Reading Comprehension Questions for SBI PO 2025, Check Ways to Solve it Quickly

In the SBI PO exam, Reading Comprehension is the most important part of the English section. You can’t miss this topic if you are aiming this year to get selected for the SBI PO. It tests your reading ability, understanding skills, and ability to find answers from a passage. With the right approach, you can score well even without strong vocabulary. In this blog, we will give you an overview of the type of reading comprehension topics asked in the SBI PO exam and tips to solve them.

What is Reading Comprehension?

In Reading Comprehension, there is a paragraph of usually 300–400 words on current affairs, economy, banking, or general topics. You are asked 7–10 questions based on this passage, including fact-based, inference-based, and vocabulary-based questions. You have to solve those questions by reading the passage carefully.

Importance & Weightage of Reading Comprehension in SBI PO

In the SBI PO exam, Reading Comprehension is a very important part of the English section. In Prelims, you can expect around 7 to 10 questions based on one passage. In Mains, the passages are a bit longer and more complex, with around 8 to 10 questions. Reading comprehension has the highest number of questions in the English section. So, preparing it well can increase your chances of getting selected in the SBI PO Exam 2025.

Most Important Reading Comprehension Questions for SBI PO

Here we are providing the most important Reading Comprehension for SBI PO questions. Candidates can click the PDF link and attempt all the questions

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.

The story of Henry Rawlinson and the riddle of the mountain is a story about how knowledge is created. It does not have a clear beginning and its protagonists are largely unknown today. There is no eureka moment—no equivalent to Archimedes, naked and trailing bathwater, running gleefully through the streets of Syracuse. Yet it is also a story of world-changing discovery. The riddle of Behistun changed the way Westerners think about the past, and their place in history, forever.

The rock of Behistun had haunted Rawlinson’s dreams for years. He first set eyes on it in the summer of 1836, when he was a young officer in the service of the British East India Company. European travellers had wondered about the inscriptions on the mountainside for centuries. But none had gotten close enough to record the cuneiform symbols accurately. Only in 1764, after the German explorer Carsten Niebuhr managed to copy a portion of the inscription, did scholars begin the battle to decipher it. By the early nineteenth century, thanks to the work of the philologist Georg Friedrich Grotefend, a few of the Old Persian symbols began to be understood. But in 1836, two of the inscription’s three languages, Babylonian and Elamite, were entirely unknown. And most of the inscription had still not yet been transcribed accurately.

Rawlinson was an unlikely scholar. To his friends, he appeared to be just another cheerful, hard-drinking junior officer—a little too fond of horses and cards, and a little too desperate to impress women. “The days all pass much in the same manner,” he wrote in his journal. As a child, growing up in Oxfordshire, Rawlinson had received a strong education in Greek and Latin. He learned to read Homer and Virgil almost as easily as Chaucer. In his first years of military service in India, he found that other languages came naturally to him too. Soon, the heady, blissful poetry of Persia was more of a thrill for him than the drunken dinners of his regiment. Junior officers were not often found swooning over the songs of the great Sufi poet Ḥafiẓ, so Rawlinson kept his new obsession to himself. But when the chance came for a posting to Persia, he jumped at it.

In 1836, standing in front of the Behistun Inscription for the first time, Rawlinson was not content to examine it through a telescope. But unlike scholars in Europe, who were working from incomplete and inaccurate copies of the inscriptions, Rawlinson was on the spot—and he was confident that he would soon make discoveries of his own. But for now, he was painfully aware of how little he understood. Only a few symbols from one of the inscriptions had revealed themselves to him, and most of them were proper names.

Before Rawlinson could celebrate the completed translation of the Behistun Inscription, there was one final test. When he returned to London in 1855, Rawlinson found that his discoveries had made him a celebrity. His insights into cuneiform, along with the archaeological discoveries of Austen Henry Layard in the ancient cities of Mesopotamia, had created a frenzy in Victorian Britain for all things Assyrian. Now, the Royal Asiatic Society proposed a test to see if the mystery of cuneiform had truly been solved. Scholars were invited to submit sealed translations of one specific inscription, a newly discovered piece from the reign of Tiglath-Pileser I, dating from around 1100 BCE. And, of course, the work was just beginning. The translations would be opened by a specially appointed committee. If the translations agreed, then the mystery could be said to have been solved. Things did not start well. But the closer they looked, the more the committee found that, in all important respects, Rawlinson agreed almost exactly. After almost two thousand years, the mystery was a mystery no more. 

