Reading Comprehension

“The water was as clear as glass till 20 years ago, when the drains were cleaner. We could see coins
at the bottom of the river. We could drink directly from the Yamuna,” says fisherman Raman Haldar,
scooping a cupped palm into the muddy waters, bringing it near his mouth to emphasize the point.
Seeing our mortified look, he lets it run down his fingers with a wistful laugh. In today’s Yamuna,
plastics, foil wrappers, muck, newspapers, concrete debris, cloth scraps, slush, rotting food and dead
flowers from puja offerings, wandering coconuts, chemical foam and water hyacinth offer up a dark
reflection of the capital city’s consumption. (Para 1)

The Yamuna flows through the National Capital Territory for 22 kilometres, 1.6% of the river’s length.
But the wastes and poisons emptied into that little stretch account for close to 80% of all pollution in
the 1,376-kilometre river. Acknowledging this, the monitoring committee report of the National Green
Tribunal (NGT) in 2018 pronounced the river in Delhi a 'sewer line'. (Para 2)

The resulting severe depletion of oxygen levels in the water causes large-scale deaths of fish. Last
year, thousands of fish were found dead at the Kalindi Kunj Ghat on the southern stretch of the river
in Delhi. For a river ecosystem to survive, it needs a Dissolved Oxygen (DO) level of 6 and above. Fish
require a DO level of at least 4-5. In the Delhi part of Yamuna, the DO is between 0 to 0.4,” says
Priyank Hirani, director of the Water-to Cloud project of the Tata Centre for Development at the
University of Chicago. The project maps real-time pollution in rivers. (Para 3)

At the Ram Ghat bank, 52-year-old Haldar says, “I moved here from Kalindi Kunj Ghat three years
ago. There’s no fish there, earlier there was plenty. Only some catfish remain now. Quite a few of these
are dirty and cause allergy, rash, fever and diarrhoea,” he says, untangling a puffy handmade net.
Unlike other species that live deeper in the water, the catfish is able to float to the surface and breathe,
and so survives better than the others. Predators in this ecosystem, explains Delhi-based marine
conservationist Divya Karnad, concentrate toxins in their body because of eating fish lower down in
the food chain exposed to those poisons. “So, people eating the scavenger-carnivore catfish suffer
reactions.” Haldar’s sons, unable to take up his occupation, sell mobile phone accessories and momos
for a living. Nearby, 35-year-old Sunita Devi says her fisherman husband Naresh Sahni is away,
seeking work as a daily labourer. (Para 4)

Nearly 87 per cent of India's fish catch potential is available within waters of a 100-metre depth. Most
of that is within reach of the country’s fishing communities. It fosters not just food, but also daily lives
and cultures. “Now you're breaking the small-scale economy of the fishers,” points out Pradip
Chatterjee, head of the National Platform for Small Scale Fish Workers. “They supply local fish to local
markets. If they don't find fish, they will bring it from faraway places, using transport which aggravates
the crisis.” Increased use of groundwater too requires more energy and interferes with the water cycle.
“Water bodies will get affected, and rivers won't get recharged. Still more energy, from conventional
sources, will be needed to fix this and get clean, potable water from the river. We are breaking nature-
based economies forcibly, and putting labour, food and production into a corporate cycle that is energy
and capital intensive.” A climate crisis, with its fluctuations in rainfall and temperatures, adds layers to
the Yamuna problem, says senior environmental consultant Dr. Radha Gopalan, since the quantity and
quality of the water is compromised. (Para 5)

1) According to the information in the passage, which of the following is true:

A) The waste in the Jamuna accounts for close to 80% of the total pollutants in the National Capital
Region.
B) Nearly 40% of the waste in the Yamuna is emptied into it during its flow through the National Capital
Region.
C) The National Capital Region accounts for most of the waste in the Yamuna.
D) The Yamuna runs through the National Capital Region for 1376 kilometres.
2) According to the passage:

A) The Dissolved Oxygen Level of the Yamuna is above 6.

B) The Yamuna waters dissolve oxygen at the rate of 4 or 5.
C) The Dissolved Oxygen Level is one of the ways in which scientists check for whether water can
sustain fish.
D) Fish do not survive in water with a DO level of 6 and above.

3) According to the passage, which of the following is a likely chain reaction?

A) Catfish eat other carnivores –> humans eat the same carnivores –> humans fall sick
B) Humans eat small fish –> humans fall sick
C) Catfish eat small fish –> humans eat catfish –> humans fall sick
D) Small fish eat catfish -> humans eat catfish -> humans fall sick

4) What is the main idea of the passage?

A) The Yamuna is polluted and therefore the fish in it die.

B) The pollution in the Yamuna causes the death of fish, a shortage of edible fish and loss of
livelihoods.
C) Global warming acts on the Yamuna waters to cause the loss of livelihoods.
D) The pollution in the Yamuna is caused by a shortage of rainwater.

5) The author of this passage is likely to support:

A) Policies that encourage the transportation of fish from seaports to the National Capital Region
B) Policies that encourage consumption of local food produce
C) Policies that encourage the use of the Yamuna banks for religious purposes
D) Policies that limit employment potential for those who previously used to be fishermen

6) Which of the following words is closest in meaning to the word “depletion” as used in the sentence
“The resulting severe depletion of oxygen levels in the water causes large-scale deaths of fish.”(Para
3)

A) increase
B) maintenance
C) theft
D) reduction

7) “If they don't find fish, they will bring it from faraway places, using transport which aggravates the
crisis”. If action in this sentence happened in the past, which of the following would be the most
correct way to rewrite the sentence?

A) If they will not find fish, they will be bringing it from faraway places, using transport which
aggravates the crisis.
B) If they didn't find fish, they would be bringing it from faraway places, using transport which
aggravated the crisis.
C) If they did not find fish, they would bring it from faraway places, using transport which aggravated
the crisis.
 D) If they don't find fish, they are bringing it from faraway places, using transport which aggravates
the crisis.

8) Which of the following words is the closest in meaning to the word “aggravates” as used in the
sentence “If they don't find fish, they will bring it from faraway places, using transport which aggravates
the crisis …” (Para 5)

A) Worsens
B) Improves
C) Reduces
D) Benefits

9) Which of the following phrases is the closest antonym (opposite) of the word “fluctuation” as used in
the sentence beginning: “A climate crisis, with its fluctuations in rainfall and temperatures…”? (Para 5)

A) Changing levels
B) Repetitive actions
C) Maintaining a steady level
D) Causing a continuous reduction

The most fascinating journeys are those that lead us backwards in time. Throw in some boulders and
slippery rocks and you are in Hampi, Karnataka’s spectacular World Heritage Site. Navigating Hampi’s
ancient ruins on the rocky banks of the Tungabhadra calls for some nimbleness. Spread over 30 acres,
Hampi is often associated with the resplendent 14th to 17th century Vijaynagara empire. But the complex
dates back to a much earlier past. (Para 1)

The sprawling ruins tantalize your imagination, nudging you to reconstruct that remote past. There are
relatively recent temples decorated with delicate etchings, prehistoric pottery fragments, Mauryan cave
engravings and edicts, all kinds of scarred sculpture and shattered structures, spanning centuries and
defying easy categorization. (Para 2)

Hampi is an open-air museum, a puzzle to the historians and archaeologists who throng here. But it
also offers something for everyone. For young motor-bikers and Youtubers, stunning locations and
lookout points yield selfies against a blue sky. Fancy eateries cook up many cuisines to an international
clientele. Adventure-seekers trek up the jutting rocks, cyclists speed through picturesque streets, the
pious offer prayers. I am none of these; I am here to drink deep of antiquity, to retrace the steps of
traders through the grand marketplace, to skip lightly down the stone stairs where bejewelled feet once
walked, to capture on camera the curvaceous maidens populating the mandapa pillars, and to imbibe
the ambience of the tranquil village palms and paddy fields. (Para 3)

The gopuram of the Virupaksha temple, garishly whitewashed, cranes over everything. Dedicated to
Shiva, the temple is said to have been built by Lakkan Dandesha, a chieftain under Deva Raya II.
However, it has probably existed in some basic form from the seventh century, when it used to be
dedicated to Pampadevi, goddess of the Tungabhadra. Legend even links Hampi to the ancient
Kishkinda kingdom of the Ramayana. Over the centuries, the temple expanded; major and minor
shrines were installed near the main shrine during the Chalukya and Hoysala periods, culminating in
the majesty of the Vijayanagara era. Subsequent additions were the Queen’s Bath and the Elephant
Stables, which blend the best of Islamic and Hindu architecture. (Para 4)

What sets Hampi apart is that despite having been built over many centuries and being ruled by many
dynasties, including Muslim ones, the architecture is distinctly Dravidian, and all the structures are
constructed of local stone. The Ashokan rock edicts of 269-232 BCE in nearby Nittur and Udegolan
suggest that this region was then part of the Mauryan Empire. Sixth century Chalukyan inscriptions in
Badami also refer to Pampapura. By the 10th century, under the Kalyana Chalukyas, Hampi was a
religious and educational centre; later inscriptions mention royal gifts to Hampadevi. The Hoysalas built
temples to Durga, Hampadevi and Siva, according to an inscription dated 1199 C.E. Hampi became
the second royal residence; Hoysala kings were known as HampeyaOdeya, “Lord of Hampi”. (Para 5)

According to popular legend, Harihara and Bukka founded the Sangama dynasty in 1323, renaming
Hampi Vijayanagara, City of Victory. From 1323 to 1565, under four successive dynasties, Vijayanagara
became one of the richest and most famous empires. Peace and prosperity under enlightened rulers
who encouraged the arts, learning and architecture made Vijayanagara a splendid city, rivalled only by
Peking, and reaching its zenith under Krishna Deva Raya in the sixteenth century. (Para 6)

This flourishing empire attracted thinkers, philosophers, and artists, but also merchants bearing
precious metals, bales of silk, skilled woodcraft and bushels of grain. In the sprawling market square
ringed by impressive columns, I close my eyes and imagine the haggling voices, the bustle of
commerce, the clattering chariots, the songs of minstrels, a city alive and throbbing. (Para 7)

1) According to the information provided in this passage, which of these is true?

A) The earliest we can know for sure that Hampi existed was in the 14th century.
B) Hampi has existed from time immemorial.
C) Hampi, though referred to by other names, has existed at least from the 3rd century BCE.
D) Hampi was built in the 3rd century BCE.

