English Passage

A few weeks ago, a newspaper article quoted a well. known scientist saying, “IT has destroyed Indian science.” One can speculate about the various ways in which the growth of the IT sector and other similar knowledge industries such as biotechnology has led to a decline in basic scientific research in India.

The most obvious reason is money: Pay scales in IT and BT are much higher than one can aspire to in academia. The argument goes: why should a bright B.Tech. or M.Sc. student enroll in a PhD programme when she can make a lot more money writing code? Not only does a fresh IT employee make a lot more than a fresh M Tech student, his/her pay will rise much faster in IT than in academia. A professor’s pay at a government-run university, even after the Sixth Pay Commission, tops out at far less than a senior executive’s salary in a major industry.

Second, the social status of IT and BT jobs equal or even exceed the social status of corresponding academic positions, since they are seen as knowledge industries, which plays to the best and worst instincts of the societal order. As quintessential white-collar professions, neither do they compel a successful entrepreneur to resort to violence and corruption, nor do they demand any physical labour. Unlike real estate or road construction, it is felt that IT workers can become rich while staying honest and sweat-free.

Assuming that the labour pool for academia and IT is roughly the same, the difference in our collective preferences biases the labour market towards IT and away from academia. Further, when the imbalance between IT and academia continues for years and even decades, a destructive loop, from academia’s point of view, is created. When our best and brightest take IT jobs over academic ones for a decade or more, faculty positions in our universities and research centres are no longer filled by the best candidates.

As faculty quality goes down, so does the capacity to train top-class graduate students who, after all, are teachers in training. In response to decreasing faculty quality, even those students who otherwise choose an academic profession, decide to join industry or go abroad for their studies. These foreign trained graduated prefer to come back to corporate India — if at all they do come back — and, the downward cycle replicates itself in each generation. In other words, academia is trapped within a perfect storm created by a combination of social and economic factors.

In this socio-economic calculus, the members of our societal classes should prefer an IT job to an academic one. Or, to put it another way, the knowledge economy, ie, the creation of knowledge for profit, trumps the knowledge society, ie, the creation of knowledge for its own sake or the safe of the greater good. As is said, “Knowledge is power, but money is even more power.” Perhaps the scientist was alluding to this victory of capitalism over the pursuit of pure knowledge when he accused IT of having a negative influence on Indian science.

Surely, knowledge has become a commodity like any other and as a result, knowledge workers are like any other labourers, who will sell their wares to the highest bidder. One solution is to accept and even encourage the commoditization of knowledge; if so, Indian universities and research centres should copy their western counterparts by becoming more and more like corporations. These centres of  earning should convert themselves into engines of growth. In this logic, if we increase academic salaries and research grants to match IT pay cheques we will attract good people into academia, where, in any case, it is rumoured that a certain elusive feeling called ‘the quality of life’ is better.

QUESTIONS:

1. CAPACITY

(A) qualification

(B) capability

(C)  voltage

(D)  quantity 

(E) volume

Show Answer

2. ALLUDING 

(A) referring

(B) breaking

(C) escaping

(D) imposing

(E) clinging

Show Answer

3. SPECULATE

(A) visit

(B) contemplate

(C) remark

(D) argue

(E) regulate

Show Answer

4. QUINTESSENTIAL

(A) typical

(B) different

(C)  necessary 

(D) unique

(E) excellent

Show Answer

5. BRIGHT

(A) soft

(B) dark

(C) dull

(D) vivid

(E) dim

Show Answer

6. ELUSIVE

(A) definite

(B) happy

(C) mysterious

(D) worthwhile

(E) remarkable

Show Answer

3. FRESH

(A) used

(B) stale

(C) tired

(D) experienced

(E) aged

Show Answer

(Source: Central Bank of India PO Held on: 25-07-2010)

Choose the word / group of words which is most similar the meaning to the word / group of words printed in bold as used in the passage.

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.

There was a famous temple on a high hill in Assam. The priest of this temple was widely respected and was known to be a great scholar. When he grew old, he started searching for a younger priest who could take charge of the temple after his death. But, much to his dismay, he could not find any suitable person. As the priest lay on his deathbed, he called the trustee of the temple and told him, “After my death, make sure that only a ‘human being’ replaces me as the priest of this temple”. As soon as he said these words, he died. Information travelled far and wide that the head priest of the famous temple had died and now there was an urgent need for a replacement. A day was set for the selection of the successor. That day, starting at dawn, aspirants started trekking the steep and torturous climb to the temple. The route to the temple was indeed difficult; it was full of thorns, and stones. By the time most people managed to reach the temple, they had received minor cuts and bruises on their feet and hands.

After breakfast, the selection process started. The trustee asked all the aspirants to recite difficult shlokas, or verses from the sacred texts, and explain various procedures of priesthood. By afternoon, as the selection process was about to end, one young man walked slowly into the temple. The trustee noticed him and said, “Young man, you are very late. What took you so long ? And what happened to your clothes, why are they torn ? Your feet and hands are bleeding so badly.” The man replied, “I know sir, I am late, so I will not participate in the competition. If I have your permission, I will just get my wounds treated, rest for a while and then go back to my village.” But the trustee was curious to know about this man. He asked again, “But how did you manage to hurt yourself so badly, did you not follow the same route as the others ?” “Yes sir, I did,” replied the man, “But I thought I must remove the thorns and other sharp, stones from the path so that when people come to pray in this temple they must not get hurt. That is why I got late and that is how I hurt myself. I apologize for the delay, but as I said, I know I am late and hence I don’t wish to participate in the competition. It will not be fair to the others if I participated.” Hearing this, the trustee smiled and said,  “Congratulations, you have been chosen. I am sure that when our noble priest was dying and he said that he wanted a “human being” to be his successor, he meant that he wanted someone like you. “This statement infuriated the other participants. “What do you mean ?” they demanded. “Are we not humans ?This man just said that he did not wish to participate. How can you choose him as he has not gone through any of the tests ?”

The trustee replied, “Our old priest used to say that even animals know how to watch for their self interest; they know how to avoid danger, search food and so on. Only a ‘human being’ knows how to watch for other people’s interests and well being. All of you climbed the same torturous path. But only this man thought about the others and cleared the path so that no one would get hurt. By this definition, only he qualifies as a ‘human being’ and hence only he should be the successor of the great old priest.”

