Mary Shelley and Frankenstein - Reading Comprehension Questions

Sep 30, 2026

Reading comprehension material based on an article about the summer of 1816 near Lake Geneva, where Mary Shelley and friends devised a ghost-story challenge. The passage explains how the volcanic “year without a summer” shaped the mood, describes Victor Frankenstein as the young scientist who brings a creature to life, and highlights themes such as responsibility. It includes 10 multiple-choice questions assessing detail, vocabulary (“erupted”), structure, main idea, and key facts like ages and publication year.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Reading Comprehension Questions

Questions 1-10

Picture a big house beside Lake Geneva in Switzerland, in the summer of 1816. Rain pounds the windows, and dark clouds hide the sun for days and days. Stuck indoors, a small group of friends huddles by the fire, and one of them says, "Let's each write a ghost story!" One of those friends was an 18-year-old named Mary Shelley, and the story she began would become one of the most famous books in the world. That gloomy summer was not just bad luck, and it gave Mary the perfect mood for a spooky tale. People later called 1816 "the year without a summer" because a huge volcano had erupted far away, throwing ash into the sky and blocking sunlight. Crops failed and the weather stayed cold and gray all across Europe. So while the rain fell, Mary sat down and started dreaming up a scientist and his strange experiment. The scientist in her story is named Victor Frankenstein, and here is something that surprises almost everyone. Frankenstein is not the monster at all! Victor is the young scientist who builds a creature out of parts and brings it to life, and the creature is never given a name in the book. So the next time someone points to the tall, bolt-necked monster and says "Frankenstein," you can share the real story. That idea of a scientist making life in a laboratory is why many people call the book one of the first science fiction novels. Instead of using magic or a witch's spell, Mary imagined a person using science and machines to do something new. Her book was published in 1818, when she was still only about 20 years old. Books like it, full of bold inventions and "what if" questions, would inspire writers for the next two hundred years. The biggest "what if" in the whole story is a question about responsibility. When Victor creates the creature, he is frightened and runs away instead of caring for what he made. Mary's book quietly asks the reader: if you make something, aren't you responsible for it? It is a heavy question to come from a rainy vacation and a teenager with a pen! Mary Shelley and Frankenstein Name: | Solve each problem.
Use the article to answer the question.
1) Where were Mary Shelley and her friends staying when the ghost-story challenge began?
A. In a cabin high in the mountains of Italy
B. In a castle beside a river in England
C. In a cottage near the coast of France
D. In a house beside Lake Geneva in Switzerland | | | | | Answers
1.
2.
3.
4. | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2) How does the author organize the events of the article?
A. By time order, from the rainy summer to the book's ideas today
B. By listing steps for writing a ghost story
C. By describing a problem and then giving its solution
D. By comparing two different scientists side by side | | | | | 5.
6.
7. | | | | | | | 3) Why was 1816 called "the year without a summer"?
A. A thick forest fire had darkened the sky with smoke.
B. A great flood had covered the fields with water.
C. A huge volcano had erupted and blocked sunlight with ash.
D. A long snowstorm had buried much of Europe in ice. | | | | | 8.
9.
10. | | | | | | | 4) In the passage, what does the word "erupted" mean when talking about the volcano?
A. Melted the snow on nearby mountains
B. Slowly cooled down over many years
C. Burst out, sending ash into the sky
D. Sank quietly beneath the ocean | | | | | | | | | | | | 5) What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
A. The story proves that science is more powerful than magic.
B. The story shows that vacations by lakes are always boring.
C. The story asks whether you are responsible for what you create.
D. The story explains how to build a creature in a laboratory. | | | | | | | | | | | | 6) How old was Mary Shelley when she started writing her story?
A. She was 18 years old. B. She was 25 years old.
C. She w

FAQs

Where did the ghost-story challenge begin according to the passage?

It began in a house beside Lake Geneva in Switzerland.

What caused people to call 1816 “the year without a summer”?

A huge volcano erupted far away, blocking sunlight by throwing ash into the sky.

What is the word “erupted” referring to in the passage?

It means the volcano burst out and sent ash into the sky.

Sep 30, 2026

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