Q1. Which of the following is/are the significance of the riddle of Behistun?

I. It’s a story about the creation of knowledge.

II. It replicates Archimedes’ story, changing the way Westerners thought.

III. It’s a story about a world changing discovery despite having no clear beginnings.

(1) Only I

(2) Only II

(3) Only I and III

(4) Only II and III

(5) All I, II and III

Q2. Which of the following is TRUE about the inscriptions on the mountains of Behistun? 

(1) They were first discovered by European travellers.

(2) Persian was one of the languages used on the inscriptions.

(3) It was first deciphered by Carsten Niebuhr.

(4) It was first discovered in 1764.

(5) It was first translated completely and accurately by Georg Friedrich Grotefend. 

Q3. As per the passage, which of the following lines about Rawlinson, if true, would be agreed upon by his friends?

(1) Rawlinson was a dedicated husband and a father.

(2) Rawlinson had a sound academic background.

(3) Rawlinson got into a fight with one of his colleagues as he was heavily drunk.

(4) Rawlinson was quickly promoted to the ranks of a senior officer.

(5) Rawlinson was the go-to person for those having a bad mood.

Q4. As per the passage, which of the following is NOT true about Rawlinson?

(1) Rawlinson was born in Oxfordshire.

(2) Rawlinson loved reading Persian poetry.

(3) Rawlinson listened to Sufi songs.

(4) Rawlinson was good with languages.

(5) All are true

Q5. How was Rawlinson different from the scholars in Europe?

I. He had little understanding of the inscriptions as compared to the European scholars.

II. He had access to accurate and complete copies of the inscription, while the European scholars did not.

III. He was acquainted with all the symbols in the inscriptions, while the European scholars were not.

(1) Only I

(2) Only II

(3) Only I and II

(4) Only II and III

(5) All I, II and III

Q6. Refer to the line: “Before Rawlinson could celebrate the completed translation of the Behistun Inscription, there was one final test.” Which of the following is the ‘final test’ as per the passage?

(1) Approval of Rawlinson’s translation by other scholars.

(2) Approval of Behistun translations by a specially appointed committee.

(3) Submission of sealed translation of one specific inscription.

(4) Confirming that the mystery of cuneiform has been solved.

(5) None of the above

Q7. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word ‘transcribed’ as used in the passage?

(1) reverted

(2) recorded

(3) tumbled

(4) transgressed

(5) traversed

Q8. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word ‘content’ as used in the passage?

(1) endurance

(2) abomination

(3) ignominious

(4) satiated

(5) ambivalence

Reading Comprehension for SBI PO Questions PDF

An example of a Reading Comprehension with questions and answers in PDF format is provided below. Download now.

Tips to Solve Reading Comprehension Questions

1. Start by Reading the Questions First

Before reading the full passage, glance at the questions. This helps you understand what kind of information to look for, like facts, reasons, or meanings of words. You’ll save time by reading with a purpose.

 2. Skim and Then Scan

• Skim the passage to understand the overall story (e.g., it’s about Henry Rawlinson and how he helped decode a major inscription).
  
• Then, scan each paragraph when answering specific questions, and look for keywords from the question to get the answer quickly.
  

 3. Highlight Keywords

As you read,  mentally note key names (e.g., Rawlinson, Behistun, Georg Friedrich Grotefend, etc.) and dates (1836, 1855) so you can find them faster during questions.

 4. Use the Elimination Method

For each question, eliminate the wrong options first. This increases your chances of choosing the right one, even if you’re unsure.

For example, in Q2:

• Option 1 is unclear, but
  
• Option 2 says Persian was one of the languages (this was true), so that’s likely the correct answer.
  

 5. Be Careful with “NOT True” or “Incorrect”

These questions are tricky. Don’t choose what “sounds” wrong. Go back to the passage and verify each option one by one.

Like in Q4:
Option 3 says “Rawlinson listened to Sufi songs”, but the passage says he read the poetry of Hafiz (a Sufi poet), not necessarily that he “listened to songs”, so that’s not true.

 6. Don’t Assume Anything Outside the Passage

Answer only from what is stated or implied. Even if you “know” something outside of the passage, don’t use it to decide your answer.

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Disclaimer: The reading comprehension questions and solutions provided are curated by experts after analyzing previous year papers, exam trends, and practice resources. They are intended for guidance and practice only, not official SBI PO exam content. Actual exam questions may differ. Candidates should always verify details through official SBI notices.

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