QUESTIONS:

1. Qualifies

(A) Is trained in 

(B) Meets the criteria 

(C) Excels in 

(D) Is impressive 

(E) Is dynamic 

Show Answer

2. Noticed

(A) Recognized

(B) Liked

(C) Saw

(D) Informed

(E) Accepted

Show Answer

3. Demanded

(A) Claimed

(B) Questioned

(C) Stated

(D) Requested 

(E) Inquired

Show Answer

4. Minor

(A) Chief

(B) Main

(C) Complete

(D) Distinct

(E) Severe

Show Answer

5. Torturous

(A) Trouble-free

(B) Liberating

(C) Exciting

(D) Demanding

(E) Boring

Show Answer

(Source: Bank of India Clerk Exam Paper 2010)

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate options:

            The massive fort of Jodhpur looked down from the hill at the new city which had sprawled out around the old one. The desert lay beyond the city. IT crouched there like a lion, and was the colour of one, its rippled tawny pelt flea-specked here and there with small clumps of scrub. A gritty wind blew out of it, little rivers of sand eddied briefly down the pavements, then were snatched back into the air and flung like a challenge to the south. At the edge of the city, herds of camels twined their long necks around stunted trees, as though they were snakes. Then there were no more trees. Tall whirlwinds of sand marched down towards us from the horizon.

          The desert enclosed us for the next ten days. There was a glare and dazzle on the skyline at dawn, then the ferocious eye of summer opened for a long look at its domain. For the next twelve hours it scowled down at the sand. We closed our eyes, visualized shadow and water, narrowed them open once more to the parch and scald of the desert wind. The shifting wind caused the dunes constantly to collapse and reform, or drifted them lazily out as bulwarks across the road. The car had to stop at frequent intervals, so that we could clear the heaped sand away, or because one of the tyres, hissing on the burning surface of the tarmac, had exploded. During those prolonged and sweaty intervals by the roadside, we were passed, sometimes, by the ghostly herds of livestock moving south.

QUESTION:

1. ‘ …….. the new city which had sprawled ……….’

(A) Noun

(B) Pronoun

(C) Adjective

(D) Conjunction

Show Answer

2. The desert enclosed us for the next ten days.

(A) We were enclosed by the desert 

(B) We had been enclosed by the desert 

(C) The desert had been enclosed 

(D) The desert was enclosed by us 

Show Answer

Answer: (A)

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(Source: CTET SEP-15 Paper-II)

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate options :

            One of the unhealthiest emotions is anger. It destroys our ability to think clearly, properly and in totality. Anger also has adverse impact on health. If you ask a selection of people what triggers their anger, you would get a wide range of answers. However, whatever the cause, even a single word spoken in anger an leave a lasting impression on a person’s heart and has the ability to ruin the sweetness of any relationship.

  A sage once said, “How can there be peace on earth if the hearts of men are like volcanoes ?” We can live in harmony with others only when we overcome anger and make room for peace. So how can we set about creating that sense of peace within ourselves ? It starts with the realization that w do have the choice to think and feel the way we want to. If we look at what it is that makes us angry, we  might discover there is nothing that has the power to make us feel this way. We can only allow something to trigger our anger – the anger is a way in which we respond to an event or person. But because we are so used to reacting on impulse, we forget to choose how we want to feel, and end up reacting inappropriately, leaving ourselves with angry feelings.

            Mediation helps us create personal space within ourselves so that we have the change to look, weigh the situation, and respond accordingly, remaining in a state of self-control. When we are angry, we have no self-control. At that moment, we are in a state of internal chaos, and anger can be a very destructive force.

            Stability that comes from practice of meditation can create a firm foundation, a kind of positive stubbornness. Others can say whatever they want, and it may also be true, but we don’t lose our peace or happiness on account of that. This is to respect what is eternal within each of us.

                   We give ourselves the opportunity to maintain our own pace of mind, because let’s face it, no one’s going to turn up at our door with a box full of peace and say, “Here, I think you could do with some of this today !” There is a method which could be described as sublimation, or the changing of form. With daily practice and application of spiritual principles in our practical life, experience of inner peace can come naturally.

QUESTION:

1. Which part of speech is the underlined word ?

(A) Noun

(B) Pronoum

(C) Pronoum

(D) Adjective

Show Answer

2. Meditation helps us create personal space.

(A) We are helped by meditation to create personal space 

(B) Personal space has been created by meditation 

(C) We have been helped to create personal space 

(D) Personal space is helped by meditation 

Show Answer

(Source: CTET SEP-15 Paper-II)

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate options:

            Your attitudes are the perspectives from which you view life. Some people seem to have a good attitude towards most things. Some people seem to have a bad attitude towards everything. But when you look closer, you will find that most of us have a combination of attitudes, some good, some not so good.

            Whatever attitude we have towards anything will affect how we feel about it, which in turn determines whether or not we will do well. So our right attitudes play a very important part in  helping us become successful.

            In fact, as we can see, a good attitude is essential for achievement of any kind ! We so often hear of someone who is said to have a “bad attitude”. The term is often applied to young people, especially to teenagers whose frequently get into trouble, but we often hear it about adults, too. The implication is always that the individual in question is not going to make it if he doesn’t change his attitude.

            I would agree, without a good attitude it is not possible to see the opportunities ahead and set one’s sights to reach them. But even more important is the fact that in order to possess the kind of feelings which work for us, we’ve got to have the right attitude to start with.

                   But where do we get our attitudes from ? Are we born with them or do they just appear out of nowhere? Our attitudes are no accident. They don’t just happen. Our attitudes are created and influenced entirely by our beliefs.

QUESTION:

1. Which part of speech is the underlined word in the sentence given below ?

(A) Adverb

(B) Preposition

(C) Adjective

(D) Conjunction

Show Answer

(Source: CTET SEP-15 Paper-I)

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate options:

            One Sunday morning, I was travelling on a subway in Mumbai. People were sitting quietly – some reading newspapers, some lost in thought. It was a calm, peaceful scene.

            Then suddenly, a man and his children entered the subway car. The children were so loud and rambunctious that instantly the whole climate changed.

            The man sat next to me and closed his eyes, apparently oblivious to the situation. The children were yelling back and forth, throwing things, even grabbing people’s papers. It was very disturbing. And yet, the man sitting next to me did nothing.

            It was difficult not to feel irritated. I could not believe that he could be so insensitive as to let his children run wild and do nothing about it. It was easy to see that everyone else on the subway felt irritated, too. So finally, I turned to him and said, “Sir, your children are really disturbing a lot of people. I wonder if you couldn’t control them a little more ?”

            The man lifted his gaze as if to come to a consciousness of the situation for the first time and said softly, “Oh, you’re right. I guess I should do something about it. We just came from the hospital where their mother died an hour ago. I don’t know what to think and I guess they don’t know how to handle it either”.

                   Can you imagine what I felt at that moment. My paradigm shifted. Suddenly I saw things differently, and because I saw things differently, I thought, felt and behaved differently. My irritation vanished; my heart was filled with the man’s pain. Feelings of sympathy and compassion flowed freely. “Your wife just died ? Oh, I am sorry ! Can you tell me about it ? What can I do to help ?” Everything changed in an instant.