2) What do you think is the main point of Paragraph 2?

A) There are many kinds of monuments and fragments in the Hampi complex.
B) The remnants of old Hampi are truly picturesque
C) The entire Hampi complex was very likely built by the Mauryan kings.
D) Reconstructing the history of the city from what remains of it today has been a challenging but
fascinating task.

3) Which of the following ideas does Paragraph 3 emphasize?

A) Foreign tourists are attracted by Hampi’s many famous restaurants.

B) Hampi has sights and experiences that interest many different kinds of people.
C) The pillars in Hampi often feature bejewelled dancing women.
D) The villages around Hampi have green paddy field and palm trees.

4) What is the author mainly trying to do in Paragraph 5?

A) Give us information about Hampi so that we know why tourists go there today.
B) Give us information about Hampi so that we get a sense of how old it is and how it has developed
over time.
C) Give us information about Hampi so that we get a sense of how prosperous it was.
D) Give us information about Hampi so that we can see how it was a centre for trade.

5) Which of the following phrases best describes the mood of Paragraph 7?

A) Scholarly and analytical

B) Light and humorous
C) Dreamy and nostalgic
D) Angry and resentful

6) Which of the following words is the closest in meaning to the word “sprawling” as used in the
sentence that begins “The sprawling ruins tantalize your imagination…”? (Para 2)

A) spread out in an irregular way over a large area

B) built a long time back
C) giving evidence of modern engineering techniques
D) carefully planned constructions

7) Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word “distinctly” as used in the sentence ending
“the architecture is distinctly Dravidian, and all the structures are constructed of local stone …”? (Para
5)

A) A noun that describes the architecture of the Chalukya ruler

B) A pronoun that indicates who built the later Hampi structures
C) An adverb that means ‘clearly’ or ‘easily evident’
D) A verb that shows how early Muslims in India also worshipped in some of the Hindu temples in
Hampi.

8) “Peace and prosperity under enlightened rulers who encouraged the arts, learning and architecture
made Vijayanagara a splendid city, rivalled only by Peking, and reaching its zenith under Krishna Deva
Raya in the sixteenth century.” (Para 6). If this sentence was to be written in the future tense, which of
the following would be a correct version?

A) Peace and prosperity under enlightened rulers who encourage the arts, learning and architecture
will make Vijayanagara a splendid city, rivalled only by Peking, and reaching its zenith under
Krishna Deva Raya in the sixteenth century. (Para 6)
B) Peace and prosperity under enlightened rulers who had encouraged the arts, learning and
architecture made Vijayanagara a splendid city, rivalling only Peking, and will reach its zenith
under Krishna Deva Raya in the sixteenth century. (Para 6)
C) Peace and prosperity under enlightening rulers who will be encouraging the arts, learning and
architecture will be making Vijayanagara a splendid city, rivalled only by Peking, and it will be
reaching its zenith under Krishna Deva Raya in the sixteenth century. (Para 6)
D) Peace and prosperity under enlightened rulers who are encouraging the arts, learning and
architecture have made Vijayanagara a splendid city, rivalled only by Peking, and reaching its
zenith under Krishna Deva Raya in the sixteenth century. (Para 6)

9) Which of the following phrases is the closest antonym (opposite) of the word “zenith” as used in the
sentence ending “reaching its zenith under Krishna Deva Raya in the sixteenth century”? (Para 6)

A) middle level
B) lowest point
C) highest point
D) approaching the end
Why is it that humans always seem to get separated out from other animal species? Humans are
the only ones who will read these sentences. We’re also the only ones who wear hats. But the list
of attributes once thought to be unique to our species—from using tools to waging war—is not only
rapidly shrinking, but starting to sound less and less impressive when we compare them with other
animals’ powers. Spiders grow new limbs. Octopuses change colour and shape. Insects and
amphibians metamorphose from one distinct form to another. Human accomplishments pale! It is
surely time to put humans back into the animal world and bring animals into the human world—
where we all belong. (Para 1)

Think of it: For all but the last few moments of our existence as a species, from an evolutionary
perspective, humans have been hunter-gatherers. We depended directly on our observations of the
natural world—the real world—for everything: food, shelter, clothing, medicine, even art, worship,
and inspiration. The natural world is where our kind perfected “the wholeness of all we think of as
culture,” wrote Paul Shepard, the scholar of human ecology. And humans, as we now know, are not
the only animals with culture by a long shot. (Para 2)

How different are we from other creatures? Humans are so closely related to apes you can share a
blood transfusion from a chimp. We share 90 percent of our genetic material with all placental
mammals (and 40 percent with a banana!). Even the word person does not derive from the single
meaning “human”. Person comes from the word for mask, as in the Christian mystery of “God in
Persons Three” (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). A person means merely one of the many masks that
God wears in this world—animal or human. This truth has long been recognized in many cultures,
particularly indigenous societies. Many of these tribes tell creation stories that portray animals as
the First People. In mythologies throughout the world, the theme re-emerges: Animals nurture and
inspire us. (Para 3)

From Russia, Turkey, Liberia, India, Chile, and Greece, we find stories of animals who adopt human
babies and raise them in their world. We read of monkey boys, gazelle girls, even an ostrich boy.
From the Roman Romulus and Remus, the human twins raised by wolves, to the Sundarbans’
Bonobibi, the orphaned-girl-become-goddess rescued by wild deer, our kind honors a kinship
between humans and animals—and the special powers accorded to humans raised by our wild kin.
Our fellow animals also sometimes frighten and repel us. (Para 4)

But even this can be instructive and often tells us more about ourselves than the objects of our fear.
We interact continuously with fellow species, often in surprising ways. Both evolution and our sacred
creation stories tell us that we belong together with our fellow animals, and that without them, we
cannot be whole. (Para 5)

1) According to the information in the passage, which of the following is not considered a unique human
attribute any longer?

A) Using tools
B) Flying aeroplanes
C) Changing body colour
D) Growing new limbs

2) According to the author, humans learned their culture:

A) By hunting and gathering

B) By observing the natural world
C) By mining
D) By farming
3) In the passage, the origin of the word “person” also suggests:

A) A human being
B) God
C) An animal
D) A mask that god wears

4) What does the passage tell us about human beings?

A) Human beings have evolved independently from other mammals.

B) Human beings are unique in their genetic material.
C) Human beings share their genetic material with planetary mammals.
D) Human beings are bananas.

5) According to the passage what can we learn from both evolutionary and mythological tales?

A) Human beings are complete.

B) Human beings are incomplete without fellow species.
C) Human beings can survive without animals.
D) Human beings should establish control over fellow species.

Which of the following words is closest in meaning to the word “metamorphose” as used in the sentence
“Insects and amphibians metamorphose from one
distinct form to another.” (Para 1)

A) Transform
B) Transplant
C) Transport
D) Transcribe

7) “Humans are so closely related to apes you can share a blood transfusion from a chimp”. If this
sentence were rewritten to begin in the simple past tense, which of the options below would be the
most correct version?

A) Humans would be so closely related to apes you could share a blood transfusion from a chimp.
B) Humans were so closely related to apes you could have shared a blood transfusion from a chimp.
C) Humans will be so closely related to apes you can share a blood transfusion from a chimp.
D) Humans are being so closely related to apes you can share a blood transfusion from a chimp.

8) Which of the following words is closest in meaning to the term “kinship” as used in the sentence
ending “…our kind honors a kinship between humans and animal—and the special powers accorded
to humans raised by our wild kin”. (Para 4)

A) Love
B) Variance
C) Bond
 D) History

9) Which of the following words is the closest antonym (opposite) of the word “repel” as used in the
sentence “Our fellow animals also sometimes frighten and repel us.” (Para 4)

A) Avoid
B) Disgust
C) Allure
D) Defy

This is the dictionary definition of the word “nightie”: Noun. A woman’s nightgown or nightdress; a
dresslike garment worn to bed. Here is an example of how the word is used in a sentence: “I was too
embarrassed to answer the door in my nightie.” Obviously, this entry was not written by an Indian.
(Para 1)

Indians are not embarrassed to do ANYTHING in a nightie. They wear them while leaning on the front
gate and chatting with neighbours. They wear nighties to the grocery store, or to drop their children off
to school. The nightie is a great social leveller, one of the most democratic items of clothing. (Para 2)

One brave school in Bangalore is now trying to put an end to this. Rosebuds school has issued a dress
regulation for parents: No more dropping off your children in your nightwear. As expected, there has
been complaint and criticism. “Setting rules for students is alright in order to maintain decency and
discipline but enforcing such conditions on parents is illogical,” fumes one parent. “We should be
concentrating on issues like punctuality and not what parents wore while dropping children off,” concurs
another. (Para 3)

Rosebuds obviously does not realise the importance of the nightie. In the West, a nightie is a nightgown.
But in India, the nightie has a new national reincarnation. When I was growing up my mother changed
from her night-sari to her morning-sari every day. That was the way we marked the beginning of the
day. Now, it is no longer bedtime attire: all those aunties, from Patiala to Mysore, run around all day
with their nighties aflapping. (Para 4)

As the writer Santosh Desai explains in The Wonderful World of the Indian Nightie, the Indian nightie
is careful to steer clear of anything lacy or transparent. It is firm in its modesty and feminine enough
without really looking attractive. Fashion experts complain loudly against the nightie as some western
import gone horribly wrong, like a dangerous weed that has taken over our cultural traditions. What
these nightie-haters don’t realise is that the nightie is actually a triumph of Indian creativity and
resourcefulness. It is now as Indian as khadi. The Indian woman has taken a piece of clothing and
made it completely her own. She has adapted it to fit her own needs and comfort. “Its popularity has
been generated not by any clever marketing but entirely by the user, who has seen in it a value not
originally intended,” writes Desai. It is the shortest dress route to women’s liberation! (Para 5)

My aunt has various grades of nighties – from goodenough-to-receive-the-courier-in to good-enough-

tomeet-her-son’s-classmates. Sabyasachi would certainly not design one, yet there are shops in
Kolkata’s Gariahat and Bangalore’s Commercial Street that sell nothing but nighties. Kareena Kapoor
does not advertise it on television but women still flock to buy it. No other article of clothing, not even
the sari, enjoys such appeal all over the country. (Para 6)

Sneer all you want, but the humble nightie is the great leveller of classes. The daily household helper
wears one. Her employer wears one. And often, there’s not that much difference between the two
nighties. Surely, that’s something to cheer about in a country where the gap between the rich and the
poor keeps getting more shockingly obvious. Let’s just make the nightie our
national dress! (Para 7)
1) According to the author of this passage:

A) The nightie is a convenient item of clothing but not many Indian women wear it.
B) Nighties should be worn outside the home.
C) Women in India often wear nighties when going out of their homes.
D) An Indian man is usually embarrassed if his wife wears a nightie outside their home.

