Closing in on 100 Plus Original High Qualtiy Questions!!
Passage 1
(Questions 71-73)
**If misfortunes never come singly, who should know it
better than a party and government whose fate through the past four years has
been to lurch from scam to scam, crisis to crisis?
Not only have the scandals around the Congress and Team
Manmohan acquired a Terminator-like ability to morph and resurface, each new
day seems to bring fresh allegations — against one or another minister with the
Prime Minister barely escaping the heat.
All of last week,
Law Minister Ashwani Kumar was in the dock for interfering in the CBI’s status
report on coal block allocations. The government was still fending off the
Opposition and Supreme Court onslaught on that accusation, when corruption
charges hit, of all people, the soft-spoken Pawan Kumar Bansal. Although there
is no direct evidence connecting the Railway Minister to a bribe allegedly
received by his nephew to facilitate a key Railway Board appointment, the
relationship is close enough to raise questions. More so because the nephew,
Vijay Singla, who has been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation,
oversaw the minister’s constituency interests in Chandigarh.
The ruling establishment has brushed off the Bansal
bribery charge with typical nonchalance.
But the denials have become too routine and too practised for anyone to buy
them. Indeed, it is not so much this case as the fact that it has been raining
scams in the Congress-government backyard that has allowed any and every new
accusation to stand in the face of refutations.
The reconvened Budget session of Parliament had started riotously enough with
explosive new angles emerging in the handling of 2G and coal block allotments.
The Bansal case has added further to the image of a government corrupt beyond
redemption and arrogant to boot. To be sure, the government has been able to
weather the storms partly because the Opposition offensive has not resulted in
the ruling numbers being tested on the floor of the Lok Sabha. So much so,
Parliament has been reduced to a charade with the Bharatiya Janata Party incessantly demanding the Prime
Minister’s resignation, and the latter treating the warnings and threats as if
they were of no consequence. Sushma Swaraj recently went on record to say that
the government had no business to stay even one more day in power. That very
day the BJP walked out of the two Houses, allowing the passage of the Finance
Bill. Regardless of how events turn out for Ashwani Kumar and Pawan Bansal, one
thing seems certain: The BJP has too much on its own plate — for which read
Narendra Modi and alliance troubles — to bother with dispatching a government
it claims is on its way out.
71) What is
the purpose of the author to write the above piece?
a) to
bother with dispatching a government it claims is on its way out.
b) To warn
the opposition of its problems
c) To remind
the opposition that one should not throw stones at the hose of others if one’s
own house is made of glass.
d) To tell
the reader that the opposition can only win after resolving its own troubles
e) None of
the above
72) What is
the Author’s warning to the Opposition party?
a) To not
bother with dispatching a government it claims is on its way out.
b) To warn
the opposition of its problems
c) To remind
the opposition that one should not throw stones at the hose of others if one’s
own house is made of glass.
d) To tell
the reader that the opposition can only win after resolving its own troubles.
e)
None of the above
73) What do
the words nonchalant, refutations and incessantly mean?
a) Negligent,
confutation, in perpetuum
b) confutation, in perpetuum,Negligently
c) consistently,
non-plussed, ramble
d)
sincere, wilful, petulant
Passage 2 (Questions 74-77)
This is a title
under the Issues in History series which ‘begins with the premise that history
is both about writing the past and about the re-examination of the sources as
stated by series editors. The book contains articles by different authors
grouped together under four distinct parts which are, I the Marine worlds, II
Maritime worlds, III Maritime world as space, Europe and Indian Ocean and IV
Formal and informal networks in Maritime Worlds : the Indian Ocean.
The collection is a departure from the normal selection
of papers on a particular subject, in the sense that the articles embrace
subjects that are even distantly connected to make an integrated study of the
subject of Ocean and its ability to connect civilisations and people across the
oceans. In the introduction the subtle difference between marine worlds and
maritime worlds is explained by the editor along with the arrangements of
papers under different groups. In fact the entire treatment is fresh in
approach.
In an elaborate introduction the editor explains the
purpose and intent of the book. Among the various subjects the chapter dealing
with maritime world as space, the article by Picazo Muntaner is a departure
from the usual treatment of the subject. The late middle ages that saw the mappae
mundi and discoveries develop, showed “an emerging desire … the need to
gain access to those centres and networks, reducing costs and increasing
profits derived from the trade” says the editor. In a paper “Jumping Frontiers,
Crossing Barriers”, Amelia Polonia talks about the First Global Age.
