Class 1 English Unseen Passage: 10 Short Passages with Answers (Class 1 & 2)

An unseen passage is a short piece of text a child has never read before, followed by questions. It shows whether a child can read independently and understand what they read, not just recite a lesson they have memorised. That is why a class 1 English unseen passage appears in so many school exams, and why parents want plenty of fresh passages to practise with at home.

Below you will find 10 original passages set in everyday Indian life: 5 at Class 1 level (about 45 to 50 words) and 5 at Class 2 level (about 70 words). Each has five questions, a mix of multiple choice, true or false, fill in the blank and one-word answers, with an answer key at the end. There are also tips for teaching children to find answers in the text, which matters far more than any single worksheet.

How to teach children to answer unseen passage questions

Most mistakes in comprehension are not reading mistakes. They happen because children answer from memory or imagination instead of looking back at the text. Teach this five-step routine:

1. Read the passage once all the way through. Aloud is best in Class 1.
2. Read the first question and find the key word. In “What colour is Moti?”, the key words are colour and Moti.
3. Go back and hunt. Find the sentence with that word and underline it with a pencil.
4. Answer using words from the passage. In Class 1, one word or a short phrase is fine.
5. Check true or false carefully. One wrong word makes a sentence false. Moti sleeps on the roof is false because the passage says near the window.

Practise this with a finger pointing at the words. After a few weeks, children start doing it on their own. Reading short passages also builds vocabulary for writing; our guide to picture composition for Class 1 shows how to turn that vocabulary into sentences.

Class 1 English unseen passage: 5 short passages with questions

Passage 1: My Pet Cat

Riya has a pet cat. Its name is Moti. Moti is white and fluffy. It likes to drink milk. It sleeps on a soft mat near the window. Every evening, Riya plays with Moti using a red ball. Moti runs after the ball. Riya loves her cat very much.

1. What is the name of Riya’s cat?
2. What colour is Moti? (a) black (b) white (c) brown
3. Moti likes to drink ________.
4. True or false: Moti sleeps on the roof.
5. What does Riya play with?

Passage 2: At the Park

On Sunday, Aarav went to the park with his grandfather. The park was green and big. There were tall trees and pretty flowers. Aarav played on the swing and the slide. His grandfather sat on a bench and read a newspaper. They ate peanuts and came home happy.

1. When did Aarav go to the park?
2. Who went with him? (a) his mother (b) his grandfather (c) his sister
3. Aarav played on the swing and the ________.
4. True or false: Grandfather read a book.
5. What did they eat?

Passage 3: The Mango Tree

There is a big mango tree near Sita’s house. In summer, the tree has many mangoes. Some are green and some are yellow. Birds sit on the branches and sing. Sita and her brother sit in the shade of the tree. Their mother makes mango juice for them.

1. Where is the mango tree?
2. When does the tree have many mangoes? (a) winter (b) summer (c) monsoon
3. What colours are the mangoes?
4. True or false: Birds sit on the branches and sing.
5. What does their mother make?

Passage 4: My School Bag

Kabir has a blue school bag. In his bag, there are three books, two notebooks and a pencil box. His pencil box has a pencil, an eraser and a sharpener. He also keeps a water bottle and a lunch box. Kabir packs his bag every night before he goes to bed.

1. What colour is Kabir’s bag?
2. How many books are in the bag? (a) two (b) three (c) four
3. Name one thing in the pencil box.
4. True or false: Kabir packs his bag in the morning.
5. Kabir also keeps a water bottle and a ________ box.

Passage 5: Rain, Rain

It is raining today. Dark clouds are in the sky. Meena wears her yellow raincoat. She takes her umbrella too. On the way to school, she sees frogs jumping in the water. She also sees a paper boat. Meena smiles. She loves the rainy season.

1. What colour is Meena’s raincoat?
2. What does she see jumping in the water? (a) frogs (b) cats (c) rabbits
3. True or false: There are dark clouds in the sky.
4. Meena sees a paper ________.
5. Which season does Meena love?

Class 2 English worksheet unseen passage: 5 passages

Class 2 passages are longer and include one question that asks why, which needs a little more thinking. Encourage full-sentence answers where possible.

Passage 6: Grandma’s Garden

Every summer, Neha visits her grandmother in a small village in Punjab. Grandma has a lovely garden behind her house. She grows tomatoes, spinach, chillies and sunflowers. Neha helps her water the plants early in the morning, before the sun gets too hot. One day, Neha found a tiny green caterpillar on a leaf. Grandma smiled and said, “One day it will become a butterfly.” Neha could not wait to see it.

1. Where does Neha’s grandmother live?
2. Name two things Grandma grows.
3. Why does Neha water the plants early in the morning?
4. True or false: Neha found a caterpillar on a flower.
5. What will the caterpillar become? (a) a moth (b) a butterfly (c) a bee

Passage 7: Raju’s Kind Act

It was a very hot afternoon in May. Raju saw a little sparrow sitting on the wall. Its beak was open and it looked tired. Raju understood that the bird was thirsty. He ran inside, filled a clay bowl with water and kept it on the wall in the shade. Soon the sparrow drank the water. The next day, three more birds came to the bowl. Now Raju fills the bowl every morning.

