OCTOBER ADVENTURER -ENGLISH
Section 1
GRAMMAR MCQ
Read each question carefully. Choose the most suitable answer.
1. Owls can live ________ very different kinds of environment.
A. around
C. among
B. in
D. within
2. The owl ________ the mouse which moved quietly in the grass.
3.
A. stalked
C. stalking
B. stalk
D. stalks
Most owls mainly feed in the night. They fly ______ open fields hunting for their prey.
A. across
C. past
B. over
D. among
4. Owls have soft feathers to absorb any sound ________ the wind.
A. by
C. in
B. into
D. from
5. All owls have big eyes. _________ eyes help them to see well in the dark.
A. The
C. These
B. This
D. Those
1
Section 2
PUNCTUATION
For questions 6 to 12, choose the correct punctuation to complete the passage. Circle the best
answer.
I was chatting with my friends, Tom and Harry about birds when Tom said [6] “do you know that
owls are supposed to be very wise [7] [8] “That’s amazing [9] Is there any scientific proof about
that? [10] I asked. Tom laughed and replied, “actually I think it [11]s because the owl has very
large eyes in a big head and looks like a professor.” We all had a good laugh [12] thinking about
our own wise Professor Tan.
6.
A. [ ‘ ] apostrophe
B. [ , ] comma
C. [ : ] colon
D. [ . ] full stop
A. [ ! ] exclamation
mark
B. [− ] hyphen
C. [ ? ] question mark
A. [ ) ] bracket
B. [ ! ] exclamation
mark
C. [ ( ] bracket
D. [ ” ] inverted commas
A. [ ! ] exclamation
mark
B. [ . ] full stop
C. [ , ] comma
A. [ ‘ ] apostrophe
B. [ . ] full stop
C. [ “ ] inverted commas
D. [ , ] comma
A. [ - ] hyphen
B. [ “ ] inverted
commas
C. [ ‘ ] apostrophe
D. [ : ] colon
A. [ : ] colon
B. [ , ] comma
C. [ - ] hyphen
D. [ ; ] semi colon
7.
D. [ . ] full stop
8.
9.
D. [ - ] hyphen
10.
11.
12.
2
Section 3
VOCABULARY MCQ
For questions 13 to 18, four options are given. Circle the best answer.
13. Snowy owls use their _______ to detect mice hidden in the snow.
A. eyes
C. ears
B. nose
D. beak
14. Physical ___________ enable different kinds of owls to thrive in extreme environments.
A. adaptations
C. features
B. circumstances
D. adjustments
15. The elf owl can __________ for prey from the safety of its nest inside the cactus plant.
A. hunt
C. search
B. watch
D. look
16. Snowy owls are ___________ creatures.
A. diurnal
C. nocturnal
B. vegetarian
D. raptor
17. Something that has two sides that don’t match is called ____________.
A. symmetrical
C. asymmetrical
B. balanced
D. uneven
18. Silent flight helps owls to __________ up on its prey.
A. track
C. follow
B. snoop
D. sneak
3
Section 4
VOCABULARY CLOZE
Choose the most suitable word(s) to replace the underlined word(s). Circle the best answer.
The author has been interested in owls since he was a young child in primary school. In order to
[19] study about owls the author had to [20] move to different environments. He discovered key
senses in owls which he mentioned in his [21] story. He was able to [22] refer a particular
sense to a specific owl according to its [23] particular environment. This helped him to
understand different species of owls and their hunting habits better. And after his research was
done he published articles in magazines.
19.
A. write
C. explore
B. learn
D. examine
A. travel
C. fly
B. go
D. walk
A. document
C. article
B. essay
D. thesis
A. associate
C. connect
B. assign
D. relate
A. natural
C. weather
B. climate
D. suitable
20.
21.
22.
23.
4
Section 5
COMPREHENSION MCQ
Read the article ‘Who’s Whoooo?’ from pages 2 to 9 and answer the following questions.
Choose the best answer.
24. How is an owl able to fly silently?
A. It is able to glide silently through the air.
B. It has many soft down feathers
C. Its wings are adapted for quiet flying.
D. Its large wings enable it to float through the air.
25. What is the most distinguishing feature of the elf owl?
A. It has huge eyes.
B. It is the tiniest of all the owls in the world.
C. It lives in the desert.
D. It depends on other creatures to make its nest.
26. How does the spectacled owl watch its prey?
A. It uses its ears to track the prey.
B. It turns its head to keep watch on its prey.
C. It turns its eyes to follow the movement of its prey.
D. It flies silently over its prey.
27. What is the owl’s main weapon?
A. Its superior vision and hearing.
B. Its sharp teeth.
C. Its powerful beak.
D. Its razor sharp talons.
5
Section 6
GRAMMAR CLOZE
There are 7 blanks, numbered 28 to 34, in the passage below. From the list of words given,
choose the most suitable word for each blank. Write its letter (A to L) in the blanks below.
EACH WORD CAN ONLY BE USED ONCE.
