CBSE Unseen passage for Class 8 covers the major portion of the English paper. It contains around 25% marks weightage in the exam. So, students who want to score high marks in Class 8 English must practise the comprehension passage prior to the exam. To help them in their preparation, we have provided the CBSE Unseen Passage for Class 8 English. Students must go through them and solve the questions based on these comprehension passages for Class 8.
Unseen Passage for Class 8 English CBSE: Reading Comprehension
The comprehension passage for Class 8 is asked under the Reading section, which comprises 20 marks (approx.) in the English paper. Below, we have provided different sets of CBSE Unseen Passage for Class 8 students. By answering them, they will learn how to answer the questions of comprehension passages during the English exam.
Unseen Passage for Class 8 English – Passage 1
Read the following comprehension for the Class 8 exam carefully and answer the given questions: (5 Marks)
About the year 1900, a small, dark-haired boy named Charles Chaplin was often seen waiting outside the back entrances of London theatres. He looked thin and hungry but his blue eyes were determined. He was hoping to get work in show business. He could sing and dance. His parents were music-hall performers and he had been born into the life of the theatre. And, although his own boyhood was painfully hard, he knew how to make people laugh.
His own father had died from drinking too much. And his mother was not really able to look after Charles and his older half-brother, Sid. She was often sick in mind and had to be sent to hospital.
1.1 Choose the right option. (1 X 5 = 5)
Q 1) The boy Charles Chaplin was __________.
a) brown-haired
b) dark-haired
c) red-haired
d) light-haired
Q 2) Chaplin thought to get a job in __________.
a) soap business
b) hotel business
c) show business
d) hospital business
Q 3) His parents were __________.
a) music-hall performers
b) actors
c) singers
d) directors
Q 4) His father had died due to __________.
a) an illness
b) accident
c) drinking
d) suicide
Q 5) The meaning of ‘determined’ is ___________.
a) mind made up
b) mind turn up
c) mind fade up
d) mind turn down
CBSE Class 8 English Unseen Passage – Passage 2
Read the following comprehension passage for the Class 8 exam and answer the questions briefly: (12 Marks)
A 92 year -old lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock with perfect make-up, even though she is blind, moved to an old age home. Her husband recently passed away. She didn’t even have children too. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby she smiled sweetly when she was ready. She was provided a visual description of her tiny room.
“l love it,” stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.
“But………but Mrs. Jones, you haven’t seen the room, ” said the attendant. “That doesn’t have anything to do with it,’ she replied. “Happiness is something you decide, I have already decided to love it. tt s a decision I make every morning I wake up. I can spend the day in bed, recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that don’t work. , or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as I am alive l’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away, just for this time in my life. ‘The attendant was touched by the elderly woman’s sense of cheer and boundless enthusiasm.
2.1 On the basis of the reading of the passage, answer the questions: (2 X 4 = 8)
Q 1) Why did the old woman move to an old age home?
Q 2) How did she react when the attendant gave a description of the room she had to live in?
Q 3) What resolution did she make when she woke up every morning?
Q 4) What does the story tell about the old woman?
2.2 From the passage, find out the one-word substitute for the following explanations: (2 Marks)
1) Give an account of
2) Unlimited
2.3 Find the antonym of the following words from the passage: (2 Marks)
1) Whole
2) dead
CBSE Class 8 English Comprehension Passage – Passage 3
Read the passage given below and answer carefully: (7 Marks)
One day the old emperor Shahjahan became ill. His son Aurangzeb, who always wanted to be the emperor, put his father in a jail. Jahanara Begum, the eldest child of Shahjahan, did not leave her father and went to jail along with him. She said, “ I shall share the suffering of my father. He needs me in his old age, and I shall never leave him.” Shahjahan lived in the jail for seven years and then he died. During that period, Princess Jahanara stayed with him and took care of him. After the death of her father, she returned to her own palace. She continued to live there and spent the rest of her life serving the needy and the poor. Before her death, she gave away all her money to the poor and the needy. She was highly educated and well-versed in Persian and Arabic, as well as a writer, painter and poet. Jahanara was Shahjahan’s preferred child. Legend says that once when Aurangzeb was severely sick, Jahanara took care of him. Jahanara died on September 5, 1681, at the age of 67. Upon her death, Aurangzeb gave her the posthumous title: Sahibat-uz-Zamani (mistress of age).
3.1 On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the questions: (1 X 7 = 7 Marks)
Q 1) What was Aurangzeb’s aim in life?
Q 2) Who was the eldest child of Shahjahan?
Q 3) Pick out and write the line from the passage which shows that Jahanara Begum was a caring daughter.
Q 4) What did Aurangzeb do when his father became ill?
Q 5) Jahanara was a kind lady. Explain.
Q 6) What did Jahanara do before her death?
Q 7) Find words in the passage which mean the same as:
(a) King (b) Sick
Unseen Passage for Class 8 English – Passage 4
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below. (1 X 5 = 5 Marks)
Lakshadweep is an archipelago located 200 – 400 km west of the coast of Kerala in the Arabian Sea. The archipelago consists of 36 main islands and many smaller islands, coral atolls and coral reefs. It is the smallest union territory in India. Lakshadweep means a hundred thousand islands in the local language, Malayalam. Earlier the name Lakshadweep referred to the three archipelagos in the Indian Ocean, the present Lakshadweep, Maldives and Suvadives. Only — ten of the Lakshadweep islands are inhabited and more than 90 percent of the indigenous population is Muslims. The main economic activities are fishing, coconut cultivation and coir twisting. Tourism is an emerging industry. Tourists require an entry permit to visit Lakshadweep; the permit is issued in Kochi (in Kerala). Foreign nationals are allowed only in kadmat, Bangaram and Agatti islands. Coconut is the main crop cultivated on the island. Lakshadweep is India’s largest producer of coconuts. About 2,598 hectares are under coconut cultivation and the productivity per hectare is 22,310. Coconuts cultivated in the Lakshadweep are also rich in coconut oil.