QUESTION:

1. ‘I felt differently.’

(A) I have been felling differently 

(B) I am felling differently 

(C) I had been feeling differently 

(D) I was feeling differently 

Show Answer

2. ‘My irritation vanished.’

(A) Did my irritation vanish ? 

(B) Couldn’t my irritation vanish ? 

(C) Hadn’t my irritation vanished ? 

(D) Didn’t my irritation vanish ? 

Show Answer

(Source: CTET SEP-15 Paper-I)

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate options:

Madam Cama’s Paris home became a shelter for world revolutionaries. Even Lenin, the father of Russian revolution visited her house and exchanged views. Savarkar got all encouragement in writing the history of the First India War of Independence from Cama. She helped its printing in Holland as no English publisher came forward to publish it. It was a banned book but found its way to India. Smuggled ingeniously under “Don Quixote” covers ! She became the publisher of “VandeMataram”, a revolutionary magazine and its distributor, an extremely difficult task in the days of British espionage. Another magazine “Madan’sTalwar” was also started in memory of MadanLalDhingra who laid down his life for the country. Both the magazines were outlawed in India and England. Madam Cama somehow found ways to sent them to Indian revolutionaries.

            Madam Cama also fought for the cause of women. Speaking at National Conference at Cairo, Egypt in 1910, she asked, :Where is the other half of the Egypt ? I see only men who represent half the country !” She stressed the role of women in building a nation.

  When the First World War broke out in 1914, Madam Cama took an anti-British stand and tried her best to make the Indian people aware of the exploitative nature of British imperialism.

                   The British had banned her entry into India, being afraid of her revolutionary past and staunch nationalistic outlook. But the lioness was getting old and 35 years of fighting on foreign-land had taken its toll. She decided to return to her motherland. Her health was worsening. After reaching Bombay, she was hospitalized and died on 13^th of August, 1936.

QUESTION:

1. ‘Madam Cama fought for the cause of women.’

(A)  Madam Cama had fought for the cause of women 

(B) Madam Cama has been fighting for the cause of women 

(C) Madam Cama is fighting for the cause of women 

(D) Madam Cama had been fighting for the cause of women 

Show Answer

2. Which part of speech is the underlined word in the sentence given below ?

(A) Adjective

(B) Pronoun

(C) Adverb

(D) Noun

Show Answer

(Source: CTET SEP-15 Paper-I)

Directions :

In items in this section, this passage consists of six sentences. The first and the sixth sentences are given in the beginning as S1 and S6. The middle four sentences in this paragraph have been removed and jumbled up. These are labeled P, Q, R and S. You are required to find out the proper order for the four sentences and mark accordingly on the Answer Sheet.

S1 : American idealism is essentially a belief in the idea of progress.

S6 : This sense they have inherited from the English.

P : Therefore, he believes that, because of human effort, the future will be better than the past.

Q : But if Americans are usually optimistic, they are not wholly unrealistic.

R : The American tends to view history as a record of human achievement.

S : They have some common sense practically.

QUESTION:

1. The proper sequence should be

(A) P Q R S 

(B) P Q S R 

(C) R P Q S 

(D) P R Q S 

Show Answer

(Source: NDA I 2015 GAT Question Paper)

Directions :

In items in this section, this passage consists of six sentences. The first and the sixth sentences are given in the beginning as S1 and S6. The middle four sentences in this paragraph have been removed and jumbled up. These are labeled P, Q, R and S. You are required to find out the proper order for the four sentences and mark accordingly on the Answer Sheet.

S1 : The body can never stop.

S6 : It comes from food.

P : To support this endless activity, the body needs all the fuel for action.

Q : Sometimes it is more active than at other times, but it is always moving.

R : Even in the deepest sleep we must breathe.

S : The fuel must come from some-where.

QUESTION:

1. The proper sequence should be

(A) P Q R S 

(B) P R Q S 

(C) Q R P S 

(D) S R Q P 

Show Answer

(Source: NDA I 2015 GAT Question Paper)

Directions :

In items in this section, this passage consists of six sentences. The first and the sixth sentences are given in the beginning as S1 and S6. The middle four sentences in this paragraph have been removed and jumbled up. These are labeled P, Q, R and S. You are required to find out the proper order for the four sentences and mark accordingly on the Answer Sheet.

S1 : The machines that drive modern civilization derive their power from coal and oil.

S6 : Nuclear energy may also be effectively used in this respect.

P : But they are not inexhaustible.

Q : These sources may not be exhausted very soon.

R : A time may come when some other sources have tapped and utilized.

S : Power may, of course, be obtained in future from forests, water, wind withered vegetables.

QUESTIONS:

1. The proper sequence should be

(A)  P Q R S 

(B) Q P R S 

(C) S R Q P 

(D) S P Q R 

Show Answer

(Source: NDA I 2015 GAT Question Paper)

Directions :

Directions :

In items in this section, this passage consists of six sentences. The first and the sixth sentences are given in the beginning as S1 and S6. The middle four sentences in this paragraph have been removed and jumbled up. These are labeled P, Q, R and S. You are required to find out the proper order for the four sentences and mark accordingly on the Answer Sheet.

S1 :Mr Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson were spending a weekend in a University town.

S6 : It was clear that something very unusual happened.

P : One evening they received a visit from an acquaintance, Mr Hilton Soames.

Q : On that occasion he was in a state of great agitation.

R : They were staying in furnished rooms, close to the library.

S :MrSoames was a tall, thin man of a nervous and excitable nature.

QUESTIONS:

1. The proper sequence should be

(A) P R S Q 

(B) R P S Q 

(C) P Q R S 

(D) R P Q S 

Show Answer

(Source: NDA I 2015 GAT Question Paper)

Directions :

Directions :

In items in this section, this passage consists of six sentences. The first and the sixth sentences are given in the beginning as S1 and S6. The middle four sentences in this paragraph have been removed and jumbled up. These are labeled P, Q, R and S. You are required to find out the proper order for the four sentences and mark accordingly on the Answer Sheet.

S1 : Hope springs eternally in the heart of man.

S6 : This is the central idea of the poem.

P : But hope is everlasting.

Q : Love, friendship and youth perish.

R : It is nursed by the glorious elements of nature.

S : Man derives hope from nature in his gallant struggle after some noble ideal.

QUESTIONS:

1. The proper sequence should be

(A) Q P R S 

(B) S R Q P 

(C) R S Q P 

(D) Q P S R 

Show Answer

(Source: NDA I 2015 GAT Question Paper)

Directions :

In items in this section, this passage consists of six sentences. The first and the sixth sentences are given in the beginning as S1 and S6. The middle four sentences in this paragraph have been removed and jumbled up. These are labeled P, Q, R and S. You are required to find out the proper order for the four sentences and mark accordingly on the Answer Sheet.

