English Comprehension Abdul Kalam

Abdul Kalam

Born on 15 October 1931, at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, Kalam came from a poor background and started working at an early age to supplement his family's income. Kalam was brought up in a multi-religious environment but did follow a religious routine. As a child, he had a discipline of starting the day at 4:00 am to do homework before going to school to attend mathematics classes.

After completing school, Kalam distributed papers in order to financially contribute to his father's income. In his school years, Kalam had average grades, but was described as a bright and hardworking student who had a strong desire to learn and who spent hours on his studies, especially mathematics.

Try more practice tests

After completing his school education, Kalam went on to attend Saint Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli where he graduated in physics in 1954. Towards the end he was not enthusiastic about the subject, and would later regret the four years he studied it. Kalam moved to Madras in 1955 to study aerospace engineering.

While Kalam was working on a senior class project, the Dean was dissatisfied with the lack of progress and threatened the revoking of his scholarship unless the project was finished within the next two days. Kalam worked tirelessly on his project, and met the deadline, impressing the Dean who later said, "It was a test, and under extreme stress, Kalam met a difficult deadline to complete the project"

Multiple-Choice Question:

1. The synonym of ‘supplement’ is

(A) increase         (B) decrease        (C) more              (D) less

2. The dean was

(A) Very rude to Kalam.                  (B) Very partial to Kalam.

(C) Made Kalam unhappy.              (D) Impressed by Kalam.

3. As a child, he had a discipline of

(A) Doing homework before the school hours.

(B) Selling fruits to support the family.

(C) Studying mathematics regularly.

(D) starting the day at 4 a.m.

4. For how many years he would have regretted studying Physics?

(A) three              (B) five                 (C) four                (D) six

5. He was asked to finish the project the how many days?

(A) two                (B) ten                  (C) twenty           (D) thirty

Fill in the blanks:

6. He was brought up in __________ environment.
7. Kalam moved to Madras to study _________.
8. Kalam had a strong ________ to learn.
9. Kalam distributed ________ in order to financially contribute to his father's income.
10. Kalam came from a __________ background.

True/False:

11. Kalam could meet the deadline.
12. He was enthusiastic about studying Physics subject.
13. Kalam went on to attend Saint Francis’ College.
14. Before going to school he would attend English classes.
15. He graduated in physics in 1954.

Answer key

(1)–(A); (2)–(D); (3)–(A); (4)–(C); (5)–(A); (6)–multi-religious; (7)–aerospace engineering; (8)–strong desire; (9)–papers; (10)–poor; (11)–False; (12)–False; (13)–False; (14)–False; (15)–True