4.1 Complete the following sentences as briefly as possible.
Q 1) _____________ is the smallest union territory in India.
Q 2) Lakshadweep is situated in _____________.
Q 3) __________________ are the main economic activities of Lakshadweep islands.
Q 4) Malayalam is the language of _______________.
Q 5) Foreigners can visit only ___________________.
To practise the different sets of English model paper, students must solve CBSE Class 8 English Sample Papers.
Unseen Passage for Class 8 English – Comprehension Passage 5
Read the following comprehension for the Class 8 exam and answer the questions that follow: (8 Marks)
One of the greatest mysteries of bird life is travelling. Every year during autumn and early winter, birds travel from northern regions of Asia, Europe and America to the southern warmer lands. They make the return journey again during spring and early summer. They are punctual unless they are delayed by bad weather. They face many dangers and hardships while travelling long distances through the air, over hills, forests, plains and large stretches of water. Sometimes sudden storms arise and drive them far out of course. Often they are blown right out to sea and are drowned in the wild waves. At night bright lights attract and confuse the birds. They cannot fly at their fastest. The migration speed is usually from 48 to 64 km an hour and rarely exceeds 80.
5.1 Answer the following questions: ( 1 X 6 = 6 Marks)
Q 1) When do the birds travel from northern regions to southern warmer lands and why?
Q 2) What danger do they face when they are flying over the sea?
Q 3) What happens to these birds at night when they see the lights?
Q 4) When do the birds make their return journey?
Q 5) What is the migration speed of the birds?
Q 6) Which is the greatest mystery?
5.2 Which words in the passage mean the same as the following words: (2 Marks)
(i) Surpasses (ii) Secrets
CBSE Class 8 English Unseen Passage – Passage 6
Read the following comprehension passage for the Class 8 exam carefully and answer the questions given below: (1 X 5 = 5 Marks)
This is the story of one of the most amazing incidents of my life. It was out of the ordinary, something almost supernatural that happened to me. Let me tell you what happened.
Once, I was in search of a house. That is nothing new. I am always looking for a house. I never get a house or a room that I like. I had found a hundred faults in the place I was staying. But to whom could I complain? I was asked to leave if I disliked the place. But where could I go? So I continued to live there in resentment. Those were the days when it was almost impossible to get a good house for a low rent. And so I wandered about in search of a house. And suddenly, there it was! It was a small single-story house, far from the bustle of the town, near the outskirts. There was an ancient board—‘To Let’. I liked it. Upstairs, there were two rooms and a balcony. And, on the ground floor, four rooms and a bathroom. I was delighted and surprised. Why hadn’t anyone taken the house? I was excited. I paid an advance rent of two months and got the key from the owner. The next day, I shut the door of my new house and locked it. I stepped onto the road and shut the gate. I put the key in my pocket and walked on with a sense of pride. First, I met the postman. When I told him of the house I had occupied, he said with a look of fear, “Ooh Sir… in that house…a violent death had taken place. No one stays there. That’s why the house has remained vacant.” I was taken aback. I asked, “What kind of violent death?” “Isn’t there a well in the yard? Someone jumped into it. Since then, there has been no peace or quiet in that house. At night, the doors would shut with a bang; the taps would start running…” “The ghost will hold you by the throat and throttle you,” added the postman, “Didn’t anyone tell you, Sir?”
6.1 Complete these sentences in your own words.
Q 1) It was not something new that the writer was looking for a house because…….
Q 2) The writer was delighted and surprised because…….
Q 3) He walked with a sense of pride because…….
Q 4) The postman had a look of fear on his face because……..
Q 5) There has been no peace or quiet in that house because………
Unseen Passage for Class 8 English CBSE – Passage 7
Read the following comprehension passage for the Class 8 exam carefully and answer the given questions. (8 Marks)
Once, it so happened that a Lion and a Bear were resting not very far from each other. They both chanced to see a strong kid nearby. The great Bear rushed to seize the kid from one direction and the Lion came towards it from the other.
Since both the lion and the Bear wanted the prey, they fought savagely for it. In the battle, both received so many wounds that they sank to the ground, as they were too exhausted to continue the contest. Just then the clever fox came by. The fox dashed up, seized the kid in his jaws by his teeth, and whisked it off.
The mighty lion and the powerful bear could only watch with helpless rage as a much weaker animal managed to get the prize, which they had themselves set their eyes upon. “It would have been much better,” agreed the Lion and Bear, “to have shared the prey between us ourselves in a friendly spirit, rather than lose it to a third party!”
7.1 Answer the following questions:
Q 1) Give a suitable title to the passage. (1 Mark)
Q 2) How was the fox able to get the Kid? (2 Marks)
Q 3) Write the message of the story in a sentence or phrase? (1 Mark)
Q 4) What lesson did the lion and the bear learn by their own action? (2 Marks)
Q 5) Find the synonym of “tired” from the second paragraph (1 Mark)
Q 6) Antonym of clever is _______. (1 Mark)
We hope students have found this page on CBSE Unseen Passage for Class 8 helpful for their English exam preparation. To access more study material related to CBSE Class 8, keep visiting BYJU’S. Also, download the BYJU’S App for interactive study videos.