S1 : At the roadside the driver will be asked to blow through a small glass tube into a plastic bag.

S6 : The driver will be asked to go to the police station

P : And if the colour  change does not reach the line the driver cannot be punished under the new law.

Q : Inside the tube are chemically treated crystals which change colour if the driver has alcohol on his breath.

R : But if the colour change does reach the line then the test has proved positive

S : If the colour change goes beyond a certain line marked on the tube this indicates that the driver is probably over the specified limit.

QUESTIONS:

1. The proper sequence should be

(A) P S Q R

(B) S Q R P

(C) R P S Q

(D) Q S P R

Show Answer

(Source: NDA I 2015 GAT Question Paper)

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words/ phrases are printed in bold to help you to locate them while answering some of the questions.

The news from China in recent weeks has been dire. Violent strikes and protests are reported almost daily. Millions of workers are out of jobs. Economic indicators presage more gloom, with electricity production for industry falling 4% in October, the first time it has declined in a decade. So is China – the “fragile superpower,” as historian Susan Shirk memorably termed it- about to experience the one thing its leaders have feared for years : a so-called hard landing of its economy that could spark widespread social unrest ?

How will China Weather the Financial Storm ? China’s View of the Financial Meltdown : Alarmed But Confident. Behind the Global Markets’ Meltdown. The gloom-and-doom camp makes a persuasive case. Nouriel Roubini, a professor at New York University, had been warning for years of the dangers of an international financial implosion – and the current economic crisis proved him depressingly right. In a recent article Roubini has laid out a bleak scenario for China. “The risk of a hard landing in China is sharply rising,” he writes. “A deceleration in the Chinese growth rate … is highly likely, and an even worse outcome cannot be ruled out.” But a clique of China specialists inside the country predicts a different outcome. They believe that a range of factors unique to China will not only preserve it from the worst of the global meltdown but also keep its economy chugging along at about 8% GDP growth in 2009. So who’s right ? I’d go with the locally based economists. While the U.S. fiscal package is unlikely to add even 1 percentage point to American growth, a recent report by Merrill Lynch estimates that the $600 billion stimulus Beijing unveiled in mid-November will likely add 3 percentage points. (And that was before China’s provinces unveiled their own $1.4 trillion bailout plan, which depends on a massive infrastructure-building spree to boost the economy.) Such growth would be unachievable in other economies. But China remains a special mixture of raging capitalism resting on a foundation of state domination. “People who don’t follow China on a regular basis can miss some of the underlying drivers of growth,” says Arthur Kroeber, a Beijing-based economist, who cites factors such as changing demographics, the adoption of new technology from developed countries and rapid urbanization. Yes, there will be plenty of pain. Kroeber and others predict a rough next few months. They also concede that a sharp decline in exports will hit China hard, possibly cutting 2.5 percentage points off growth in 2009. There’s also the strong likelihood that tens of millions of dollars will disappear into China’s bridges to nowhere – or into the pockets of corrupt local officials. Still, if any government can drive change by diktat, it’s the Chinese Communist Party. Doomsayer Roubini writes: The government cannot force corporations to spend or banks to lend.” In fact, Beijing can do exactly that – and is doing so now. “On the outside, China’s banks do look a lot more like normal Western commercial banks,” says an investment-bank analyst with a decade of experience in China. “But every single senior officer right down to the manager of the smallest branch in Inner Mongolia is a Party member. And when the Party says, ‘Jump or we’re all in trouble,’ they say, ‘How high ?” The same principle applies to state owned enterprises, which account for about a third of the nation’s GDP. Some of the problems China now faces are a result of economic policies that are finally kicking in at an inopportune time. Concerned earlier this year about spiking inflation and a blistering yearly growth rate of 11% or more, China’s economic czars set out to cool things down. They introduced tough labor laws designed to decelerate production of lower-value-added goods. It’s in that sector that hundreds of thousands of workers are now losing jobs. The same holds true for the bubbling property market, where Chinese authorities conveyed to potential home buyers that they would be wise to hold off. “The government basically said, ‘You’d be an idiot to buy an apartment right now because we’re going to make sure that prices drop like a stone’,” says the investment-bank analyst. “Chinese people stopped buying. Now the government is telling them, ‘It would be a great time to buy, and the banks will be happy to lend to you.’ Of course people will start buying again.” China’s current economic woes come at a momentous point in history. Dec. 18 marks the 30th anniversary of when Deng Xiaoping launched the nation into the most extraordinary burst of economic development the world has ever seen. For almost this entire period, outsiders have been predicting that it wouldn’t last. And each time, China has forged ahead. The financial crisis has led the whole world into uncharted territory. But the one constant in this changing world may be China’s ability to surprise once more.

QUESTION:

1. Which of the following was the prediction of Roubini regarding China ?

(A) Only(A) & (B) 

(B) Only (B) & (C) 

(C) Only (A) & (C) 

(D) All the three 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

2. Which of the following statements is definitely TRUE in the context of the passage ?

(A) (A) & (B) only 

(B) (B) & (C) only 

(C) (A) & (C) only 

(D) All the three 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

3. In the context of the passage, what is the belief nurtured by China specialist in the period of global meltdown ?

(A)  (A) only 

(B) (B) & (C) only 

(C) (A) & (C) only 

(D) (A) & (B) only 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

4. Which of the following are the factors that are in favour of China during the crisis period ?

(A)  (A) & (B) only 

(B) (B) & (C) only 

(C) (A) & (C) only 

(D) All the three 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

5. ‘Jump or we’re all in trouble,’ they say, ‘How high ?’ What does this sentence signify ?

(A) (A) only 

(B) (B) only 

(C) (C) only 

(D) (B) & (C) only 

(E) All the three 

Show Answer

6. What is the impact of America’s fiscal package on its growth ?

(A) It is likely to boost economy 

(B) It will reduce the financial crisis substantially 

(C) The US$ 600 bn. will definitely boost economy 

(D) There will be only negligible addition to the growth rate 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

7. What seems to be the root cause for the disturbances in China in the recent times ?

(A) Only (A) 

(B) Only (B) 

(C) Only (C) 

(D) All the three 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

8. Which of the following can be the most correct prediction about China’s facing economic crisis ?

(A) (A) & (B) only 

(B) (B) & (C) only 

(C) (A) & (C) only 

(D) All the three 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

9. Most of the Chinese workers are losing job in ________

(A) All the three 

(B) (A) & (B) only 

(C) (B) & (C) only 

(D) (A) & (C) only 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

(Source: UCO Bank PO Exam Paper -2009)

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.

