Mira had always been fascinated by flight—not the sleek certainty of planes, but the raw defiance of wings. As a child, she’d watched hawks circle thermals above the cliffs near her grandparents’ house, wondering how something so heavy could trust invisible air to hold it. Now, at seventeen, grounded in the final stretch of high school, she thought more often of falling than flying.
Her classmates talked of majors, scholarships, and five-year plans. Mira nodded through the conversations, but her answers felt borrowed. She had no tidy future to announce, only a tangle of doubts. Her GPA was fine, her essays decent—but nothing felt like conviction. What did she want? She wasn’t sure. And worse, she didn’t know how to explain that uncertainty without sounding lost.
One afternoon, after another well-meaning counselor meeting, Mira wandered to the outskirts of town, where an old glider sat rusting on display near the aviation museum. The paint had chipped, but the wings were still wide, still angled toward something bold. She reached out and placed her palm on the cold fuselage. No movement. No answers. Just a whisper of wind and the hum of traffic beyond the fence.
She came back the next day. And the day after. Not for answers, but for quiet. She started sketching—initially the glider, then the birds she saw nearby, then abstract shapes that echoed motion and lift. The act of drawing didn’t give her direction, but it gave her stillness. And in that stillness, something stirred. Not clarity, exactly—but a willingness to begin without it.
Mira applied to a design program, not because she was certain, but because she wanted to learn how to build. Not planes, maybe. Not wings. But bridges between questions and form. She wrote in her essay, 'Some people leap because they know. Others leap because they need to know. I think I am the second kind.'
Months later, as she packed for college, her younger brother asked, 'Aren’t you scared? Going all that way without knowing if it’s right?' Mira smiled and touched the sketchbook now filled with lines that bent and curved like wind. 'Of course I am,' she said. 'But sometimes, not knowing is the best reason to try. Even the sky doesn’t offer guarantees—just space.'
Q1: What internal conflict is Mira experiencing at the beginning of the story?
Q2: What is the symbolic meaning of the glider in the passage?
Q3: How does the author use contrast between Mira and her peers to develop the story's theme?
Q4: What does Mira mean when she writes, 'Some people leap because they know. Others leap because they need to know'?
Q5: Which abstract theme is most clearly supported by the passage?
Q6: What effect does the setting have on Mira’s emotional journey?
Q7: What change does Mira undergo by the end of the passage?
Q8: What literary technique is most used to express the passage’s central ideas?
Printable Comprehension Practice
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Q1: What internal conflict is Mira experiencing at the beginning of the story?
✅ Correct Answer: B
💡 Reasoning: Mira struggles with not having a defined future or academic plan, even as others around her seem confident.
Q2: What is the symbolic meaning of the glider in the passage?
✅ Correct Answer: C
💡 Reasoning: The glider is worn but still points toward flight—symbolizing silent resilience and the possibility of forward motion despite doubt.
Q3: How does the author use contrast between Mira and her peers to develop the story's theme?
✅ Correct Answer: C
💡 Reasoning: While Mira’s classmates speak with clarity about their futures, her uncertainty becomes the basis for her own unique growth.
Q4: What does Mira mean when she writes, 'Some people leap because they know. Others leap because they need to know'?
✅ Correct Answer: A
💡 Reasoning: Mira reflects on two kinds of motivation: certainty and the pursuit of understanding, embracing the latter as her guide.
Q5: Which abstract theme is most clearly supported by the passage?
✅ Correct Answer: B
💡 Reasoning: Mira begins to grow once she embraces her uncertainty and takes action rather than waiting for clarity.
Q6: What effect does the setting have on Mira’s emotional journey?
✅ Correct Answer: B
💡 Reasoning: The quiet and isolation of the glider’s setting provide Mira with a place to reflect, create, and reconnect with herself.
Q7: What change does Mira undergo by the end of the passage?
✅ Correct Answer: C
💡 Reasoning: Mira moves from paralysis caused by uncertainty to a mindset of self-directed learning and purpose.
Q8: What literary technique is most used to express the passage’s central ideas?
✅ Correct Answer: B
💡 Reasoning: The author uses metaphors (glider, sky, flight) and vivid imagery to convey Mira’s inner journey and abstract self-realizations.