Once Upon A Time - Reading Comprehension

SSC Board-Based AP Reading Comprehension Unit: 3 HUMAN RELATIONS
B-Reading: Once upon a Time (Poem)

Reading Comprehension 1

Once upon a time, son,

they used to laugh with their hearts

and laugh with their eyes:

but now they only laugh with their teeth,

while their ice-block-cold eyes

search behind my shadow.

Choose the correct answer to the following questions.

1. 'They' in line 4 of stanza 1 refers to......

A) People in the past. 

B) Present day people. ✔

C) All adults.

2. Their............eyes search behind my shadow means...

A) They convey no emotions. ✔

B) They try to see what is not there. 

C) They try to look at the darker side of the person.

3. Who is the poet addressing?

A) His son.✔

B) His friend.

C) His father.

Reading Comprehension 2

There was a time indeed

they used to shake hands with their hearts:

but that's gone, son.

Now they shake hands without hearts:

while their left hands search

my empty pockets.

Choose the correct answer to the following questions.

1. "They used to shake hands with their hearts." What does it mean? 

A) They used to put heart in the hand and shake it.

B) When they met they greeted whole heartedly. ✔

C) Shaking hands is a habit in olden days.

2. "But that's gone, son" What has gone according to the poet? 

A) shaking hands has gone now. 

B) meeting with people has gone.

C) showing goodness and whole heartedness has gone. ✔

3. "Their left hands search my empty pockets.' What does it mean?

A) The friendship and intimacy are selfish. ✔

B) When they want to meet, they keep left hands in empty pockets.

 C) They want to search for whether they have empty pockets.

Reading Comprehension 3

'Feel at home'! 'Come again':

they say, and when I come

again and feel

at home, once, twice,

there will be no thrice -

for then I find doors shut on me.

Choose the correct answer to the following questions.

1. 'Feel at home! come 'again' Who says these words?

A) The poet.

B) The guest who visits relatives at home. 

C) The host who receives guests at home. ✔

2. Why would the doors shut on him?

 A) He visited them frequently. ✔

B) He visited them when the inmates were away. 

C) He stayed when the inmates were away. 

3. What does 'Feel at home' mean?

A) Feel comfortable.

B) Stay at home.

C) Feel as if you are comfortable. ✔

Reading Comprehension 4

So I have learned many things, son.

I have learned to wear many faces

like dresses - home face,

office face, street face, host face,

cocktail face, with all their conforming smiles

like a fixed portrait smile.

Choose the correct answer to the following questions.

1. I have learned............... Who does '1' refer to? 

A) The white man. 

B) Gabriel Okara. ✔

C) The brown woman.

2. What has he/she learned?

A) The poet has learned to wear his shirt.

B) The poet has learned to wear many faces like dresses. ✔

C) The poet has learned to laugh biggerly.

3. What are the different faces that fixed portrait smile?

A) Whatever may be situation, a fixed smile that never changes. ✔

B) When he is in sad mood, he expresses portrait smile.

C) When he is in financial problem, he takes a photo

Reading Comprehension 5

And I have learned too

to laugh with only my teeth

and shake hands without my heart.

I have also learned to say, 'Goodbye',

when I mean 'Good-riddance';

to say ' Glad to meet you',

without being glad; and to say 'It's been

nice talking to you', after being bored.

Choose the correct answer to the following questions.

1. When does he say "nice talking to you"?

A) When he feels bore

B) When he feels sad

C) When he wants to get rid of a person. ✔

2.Without being glad, he says "Glad to meet you" Why so?

A) He is happy and so saying glad to meet you. 

B) He is pretending to be happy though he is not. ✔

C) He wants to get rid of that person.

3.The speaker of the given stanza is…….

A) The narrator ✔

B) His son

C) his neighbour

Reading Comprehension 6

And I have learned too

to laugh with only my teeth

and shake hands without my heart.

I have also learned to say, 'Goodbye',

when I mean 'Good-riddance';

to say ' Glad to meet you',

without being glad; and to say 'It's been

nice talking to you', after being bored.

Choose the correct answer to the following questions.

1. Who is addressing whom in this poem?

A) The son is addressing his father.

 B) The father is addressing his son. ✔

C) The writer is addressing his friend.

2. What does the poet say when he meets a person?

A) Nice talking to

B) Glad to meet you. ✔

C) Good riddance.

3. What does the poet describe in the above lines? 

A) Democratic nature of the people.

B) Hypocrisy of people in their behaviour. ✔

C) Capitalistic attitude of people.

Reading Comprehension 7

But believe me, son.

I want to be what I used to be

when I was like you. I want

to unlearn all these muting things.

Most of all, I want to relearn

how to laugh, for my laugh in the mirror

shows only my teeth like a snake's bare fangs !

Choose the correct answer to the following questions.

1. This stanza is a conversation between...

A) A father and his son ✔

B) A father and his friend

C) Two childhood friends.

2. This stanza says that the speaker......

A) Wants his son not to grow as an adult. 

B) Has a deep desire to go back to the innocence of child hood. ✔

C) Asks his son to laugh only before the mirror.

3.What does the speaker want to relearn?

A) How to become a child

B) How to see a snake's bare fangs

 C) How to behave in a natural way ✔

Reading Comprehension 8

Most of all, I want to relearn

how to laugh, for my laugh in the mirror

shows only my teeth like a snake's bare fangs !

So show me, son,

how to laugh; show me how

I used to laugh and smile

once upon a time when I was like you.

Choose the correct answer to the following questions.

1.The poet wants to relearn how to laugh. Why does he want to relearn?

 A) Because now-a-days people are laughing whole heartedly.

B) Because till now the poet does not know how to laugh properly. 

C) Because there is no originality and whole heartedness in modern laugh. ✔

2. 'Shows only my teeth like a Snake's bare fangs!' What does it mean? 

A) While laughing teeth are appearing like snake's bare fangs.

B) It is a laugh without smile on face but artificiality in heart. ✔

C) While laughing people are showing their teeth.

3.The man asks his son 'to show how to laugh' because?

A) He does not know how to laugh.

B) He has never laughed in his life.

C) He has forgotten to laugh as an innocent child does. ✔