          Agriculture has always been celebrated as the primary sector in India: Thanks to the Green Revolution, India is now self-sufficient in food production. Indian agriculture has been making technological advancement as well. Does that mean everything is looking bright for Indian agriculture? A superficial analysis of the above points would tempt one to say yes, but the truth is far from it. The reality is that Indian farmers have to face extreme poverty and financial crisis, which is driving them to suicides. What are the grave adversities that drive the famers to commit suicide at a time when Indian economy is supposed, to be gearing up to take on the world?

          Indian agriculture is predominantly dependant on nature. Irrigation facilities that are currently available do not cover the entire cultivable land. If the farmers are at the mercy of monsoons for timely water for their crops, they are at the mercy of the government for alternative irrigation facilities. Any failure of nature, directly affects the fortunes of the farmers. Secondly, Indian agriculture is largely an unorganized sector, there is no systematic planning in cultivation, famers work on lands of uneconomical sizes, institutional finances are not available and minimum purchase prices of the government do not in reality reach the poorest farmer. Added to this, the cost of agricultural inputs have been steadily rising over the .years, farmers margins of profits have been narrowing because the price rise in inputs is not complemented by an increase in the purchase price of the agricultural produce. Even today, in several parts of the country agriculture is a seasonal occupation. In many districts, farmers get only one crop per year and for the remaining part of the year, they find it difficult to make both ends meet.

          The farmers normally resort to borrowing from money lenders, in the absence of institutionalized finance. Where institutional finance is available, the ordinary farmer does not have a chance of availing it because of the procedures involved in disbursing the finance. This calls for removing the elaborate formalities for obtaining the loans. The institutional finance, where available is mostly availed by the medium or large land owners, the small tamers do not even have the awareness of the existence of such facilities. The money lender is the only source of finance to the farmers. Should the crops fail, the farmers fall into a debt trap and crop failures piled up over the years give them no other option than ending their lives.

          Another disturbing trend has been observed where farmers commit suicide or deliberately kill a family member in order to avail relief and benefits announced by the government to support the families of those who have committed suicide so that their families could at least benefit from the Government’s relief programmes. What then needs to be done to prevent this sad state of affairs? There cannot be one single solution to end the woes of farmers.

          Temporary measures through monetary relief would not be the solution. The governmental efforts should be targeted at improving the entire structure of the small farmers wherein the relief is not given on a drought to drought basis, rather they are taught to overcome their difficulties through their own skills and capabilities. Social responsibility also goes a long way to help the farmers. General public, NGOs, Corporate and other organizations too can play a part in helping farmers by adopting drought affected villages and families and helping then to rehabilitate.

          The nation has to realize that farmers suicides are not minor issues happening in remote parts of a few states, it is a reflection of the true state of the basis of our economy.

QUESTION:

1. What does the author mean by procedures when he says that farmers do not get a chance of availing institutional finance because of procedures involved in it?

(A) He refers to the government guideline of disbursing finance only to medium and. large land owners 

(B) Refers to the strict government rule of providing loans to only such farmers who can guarantee a default free tenure 

(C) The formalities to avail these facilities are enormous and too difficult for an ordinary farmer to understand 

(D) Refers to the danger the farmers must face from the local money lenders if they availed the loan from government instead 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

2. Why have many farmers resorted to killing family members?

(A) Only A 

(B) Only B 

(C) Only B and C 

(D) Only A and B 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

3. According to the author why does the situation of agricultural sector remain grim even after making several technological advances?

(A) Indian farmers continue to face adversities from nature as well as the government 

(B) India has failed to match the technological advances taking place in the rest of the world 

(C) Natural calamities have been very frequent in India 

(D) Banks have failed to provide adequate loans to the farmers 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

4. Which of the following is not true in context of the passage?

(A) Many farmers struggle to sustain themselves after reaping one crop in a year 

(B) The government has relieved the farmers from any elaborate formalities while availing the loans 

(C) India was made self-sufficient in food production because of green revolution 

(D) Some farmers commit suicide in order to avail relief package from the government 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

5. What does the author suggest as opposed to providing temporary monetary relief to the farmers?

(A) Only A 

(B) Only A and B 

(C) Only B 

(D) Only A and C 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

6. What are the adversities faced by Indian farmers according to the passage?

(A) Lack of adequate irrigation facilities 

(B) Ownership of only a small piece of land by a majority of farmers, which fails to generate any profit 

(C) Lack of financial help to the farmers 

(D) All of these 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

7. According to the passage why don’t farmers avail the institutional finance facilities?

(A) Banks are not willing to provide loans to the farmers because of high risk associated with it 

(B) Many NGOs and corporate organizations provide them the loans in a hassle free manner 

(C) Most of the farmers do not need finance in large scale since they work on small size lands 

(D) The local money lenders charge lower interest rates as compared to such financial facilities 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

8. According to the passage, how can general public lend a helping hand to the struggling farmers?

(A) By adopting the affected families and helping them to rehabilitate 

(B) By acting as a belief worker in the draught hit areas 

(C) To provide help for building dams and better irrigation facilities 

(D) Not specified in the passage 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

9. Why is the profit margin of farmers narrowing even after increasing the minimum purchase price?

(A) Only A 

(B) Only B 

(C) Only C 

(D) Only A and C 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

10. What is the author’s main objective in writing the passage?

(A) Criticizing the policy of providing relief packages to the family of farmers who commit suicide 

(B) To appeal to the non-institutional money lenders for providing loans to farmers in a hassle-free manner 

(C) To applaud the dauntless spirit of the farmers 

(D) To highlight the corruption in the agriculture sector 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

[LDAdvQuiz 1515]

(Source: SBI Assistant Manager (System) Exam – 2009)

A few weeks ago, a newspaper article quoted a well. known scientist saying, “IT has destroyed Indian science.” One can speculate about the various ways in which the growth of the IT sector and other similar knowledge industries such as biotechnology has led to a decline in basic scientific research in India.

The most obvious reason is money: Pay scales in IT and BT are much higher than one can aspire to in academia. The argument goes: why should a bright B.Tech. or M.Sc. student enroll in a PhD programme when she can make a lot more money writing code? Not only does a fresh IT employee make a lot more than a fresh M Tech student, his/her pay will rise much faster in IT than in academia. A professor’s pay at a government-run university, even after the Sixth Pay Commission, tops out at far less than a senior executive’s salary in a major industry.

Second, the social status of IT and BT jobs equal or even exceed the social status of corresponding academic positions, since they are seen as knowledge industries, which plays to the best and worst instincts of the societal order. As quintessential white-collar professions, neither do they compel a successful entrepreneur to resort to violence and corruption, nor do they demand any physical labour. Unlike real estate or road construction, it is felt that IT workers can become rich while staying honest and sweat-free.