2) According to the passage, which of the following is true?

A) Schools in Bangalore have always disallowed nighties.

B) Bangalore schools have no dress rules for either children or parents.
C) Parents of Bangalore school children now insist on dress regulations.
D) Some parents are upset about the new dress rules for parents laid down by a school.

3) Which of the following ideas does the passage support?

A) The nightie will always be something that marks out women as belonging in an elite class.
B) Women from less privileged backgrounds can never afford nighties.
C) Because so many women from different sections of society wear nighties in India, it is an item of
clothing that promotes equality between women.
D) Indian fashion designers are entering the nightie market with exclusive prints and patterns.

4) Which of the following is the main idea that the passage seeks to convey?

A) While the nightie was originally a western item of clothing, it has now become a very Indian one.
B) Western women also wear nighties outside their homes.
C) The nightie is an adaptation of an old Indian dress called the maxi, which the British took back with
them to England.
D) The popularity of the nightie has spread worldwide in the 20th century.

5) Which of the following is an opinion held by the author of this passage?

A) All schools should allow mothers of their students to wear nighties while dropping their children to
school.
B) Fathers should take responsibility for dropping their children to school, as mothers get busy in the
morning with cooking and other housework.
C) The huge demand for nighties arises from their extreme usefulness and comfort.
D) Shops should sell salwar-kameez sets or saris because these are more decent clothes than
nighties.

6) Which of the following words is the closest in meaning to the word “embarrassed” as used in the
sentence: “I was too embarrassed to answer the door in my nightie”? (Para 1)
A) unconcerned
B) puzzled
C) ashamed
D) Disgusted
7) Which of the following phrases is the closest in meaning to the word “fumes” as used in the
sentence ending “…fumes one parent”? (Para 3)

A) says something worriedly

B) says something angrily
C) says something calmly
D) says something acceptingly

8) Which of the following options would be a correct version of the following sentence if it was
rewritten in -
the present tense: “My mother changed from her night sari to her morning sari every day.”

A) My mother is going to change from her night-sari to her morning sari every day.
B) My mother is changing from her night-sari to her morning sari every day.
C) My mother changes from her night-sari to her morning sari every day.
D) My mother will change from her night-sari to her morning sari every day.

9) Which of the following words is an antonym (opposite) of the word “triumph” as used in the sentence
ending: “…a triumph of Indian creativity and resourcefulness”? (Para 5)

A) defeat
B) success
C) fame
D) victory

Researchers have uncovered traces of a lost continent that disappeared about 120 million years ago
under what is today Europe. Geologists have seen hints of the continent, dubbed Greater Adria, for
years. But the Mediterranean area is incredibly complicated, so piecing together its history took a
decade of academic detective work. “The Mediterranean region is quite simply a geological mess,”
geologist Douwe van Hinsbergen of Utrecht University, first author of the study says. “Everything is
curved, broken, and stacked.” (1)

The story that the rocks tell begins on the supercontinent Gondwana, which would eventually split into
Africa, South America, Australia, Antarctica and India. Greater Adria broke away from the mother
continent about 240 million years ago, beginning a slow drift northward. Roughly 140 million years ago,
it was about the size of Greenland, mostly submerged in a tropical sea, collecting sediment that
hardened into rock. Then, roughly 100 to 120 million years ago, it hit the southern edge of future
Europe, spinning counter-clockwise and moving at about 3 to 4 centimetres per year. (2)

As Robin George Andrews at National Geographic reports, the destruction of Greater Adria was
complex. It hit several subduction zones, or areas where tectonic plates meet. In this case, the Greater
Adria plate was trumped by the European plate, and most of it dove down into Earth’s mantle. The
overlying plate scraped the top layers of Great Adria off. That debris eventually formed mountain ranges
in Italy, Turkey, Greece, the Balkans and in the Alps. A few bits of Greater Adria escaped the plunge
into the mantle and still exist in Italy and Croatia. (3)

Figuring out the story of Greater Adria was difficult, not only because of the geology but also due to
human factors. Information about the continent is spread across many countries, from Spain to Iran.
“Every country has their own geological survey and their own maps and their own stories and their own
continents,” Hinsbergen tells Yasemin Saplakolu at LiveScience. “[With this study] we brought that all
together in one big picture.” (4)
They also spent time constructing the continent’s history by examining the orientation of tiny magnetic
minerals created by bacteria trapped in the Adria rocks. From that data they were able to understand
how much the rock layers rotated over time. They also pieced together structures like strings of
volcanoes and coral reefs. New, more powerful software developed over the last 15 years or so also
aided in reconstructing the lost land mass. (5)

The new study, apparently, isn’t the only evidence for Greater Adria. In 2016, another team identified
slabs of the continent in Earth’s mantle using seismic waves. Nor is it the only “lost continent” out there.
A large land mass called Zeelandia is submerged under two-thirds of a mile of water in the South Pacific
and is considered the “eighth continent” by some researchers. In 2017, other scientists announced that
they found a sunken “minicontinent” under the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. (6)

(From: ‘Study Reveals Lost Continent’ by Jason Daley)

1) According to the passage, what is the name of the continent that broke into many continents?

A) Greater Adria
B) Gondwana
C) Greenland
D) Zeelandia

2) According to the passage, which of the following is true?

A) Roughly 140 million years ago, Greenland was submerged in a tropical sea.
B) About 100 million years ago, the northern edge of Africa hit the southern edge of Europe.
C) About 120 million years ago, Europe began spinning counter-clockwise and moving at about 3 to
4 centimetres per year.
D) About 240 million years ago, Greater Adria began to move towards the north.

3) Which of the following theories does the passage support?

A) Europe was formed because Greater Adria moved to a place of tectonic pressure.
B) The European continental plate was originally to be found close to the Earth’s mantle in the
Mediterranean.
C) The European continental plate was stronger than that of Greater Adria.
D) Debris from the shifting of the European plate is still to be found in Italy and Croatia.

4) Which of the following is the main idea that the passage seeks to convey?

A) From a geological viewpoint, the Mediterranean region is a mess.

B) Geologists now know of at least three “lost continents”.
C) There is evidence of a lost continent in the Mediterranean region, but tracing the history of that
continent is difficult.
D) Geologists have spent much time constructing the continent’s history by examining the orientation
of tiny magnetic minerals created by bacteria .
5) Which of the following is an opinion held by the author of this passage?

A) Every country has their own geological survey and their own maps and their own stories and their
own continents
B) Everything in the Mediterranean area is curved, broken, and stacked.
C) Human factors can sometimes complicate the reconstruction of our geological past.
D) Zeelandia is the eighth continent.

6) Which of the following words is the closest antonym (opposite) of the word “submerged” as used in
the sentence beginning:
“A large land mass called Zeelandia is submerged under
two-thirds of a mile of water …”? (Para 6)

A) soaked
B) floating
C) discovered
D) visible

7) Which of the following words or phrases is the closest in meaning to the word “sediment” as used in
the
sentence ending “…collecting sediment that hardened into rock.”? (Para 2)

A) reddish material found in continental plates

B) clay particles that cling loosely together
C) matter that settles at the bottom of a liquid
D) thick, sticky fluid in the Earth’s mantle

8) What is the present tense of the word “dove”, used in the sentence ending “most of it dove down
into Earth’s mantle”? (Para 3)

A) dive
B) drive
C) diver
D) divert

9) Which of the following words is the closest in meaning to the word “survey” as used in the sentence
starting:
“Every country has their own geological survey”? (Para 4)

A) study
B) collection
C) ascent
D) descent
To do something well you have to like it. That idea is not exactly novel. We've got it down to four words:
"Do what you love." But it's not enough just to tell people that. Doing what you love is complicated. (1)

The very idea is foreign to what most of us learn as kids. When I was a kid, it seemed as if work and
fun were opposites by definition. Life had two states: some of the time adults were making you do
things, and that was called work; the rest of the time you could do what you wanted, and that was called
playing. Occasionally the things adults made you do were fun, just as, occasionally, playing wasn't—
for example, if you fell and hurt yourself. But except for these few anomalous cases, work was pretty
much defined as not-fun. (2)

And it did not seem to be an accident. School, it was implied, was tedious because it was preparation
for grownup work. The world then was divided into two groups, grownups and kids. Grownups, like
some kind of cursed race, had to work. Kids didn't, but they did have to go to school, which was a
diluted version of work meant to prepare us for the real thing. Much as we disliked school, the grownups
all agreed that grownup work was worse, and that we had it easy. (3)

Teachers in particular all seemed to believe implicitly that work was not fun. Which is not surprising:
work wasn't fun for most of them. Why did we have to memorize state capitals instead of playing
dodgeball? For the same reason they had to watch over a bunch of kids instead of lying on a beach.
You couldn't just do what you wanted.(4)

I'm not saying we should let little kids do whatever they want. They may have to be made to work on
certain things. But if we make kids work on dull stuff, it might be wise to tell them that tediousness is
not the defining quality of work, and indeed that the reason they have to work on dull stuff now is so
they can work on more interesting stuff later. (5)

Once, when I was about 9 or 10, my father told me I could be whatever I wanted when I grew up, so
long as I enjoyed it. I remember that precisely because it seemed so strange. It was like being told to
use dry water. Whatever I thought he meant, I didn't think he meant work could literally be fun—fun like
playing. It took me years to grasp that. (6)

By high school, the prospect of an actual job was on the horizon. Adults would sometimes come to
speak to us about their work, or we would go to see them at work. It was always understood that they
enjoyed what they did. In retrospect I think one may have: the private jet pilot. But I don't think the bank
manager really did. The main reason they all acted as if they enjoyed their work was presumably the
upper-middle class convention that you're supposed to. It would not merely be bad for your career to
say that you despised your job, but also socially embarrassing. (7)

Why is it conventional to pretend to like what you do? The first sentence of this essay explains that. If
you have to like something to do it well, then the most successful people will all like what they do. That's
where the uppermiddle class tradition comes from. Just as houses all over America are full of chairs
that are, without the owners even knowing it, nth-degree imitations of chairs designed 250 years ago
for French kings, conventional attitudes about work are, without the owners even knowing it, nthdegree
imitations of the attitudes of people who've done great things. (8)

What a recipe for feeling like misfits. By the time they reach an age to think about what they'd like to
do, most kids have been thoroughly misled about the idea of loving one's work. School has trained
them to regard work as an unpleasant duty. Having a job is said to be even harder than schoolwork.
And yet all the adults claim to like what they do. You can't blame kids for thinking "I am not like these
people; I am not suited to this world." (9)

Actually they've been told three lies: the stuff they've been taught to regard as work in school is not real
work; grownup work is not (necessarily) worse than schoolwork; and many of the adults around them
are lying when they say they like what they do. (10)
(Adapted from: ‘How To Do What You Love’ by Paul Graham)

1) The author of the above passage is likeliest to be:

A) a person with no particular interest in the question of career choices

B) a person with fairly well defined views on career choices
C) a middle school student with some part time summer work experience
D) a person of little education or significant work experience

2) According to the author of this passage, if children work on dull material in school:

A) It is to make them ready for a career that will be even duller.