1. In which month does the story take place?
2. Where was the sparrow sitting?
3. Why did the sparrow look tired? (a) it was sleepy (b) it was thirsty (c) it was cold
4. What did Raju fill with water?
5. How many more birds came the next day?

Passage 8: Holi at Home

Holi is the festival of colours. This year, Ananya celebrated Holi with her cousins. In the morning, they filled pichkaris with water and mixed bright colours in buckets. Everyone wore old white clothes. They put gulal on each other’s cheeks and shouted, “Happy Holi!” Ananya’s father made cold thandai and her mother made gujiyas. In the afternoon, the children washed off the colours and had a big lunch together.

1. Holi is the festival of ________.
2. Who did Ananya celebrate Holi with?
3. What clothes did everyone wear? (a) old white clothes (b) new red clothes (c) school uniforms
4. True or false: Ananya’s mother made thandai.
5. What did the children do in the afternoon?

Passage 9: Our Postman

Mr Joseph is the postman in our colony. He wears a khaki uniform and carries a big bag on his shoulder. Every morning, he rides his bicycle from house to house. He brings letters, parcels and birthday cards. Once, he brought a parcel from my aunt in Chennai. It had a storybook for me! Mr Joseph works even when it is very hot or raining. We always thank him with a smile.

1. What is Mr Joseph’s job?
2. How does he go from house to house? (a) by car (b) by bicycle (c) by bus
3. Name two things he brings.
4. Where did the parcel come from?
5. Find a word in the passage that is the opposite of small.

Passage 10: Sports Day

Our school Sports Day was held on a sunny Friday. All the parents came to watch. The races began after the morning assembly. Farhan ran in the sack race. He fell down once, but he got up quickly and kept hopping. He did not win, but he finished the race. His teacher clapped and said, “Well done, Farhan! You never gave up.” Farhan felt proud. Then everyone enjoyed the lemon-and-spoon race.

1. On which day was Sports Day held?
2. Which race did Farhan run? (a) sack race (b) relay race (c) lemon-and-spoon race
3. True or false: Farhan won the race.
4. Why did the teacher say “Well done”?
5. How did Farhan feel?

Answer key

Grade 1 reading comprehension: making your own passages

Once your child has done these ten, write your own using your family’s life. It takes five minutes:

• Use names and places they know: a cousin, the local market, the school van.
• Keep sentences short: five to eight words each for Class 1.
• Use mostly familiar words: sight words and CVC words from our CVC words list work well.
• Put every answer in the text: at this age, questions should not need outside knowledge.
• Mix question types: one MCQ, one true or false, one fill in the blank and two short answers.

Tips for Class 1 reading worksheets at home

• Read together first. Take turns reading sentences; children relax when they are not reading alone.
• Talk before writing. Ask the questions aloud before your child writes, so writing speed does not hide understanding.
• Do one passage a day, not five. Short, regular practice builds confidence.
• Celebrate finding. Praise your child for pointing to the sentence, even if the written answer is not perfect.
• Play with words. Pick a word from the passage and find a rhyme: cat, mat, hat. Our rhyming words for Class 1 list helps.

Print-ready reading practice

For more practice in a ready-made format, the Class 1 English Worksheets PDF (48 A4 pages) includes 4 short reading stories with questions (Kabir’s Kite, Meera at the Market, A Rainy Day and The School Bus), alongside phonics, 20 sight words, grammar, picture composition and handwriting, with answer keys for every page with fixed answers.

Get 20 Unseen Passages with Answers – ₹49

For Class 2, the Class 2 English Worksheets PDF (48 pages) has 5 reading passages with 5 questions each (A Visit to the Zoo, Riya’s Birthday, The Monsoon, The Village Fair and Let Us Save Water), plus grammar, paragraph writing and answer keys. Neither pack is an official board or NCERT workbook; they follow topics commonly taught across boards.

See the Class 2 English Worksheets – ₹149

Both print on A4 and are licensed for personal or single-classroom use. Browse all Class 1 worksheets and Class 2 worksheets.

Frequently asked questions

What is an unseen passage for Class 1?

It is a short piece of text, usually 40 to 60 words, that the child has not read before, followed by simple questions. It checks whether a child can read and understand on their own.

How long should a Class 2 comprehension passage be?

Most Class 2 passages are about 60 to 90 words, often a small story with a beginning, middle and end, followed by four or five questions.

What types of questions come in Class 1 comprehension worksheets?

Common types are multiple choice, true or false, fill in the blank and short one-word answers. Class 2 often adds a why question and a vocabulary question, such as finding an opposite in the passage.

How can I help my child find answers in a passage?

Teach them to find the key word in the question, look for the same word in the passage, underline that sentence and then write the answer using words from the text.

How often should my child practise reading comprehension?

One short passage a day, or three to four a week, is plenty. Regular short practice with lots of praise builds confidence faster than long sessions.