Read the passage: Deep inside a mountain on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, far north of the Arctic Circle, lies the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Opened in 2008, it stores duplicate samples of seeds from crop collections held by gene banks around the world. The seeds are kept in sealed packets at around minus eighteen degrees Celsius, a temperature at which many can remain alive for decades or even centuries. The vault acts as a backup. If a national seed bank is damaged by war, natural disaster or simple equipment failure, the stored copies can be returned so that valuable crop varieties are not lost forever. The cold, remote location was chosen because the surrounding rock stays frozen naturally.
Correct answerC. It is a frozen safety store that protects the world's crop varieties from being lost.
Read the passage: Two years ago a charity donated fifty tablet computers to a girls' school in a remote district of Balochistan. The tablets were loaded with lessons in mathematics, science and English, and teachers received a day of training. For the first few weeks pupils were delighted. Soon, however, problems appeared. The school had electricity for only a few hours each day, so many tablets were flat by mid-morning. When screens cracked, there was no repair shop within a hundred kilometres. By the end of the year, most of the devices sat unused in a cupboard. Last spring the charity returned, this time installing solar panels and training a local young woman to carry out simple repairs.
Correct answerD. The charity at first overlooked the practical support the devices would need.
Read the passage: A refrigerator does not create cold; instead, it moves heat from inside the cabinet to the room outside. It does this by pumping a special fluid, called a refrigerant, through a closed loop of pipes. Inside the fridge, the refrigerant evaporates into a gas, and in doing so it absorbs heat from the food and air around it. A compressor, usually found near the bottom at the back of the appliance, then squeezes the gas, raising its temperature. The hot gas flows through coils on the outside of the fridge, where it gives off its heat to the kitchen and turns back into a liquid. This is why the back of a working fridge often feels warm to the touch.
Correct answerB. Hot refrigerant gas gives off its heat through coils on the outside.
Read the passage: When the town library in Sialkot began lending sports equipment alongside books, many residents laughed at the idea. Why would a library keep cricket bats, badminton rackets and footballs? Yet within a year, the scheme had doubled the number of young members. Children who came for a bat often stayed to browse the shelves, and parents who could not afford equipment were grateful for the free service. The librarian, Mrs Nasreen Akhtar, says the real aim was never sport itself. She wanted the library to feel like a place that belonged to everyone, not only to people who already loved reading. Today the borrowing desk is busier than ever, and the shelf of children's adventure stories has had to be expanded twice.
Correct answerD. How a Library Won New Members by Lending Sports Gear
Read the passage: Every winter, the village of Khaplu holds a small apricot-kernel fair, where families display oil, sweets and soap made from the dried seeds of the fruit. Visitors are often surprised that the fair takes place long after the apricot harvest has ended. The reason is practical: the kernels must be dried for several weeks before they can be pressed, and farmers are free from field work only once the cold sets in. Stalls are arranged around the old school playground, and the most popular stall usually belongs to the women's cooperative, which sells hand-pressed oil in small glass bottles. Profits from the cooperative's sales are used to buy books for the village school.
Correct answerC. Because the kernels need weeks of drying and farmers are free only after field work ends
Read the passage: Rahim had worked at the railway ticket counter for twenty-two years, and he could tell a great deal about passengers from the way they asked for tickets. Students counted their coins twice before speaking. Businessmen named the train before they said good morning. On his last day, a young woman paused at the window, smiled, and said, "You sold me my first ticket to university, uncle. I am a teacher now." Rahim did not remember her face, but he nodded as though he did. After she left, he sat quietly for a long moment, then carefully folded his old cardigan and placed it in his bag.
Correct answerC. He was moved by the woman's words on his final day at work
Read the passage: Many first-time travellers to the northern valleys pack far too much. They carry three pairs of shoes, a heavy coat for every possible temperature and enough snacks for a month. Experienced trekkers, by contrast, are frugal with space. They choose one pair of sturdy boots, layers that can be added or removed, and food that is light but filling. The result is not only a lighter rucksack but also a more relaxed journey. A guide from Gilgit once remarked that the happiest hikers he had met were always those whose bags he could lift with one hand.
Read the passage: Some people argue that homework should be abolished in primary schools. I disagree, but only partly. A short daily task, such as reading for fifteen minutes or practising a few sums, helps children build habits that classrooms alone cannot create. The problem is not homework itself but the mountain of worksheets that some schools send home every evening. Such loads exhaust children and turn family time into a battle. Schools should therefore keep homework brief, purposeful and enjoyable. If a task cannot be explained in one sentence to a parent, it probably should not be set at all.
Correct answerC. Supportive of homework only if it is short and purposeful
Read the passage: The badminton club at Rajshahi Community Hall started with just four members and one borrowed net. Its founder, Tanvir Hossain, had learned the game while working in a textile factory, where workers played during lunch breaks. When he returned home, he noticed that the hall stood empty most evenings. He persuaded the caretaker to let him use it twice a week in exchange for sweeping the floor afterwards. Today the club has more than sixty members, including a group of retired teachers who play every Thursday morning. The original borrowed net, now patched in several places, hangs framed on the wall near the entrance.