B) They should be made aware that this is only in preparation for more interesting work in future.
C) It is because teachers don’t enjoy their work and take this out on students.
D) It is because teachers cannot teach well enough or select the right material.

3) The passage states that:

A) Work can never be enjoyable.

B) Work is always enjoyable.
C) Work should always be enjoyable.
D) Work should be enjoyable but is not often so.

4) According to the author of this passage, children have the wrong idea about what work is like mainly
because:

A) They have no experience of the world outside school.

B) They are told untruths about what work can be like by the adults around them.
C) They are misfits.
D) They do not pay attention in their school’s career counselling sessions.

5) According to the author of this passage:

A) People claim to enjoy their work because, in their minds, liking what one does is closely linked
with success.
B) People claim to enjoy their work because it is not as hard as getting an education
C) People claim to enjoy their work because we can’t all be private jet pilots.
D) People claim to enjoy their work because, as bank managers, they control so much money

6) Which of the following words is the closest in meaning to the word “anomalous” as used in the
sentence beginning:
“Except for these few anomalous cases…”? (Para 2)
A) recent
B) general
C) true
D) odd

7) Which of the following words is the closest in meaning to the word “foreign” as used in the sentence
beginning
“The very idea is foreign….”? (Para 2)

A) international
B) domestic
C) strange
D) familiar

8) Which of the following words or phrases is the closest antonym (opposite) of the word “diluted” as
used in the phrase
“a diluted version of work”? (Para 3)

A) Misleading
B) Concentrated
C) Unnatural
D) Early

9) The word “conventional” in the phrase

“conventional attitudes about work….” (Para 8):

A) is the name of an object, and is therefore a noun

B) describes something, and is therefore an adjective
C) represents an action, and is therefore a verb
D) is a substitute for the name of an object, and is therefore a pronoun

When Indian nationalist leaders assembled the jigsaw puzzle of diversities to define the nation, some
pieces got left out of consideration. Among those were the country’s original tribal inhabitants, now
called Adivasis. Taken together, the Adivasis numbers match the population of Germany or Vietnam,
but they are so various and widely dispersed that it is nonsensical to speak of them as a single group.
One experience many Adivasis do share, however, is the overriding of their rights in the name of
development and in the interests of other Indians, especially those with more money, who began to
cover the bauxite, iron and coal in the forests inhabited by Adivasis. Although Adivasi efforts to defend
their lands date back centuries, accounts of many of those struggles are lost to history. The life of one
nineteenth-century rebel, Birsa Munda, is an exception. (1)

Born in 1875 in Chotanagpur, in present day Jharkhand, and raised in a bamboo hut, the young Birsa
Munda herded sheep, played the flute and learned the medicinal power of local plants. In adulthood,
he was known as a healer and mystic, and ultimately as a defender of his people against the British,
their Indian middlemen and Christian missionaries. His was a firework of a life – he was dead by the
age of twenty-five – but the embers of his struggle still burn. (2)
Birsa’s family of tribes, the Kols, have occupied their land for more than 2,000 years. But by the
nineteenth century this was a continuity under threat. The Kols’ sense of being exploited and driven
away was in part caused by a fundamental change in the British relationship to Indian land. Until the
arrival of Wellesley as Governor General in 1798, the British had considered India a profitable trading
post, and used local zamindars to collect taxes from the peasants. From then on, however, India was
a territory to be possessed. Wellesley’s land grabs included Mysore, the Maratha Deccan and many
densely forested areas that were often amorphously controlled. By the nineteenth century the East
India Company had seized huge chunks of Indian territory, including bits of princely India through such
questionable legal tools as the Doctrine of Lapse. (3)

Birsa Munda’s region, Chotanagpur, was seized in the 1860s under a series of laws called the Forest
Acts. After this, tribes could no longer freely forage for food, collect firewood or graze livestock in their
forests. Meanwhile, the British encouraged Indian outsiders, middlemen and merchants – ‘Dikus’, the
Kol Mundas called them – to settle on the edges of the forests, assigning them rights to land that Kols
considered common property. The Kols periodically tried to expel the British and the zamindars, most
famously in the 1831 Great Kol Rising. (4)

By his early twenties, Birsa was involved in agitations against the British, Dikus and missionaries. The
British arrested and sentenced him to two years in jail. This heightened the leader’s popular mystique
and his antipathy to the government. After his release, he ordered the burning of effigies representing
the British Empire as the demon Ravana, and Queen Victoria as the demon queen Mandodari. In
December 1899, he did exactly what the British had feared: he led his people to rebellion. Armed with
axes and slingshots in addition to bows and arrows, Birsa’s followers attacked the British, Dikus and
Christians for the next few weeks. A police squad was confronted; a constable was cut to pieces. By
January, the British were firing on mobs, catching innocent people in the crossfire. The uprising, which
the Mundas called the Ulgulan, or Great Tumult, did not last long: colonial power crushed a people who
had believed their leader’s prophecy that British bullets would turn to water. Birsa fled to the jungle but
was captured in March 1900. Three months later, possibly suffering from cholera, he died in his jail cell.
(5)

Adapted from “Birsa Munda”; From Incarnations: India in 50 Lives by Sunil Khilnani

1) The author of the above passage believes that:

A) Adivasis have been given their fair share of resources and facilities.
B) Adivasis own most of the large mines and mining projects in the country
C) Land and resources that belonged to Adivasis have been unfairly taken away from them.
D) The profits of mining have been shared with Adivasis in an equitable way

2) When the author refers to Birsa Munda’s as “a firework of a life”, he means that:

A) Birsa owned and was used to handling all kinds of firearms

B) The Kol Munda community regularly asked Birsa to be the chief guest at Diwali celebrations
C) Explosives used for mining purposes were stored in a dangerous manner behind Birsa’s house
D) Birsa lived a short but intense life

3) From the late 18th century onwards, the new British approach to land on the subcontinent led them
to:

A) Take control of extended areas once owned by local rulers

B) Tax tribal communities at a higher rate than others
C) Cancel the Doctrine of Lapse
D) Return territories that had been grabbed by Wellesley

4) Which of the following statements would the author of this passage agree with?

A) The British troops suffered defeat at Kol Munda hands.

B) The uprising led by Birsa Munda was courageous and enthusiastic but based on an erroneous
understanding of the capabilities of both sides in the conflict.
C) The uprising led by Birsa Munda was always destined to succeed; only a last-minute hitch caused
it to collapse.
D) Birsa Munda was one of the best strategic military leaders in Indian history.

5) Which of the following words of phrases is closest in meaning to the word “dispersed” as used in
the sentence ending “they are so various and widely dispersed that it is nonsensical to speak of
them as a single group” (Para 1)?

A) Concentrated
B) Violent
C) Superstitious
D) Spread out

6) Which of the following words of phrases is closest in meaning to the word “amorphous” as used in
the sentence ending many densely forested areas that were often amorphously controlled” (Para
3)?

A) Unchanging
B) Unclear
C) Forced to submit
D) Rebellious

7) Which of the following words of phrases is the closest antonym (opposite) in meaning to the word
“antipathy” as used in the sentence “This heightened the leader’s popular mystique and his
antipathy to the government.” (Para 5)?

A) Liking
B) Unpopularity
C) Unfamiliarity
D) Hatred

8) “In December 1899, he did exactly what the British had feared: he led his people to rebellion.” If
this sentence were to be written in any of the future tenses, which of the following would be the best
option?

A) In December 1899, he had done exactly what the British had feared: he had led his people to
rebellion.
B) In December 1899, he would do exactly what the British had feared: he had led his people to
rebellion.
 C) In December 1899, he would do exactly what the British feared: he would lead his people to
rebellion.
D) In December 1899, he did exactly what the British were fearing: leading his people to rebellion.