Assuming that the labour pool for academia and IT is roughly the same, the difference in our collective preferences biases the labour market towards IT and away from academia. Further, when the imbalance between IT and academia continues for years and even decades, a destructive loop, from academia’s point of view, is created. When our best and brightest take IT jobs over academic ones for a decade or more, faculty positions in our universities and research centres are no longer filled by the best candidates.

As faculty quality goes down, so does the capacity to train top-class graduate students who, after all, are teachers in training. In response to decreasing faculty quality, even those students who otherwise choose an academic profession, decide to join industry or go abroad for their studies. These foreign trained graduated prefer to come back to corporate India — if at all they do come back — and, the downward cycle replicates itself in each generation. In other words, academia is trapped within a perfect storm created by a combination of social and economic factors.

In this socio-economic calculus, the members of our societal classes should prefer an IT job to an academic one. Or, to put it another way, the knowledge economy, ie, the creation of knowledge for profit, trumps the knowledge society, ie, the creation of knowledge for its own sake or the safe of the greater good. As is said, “Knowledge is power, but money is even more power.” Perhaps the scientist was alluding to this victory of capitalism over the pursuit of pure knowledge when he accused IT of having a negative influence on Indian science.

Surely, knowledge has become a commodity like any other and as a result, knowledge workers are like any other labourers, who will sell their wares to the highest bidder. One solution is to accept and even encourage the commoditization of knowledge; if so, Indian universities and research centres should copy their western counterparts by becoming more and more like corporations. These centres of  earning should convert themselves into engines of growth. In this logic, if we increase academic salaries and research grants to match IT pay cheques we will attract good people into academia, where, in any case, it is rumoured that a certain elusive feeling called ‘the quality of life’ is better.

QUESTIONS:

1. According to the passage, what did the scientist actually mean when he said, “IT has destroyed Indian science?

(A) The centres meant for scientific research are being utilised by IT industries. 

(B) The IT industry does not employ people pursuing higher studies 

(C) As information is readily available on the Internet because of IT, there is no need to seek further information 

(D) IT has distorted the truth as stated by Indian science 

(E) The desire for money has overshadowed the search for knowledge 

Show Answer

2. Which of the following is possibly the most appropriate title for the passage?

(A) Is the Future of IT Bright? 

(B) The IT Industry and the World Economy 

(C) Research and Academics — Losing the Battle Against IT 

(D) Scientific Research and the Need for Well-Trained Faculty 

(E) Information Technology and its Advantages 

Show Answer

3. Why does the author say that knowledge has become a commodity?

(A)  As it is no longer desirable in any professional field 

(B) As there are too many educational institutes in the country which do not provide quality education 

(C) As knowledge is now available easily as compared to the past 

(D) As knowledgeable people sell their services for the highest price possible 

(E) Like commodities, knowledge too becomes stale after a certain period. 

Show Answer

4. What, according to the author, is a destructive loop?

(A) Many people quit their existing jobs to work in the IT industry, which in turn leads to the downfall of the other industries 

(B) The fact that the best minds do not want to become teachers and this in turn leads to good students seeking knowledge elsewhere. 

(C) The fact that people working in the IT industry do not pursue higher studies, which in turn leads to the deterioration in the quality of employees 

(D) The unending use of resources by the IT industry leading to a dearth of resources in the country 

(E) Less grants are being provided by the Government to academic institutes, which in turn leads to poor quality students joining the same 

Show Answer

5. Which of the following mentioned below is/are the author’s suggestion/s to promote interest in Indian academia?

(A)  Only C 

(B) Only A 

(C) Only B and C 

(D) Only A and C 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

6. Which of the following is NOT TRUE in the context of the passage?

(A)  Only A and C 

(B) Only B 

(C) Only A and B 

(D) Only B and C 

(E) All A, B and C 

Show Answer

7.Which of the following, according to the author, are factors responsible for the declining interest in scientific research?

(A) Slower progress of work in research

(B) Lesser monetary compensation in research-related activities

(C) C. Societal perception towards research

(A) Only A 

(B) Only C 

(C) Only B and C 

(D) Only A and B 

(E) All A, B and C 

Show Answer

8. Which of the following is true about the perception towards IT jobs as given in the passage?

(A) They are physically tiring.

(B) They are considered to be managerial-level jobs.

(C) C. They require usage of dishonest means

(A) Only B 

(B) Only A and B 

(C) Only C 

(D) Only B and C 

(E)  All A, B and C are true 

Show Answer

(Source: Central Bank of India PO Held on: 25-07-2010)

Read the following passage carefu.lly and answer the questions given below it. Certain words have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.

Evidence is growing that relatively cheap policies like climate engineering and non carbon energy research could effectively prevent suffering from global warming, both in the short and long term. Unfortunately, political leaders gathering at a special meeting of the United Nations in New York will focus on a very different response. They will make many of the most important decisions on how to respond to climate change over the next decade. They are expected to thrash out political disputes like how much carbon rich and poor nations should agree to cut.

We have failed to rein in emission rises despite sincere and well meaning promises made in Kyoto in 1997 and earlier, because carbon cuts are expensive to enact. Research by climate economists show that significant carbon cuts could cost a staggering 12.9% of global GOP in 2100. Available estimates show that for each dollar spent on global carbon cuts, we buy two .cents worth of avoided climate damage. The solution in far more costly than the problem. Thus a global deal based around carbon cuts is expected to include a lot of spending from rich countries to help poor nations to prepare for global warming. Developed countries too apparently seem to have no problems in spending much money to save few lives in the distant future, instead of combating malnutrition, malaria, or communicable diseases today. It is amoral to build a dam to avoid flooding in 100 years, when ‘the people living beside that dam are starving today.

Imagine if we could fix climate for the next hundred years for less than what a single country spends on climate research in a year. Climate engineering has the potential to do just that. One can explore the costs and benefits of so called marine cloud whitening, a well established tech proposal in which seawater droplets would be sprayed into clouds above the sea to make them reflect more sunlight back into space thus augmenting the natural process where sea salt helps to provide tiny particles for clouds to form around. About $9 billion spent developing this technology might be able to cancel out this century’s global warming. The benefits from preventing the temperature increase would add up to about $20 trillion. We should research this technology today to identify its limitations, risks and potential so that it could buy us a century’s delay in warming.

But this will not be sufficient because we need better non carbon based technology options. Non fossil sources like nuclear, wind, solar and geothermal energy will get us quite some way towards the path of stable carbon emissions.

Policy makers should abandon carbon reduction negotiations and make agreements to seriously invest in research and development. As research pending would be much cheaper than carbon emission cuts, there would be a much higher chance of political agreement, and a much higher probability of the promises being enacted. We have within our grasp alternative policy options that would truly leave the planet in a better state.

