SBI Clerk English Sectional Mock Test 10

1. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given after it. Teachers in many schools report the same worry: children who can decode every word on a page but cannot say what the passage was about. Reading, in the full sense, is not only recognising words but building meaning from them, linking each sentence to the last and to what the reader already knows. One reason for the gap is that much classroom reading is done aloud, in turns, with the aim of pronouncing correctly. A child waiting for his turn may be counting lines rather than following the story. Another is that the texts children meet are often short extracts chosen to teach grammar, not stories or articles they might want to finish. Schools that have narrowed the gap tend to do a few simple things. They set aside time every day for silent reading of books that children choose themselves. Teachers ask questions that require thinking about the whole text, such as why a character acted as he did, instead of questions that can be answered by copying a line. And they read aloud to children, modelling the pleasure of a good story. None of this is expensive, but it does require patience. Comprehension grows slowly and is hard to measure in a weekly test. A school that judges reading only by speed and accuracy may conclude that all is well while its pupils remain unable to learn from what they read.

   Q1.What worry do teachers report in the first paragraph?

   • A.Children prefer grammar to stories.
   • B.Children read too slowly to finish books.
   • C.Children refuse to read aloud.
   • D.Children cannot recognise the alphabet.
   • E.Children can decode words but cannot say what a passage means.

2. Q2.Why, according to the passage, can reading aloud in turns fail to build understanding?

   • A.Teachers do not allow children to read aloud.
   • B.A child waiting for a turn may count lines instead of following the story.
   • C.Reading aloud damages a child's voice.
   • D.Stories read aloud are always too long.
   • E.Children read aloud only in grammar lessons.

3. Q3.Which of the following is NOT one of the practices of schools that have narrowed the gap?

   • A.Asking questions about the whole text
   • B.Daily silent reading of self-chosen books
   • C.Teachers reading aloud to children
   • D.Testing reading speed every day
   • E.Modelling the pleasure of a good story

Start the test to answer these. Correct answers and explanations are shown after you submit.