The origins of Indian cricket – as distinct from cricket in India – lie in an expanse of green ground at the
southern end of the island of Mumbai, now ringed by those colossal colonial structures, the High Court,
the University, St Xavier’s and Victoria Terminus. Two hundred years ago the roads and buildings did
not exist, and the grass was continuous. This ground was just outside the walls of the fort of black
basalt within which lay the city’s first settlement. In 1772, fearing a French attack, the British levelled
and cleared the area to provide a clear range of fire. By 1800 the French threat had receded. Meanwhile
the population of the fort, white as well as brown, had grown steadily. The acres of green grass now
found more creative peacetime uses. The area was known to the Army as the Parade Ground, to the
English civilians and their ladies as the Esplanade, and to everybody else as the Maidan. From the
early 1800s the natives flocked to the Maidan in search of exercise and recreation. In a city sited on a
long but narrow sliver of land, it was the only place to which they could go. (1)

European soldiers played cricket on the northern end of the Esplanade, with bats and ball imported
from England and with their ladies in attendance. They soon found their imitators. Parsi boys were
playing cricket here as early as the 1830s, their chimneypots serving as wickets and their umbrellas as
bats in hitting balls stuffed with old rags and sewn by cobblers. These cricketers did not wear the
regulation trouser-and-shirt; the pioneer Parsi cricketer went to the wicket with a white band around his
forehead and a still whiter apron dangling from his waist, which was encircled by the sacred thread of
his faith. (2)

For Parsi boys, cricket would very easily supplant gilly danda and asookh mahasookh. The first
implements were of their own making, and the turf was not as smoothly cultivated as they would have
wished. As one historian colourfully put it, it was on a “broken, irregular and rough ground overgrown
with coarse grass that the pioneer Parsee cricketers learnt the alphabet of the noble English game, an
inconvenience worsened by other circumstances”. All day, one chunk of the Maidan was occupied by
Muslim dyers, who spread out long strips of cloth coloured with indigo. Cricket balls occasionally
wandered on to the drying cloth, which led to fights when the dyers threatened to confiscate them.
More damagingly, a flying ball once struck the wife of a European constable out on her evening walk.
After this incident, the Parsi cricketers were temporarily banned from the Maidan. (3)

Around 1848 the Parsi young men founded their first club, the Oriental Cricket Club. This was replaced
by the Young Zoroastrian Club, which was funded by the emerging business houses of the Tatas and
Wadias and is still going strong. At least thirty Parsi clubs were formed in the 1850s and 1860s, named
for Roman gods and British statesmen: Jupiter, Mars, Gladstone, Ripon. The new prosperous Parsis
welcomed the growth of cricket for strengthening ties with the colonial administrators. (4)

Annual prize matches between 1868 and 1877 enormously consolidated the Parsi interest in cricket.
Individual achievement meshed nicely with community solidarity. Thus, when the Zoroastrian Cricket
Club won the tournament in 1869, it distributed its 100 rupees prize as follows: 25 rupees for a new
Parsi gymnasium, 20 rupees for Parsis recently impoverished by cholera, 5 rupees for the poor box,
20 rupees to buy bats, and 30 rupees for the club’s reserve kitty. The prize worked marvellously in
overcoming any residual inhibitions that the orthodox had as regards the English game. Old folks who
were always denouncing “ball-bat” were seen wending their way to the cricket ground in the morning,
basking there in the sunshine and watching the prize-matches. The conservatism of culture was easily
vanquished by the spirit of competition. (5)

Adapted from A Corner of Foreign Field: Indian History of a British Sport, by Ramchandra Guha

1) The author of the above passage speaks of the early Parsi players of cricket in India with:

A) Deep-rooted dislike
B) Affection and gentle humour
C) Distaste and suspicion
D) Scorn or disdain

2) Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A) Old Mumbai (or Bombay) had many spaces for inhabitants to participate in sports.
B) Englishmen and Parsis played cricket in mixed teams for most of the 17 th century
C) The Maidan was one of the few places in the city where people could come to play or walk.
D) The Parsis, being wealthy, were able to immediately start playing the game with the best
possible bats

3) What were two of the obstacles faced by the early Parsi cricket players?

A) Being disallowed from play for wearing religious symbols and traditional Parsi outfits.
B) The danger of their balls landing on freshly dyed clothes and of possibly hitting people walking
on the Esplanade.
C) Not having proper bats and balls and having to pay a tax for playing cricket on the Maidan.
D) Being forced to name their clubs first after Roman gods and then after British statesmen.

4) According to the author of the passage, which of the following statements is not true?

A) Traditional Parsis did not approve of cricket, partly because it was a foreigners’ game.
B) All Parsis, young and old, immediately appreciated and welcomed the new game.
C) Prize money played a part in the growing popularity of cricket among Mumbai Parsis.
D) The Parsi clubs plowed their prize earnings back into activities and purchases that benefited
the whole community.

5) Which of the following words of phrases is closest in meaning to the word “colossal” as used in the
sentence ending “now ringed by those colossal colonial structures, the High Court, the University,
St Xavier’s and Victoria Terminus” (Para 1)?

A) Huge
B) Impressive
C) Traditional
D) British

6) Which of the following words of phrases is closest in meaning to the word “implements” as used in
the sentence beginning “The first implements were of their own making” (Para 3)?

A) Space
B) Rules
C) Equipment
D) Prizes

7) Which of the following words of phrases is the closest antonym (opposite) of the word
“vanquished” as used in the sentence “The conservatism of culture was easily vanquished by the
spirit of competition” (Para 5)?

A) Ignored
B) Emphasized
 C) Defeated
D) Victorious

8) “Meanwhile the population of the fort, white as well as brown, had grown steadily.” If this sentence
was written in the past continuous tense, which of the following would be the most correct version?

A) Meanwhile the population of the fort, white as well as brown, grew steadily.
B) Meanwhile the population of the fort, white as well as brown, had been growing steadily.
C) Meanwhile the population of the fort, white as well as brown, was growing steadily.
D) Meanwhile the population of the fort, white as well as brown, would be growing steadily.

In the early morning of April 28, 2017, a small fireball crept across the sky over Kyoto, Japan. And now,
thanks to data collected by the SonotaCo meteor survey, researchers have determined that the fiery
space rock was a shard of a much larger asteroid that might, far down the road, threaten Earth. (1)

The meteor that burned over Japan was tiny. Studying the SonotaCo data, the researchers determined
that the object entered the atmosphere with a mass of about 1 ounce (29 grams) and was just 1 inch
(2.7 centimeters) across. It didn't threaten anyone. But small meteors like this are interesting because
they can offer data on the bigger objects that spawn them. And in this case, the researchers tracked
the little rock back to its parent: an object known as 2003 YT1. (2)

2003 YT1 is a binary asteroid, composed of one large rock about 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) across orbited
by a smaller asteroid that's 690 feet (210 meters) long. Discovered in 2003, the binary system has a
6% chance of hitting Earth at some point in the next 10 million years. That makes the object what
researchers call a "potentially hazardous object," even though it's unlikely to hurt anyone in your
lifetime. The binary didn't pass by Earth in 2017, so there wasn't an immediately obvious link between
the meteor and its parent. But the researchers studied how the fireball moved across the sky and were
able to reverse-engineer the object's orbit through space, pinning it to 2003 YT1 with a high degree of
certainty. (3)

The researchers said they aren't sure how the little rock split off from 2003 YT1 but believe it’s part of
a larger stream of dust that got flung off of the asteroid. And they offered a few potential explanations
for how that stream formed: Maybe tiny micrometeorites routinely strike the bigger asteroid in the
binary, fragmenting it like bullets striking a rock wall. Or maybe changes in heat cracked one of the
asteroid's surfaces, spitting small pieces into the dark. (4)

One scenario the authors offered is that the shards are a result of the process that formed the 2003
YT1 system in the first place. Most people likely imagine asteroids as great, big rocks, scaled-up
versions of the stones they'd find here on Earth. But 2003 YT1, the authors wrote, is more likely a
"rubble pile," a jumble of stuff loosely bound together by gravity that coalesced into two orbiting bodies
at some point in the last 10,000 years. The forces holding the masses together as individual asteroids
are likely weak, and as the two piles spin chaotically around one another, every couple of hours they
could fling more of themselves into space. (5)

There are other, more exotic possibilities, the authors wrote. Water ice might be sublimating (turning
from solid to gas) off one of the asteroids' surfaces and reforming as small balls of ice in open space.
But that and other models are unlikely, the researchers wrote. For now, we know that Earth has been
visited by a little part of a big asteroid. And that little part is likely itself a part of a stream of other little
pieces that sometimes enter the Earth's atmosphere unnoticed. And at some point, far down the road,
that big asteroid might follow its small children and slam into Earth. That fireball would be much, much
bigger. (6)
(From: ‘Fireball That Flew Over Japan” by Rafi Letzter )
1) According to the above passage, the fireball that flew over Kyoto:

A) had a mass of about 27 grams and was 2.9 centimeters long.

B) was small, yet large enough to threaten air safety for planes flying over the city.
C) could tell us something scientifically valuable about its parent object.
D) was one of the two bodies of a binary asteroid.

2) According to the passage, researchers are:

A) not yet decided on the question of the origin of the fireball.

B) undecided on whether the fireball can be conclusively traced to 2003YT1
C) fairly certain that 2003YT1 is the origin of the fireball.
D) fairly certain that 2003YT1 is a large asteroid.

3) The passage goes on to claim that:

A) 2003YT1 is potentially harmless.

B) The chances of 2003YT1 colliding with the earth are minimal because it is a binary asteroid.
C) There is a small possibility of 2003YT1 colliding with the earth.
D) There is a strong possibility of 2003YT1 colliding with the earth in our lifetime.

4) According to the passage, researchers believe that the Kyoto fireball:

A) was definitely formed as a result of changes in temperature.

B) is one of multiple possible fragments of the larger asteroid.
C) has been conclusively proved to be the result of tiny meteorites striking the asteroid.
D) is the only existing part of its parent object to be found in space.

5) In explaining how the Kyoto fireball came to be created, one possibility suggested by researchers
is:

A) Since the parent binary object is a loosely bound mass of material, its particles can regularly fly off
as a result of its spinning movement.
B) As the originating asteroid is a densely bound mass of material, its particles are held together by
centripetal force.
C) Because the larger asteroid is a binary entity, its two parts are in constant friction with each other,
causing fragments to be created.
D) Small balls of ice become strong enough in open space to batter against and begin breaking up
much larger objects.