Correct answerC. To sweep the floor after each session
Read the passage: Remote work was once seen as a rare privilege, but for many office employees it has become ordinary. Supporters point to the hours saved on commuting and the freedom to arrange the day around family needs. Critics reply that young workers miss the informal learning that happens when they sit beside experienced colleagues. Both sides have a point. A junior accountant may finish reports faster at home but may never overhear how a senior manager calms an angry client. Many firms are therefore experimenting with mixed arrangements, asking staff to spend two or three days a week in the office and the rest at home.
Correct answerD. Remote work has both benefits and drawbacks, leading many firms to try mixed arrangements
Read the passage: At the annual kite festival in the old city, the sky fills with colour from dawn until dusk. This year, however, the organisers introduced a new rule: only cotton thread could be used, and glass-coated or metal strings were strictly forbidden. Volunteers checked every spool at the entrance and exchanged banned strings for free cotton ones. Some veteran flyers grumbled that their kites would now be cut less often in friendly contests, which made the matches longer. Meanwhile, the local hospital reported that it had treated no festival injuries for the first time in many years.
Correct answerA. Coated strings had previously been a cause of injuries
Read the passage: Priya runs a small bakery in Pune that opens at six every morning. She explains that the early start is not for the office workers, who arrive later, but for the delivery riders and night-shift nurses from the nearby hospital who stop on their way home. For them, she keeps a special shelf of soft buns and warm milk tea at a reduced price. At first, her business partner worried that the discounts would cut into profits. Instead, the nurses began ordering birthday cakes for colleagues and recommending the bakery to patients' families, and sales rose steadily throughout the year.
Correct answerC. Delivery riders and night-shift nurses
Read the passage: The old cinema on Mall Road had been closed for a decade, its posters faded and its doors chained. When a group of young engineers bought the building, neighbours expected it to be torn down and replaced by a shopping plaza. Instead, the new owners decided to rejuvenate it. They repaired the carved ceiling, restored the red velvet seats and installed modern sound equipment behind the original wooden panels. On reopening night, elderly residents who had watched films there as teenagers queued alongside students, and many said the building felt young again.
Read the passage: If you are planning to visit the hill station during the summer holidays, book your room early. By June, nearly every guesthouse is full, and late arrivals often end up paying double for a cramped room far from the main bazaar. Carry a light jacket even in July, because evenings can turn surprisingly cold. Above all, avoid driving up the narrow road on Friday afternoons, when traffic can stretch for kilometres. A little planning will turn what could be a stressful trip into a pleasant escape from the heat of the plains.
Correct answerA. To give practical advice to summer visitors
Read the passage: Farah had practised her speech for the inter-school debate every evening for a month. On the day of the competition, the microphone failed just as she began. The audience murmured, and a teacher rushed to fix the cable. Farah glanced at her notes, then folded them and stepped to the very front of the stage. Speaking without the microphone, she raised her voice and delivered her argument from memory. When she finished, the judges were still writing furiously, and her younger brother in the third row was standing on his chair.
Correct answerC. She performed confidently and impressed her audience
Read the passage: In many households across South Asia, grandparents play a quiet but vital role in raising children. While parents work long hours, grandparents often collect children from school, help with homework and pass on family stories and recipes. Researchers who study family life note that children raised with close contact with grandparents tend to show greater patience and a stronger sense of identity. Yet as more young families move to large cities for work, this daily contact is becoming less common. Some schools have responded by inviting elderly volunteers into classrooms to read stories, hoping to keep alive a bond that busy modern life threatens to weaken.
Correct answerC. Grandparents make valuable contributions to children's lives, though modern life is reducing this contact
Read the passage: The ferry from Barisal to the river islands leaves twice a day, once at seven in the morning and again at three in the afternoon. During the monsoon, when the current is strong, the afternoon trip is often cancelled, so travellers are advised to take the morning boat. Tickets cannot be booked in advance; they are sold on the jetty half an hour before departure. Passengers may bring bicycles but not motorbikes, as the deck is too narrow. Tea and puffed rice are sold on board, and the crossing usually takes a little under two hours.
Read the passage: Coach Iqbal was known for his meticulous preparation. Before every hockey match, he studied recordings of the opposing team, noting how their defenders moved and which side their goalkeeper favoured. He wrote a separate plan for each of his eleven players and checked their equipment himself the night before. Some players found his attention to detail tiring, but few could argue with the results. In his five seasons with the club, the team lost only three home matches, and two of his former players were later selected for the national squad.
Read the passage: Every year the city council promises to repair the potholes on Station Road, and every year the monsoon washes away its efforts within weeks. Residents have learned to steer around craters the size of bathtubs, and shopkeepers have begun naming the largest holes after local film stars. Officials insist that a permanent solution is coming soon. Perhaps it is. Perhaps the road will one day be smooth enough to roll a marble from one end to the other. Until then, the citizens of Station Road will continue to treat their daily drive as an adventure sport.
Read the passage: Mehwish started her career as a junior clerk in a bank in Multan. She was often the last to leave, staying behind to learn how the loan software worked even though it was not part of her job. When the branch's only loan officer fell ill during the busy harvest season, the manager was worried that farmers would be turned away. Mehwish quietly offered to help. Within a week she had processed more applications than anyone expected. Six months later, a new nameplate appeared on her desk.
Correct answerA. She had been promoted to a new role
