Understanding Test
You may have come across comprehension tests at school and even undertaken comprehension exams or sub-sections on this skill in English Language exams.
Read this extract from a famous speech delivered by a group who felt their views were only paid lip service in society, then answer the questions that follow.
We submit that our views have never had the audible voicing they deserve. How, now, do we get that voice when we can barely clear our throats with the fumes? But what came first - reality or consciousness? The two are intertwined more subtlely than you may suppose. And so maybe it is the case that by expressing the products of our consciousness we can influence reality and start to find our voice.
We will not lift a finger in protest or scream and shout, for there is no need. An intangible thought can admit of nothing, but an indelible impression is left in reality by the expression of these thoughts - our behaviour, and specifically our actions.
No weapon can stop something so powerful as a united front, a until people rock solid behind their belief. No-one can defuse the idea whose seed has sprouted and is set to explode, the idea that is ripe for picking. And so we say, together, from our Stellar beginnings, that we too may be burnt to a crisp if we do not stop polluting our planet. We must change the political climate to change the actual one, we must ensure politicians cherish our environment.
The winds of change are upon is, and they are warming winds. Our voice, like the planet, is warming up too. It's time to cool one of them down, before it is too late.
Questions
Now you have read through and digested the passage above, try answering the following questions:- What is the subject of the campaign?
- Give an example of irony in the text
- Give an example of where the linkage between cause and effect is discussed
- What is said to be more powerful than any weapon?
- What do the group want to cool down?
- What is wrong with the description immediately above the passage of text?