6) Which of the following words is closest in meaning to the word “shard” as used in the phrase “a
shard of a much larger asteroid” (Para 1)

A) Evidence
B) Piece
C) Solution
D) Garbage
7) Which of the following words is closest in meaning to the word “spawn” as used in the sentence
ending “…the bigger objects that spawn them.” (Para 2)

A) Defeat
B) Nourish
C) Explain
D) give birth to

8) Which of the following phrases has the closest opposite meaning to the word “fragmenting” as used
in the phrase: “..fragmenting it like bullets striking a rock wall.” (Para 4)

A) breaking into small pieces

B) causing something to weaken
C) helping to hold together
D) converting solids into gases

9) What is the present tense of the word “sublimating” as used in the sentence beginning “Water ice
might be sublimating ….” (Para 6)

A) Sublime
B) Subliminal
C) Sublimate
D) Sublimity

Each individual human being has a unique ancestral history, but a group of researchers set out to
answer the ultimate question: Where do all humans come from? And it looks like they might have
figured it out. Researchers claim in a new study that they have successfully traced the homeland of all
modern humans to a region in northern Botswana. “We’ve known for a long time that modern humans
originated in Africa roughly 200,000 years ago,” said the study’s co-author, geneticist Vanessa Hayes
of the Garvan Institute. “But what we hadn’t known until the study was where exactly this homeland
was.”The area that scientists have traced our supposed origins to is a place called Makgadikgadi-
Okavango, where an enormous lake once stood. Scientists believe the area was home to a population
of modern humans for at least 70,000 years. “It’s an extremely large area, it would have been very wet,
it would have been very lush,” Hayes said. “And it would have actually provided a suitable habitat for
modern humans and wildlife to have lived.” (1)

Some of the population began to migrate about 130,000 years ago after the region’s climate started to
change, thus sparking the first migration of humans out of the continent. Scientists suspect there were
waves of separate migrations, first toward the northeast and then toward the southwest. These early
waves of human migration were determined based on hundreds of mitochondrial DNA — the part of a
person’s genes passed down from their mother — of living Africans. (2)

So how did the scientists trace our common ancestors back to Botswana? According to the study
published in the journal Nature researchers used modern genetic distributions to trace a specific
lineage all the way back to its homeland origins. In this case, they analyzed DNA samples from 200
Khoisan people, an ethnic group in South Africa and Namibia, who carry a high amount of the L0 DNA.
The L0 DNA is believed to be the oldest traceable DNA present among modern-day humans.
Researchers then compared DNA samples with data from other external factors, such as climate
change, geographical distribution, and archaeological shifts to create a genomic timeline. The timeline
suggested a sustained lineage of L0 that stretched back 200,000 years. (3)
One of the biggest hurdles for scientists in tracing human ancestry is navigating the different migrations
that occurred when ancient humans were roaming the Earth. But Hayes sees these migration events
as “timestamps” on our DNA. “Over time our DNA naturally changes, it’s
the clock of our history,” Hayes explained to AFP. (4)

It’s an exciting discovery for humankind, no doubt. But not everyone is convinced of the study’s
conclusion. For one, there have been humanoid fossil remains believed to pre-date the L0 lineage
benchmark. There are also complexities brought on by several factors that researchers need to
consider when trying to narrow down the source of our collective DNA, as researcher Chris
Stringer from the UK’s Natural History Museum pointed out. (5)

“Like so many studies that concentrate on one small bit of the genome, or one region, or one stone tool
industry, or one ‘critical’ fossil, it cannot capture the full complexity of our mixed origins, once other data
are considered,” Stringer said in a statement posted on Twitter. Stringer argued that previous findings
have suggested that the Y-chromosome in modern humans likely came from West Africa, not Southern
Africa where Botswana is, which underscores the possibility that our ancestors came from multiple
homelands instead of one. (6)

He also cited a separate study published in the journal Science that suggested “Southern African
populations did not represent ancestors for the rest of humanity, and out-of-Africa populations
originated in East Africa.” In any case, both of Stringer’s arguments could potentially rule out Botswana
as the origins of modern humans. There is still much debate on the subject — and more research to
be done — but studies that seek to determine where we came from all help us get closer to finding out
our prehistoric origins. (7)
(From ‘Researchers Traced The Ancestral Homeland of Modern Humans to Botswana’ by Natasha
Ishak)

1) The above passage refers to a study that makes the following important claim:

A) Modern humans originated in Asia roughly 200,000 years ago.

B) Modern humans definitely originated in North Africa.
C) Modern humans originated in a place in Botswana that was once a large forest.
D) Modern humans originated in a place in Botswana that was once the site of a large lake.

2) According to the passage, the same study suggests that:

A) The first humans were born in Africa about 130000 years back.
B) Early humans migrated out of their first homeland about 130000 years ago.
C) It took 70000 years for our early ancestors to evolve into full humans.
D) The region’s climate started to change about 70000 years ago.

3) Explaining how researchers came to formulate their theory, the author of the passage tries to show
the connection between:

A) Ancient humans and our prehistoric animal ancestors

B) Ancient humans and their early homeland
C) Modern humans and prehistoric humans linked by a particular DNA strand
D) Modern humans and their fertile environment
4) According to the author of the passage, which of the following may disprove the theory cited in the
early paragraphs?

A) Some fossil remains are believed to contain more convincing evidence than L0 DNA.
B) The Y-chromosome is not found in L0 DNA.
C) The L0 DNA is believed to be the oldest traceable DNA present among modern-day humans.
D) Some fossil remains are believed to contain DNA that is older than L0 DNA.

5) The author cites the opinion of an expert to support the idea that:

A) A single piece of evidence is always crucial to decisions about tracing DNA.

B) When forming a theory about DNA, a single piece of evidence is not enough to correctly reflect
the varied nature of human origins.
C) Researchers are in complete agreement on what constitutes evidence in respect of the DNA
of our early ancestors.
D) There are no other significant factors that might change theories about origins that are based
on tracing DNA.

6) Which of the following sentences contains the future tense of the phrase: “…it would have been
very lush.” (Para 1)

A) it was very lush

B) it was going to be very lush
C) it will be very lush
D) it was becoming very lush

7) Which of the following word or phrases is closest in meaning to the word “habitat” as used in the
phrase
“a suitable habitat for modern humans and wildlife”. (Para 1)

A) an area good for hunting and fishing

B) a fertile territory for agriculture
C) a place to live in
D) a location in which human remains were discovered

8) Which of the following words or phrases is closest in meaning to the word “navigating” as used in
the phrase
“navigating the different migrations”. (Para 4)

A) sailing a ship
B) choosing a direction
C) coming to a conclusion
D) finding no proof
9) Which of the following phrases is closest in meaning to the word “underscores” as used in the
sentence ending “which underscores the possibility that our ancestors came from multiple
homelands instead of one.” (Para 6)

A) makes an idea clearer

B) emphasizes or draws attention
C) denies the truth of an idea
D) adds additional evidence

In the ship’s cockpit we talk about flotsam: things that find their way into the vastness of the seas, and
float and float, and finally maybe wash ashore. Below, in the green glow of the navigation station, the
captain plots our course: east through the South Atlantic, north to Ascension Island. On board is Marcus
Eriksen, an eco-stuntman, who drifts on rafts across seas and down rivers, as well as a serious
scientist, commissioning vessels and plying his plankton trawls, collecting data, and speaking about
the threat of plastic pollution in the sea. Thanks to environmental gadflies like him, and emotionally
affecting documentaries about wildlife deaths from plastic ingestion and entanglement, this is a well-
known phenomenon, if still under-studied and vastly underestimated. (1)

For the quantities in play now beggar the human imagination. Dumped or accidentally spilled from
ships, blown from landfills, washed down rivers, plastic trash has been amassing since World War II in
floating dumps, some of which exceed millions of square miles. Round and round the all-too-durable
plastic goes, huge quantities caught up in the great oceanic gyres. These “garbage patches,” are out
of sight and out of mind, but not entirely inactive. Like all things the sea claims, plastic too suffers a
sea change. And the ultimate harm our throw-away effluvia might yet do, to the health of the sea and
the human future, nobody knows for sure. (2)

Though Marcus has voyaged to four of the world’s five major gyres (the North Pacific, South Pacific,
North Atlantic, and Indian Ocean), studying their respective garbage patches, this is his first South
Atlantic trip. In fact, no one has ever sailed here specifically to study this gyre’s burden of plastic trash.
Now he regards the primary research device, a high-speed plankton trawl, with equal parts pride and
skepticism, saying, “It might sink. Or flip over.” It’s a sleek steel box with a keel and wings, trailing a
plankton net. He chucks it into the water; the lines snap taut, the trawl, called the Silver Surfer, gulps a
mouthful of Atlantic, flips, rises, swoops into the trough, commencing its search for signs that we’ve
entered the South Atlantic gyre. The hunt is on for the Great South Atlantic Garbage Patch. (3)

The secretariat of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants has announced the
historic addition of nine new toxic chemicals—tongue-twisting giant molecules like alpha
hexachlorocyclohexane—to the global danger list. POPs are feared to be accumulating in a
carcinogenic brew. For really, the middle of the ocean, outside shipping lanes, could just as well be
Mars in terms of how little we know about it. One Australian study had trawled the great gyres and
missed 99% of the plastic rubbish. Had they been in the wrong places at the wrong time? Was the
plastic sinking? “Indisputably,” one scientist concluded, marine animals are eating some if not most of
it. What will happen to us when we eat them? (4)

The five major oceanic gyres make up a quarter of the Earth’s surface. Underneath the apparent chaos
of the world’s weather, the gyres turn like clockwork, driven by the sun and the Earth’s rotation. A bit of
flotsam entering the current off the coast of Brazil might make it all the way to West Africa and then
bob on back to where it started in about three years. Or it might catch an eddy and maroon in mid-
ocean. At the center of every subtropical gyre is a giant high-pressure zone of fair weather and little or
no wind, the dreaded “doldrums” of the age of sail. Things get trapped amid these still waters. (5)

We train our headlamps on our findings: lots of battered little fish and black halobates flies. And, among
unidentifiable mucous chunks, bright bits of colorful confetti: particulate plastic pollution. The
oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer coined the phrase “garbage patch” in the 1990s, comparing it to “a
big animal without a leash.” It sloshes around at the whim of the weather; close to land, it vomits up a
load of plastic debris: cigarette lighters, toothbrushes, toys, containers, but mostly minute chips and
shards, a horrifying fake plastic “sand” creating a plasticized beach. A wealthy California sailor, Charles
Moore, took a shortcut home from Honolulu in 1997. What he saw – nets, towing ropes, Japanese
traffic cones, quarts of American-made oil, drums of hazardous chemicals, tires, volleyballs - amazed
and appalled him. He travelled for 10 days and never saw a clean stretch of sea. Ever since, he has
exhausted his voice, and much of his fortune, telling the world about it. (6)

Adapted from The Terrifying True Story of the Garbage that could Kill the Whole Human Race, by Bucky
McMahon, medium.com, Aug 2014.

