Reading Comprehension Exercises For Grade 5

• Passage-1: My Nephew
• Passage-2: Bu-cola
• Passage-3: Yusri and Yusra
• Passage-4: Mother
• Passage-5: Pangolins
• Passage-6: Earthquakes
• Passage-7: When Your Time Comes
• Passage-8: Collecting Fossils
• Passage-9: The Bicycle
• Passage-10: The Egg and the Bottle
• Passage-11: Sasha’s Night Alone
• Passage-12: About The Cat
• Passage-13: Isle Of Jormuguar
• Passage-14: Shoes: Taking One Step at A Time

Passage 2 - Bu-cola

Read the following story very carefully and answer the questions that follow.

In Iceland there once lived an old man and an old woman with their son Karl. They were very poor. They had one cow called Bu-cola, and that was all. They lived in a thatch house.

One morning, when the old woman went to milk Bu-cola she could not find her. She had disappeared without a trace.

‘’Oh Bu-cola, where are you?” cried the old woman. “We shall starve without your milk.”

Realizing their plight, Karl set off immediately in search of the cow, with just a knapsack in which he put some bread. At mid-day, as he sat eating his bread, he thought, “The world is a very large place. How am I going to find Bu-cola?” Then he had an idea. He stood on the largest rock he could find and called as loudly as he could.

“Moo if you are alive Bu-cola. Moo now!” He listened for an answering moo.

Very, very faintly, far, far away to the east he heard an answering moo. Even at that distance he thought he knew the sound.

“I am coming Bu-cola,” Karl answered delightedly, and set off in the direction of the sound.

Soon, he came to a deep gorge. He called Bu-cola again, “Moo if you are alive Bu-cola. Moo now!”

This time the answering moo came from right under his feet. Excitedly, Karl climbed down the gorge and saw a cave. Inside the cave, tethered to a stake, was Bu-cola.

“Moo!” said Bu-cola, delighted to see Karl. Karl was relieved to see that the cow was unscathed.

Karl untied her and led her on the way back home. They had not gone far when they heard the sound of something heavy thudding and thumping behind them. Karl looked back and was terrified to see a troll wife and a troll daughter chasing them.

“Oh dear! What shall I do? I am no match for a troll wife,” he cried.

“Moo!” said Bu-cola. “Pull a hair from my tail and lay it on the ground behind us.”

Karl did as Bu-cola said.

“Oh hair of my tail, perform your magic and create a deep river that no one can cross!” mooed Bu-cola. Immediately the hair became a raging river. The troll wife and the troll daughter started to cross the river, but were swept away by the forceful current.

Karl could not believe his eyes. He thanked Bu-cola and together, they set off for home. Upon reaching home, Karl narrated the events of the day to his parents. All of them were astonished about Bu-cola’s magical powers. From that day onwards, Bu-cola was not just a cow that gave milk; she was a magical cow.

Questions

Find answers to the following questions from the options given.

• Which of the following words can replace the phrase ‘without a trace’ as used in the story, without changing the meaning?
  a) Quickly
  b) Magically
  c) Completely
  d) Sadly
• From your reading of the story, which of the following words would you choose to describe Karl’s character?
  a) Ungrateful
  b) Quick-tempered
  c) Determined
  d) Fickle-minded
• Pick out the most appropriate meaning of the word ‘tethered’ as it is used in this story.
  a) Attached
  b) Tied
  c) Stuck
  d) Close
• Pick out the most appropriate meaning of the word ‘unscathed’ as used in the story.
  a) Unharmed
  b) healthy
  c) Upset
  d) injured
  
  Answer the following questions in complete sentences.
  
• In what two ways does the author convey the idea that the old man and woman were poor?
• Why do you think the troll wife and the troll daughter were chasing him?
• Why did Karl and his parents think of Bu-cola as a magical cow?

Answers

• c) completely
• c) determined
• b) tied
• a) unharmed
• The author conveys the idea that the old man and woman were poor by a) saying that they just had a cow and b) they lived in a thatch house.
• I think the troll wife and the troll daughter were chasing him to get Bu-cola back.
• Karl narrated to his parents how Bu-cola and himself could escape from the troll wife and troll daughter. Bu-cola had asked Karl to pick a hair from her tail and lay it behind them. From that hair a raging river had formed between them and the trolls.