchised except for school elections, white middle-class women
> reformers won a variety of victories, notably in the improvement of
> working conditions, especially for women and children. Ironically,
> though, child labor legislation pitted women of different classes
> against one another. To the reformers, child labor and industrial
> homework were equally inhumane practices that should be outlawed, but,
> as a number of women historians have recently observed, working-class
> mothers did not always share this view. Given the precarious finances
> of working-class families and the necessity of pooling the wages of as
> many family members as possible, working-class families viewed the
> passage and enforcement of stringent child labor statutes as a
> personal economic disaster and made strenuous efforts to circumvent
> child labor laws. Yet reformers rarely understood this resistance in
> terms of the desperate economic situation of working class families,
> interpreting it instead as evidence of poor parenting. This is not to
> dispute women reformers’ perception of child labor as a terribly
> exploitative practice, but their understanding of child labor and
> their legislative solutions for ending it failed to take account of
> the economic needs of working-class families.
The author of the passage mentions the observations of women historians most probably in order to
- provide support for an assertion made in the preceding sentence
- raise a question that is answered in the last sentence of the passage
- introduce an opinion that challenges a statement made in the first sentence of the passage
- offer an alternative view to the one attributed in the passage to working-class mothers
- point out a contradiction inherent in the traditional view of child labor reform as it is presented in the passage
Solution : provide support for an assertion made in the preceding sentence
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Q160. > Women’s grassroots activism and their vision of a new civic
> consciousness lay at the heart of social reform in the United States
> throughout the Progressive Era, the period between the depression of
> 1893 and America’s entry into the Second World War. Though largely
> disenfranchised except for school elections, white middle-class women
> reformers won a variety of victories, notably in the improvement of
> working conditions, especially for women and children. Ironically,
> though, child labor legislation pitted women of different classes
> against one another. To the reformers, child labor and industrial
> homework were equally inhumane practices that should be outlawed, but,
> as a number of women historians have recently observed, working-class
> mothers did not always share this view. Given the precarious finances
> of working-class families and the necessity of pooling the wages of as
> many family members as possible, working-class families viewed the
> passage and enforcement of stringent child labor statutes as a
> personal economic disaster and made strenuous efforts to circumvent
> child labor laws. Yet reformers rarely understood this resistance in
> terms of the desperate economic situation of working class families,
> interpreting it instead as evidence of poor parenting. This is not to
> dispute women reformers’ perception of child labor as a terribly
> exploitative practice, but their understanding of child labor and
> their legislative solutions for ending it failed to take account of
> the economic needs of working-class families.
The passage suggests that which of the following was a reason for the difference of opinion between working-class mothers and women reformers on the issue of child labor?
- Reformers’ belief that industrial homework was preferable to child labor outside the home
- Reformers’ belief that child labor laws should pertain to working conditions but not to pay
- Working-class mothers’ resentment at reformers’ attempts to interfere with their parenting
- Working-class mothers’ belief that child labor was an inhumane practice
- Working-class families’ need for every employable member of their families to earn Money
Solution : Working-class families’ need for every employable member of their families to earn
Money
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Solution :
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