Selected word meanings:

gyre: a circular or spiral motion or form

gadflies: persistent and annoying insect; here, a persistent person

effluvia: waste by-product

plankton: minute forms of life on the surface of water

The author’s main purpose in the above passage is:

a) to prove that there are nine new toxic chemicals on the global danger list
b) to prove that the Silver Surfer trawler invented by Marcus really works
c) to show that waste has accumulated in the seas in highly dangerous quantities
d) to show that Charles Moore had the money to travel for 10 days in the waters near Honolulu

Why does the author compare certain parts of the oceans with Mars?

a) to show that humans have travelled the oceans far more easily than they have travelled to Mars
b) to discuss the discovery of water on Mars and the possibility of life there
c) to highlight how little is known about those areas of the sea
d) to show the similarities between the Silver Surfer and the latest Mars spaceship

Why does the author talk about the “bit of flotsam” in Para 5?

a) to show that small objects easily float in sea water

b) to demonstrate that the sea contains only tiny bits of waste matter
c) to show the interconnectedness but also the randomness of currents
d) to identify the fair-weather zones where ships can safely sail

While talking to us about pollution in the seas, the author mentions:

a) Two international agencies and two individuals who have acted out of concern over pollution
b) Two international agencies and three individuals who have acted out of concern over pollution
c) An international agency and two individuals who have acted out of concern over pollution
d) One international agency and three individuals who have acted out of concern over pollution

What does the description “big animal without a leash” tell us about garbage patches?

a) they are four-legged and carnivorous

b) we need a license to own them and must buy leashes to take them out
c) they are large and dangerously out of control
d) they can easily be tamed for human purposes
Which of the following words or phrases is closest in meaning to the word “navigation” as used in the
sentence beginning “Below, in the green glow of the navigation station…”? (Para 1)

a) drawing a map to be able to guide future travellers

b) planning to move in a particular route or direction
c) related to ships or naval activity
d) required for all anti-pollution steps

Which of the following words is the closest antonym (opposite) of the word “amassing” as used in the
phrase “plastic trash has been amassing”? (Para 2)

a) collecting in huge quantities

b) dispersing or breaking up
c) wandering on the current
d) reappearing on beaches

Which of the following phrases is the closest in meaning to the word “clockwork” as used in the phrase
“underneath the apparent chaos of the world’s weather, the gyres turn like clockwork”? (Para 5)

a) in a disorganized and erratic way

b) at an alarming speed
c) having an ability to show the passage of time
d) with machine-like regularity

Which of the following words or phrases is the closest in meaning to the word “debris” as used in the
phrase “close to land, it vomits up a load of plastic debris”? (Para 6)

a) the remains of something broken down or destroyed

b) the total waste debited from the world’s seas
c) the results of long-lasting nausea or seasickness
d) material that can be productively reutilized

“Dumped or accidentally spilled from ships, blown from landfills, washed down rivers, plastic trash has
been amassing in floating dumps, some of which exceed millions of square miles.” If this sentence
were to be written in the future tense, which of the following would be the correct version?

a) Dumped or accidentally spilled from ships, blown from landfills, washed down rivers, plastic trash
will have been amassing in floating dumps, some of which will exceed millions of square miles.
b) Dumped or accidentally spilled from ships, blown from landfills, washed down rivers, plastic trash
has amassed in floating dumps, some of which has exceeded millions of square miles.
c) Dumped or accidentally spilled from ships, blown from landfills, washed down rivers, plastic trash
will amass in floating dumps, some of which will exceed millions of square miles.
d) To be dumping or accidentally spilling from ships, blowing from landfills, washing down rivers, plastic
trash is to amass in floating dumps, some of which exceeded millions of square miles.

It was meant to be a quick trip to the CR Park Market. My mother needed to buy some vermillion and
incense sticks for a puja, when she laid her eyes on the patali gur strategically placed right outside the
shop. She got a kilo packed and got into the car with a big grin on her face, gloating about the great
deal she had struck with the shopkeeper for the gur. The rest of us were just happy that we were taking
the season’s first patali gur to the house. In Bengali households across the country, this is one of the
most-awaited seasons of the whole year, for this is the season when date palm jaggery or khejurer gur
takes over dessert fare. Come winter, and out come the jars of jaggery. (1)
Jaggery can broadly be classified into two types: one is extracted from sugarcane, which is also
delicious, but for Bengalis is second in the jaggery hierarchy. It occupies a lower rung, below nolen gur
or new date palm jaggery. Date palm jaggery, made from the sap of the phoenix sylvestris palm is
further divided into two kinds, jhola gur and patali gur. Jhola is derived from the word jhol which in
Bengali refers to a kind of liquid. This dense and luminous liquid jaggery is available for an even smaller
time window and is used to sweeten a variety of desserts. Patali gur is the solidified version that comes
in small, brittle cakes. Sweets made with date jaggery of both kinds are usually made around the festive
time of Sankranti. (2)

Around the 4th century BC, the Siuli artisans of Pundra Bardhan (now Bogra) in Bengal started
extracting the sap of the date palm tree to sell at weekly local markets. The jaggery made with this sap
became so popular that Pundra Bardhan came to be known as Gour (after gur). Records of the time
detail the tedious nature of the work. The Siulis would scale the thorny date palms at night to tap them
and cut the flower clusters. They would then hang an earthen container at the end of the branch to
collect the sap. They had to be wary of the temperature and the timing, as the minute the climate turned
humid or rainy, the sap would begin to turn turbid, making it unfit to eat. Similarly, even slight exposure
to the sun’s heat would cause the sap to ferment and turn into an alcoholic form. It is said that their
elders and experienced jaggery makers could test the purity of the jaggery simply by looking at its
consistency, what modern science terms ‘Brix value’. This value is indicative of the amount of sugar
present in the solution and should be between 118 and 120 percent for the perfect jaggery. (3)

Most food scientists agree that jaggery is a healthy substitute for sugar. A pinch of jaggery after a meal
or added to your food stimulates the production of digestive enzymes. Another advantage of jaggery
is its iron content, which promotes the production of haemoglobin and helps those battling anaemia. A
study titled The Benefits of Indian Jaggery Over Sugar on Human Health found that due to the
micronutrient content of jaggery raises its antitoxic and anticarcinogenic efficacy. Studies also suggest
that the high manganese content in jaggery is beneficial for us as it improves signalling among neurons
and can prevent brain degeneration. Another study titled Review on Recent Advances in Value Addition
of Jaggery Based Products explores the health benefits of jaggery and claims that it contains longer
chains of sucrose in comparison to sugar and is therefore digested more slowly by the body. Thus,
energy release is also slow, ensuring a release over a long period of time. This ensures that blood
sugar levels do not shoot up rapidly. (4)

Adapted from What Makes ‘Nolen Gur’ The Queen of Jaggery In Bengal? by Sushmita Sengupta,
Slurp, November 2022 and Origins of Nolen Gur, A Healthy Winter Fave Behind Many Perfect Bengali
Desserts by Krystelle Dsouza, The Better India, November 2022

Which of the following statements is true according to the above passage?

a) All Indians prefer date palm jaggery to the sugarcane version.

b) People in the CR Park area in Delhi always buy jaggery when they go shopping.
c) Between sugarcane and date palm jaggery Bengalis prefer the latter.
d) Date palm jaggery is the best jaggery made anywhere in the world.

Which of the following statements is true according to the above passage?

a) Jhola gur and patali gur are two different forms of the same kind of jaggery.
b) Jhola gur is made in the summer while patali gur is made in the winter.
c) Patali gur is a liquid jaggery whereas jhola gur is a solid jaggery.
d) Patali gur is made from date palm sap while jhola gur is made from sugarcane juice.

Which of the following attitudes does the author of the above passage reveal?

a) Impartiality towards jaggery varieties since all Indians use jaggery as a sweetener
b) A bias towards a particular kind of jaggery, likely based on the food habits in her home state
c) Disapproval of the quantity of sweets that Bengalis customarily consume
d) Concern for the fall in jaggery production in the last three years
According to the passage, which aspects of the jaggery production process need special attention?

a) The special puja to be conducted according to traditional rites at the start of the jaggery season
b) Collecting the date palm flowers at the end of branches at the right time of day and the right
temperature, while also avoiding atmospheric dampness as far as possible
c) Making sure the jaggery reaches the weekly market while it is still fresh and edible
d) Collecting the sap of the date palm at the right time of day and the right temperature, while also
avoiding atmospheric dampness as far as possible

Why does the author of the passage mention the two articles named in the final paragraph?

a) To prove that jaggery should be exported to countries that do not grow sugarcane or date palms
b) To claim the comparative benefits of the shorter sucrose chains in sugar
c) To show that jaggery has many health benefits
d) To show that jaggery prices have been rising as people have come to realise its benefits

Which of the following words or phrases is the closest in meaning to the word “strategically” as used in
the sentence ending “strategically placed right outside the shop” (Para 1)?

a) sensibly organized on shelves

b) required to keep jaggery from spoiling
c) planned or designed for a specific result
d) unnecessary for the purpose intended

Which of the following words is the closest antonym (opposite) of the word “gloating” as used in the
sentence ending “gloating about the great deal she had struck with the shopkeeper for the gur” (Para
1)?

a) lamenting
b) congratulating
c) affording
d) bargaining

Which of the following words is the closest in meaning to the word “tedious” as used in the sentence
“Records of the time detail the tedious nature of the work”. (Para 3)?

a) dangerous
b) boring
c) skilled
d) simple

Which of the following words of phrases is the closest antonym (opposite) of the word “degeneration”
as used in the sentence ending “can prevent brain degeneration” (Para 4)?

a) healthy growth
b) abnormal function
c) alarming medical reports
d) pertaining to the generation after Gen C
“The jaggery made with this sap became so popular that Pundra Bardhan came to be known as Gour.”
If this sentence were to be written in the future tense, which of the following would be the closest correct
version?

a) The jaggery made with this sap will become so popular that Pundra Bardhan will come to be known
as Gour.
b) The jaggery made with this sap is becoming so popular that Pundra Bardhan is now to be known
as Gour.
c) The jaggery made with this sap became so popular that Pundra Bardhan would come to be known
as Gour.
d) The jaggery made with this sap becomes so popular that Pundra Bardhan will be coming to be
known as Gour.

