try this
you can define the size of the passage.
if the length of the passage exceeds the size it will remove the remaining text of the passage.
<asp:ListView ID="listview" runat="server">
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:Label ID="lblPassage" Text='<%# Eval("Passage").ToString().Length >200 ? Eval("Passage").ToString().Substring(0,200): Eval("Passage") %>'
runat="server"></asp:Label>
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:ListView>