BEST READING PASSAGES FOR OL

The blogger's note: 

Reading comprehension is an important part of language learning. Most students dwell on the misconception that they need to understand each and every word in a text to understand the underlying meaning. That is partly why most of the learners are reluctant to read lengthy passages. Most of them , I practically know , evade reading passages. 

Some teachers have the habit of explaining each and every word in a reading passage and then get the student to answer the questions. Here , really , the teacher plays the role of the grandfather telling a story to his grandchildren. The students are made passive listeners. They never make their own attempt.

Such methods should never be used in handling a reading passage. Here , with or without knowledge, the teacher hinders the student's reading attempt; there by making reading a horrible experience in the student. The student loses his confidence in reading. 

Reading sentences by breaking sentences into meaningful chunks is one good method a student can be trained for reading.    

The teacher has a big role to play here. The teacher needs to expose the student more towards reading texts. Also, a student should never be directed ambiguous questions. An initial  confidence should be built that he / she can understand a given text. The questions should be framed in such a way that the learner easily traces the answers. Later, the teacher can move from simple to complex. 

Sajendra Kumara

A trained teacher of English

Sri Lanka

TP/WhatsApp: 0777597875 

Activity 1 : Read the following passage and do the activity. 

  The Bermuda Triangle covers a large area of the Western Atlantic Ocean. The three points of the triangle are Bermuda, Florida and a point in the sea about 200 miles off the Northern tip of Brazil. It is an area of unexplained mystery. 

   More than 100 planes and ships have vanished completely here, most of them since 1945, and more than 1000 have been lost here in past 26 years. Not a single body or piece of wreckage from the vanished planes or ships has been found. Many of the planes which have disappeared had normal radio contact with their airfields until the very moment they vanished. Other pilots have radioed the most extraordinary messages. Their compasses were swinging about. The sky had turned yellow and cloudy when everywhere else in the region was very clear, the surface of the ocean was strangely coloured and moving widely. 

1. If the following statements are True write T  or if they are  False write  F. 

a) Only planes have disappeared here. (....)

b) The ocean suddenly turned yellow.  (....)

c) The Bermuda Triangle is in Florida.  (....)

2. How many people have been lost in the area mentioned in the passage? ...............

3. Did the pilots have radio contacts until the last moment they disappeared? ........

4. Write two changes in the environment that occurred in the area. 

A) .................... B) .....................

5. What are the following words reffered to?

a) "it" in paragraph one.  ................

b) "their " in paragraph two. ..........

                                      TP: 0777597875  

ACTIVITY 2   Read the following paragraph and answer the questions. 

 It was the ambition of an eleven year old boy in Kansas City to be an engine driver. Born without arms, he had been to a special school where he learned to use his feet as ‘hands’. He spent all his spare time watching trains and one day his dream came true. Seeing a deserted engine, the boy climbed in. He had no difficulty in starting it up with his feet. Soon he was travelling along at forty miles an hour. Signalmen could not see the young driver, so they set out to stop the train. Meanwhile the boy reached Missouri, stopped the engine himself, and then made it go backwards. When he was near home, a railway man caught up with the engine and stopped it. At first he was very angry, but he smiled when the boy said simply,  “I like trains”. 

“Well, I’m glad you don’t like the planes!”, answered the railway man.

1. What was the physical defect the boy had?  

2. What did the boy do in his free time?  

3. Where did the boy learn to use his feet?  

4. What was the boy’s ambition?  

5. How fast did the train travel?  

6) Write T for True , F for False and U for unknown.

    a) There was no driver in the engine he drove.                 ……

    b) The railway man stopped the train at Missouri.            ……

   c) The boy likes planes.                                                      ……                                       

7. Write the sentence which says the boy started the train himself.           

8. Fill in the blanks with suitable words from the text. Do not use more than two words in each blank.

An eleven year old boy born without 1)………drove an engine alone. It was the child’s 2)……….to be an 3)……….. . The boy had learned to use 4)…………..at a special school. So he could easily 5)……….the engine. He drove the engine to 6)…………. and then made go 7)……….. . Finally a 8)………….stopped the train closer to his home.

9. What are the following words referred to.

    a) he – [ line 2]  - …….   c ) they  - [line 5] - ………….

    b) it -   [ line 4]  - ………d) I        - [last line] - ………..
Sajendra Kumara 

Activity: 3 
Read the following paragraph and answer the questions. 
                                  Sam's New Book

Sam did not like to read that much. One day, Sam's mother bought him a new book and Sam loved it. His favourite character in the book was a dog named Browny. Browny told jokes that made Sam laugh. Sam read his whole book in one day. He read three pages before school, five pages after school, and two pages before he went to bed. Sam loves reading now. 

1. When did Sam read most pages? 

2. How many pages does the book have ? 

3. How long did it take to finish reading the book? 

4. Why did Sam laugh? 

5. Why do you think Sam likes reading now? 

Activity 4:
Read the passage and find the following information.(Y/E 2002 Gampaha) 
                                    THAILAND

Thailand is a premier Buddhist country where nearly ninety percent of the population is ardent followers of Buddhism. The total population is about 40 million. The country was formally known as Siam which in 1939 changed into Thailand literally meaning 'the land of the free'. 
It is a monarchy with a representative legislature with King Bhumibol Adul Yadej as the country's amiable ruler. Born in 1972 he ascended the throne in 1946.
Children's day in Thailand is observed during the first week in January every year and International Correspondence week is celebrated during the first week of October. 
                                   THAILAND
1) Population : ..........
2) Former name: ...........
3) The year it got its first name: ............
4) Meaning of Thailand: ............
5) Name of the ruler: .............
           a) born in: .........   b) became the king: .......
6) Annual events: 1. .........  when? ........
                              2. .......... when? .......

Activity 5: Read the passage and answer the questions. 

👉

Activity 6:

Read the paragraph and answer the questions. 

1) What is the name of the creature in the paragraph? 

2) What does it eat? 

3) Mention two places they can often be seen.

    a) ............... b) ...........

4) Why are they called "flying bananas"?

5) Pick the sentence that says that it is not 'very large'? 

👉

Activity 7: Read the story and answer the questions.

1) Why does the lion decide to talk to the animals? 

2) What were the following creatures doing when the lion met them? 

      a) The rabbit: .....

      b) The zebra : ....

3) Did the elephant speak to the lion? 

4) How did the elephant answer the question? 

    ( Pick the relevant sentence from the text) 

5) Find words from the text similar in meaning to the following words and phrases.

   a) gently bite something: .......

   b) to hit hard against something: ........ 

👉Activity 8: Read the story and answer the questions. 

1) Why is cigarette not sold to the under aged? 

2) When did Antony breach the rule? 

3) Find the two words which say that what Antony did on that day was against the rule? 

4) What was the reason for the little boy to behave boldly in the shop? 

5) Why did Antony warn the little boy to hide the two packets of cigarettes? 

6) Find words similar in meaning to the following phrases from the story.

a) in a brave manner: .......

b) to break :

 👉 Activity 9: 

1) Mention the habitats of the Little Blue Heron. 

2) How do they hunt? 

3) Why are the chicks born white? 

4) Which sentence says that the population of the Little Blue Heron is low? 

5) Find words similar in meaning to the following words and phrases. 

a) feathers -         c) animals -

b) hunter -           d) walking in water - 

👉 Activity 10 ( next )

TO BE CONTINUED.......  

   The activity books contain an assortment of similar activities.