Tag: English for Competitive Exams

📘 Reading Comprehension Practice Exercise 1

Afza Amir

Instructions:

Read the passage carefully and choose the correct answer for each question.

Passage:
Unemployment is a key sign of a weak economy and lost productivity. But it doesn’t affect everyone equally. Young people, women, unskilled and semi-skilled workers, Black individuals, older people, and those living in rural areas often suffer more from unemployment.

Unemployment among these groups brings big costs to society—not just in lost work hours or income, but also in broken careers and a rise in youth crime.

There’s another cost, too. Long-term unemployment leads workers to push for shorter work hours (“share-the-work”) and resist new technologies. For businesses, weak markets mean raising prices to cover costs and asking the government to protect them from foreign competition

Questions:

Unemployment is a sign of:
(A) the employment rate
(B) economic slack and lost output
(C) diminished resources
(D) overuse of economic capacity
✅ Correct answer: (B) economic slack and lost output

According to the passage, unemployment does not affect which group the most?
(A) unskilled workers
(B) semi-skilled workers
(C) Black people
(D) white middle class
✅ Correct answer: (D) white middle class

One cost of unemployment that is not mentioned is:
(A) disruption of careers
(B) idleness
(C) the death rate
(D) lost income
✅ Correct answer: (C) the death rate

When unemployment is serious, workers demand:
(A) more jobs with shorter hours
(B) “no fire” rules
(C) higher wages
(D) cutting costs
✅ Correct answer: (A) more jobs with shorter hours

How do businesses usually react during a recession?
(A) Use restrictive practices
(B) Ask for protection from imports
(C) Ask for government help
(D) Increase unemployment benefits
✅ Correct answer: (B) protection against imports

Summary Completion Practice Exercise 1 (Stock Market)

Afza Amir

Instructions: Complete the following passage by choosing the correct words.

Investing in the stock market can be profitable.
(1) , there is some risk in this kind of investment because the returns are not always predictable. The price of a stock can (2) go up or down. That’s why anyone investing in the stock market needs to be very (3) __.

(A) Also
(B) Besides
(C) However

✅ Correct answer: (C) However

(A) either
(B) neither
(C) anytime

✅ Correct answer: (A) either

(A) positive
(B) cautious
(C) forgivable

✅ Correct answer: (B) cautious