QUESTIONS:

1. Why have past efforts to reduce carbon emissions failed?

(A) Scientists were not interested in this field of research 

(B) Global warming was not considered as a problem by the UN 

(C) The cost of accomplishing this was too high 

(D) Poor nations did not have the necessary knowledge to reduce carbon emissions 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

2. Which of the following is a characteristic of climate engineering?

(A) It is beneficial in the short term and also in the long term 

(B) It can only be adopted by poor countries 

(C) It has worsened problems like poverty and hunger in developing countries 

(D) It is seen as less cost effective than other ways of reducing pollution 

(E) It uses technology which pollutes the environment 

Show Answer

3. According to the author which of the following is/are the outcome/s of the meeting of world leaders in New York?

(A) A resolution that carbon emissions will be reduced through climate engineering.

(B) Successful settlement of many conflicts regarding reduction of emissions.

(C) Developed countries have volunteered to spend over 12 per cent of their GOP on preventing global warming

(A) Only (A) 

(B) Only (B) 

(C) Only (A) and (C) 

(D) All (A), (B) and (C) 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

4. What does the author want to convey through the phrase Non-fossil sources like nuclear, wind , solar and geothermal energy will get us quite some way towards the path of stable carbon emissions’ as given in the passage?

(A) All countries should use non fossil sources of energy to be able to achieve high carbon emissions 

(B) The use of non fossil sources of energy will be able to check the carbon emissions 

(C) Non fossil sources of fuel may actually increase carbon emissions 

(D) If we use such non fossil fuels, it will take a long time to reduce carbon emissions 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

5. Which of the following is true in context of the passage?

(A) Carbon emissions of poor countries is higher than those of rich ones 

(B) Construction of dams is directly responsible for the starvation of million 

(C) The earth is in danger of extinction in a century 

(D) There is a lack of consensus between rich and poor nations in the issue of reducing carbon emissions 

(E) Countries have to spend a substantial amount of their GDP on climate change 

Show Answer

6.What is the author’s opinion about agreement among countries in Kyoto?

(A) Countries which signed this agreement had no intention of reducing carbon emissions 

(B) The percentage of carbon emissions to be reduced was highest for developing countries 

(C) Climate economists should not have supported his agreement 

(D) It was a failure because developed countries backed out from the agreement 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

7. What is the author’s solution to handling climate change?

(A) Countries should use more expensive and long lasting ways of reducing carbon emissions 

(B) Negotiations on climate change should be between scientists rather than political leaders 

(C) Countries should increase expenditure on research’ into ways of handling climate change 

(D) The U.N. should finance climate research in developing countries 

(E) Introduce economic sanctions against countries which do not reduce carbon emissions 

Show Answer

8. Which of the following will be a suitable title for the given passage?

(A) Risks of global warming 

(B) The depletion of fossil fuel reserves 

(C) Technology can fight global warming 

(D) Global warming and decreasing GDPs 

(E) The inefficient non carbon sources of energy 

Show Answer

9. What is the author’s aim in promoting research into marine cloud whitening?

(A) To better understand how such technology can be utilized as an efficient solution to the problem of global warming 

(B) To ensure that the climate scientists benefit financially 

(C) To given developing nations an advantage over developed nations in fighting global warming 

(D) To highlight the risks of such techniques 

(E) To delay agreements on global warming for as long as possible 

Show Answer

10. According to the author, what role will the rich nations play in reducing carbon emissions?

(A) Pressurizing poor nations to sign agreements on carbon cuts 

(B) Funding carbon emission cuts in developing countries 

(C) Diverting research funding from disease prevention to environment protection 

(D) Spending trillions of dollars annually on non carbon energy research 

(E) None of these 

Show Answer

(Source: Baroda Rajsthan Gramin Bank Scale-I Exam-2010)

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.

There was a famous temple on a high hill in Assam. The priest of this temple was widely respected and was known to be a great scholar. When he grew old, he started searching for a younger priest who could take charge of the temple after his death. But, much to his dismay, he could not find any suitable person. As the priest lay on his deathbed, he called the trustee of the temple and told him, “After my death, make sure that only a ‘human being’ replaces me as the priest of this temple”. As soon as he said these words, he died. Information travelled far and wide that the head priest of the famous temple had died and now there was an urgent need for a replacement. A day was set for the selection of the successor. That day, starting at dawn, aspirants started trekking the steep and torturous climb to the temple. The route to the temple was indeed difficult; it was full of thorns, and stones. By the time most people managed to reach the temple, they had received minor cuts and bruises on their feet and hands.

After breakfast, the selection process started. The trustee asked all the aspirants to recite difficult shlokas, or verses from the sacred texts, and explain various procedures of priesthood. By afternoon, as the selection process was about to end, one young man walked slowly into the temple. The trustee noticed him and said, “Young man, you are very late. What took you so long ? And what happened to your clothes, why are they torn ? Your feet and hands are bleeding so badly.” The man replied, “I know sir, I am late, so I will not participate in the competition. If I have your permission, I will just get my wounds treated, rest for a while and then go back to my village.” But the trustee was curious to know about this man. He asked again, “But how did you manage to hurt yourself so badly, did you not follow the same route as the others ?” “Yes sir, I did,” replied the man, “But I thought I must remove the thorns and other sharp, stones from the path so that when people come to pray in this temple they must not get hurt. That is why I got late and that is how I hurt myself. I apologize for the delay, but as I said, I know I am late and hence I don’t wish to participate in the competition. It will not be fair to the others if I participated.” Hearing this, the trustee smiled and said,  “Congratulations, you have been chosen. I am sure that when our noble priest was dying and he said that he wanted a “human being” to be his successor, he meant that he wanted someone like you. “This statement infuriated the other participants. “What do you mean ?” they demanded. “Are we not humans ?This man just said that he did not wish to participate. How can you choose him as he has not gone through any of the tests ?”

The trustee replied, “Our old priest used to say that even animals know how to watch for their self interest; they know how to avoid danger, search food and so on. Only a ‘human being’ knows how to watch for other people’s interests and well being. All of you climbed the same torturous path. But only this man thought about the others and cleared the path so that no one would get hurt. By this definition, only he qualifies as a ‘human being’ and hence only he should be the successor of the great old priest.”

QUESTIONS:

1. What happened immediately after the old priest died ?

(A)  The trustee shut the temple and started mourning for the old priest 

(B) The trustee took the old priest’s position and appointed a younger trustee 

(C)  Word spread that there was an urgent need for the old priest’s successor 

(D) Everyone started searching for younger priests 

(E) Everyone refused to become the old priest’s successor 

Show Answer

2. Why was the old priest looking for a younger priest ?

(A) So that the younger priest became his successor 

(B) So that the old priest had a student 

(C) So that the younger priest searched for a successor 

(D) Because in those days younger priests were more educated than older priests 

(E) Because the trustee wanted a younger priest to take care of the temple 

Show Answer

3. Why was the young man late for the competition ?

(A) He had forgotten his way and thus had taken a longer route to the temple 

(B) He was removing all the stones and thorns from the path which led to the temple 

(C) He was giving water to the other participants when they were on their way to the temple 

(D) He had some household chores to complete 

(E) He had forgotten all about the competition in the morning 

Show Answer

4.What was the trustee’s decision when the young man gave his explanation for being late ?