“The Portuguese ‘revolution’ in nautical science was in actual fact an
evolution and showed a very successful process of an ongoing empirical
adaptation to new needs and technical demands” says the author. At that time
Portuguese vessels were far superior to any other nation’s and very large in
size as well. So the maritime economics came into vogue during this time,
replacing mere adventure.
The author continues, “The positioning of the central
rudder on the sternpost of the keel in the caravel was already known in the
Baltic sea for many centuries … The potolan chart with compass or wind roses
was used by Italian seamen by the early 1300s.” However there is no mention of
the Tamil sailors who had known about wind roses and currents as early as Chola
period, though rudder was not used (except central drop board) since their
sailing was always parallel. In the portion explaining the cross-cultural flows
some very valid points are made out. “The well known fact that the Europeans
tried to replicate, as much as possible, their way of life in the new
territories, suggests an intense projection of European influence in the
territories where they settled, by consent or by force” says the author, and
makes an important point, “However in Asia, Africa and the Americas the
survival of settlers depended upon the efficacy of their adaptation to new
environment and cultures.” This paper assumes importance in its analysis of
cultural transfers and religious conversions, from a fresh point of view.
74) What is
the tone of the passage?
a)
narrative
b)
analytical
c)
descriptive
d)
poignant
e)
admirable
f)
none
of the above
75) Why does the author consider the
book fresh in its approach?
a)
the articles embrace subjects that are
even distantly connected to make an integrated study of the subject of Ocean
and its ability to connect civilisations and people across the oceans.
b)
In the portion explaining the
cross-cultural flows some very valid points are made out.
c)
the subtle difference between marine
worlds and maritime worlds is explained by the editor
d)
None of the above
76) What according to the author the
book misses to acknowledge?
a)
Tamil sailors
b)
The Portuguese ‘revolution’
c) This
paper assumes importance in its analysis of cultural transfers and religious
conversions, from a fresh point of view.
d) the
cross-cultural flows
e) None Of
the above
77) What is
the meaning of the word efficacy?
a)
Efficiency
b)
Tendency
c)
Probability
d)
Effectiveness
e)
None
Of the above
78) Liberty and
security are the two most fundamental ingredients of human life. While
democracies irrespective of their credentials claim that that is indeed the
case, Conor Gearty’s latest book Liberty and Security (Polity Press, UK)
reveals the inconvenient truth that liberty and security in practical terms are
enjoyed by only the advantaged few.
Instead of becoming a cheerleader of democracy, the
author cuts through its veneer of unqualified success, and separates the real
from the manifest. In doing so, he produces a profoundly moral work that is
rooted in sound________ analyses rather than driven by _______________ beliefs.
a)
Empirical, ideological
b)
Experimental, dogmatic
c)
Theoretical, bombastic
d)
Divagate, devious
e)
None Of The above
79) Management
is not anything new to this land, which has a long history of culture,
tradition, and ethos. Ancient India led in overseas trade and commerce.
Considering that it has now become imperative in the current scenario to
identify __________and creative tools and techniques to beat the competition,
it is worthwhile to _______deep into the Indian mythology fishing for a fresh
framework in management. It is in this context, that the book under notice is
breaking new ground.
a)
Innovative, delve
b)
Ingenious, dwell
c)
Novel, Look
d)
Charismatic, dig
e)
None of the above
80) Meenakshi
Reddy Madhavan’s Cold Feet started off with a bachelorette party with a
bunch of reluctant guests who had nothing better to do than get drunk and
stumble home. The book _______ along as the characters — all girls — drink
their way and sleep around in the hope of finding happiness. Meenakshi is no
Helen Fielding so the book reads more like a series of blog posts. And it has
sex. Not the descriptive erotic kind, but the ______sort where people get drunk
and sleep together, with some random sex thrown in.
a)
Amble , Casual
b)
Ramble, nonchalant
c)
Moves, boring
d)
None of the above
** The Above Passage has been taken from THE Hindu for Educational Purposes. The questions have been ingeniously developed.
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