Most
owls
(A) in
(E) through
(I) are
(B) for
(F) of
(J) is
(C) into
(G) which
(K) while
(D) with
(H) about
(L) to
hunt
_________________
[28]
___________________________
nocturnal
creatures
except
the
night.
the
They
snowy
[29]
owl
[30]___________________________ is diurnal. The snowy owl depends mainly on its ears
[31]_________________________ detect its prey,
[32] _______________ the elf owl
makes more use [33]__________________ its eyes to look for its prey. Scientists have
spent many hours studying [34] _____________ the eyes and ears of owls.
6
Section 7
EDITING
Correct each word in bold for spelling errors and the underlined for grammatical errors. Write
the correct answer in the blanks below.
There are many different species of owls. They are beautiful and magnificent creatures. Most
are nocturnal, though there are a few which are diurnal. Some owls like the elf owl [35] makes
the [36] dessert its home. This place is usually hot and very dry throughout the year. Although
water [37] are scarce in such an [38] enviroment this owl is able to [39] gets its water from the
prey it eats, such as the [40] scopion. Thus, the lack in water will not affect its survival.
35. ________________________________________________
36. ________________________________________________
37. ________________________________________________
38. ________________________________________________
39. ________________________________________________
40. ________________________________________________
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Section 8
COMPREHENSION CLOZE
Fill in each blank with a suitable word.
When a barn owl flies, wind [41] ________________________________ over its wings. Like
most owls it is nocturnal, has large eyes and is a perfect predator. Its powerful wings are well-
equipped
for
the
task.
It
has
comb-like
feathers
at
the
[42]
_______________________________________ of the wings which break up the rushing air
into [43]_________________________________ whirls. These whirls then roll over the owl’s
wing and its soft feathers [44] __________________________________ any sound from the
wind. It hones in on its prey, taking the prey by complete surprise. The owl gives no chance for
escape.
8
Section 9
SENTENCE SYNTHESIS
Rewrite the given sentence(s) using the word(s) provided. Your answer must be in one
sentence. The meaning of your sentence must be the same as the given one(s).
45. The desert is filled with many cacti. It provides a place for the elf owl to make a nest
from where it watches for prey. It remains hidden from the prey.
______________________________________________________________________
which_________________________________________________________________
while_________________________________________________________________.
46. The owl is able to move silently. It has wings with soft feathers. These feathers absorb
any sound from the wind.
_______________________________________________________________because
__________________________________________________________________and
_____________________________________________________________________.
9
Section 10
COMPREHENSION OPEN-ENDED
Read the article ‘Who’s Whooo?’ from pages 2 to 9 and answer the following questions.
47. Who helps the elf owl make their nests in cacti?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
48. Why can’t owls move their eyes to look in a different direction?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
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Section 11
GRAPHIC STIMULUS
Study the pictures on pages 3 and 7, and answer the following questions. Choose the best
answer.
49. What unique sense does the owl have that enables it to detect and catch the mice?
A. Its sense of smell.
C. Its sense of hearing
B. Its sense of sight
D. Its sense of touch.
50. What strikes you as the outstanding feature of the owl shown on page 7?
A. It is a colorful bird.
C. It looks like a fearsome creature.
B. Its large eyes framed with light
D. Its wide sharp beak.
rings.
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Answer Key
Section 1: GRAMMAR MCQ
1. B. in
2. A. stalked
3. B. over
4. D. from
5. C. these
Section 2: PUNCTUATION
6. B. [ , ] comma
7.
C. [ ? ] question mark
8.
D [ “ ] inverted commas
9.
A [ ! ] exclamation mark
10. C. [ “ ] inverted commas
11. C. [ ‘ ] apostrophe
12. B. [ , ] comma
Section 3: VOCABULARY MCQ
13. C. ears
14. A. adaptations
15. B. watch
16. A. diurnal
17. C. asymmetrical
18. D. sneak
Section 4: VOCABULARY CLOZE
19. B. learn
20. A. travel
21. C. article
22. D. relate
23. A. natural
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Section 5: COMPREHENSION MCQ
24. C. Its wings are adapted for quiet flying
25. B. It is the tiniest of all the owls in the world
26. B. It turns its head to keep watch
27. D. Its razor sharp talons
Section 6: GRAMMAR CLOZE
28. [A] in
29. [I] are
30. [G] which
31. [L] to
32. [ K] while
33. [F] of
34. [H] about
Section 7: EDITING
35. make
36. desert
37. is
38. environment
39. get
40. Scorpion
Section 8: COMPREHENSION CLOZE
41. rushes
42. front
43. tiny
44. absorb
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Section 9: SENTENCE SYNTHESIS
45. The desert is filled with many cacti which provides a place for the elf owl to make a nest
from where it watches for prey while it remains hidden from the prey.
46. The owl is able to move silently because it has wings with soft feathers and these
feathers absorb any sound from the wind.
Section 10: COMPREHENSION OPEN- ENDED
47. They get help from other birds like the flickers and woodpeckers which tap out holes in
the cacti for the owl to make its nest.
48. Its eyes take up a lot of space in its skull. Therefore there is no room in the skull for the
muscles it needs to move its eyes in their sockets.
Section 11: GRAPHIC STIMULUS
49. C. Its sense of hearing.
50. B. Its large eyes framed with dark rings.
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