The great sage once had a group of disciples. They were all very bright and eager students and the sage had all the reasons to be proud of them. One day the sage realized that he had imparted enough knowledge to his disciples. Now they were all very learned. There was only one thing the sage had not taught them, and that was the special verse that could bring the dead back to life.
The sage knew that such knowledge was too wonderful and could prove to be a dangerous thing in the hands of someone who was not very wise. The sage pondered over this for a long time. But he also knew that if he did not pass on this secret verse, it could die with him. So, at last he called his cleverest disciple aside and said, ―I am going to teach you a very special verse.
If you chant this you can bring to life a dead person or animal. Use only when you need it to and never misuse, or test your powers vainly.‖ He then called all the disciples together and said, ―I am sending you all into the forest for forty days. Go together and come back together. Each one of you has to guide one another and do good things.So the disciples started out together into the forest.
They were all united. But the clever disciple who knew the verse wanted to show he was better than the others, as they walked into the forest, they came across a dead tiger on the way. It was huge and looked wickedly fierce even when dead. The clever disciple stopped and said to the others, ―Now I am going to show you what our teacher had taught me alone.
He has taught me how to bring life back into the dead.‖ The others would not believe him and he said, ―I would prove it to you by bringing this tiger back to life.‖ But the other disciples said, ―Do not do anything to prove your knowledge vainly. Moreover, if you put life into this tiger, it will only turn on us and kill us all. This will not be a wise thing to do.
But the clever disciple had decided to prove himself and prepared to recite the verse. But before he did so, the other disciples scrambled up to the topmost branch of a big tree nearby. The disciple then recited the magical verse. The tiger slowly began to breathe, ―It’s working,‖ cried the disciple in excitement and joy. The tiger opened its eyes and saw him jumping and shouting in front of him. Roaring loudly, the tiger pounced on the poor disciple and killed him.
The other disciples on the tree watched helplessly as the tiger threw down the dead body of the disciple and went away into the forest. After some time the disciples came down, took the body and went to the sage. The sage looked at them and said, ―Now you see what can happen if you don‘t use your learning wisely. Let this be a lesson for you.‖ With that, the sage uttered the magic verse and brought the dead disciple back to life.
The sage then taught the verse to all his disciples and sent them into the world to do good. He was sure that after such a lesson, they would be wiser and use their knowledge learning only for doing good.
1. What did the sage say to his disciple while teaching his secret verse?
(A) Not to share it with others.
(B) Not to practice it on animals
(C) Not to use it to prove his superiority
(D) Never to misuse the power of the secret verse.
2. Why was the sage proud of his disciples?
(A) Because they never misused their knowledge.
(B) Because they were very friendly with each other.
(C) Because they were very obedient
(D) Because they were very brilliant
3. Why did all the disciples except one, climb up to the highest branches of the tree?
(A) Because they did not know the secret verse.
(B) Because they wanted to watch the scene of the tiger coming to life, from a distance.
(C) Because they felt their lives were in danger.
(D) Because they did not approve of the behavior of one of their fellows
4. Why were the disciples sent to the forest by the sage?
(A) He wanted them to be eliminated
(B) So that the disciple could show them the magic of the secret verse.
(C) He did not want to teach them anything more.
(D) To teach them the lesson not to use their learning unsafely.
5. What is the message conveyed in the passage?
(A) A teacher must pass on all his knowledge to others before he dies.
(B) Knowledge and learning should never be misused.
(C) Teachers should impart equal knowledge to all their disciples.
(D) None of these.
6. Why did the sage decide to pass on his secret verse to his disciple?
(A) So that the cleverest disciple could revive the tiger.
(B) We wanted to see if the cleverest disciple abided by his instructions.
(C) He did not want the verse to die with him.
(D) So that the cleverest disciple could take his place.
7. Why did the clever disciple recite the verse to the dead tiger?
(A) To carry out the instructions of the sage.
(B)To flaunt the power of the verse to the other disciples.
(C) So that the tiger may come back to life.
(D) So that he could test the power of the verse.
8. How did the other disciples react when the clever disciple decided to bring the tiger back to life?
(A) They tried to deter him from doing so (B) They remained indifferent
(C) They were quite surprised (D) They felt quite happy
9. Who is referred to as wicked and fierce by the author?
(A) All the disciples (B) The tiger
(C) The sage (D) The clever disciple
10. In the context of the passage, which statement is false?
(A) The sage was prejudiced against the clever disciple.
(B) The sage wanted the disciples to use their learning only for doing good.
(C) The sage brought the clever disciple back to life