(A)  He immediately selected the young man as the successor to the old priest 

(B) He scolded him and said that he should have been careful 

(C) He asked the young man to go and get his wounds treated 

(D) He asked the other participants to leave the temple premises 

(E) He gave a huge sum of money to the young man 

Show Answer

5. What was the old priest’s definition of a ‘human being’ ?

(A) Those who succeed in life and earn a lot of money are human beings 

(B) Those who watch for other people’s interests and well being are human beings 

(C) Those who put stones and thorns in other people’s path are human beings 

(D) Those who know how to make other people laugh are human beings 

(E) Those who know how to recite shlokas are human beings 

Show Answer

6. How did the other participants react to the trustee’s decision ?

(A) They took it sportingly and learnt a lesson from the incident 

(B) They congratulated the trustee for being so wise and fair 

(C) They got angry and objected to the trustee’s decision 

(D) They decided to get even with the trustee and the young man 

(E) They cursed the trustee and stomped out of the temple premises 

Show Answer

7. What did the trustee ask during the selection process ?

(A) He asked the aspirants to recite shlokas and verses from sacred texts 

(B) He asked the aspirants to explain the various procedures of priesthood 

(C) He asked the aspirants to give an introduction of themselves 

(D) He asked the aspirants to tell him the qualities of an ideal priest 

(E) Both (A) and (B) 

Show Answer

8. What would be an appropriate title for this passage ?

(A) The famous temple 

(B) The old priest 

(C) The torturous path 

(D) The true successor 

(E) The unjust trustee 

Show Answer

9. Why did the young man say that he didn’t wish to participate in the competition ?

(A) He was scared of losing the competition 

(B) He was not sure about the duties of priesthood 

(C) His parents forbade him from becoming a priest 

(D) He wanted to become the priest of some other temple 

(E) He was late and did not want to be unfair to others 

Show Answer

10. When did the aspirants get cuts and bruises on their hands and feet ?

(A) While they were reciting difficult shlokas and verses 

(B) While they were going through the selection process 

(C) While they were talking about the old priest 

(D) While they were climbing the torturous path that led to the temple 

(E) While the trustee was torturing them during the selection process 

Show Answer

(Source: Bank of India Clerk Exam Paper 2010)

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate options.

In the affluent,, industrialized nations giant surpluses of what, maize, and sorghum are commonplace; cattle, swine, and poultry are fed and fattened on cereal grains; meat, milk, eggs, fruits, and vegetables are within the economic reach of most of the population; well-balanced diets are more or less automatically achieved, and cereal products constitute only a modest portion of the ‘daily bread’. Consequently, most of the people in such societies have difficulty in comprehending and appreciating the vital significance of providing high-yielding strains of wheat, rice, maize, sorghum and millet for the people of the developing nations. Understandably then, the majority of the urbanites in the industrialized nations have forgotten the significance of the words they learned as youngsters. ‘ Give us this day our daily bread.’ They know that food comes from the supermarket, but only a few see beyond the necessary investments, the toils, struggle, and frustrations on the farms and ranches that provide their daily bread. Since the urbanites have lost their contact with the soil, they take food for granted and fail to appreciate the tremendous efficiency of their farmers and ranchers, who, although constituting only five percent of the labour force in a country such as the United States, produce more than enough food for their nation.

                   Even worse urbanites often vociferously criticize their government for attempting to bring to balance the agricultural production of its farmers with the domestic and foreign market demands for farm products, and attempting thereby to provide the consumer and abundant food supply at reasonable cost and also to assure a reasonable return to the farmer and ranchers.

QUESTION:

1. How do they benefit from such a use?

(A) The soil gets enriched 

(B) The surplus does not get wasted 

(C) The country earns goodwill. 

(D) Their citizens get balanced diets 

Show Answer

2. People in the developed nations eat very little of :

(A) Meat products 

(B) Milk products 

(C) Fruits and vegetables 

(D) Cereals

Show Answer

3. _______ do not play a great role in providing food to the dining tables in developed nations.

(A) Farms

(B) Supermarkets

(C) Farm labourers 

(D) Agricultural machines 

Show Answer

4. How do the rich countries use most of their surplus wheat and maize?

(A) They export them to help the developing countries 

(B) They feed their cattle and poultry. 

(C) They give them free to the poor people. 

(D) They burn them in the fields 

Show Answer

(Source: CTET SEP-15 Paper-II)

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate options:

            The massive fort of Jodhpur looked down from the hill at the new city which had sprawled out around the old one. The desert lay beyond the city. IT crouched there like a lion, and was the colour of one, its rippled tawny pelt flea-specked here and there with small clumps of scrub. A gritty wind blew out of it, little rivers of sand eddied briefly down the pavements, then were snatched back into the air and flung like a challenge to the south. At the edge of the city, herds of camels twined their long necks around stunted trees, as though they were snakes. Then there were no more trees. Tall whirlwinds of sand marched down towards us from the horizon.

          The desert enclosed us for the next ten days. There was a glare and dazzle on the skyline at dawn, then the ferocious eye of summer opened for a long look at its domain. For the next twelve hours it scowled down at the sand. We closed our eyes, visualized shadow and water, narrowed them open once more to the parch and scald of the desert wind. The shifting wind caused the dunes constantly to collapse and reform, or drifted them lazily out as bulwarks across the road. The car had to stop at frequent intervals, so that we could clear the heaped sand away, or because one of the tyres, hissing on the burning surface of the tarmac, had exploded. During those prolonged and sweaty intervals by the roadside, we were passed, sometimes, by the ghostly herds of livestock moving south.

QUESTION:

1. The only objects that actually broke the monotony of the vast desert were :

(A) lions living in it 

(B) rivers of sand in it 

(C) clumps of scrub here and there 

(D) shadow and water 

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2. Between the fort and the desert there is/are:

(A) a hill 

(B) two cities 

(C) three cities 

(D) no city 

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3. _______ are compared to snakes

(A) Herds of camels 

(B) Edges of the city 

(C) Stunted trees 

(D) Long necks of camels 

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4. The narrator’s style of description is :

(A) scholarly

(B) poetic

(C) philosophic

(D) analytical

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5. The desert looked like a lion because both are :

(A) of the same colour 

(B) massive

(C) ferocious

(D)  found among the hills 

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(Source: CTET SEP-15 Paper-II)