We are walking around the hillocks and fields looking for jumbo footprints. (Para 1)

We find plenty that are larger than dinner plates, deep imprints on the soft earth. The older ones are
gently crumbling. Others point to what that animal did: a little saunter, a good meal, a lot of dung. And
a trail of things it chucked around: granite poles, wire fences, trees, gates. (Para 2)

We stop to photograph everything. I send a picture of the footprints to my editor. “Was there an elephant
attached to it?” he replies hopefully. I pray his hopes are dashed. (Para 3)

Because, from what I heard, in Krishnagiri district, elephants are unlikely to bless your head and ask
for a banana. That might be the routine with temple elephants. These are their wild cousins. And they
are usually hungry. (Para 4)

My trip to meet the ragi farmers of Krishnagiri district, Tamil Nadu, in December 2021, led me,
unexpectedly, down the elephant path. I thought there would be discussions around the economics of
farming. Sure, there were some. But mostly, I heard, in farm after farm, that the reason they are growing
just enough ragi (finger millet) for their homes is – elephants. Between poor prices (25 to 27 rupees a
kilo, instead of the 35 to 37 that will help them break-even), climate change, and the spectacularly
heavy rains, farmers have it rough. Add the trunks and tusks of elephants, and it has been, very nearly,
the mammoth straw that has broken the farmer’s back. (Para 5)

“Elephants have so much talent. They have learnt how to hold down the wire ropes and cross wire
fences. They know to use trees to short-circuit electric fences,” explains Anandramu Reddy, a farmer.
He walks us to the edge of the Melagiri Reserve Forest. (Para 6)

For years, elephants have been wandering out of the forest and into the fields. Groups of pachyderms
would descend on the villages, eating much of the ragi crop and trampling the rest. It pushed the
farmers to think of alternatives – tomatoes, marigold, roses. Anything they believe has a market, and
something the elephants don’t care to eat. “After the electric fence here came up in 2018-19, the herd
doesn’t come out. But nothing,” he assures me, “stops the male elephants: Mottai Vaal, Makhana,
Giri…their hunger drives them out and into our fields.” (Para 7)

“The quality of the forest is one of the main reasons for the human-elephant conflict,” explains S.R.
Sanjeev Kumar, the honorary wildlife warden of Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts in Tamil Nadu. In
Krishnagiri alone, he estimates, a whopping 330 villages are affected by this problem. (Para 8)

Elephants strike just after the northeast monsoon, when the crops are ready to be harvested. “There
are also human deaths, 12 or 13 in a year [in Krishnagiri district], which are crowded between
December and January during the ragi harvest time.” Elephants also die. “There is retaliation. And
accidents that happen on railway lines, highways, or when they fall into open wells. And they also get
electrocuted by wires laid out for wild boars.” (Para 9)

Elephants eat over 100 species of plants, Sanjeev explains. “Based on observation of captive
elephants, we know that they eat 200 kilos of grass and drink 200 litres of water. “But”, he points out,
“in the wild, the quantity varies greatly from season to season – so can their body condition.” (Para 10)

Moreover, Lantana camara – an invasive, introduced species of flowering plant that elephants cannot
eat – now covers “85 to 90 per cent of the forest in the Hosur region”. Lantana, Sanjeev argues, is the
prime reason elephants come out of their zone. Besides, for the jumbos, ragi is juicy and very tempting.
“If I was one, I would come to eat it too.” Males, particularly, are under a compulsion to raid crops. For,
between the ages of 25 and 35, they undergo a growth spurt. These are the ones who take big risks.
(Para 11)

But not Mottai Vaal. He is an old fellow and knows his limits. Sanjeev reckons he is past 45, closer to
50. He calls him the ‘sweetest’ elephant. “He has a sidekick, Makhana, and they also band together
with other young males.” Why does he raid fields if he’s past the growth spurt? Sanjeev Kumar puts it
down to Mottai Vaal needing to retain his body condition. “He gets very good food outside – ragi,
jackfruit, mango – and after eating it, he goes back into the forest.” There are other male elephants
who eat cabbage, beans, cauliflower. (Para 12)

(742 words, Excerpted and adapted from “In Tamil Nadu: Ragi – A Jumbo Love Story” by Aparna
Karthikeyan, PARI, May 2022.)

Questions:

“We find plenty that are larger than dinner plates.” How large is that? Find the closest comparison:

a) The size of a watermelon

b) The size of a lemon
c) The size of a tomato
d) The size of a mosquito

What is the purpose of para 2?

a) To show the reader what an elephant looks like

b) To describe the damage an elephant can do
c) To introduce the writer
d) To show the many effects of an elephant visit on an area

In Para 3, why does the writer hope there is no elephant in her photographs?

a) Because she thinks that her article doesn’t need pictures to make its point.
b) Because she doesn’t like elephants.
c) Because she is aware that these are wild elephants, and could be dangerous.
d) Because she disagrees with her editor.
Apart from conflict with elephants, which of these is not a difficulty faced by farmers in Krishnagiri
district in the article:

a) Climate change
b) Low ragi prices
c) Drought
d) Heavy rain

Why are male elephants more likely to attack the crops, as per the article?

a) During the monsoon, they have a growth spurt.

b) Male elephants have a growth spurt and they need to maintain their body weight.
c) They have developed a preference for human foods, including ragi, mango, and cauliflower.
d) Male elephants are more aggressive than female elephants.

Which of these is not a source of danger for elephants in Krishnagiri district as mentioned in the article?

a) Falling into wells

b) Poachers
c) Railway accidents
d) Getting electrocuted

In Para 11, the Lantana camara is described as “invasive.” Choose the word with the closest opposite
meaning:

a) Internal
b) Spreading
c) Confined
d) Gregarious

In Para 11, what is the closest meaning of the word “compulsion”?

a) Confirmation
b) Constraint
c) Completion
d) Choice

What is the main reason for the article to quote SR Sanjeev Kumar?

a) He is the wildlife warden and can be considered an expert on the forests of Krishnagiri district.
b) He has a lot of pertinent information to offer about the effects of Lantana camara.
c) He is personally acquainted with the elephants, including Mottai Vaal, and has a fondness for them.
d) He is a friend of the writer, and can be thought of as a trustworthy person.
What is the overall argument this article is making?

a) Lantana camara must be removed from forests.

b) Farmers in Krishnagiri district must adapt to changing elephant habits and grow crops like marigold
and roses instead of ragi.
c) Mottai Vaal is the sweetest elephant who has developed a taste for cultivated jackfruit, ragi and
mango.
d) When addressing the conflict between farmers and elephants in Krishnagiri district, there are many
factors to be considered.

It does seem highly improbable but India, Australia and South America - not to mention Antarctica -
were once not just neighbours but joined at the hip and it is only in the last three or four decades that
we have begun to piece together a better understanding of the supercontinent ‘Gondwana’ and how it
might have broken up. The name Gondwana is, of course, an allusion to the Gond tribe of central India,
and its coiner was a professor of geology at the University of Vienna, Dr. Eduard Suess. Professor
Suess, in 1885, was among the first people to hypothesize that all the major land masses of the world
were once fused together in a supercontinent or, at the very least, connected by land bridges and he
borrowed the name ‘Gond-wana’ from British explorers’ accounts of this remote jungle-dwelling Indian
tribe! (Para 1)

Our understanding of the break-up of Gondwana hinges on evidence left behind by three major volcanic
events that occurred in a span of roughly 100 million years, from 180 to 80 million years ago. The first
of these eruptions sliced Africa and South America from the rest of the Gondwanan land mass 180
million years ago. The second eruption 118 million years ago prised Australia and Antarctica away from
Greater India (comprising modern-day India, Sri Lanka and Madagascar) and this is when the Marion
and Crozet hotspots (a ‘hotspot’ is an area of intense volcanic activity, usually under the ocean floor)
emerged from beneath south-east India and Madagascar between 107 and 105 million years ago.
Around 88 million years ago a third major volcanic event divided India from Madagascar. In each of
these volcanic events, immense lava flows continued for millions of years and left behind unmistakable
remnants that have helped us fit together pieces of the jigsaw puzzle. (Para 2)

There is one special place in India which was ideally situated to witness the formation and eventual
break-up of Gondwana. This is a hemispherical rock that lies about half a kilometre off the
southernmost tip of India in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu. On this rock stands the Vivekananda Memorial
which is a popular tourist spot. People also flock here to see the merging of three water bodies - the
Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, and the Laccadive Sea. The rock pops out of the sea like the humped
back of a whale and is made of a single massive block of charnockite. This oval islet rock (roughly the
size of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai) rises about 60 metres above the sea. From 870 to
680 million years ago, massive outpourings of magma began here and at different points between
Balasore in Odisha and Arcot near Chennai, where India was fused with Antarctica and Australia.
Between 180 and 118 million years ago, when India separated from Antarctica, it left behind this islet,
a desolate witness to the merging and breaking of Gondwanan land masses. Geologists call the
Vivekananda Rock Memorial ‘the Gondwana junction’, because it marks the place where India,
Madagascar, Sri Lanka, East Antarctica and Australia were once joined together. (Para 3)

(Source: Pranay Lal. 2016. Indica: A Deep Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent. Gurgaon: Allen
Lane-Penguin Random House, India.)

Questions:

Which countries and continents were once geologically joined together?

a) Gondwana, Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka, East Antarctica

b) India, Australia, Antarctica, South America
c) North America, South America, Antarctica, Madagascar
d) India, Australia, Sri Lanka, Odisha

Which of the following is referred to as “a desolate witness”?

a) The Gondwanan landmasses which comprised of India, Antarctica and Australia

b) The rock which is now known as the Vivekananda Rock Memorial
c) The islets of Sri Lanka and Madagascar
d) The convergence of the three seas at Kanyakumari

What kinds of remnants were not left behind after the breakup of Gondwana?

a) Volcanic rock
b) Solidified lava and magma
c) Charnockite
d) Coral reefs

Choose the sentence that has the antonym (opposite) of the highlighted word in the following sentence:
“From 870 to 680 million years ago, massive outpourings of magma began here and at different points
between Balasore in Odisha and Arcot near Chennai, where India was fused with Antarctica and
Australia.”

a) From 870 to 680 million years ago, massive outpourings of magma began here and at different
points between Balasore in Odisha and Arcot near Chennai, where India related to Antarctica and
Australia.
b) From 870 to 680 million years ago, massive outpourings of magma began here and at different
points between Balasore in Odisha and Arcot near Chennai, where India was separated from Antarctica
and Australia.
c) From 870 to 680 million years ago, massive outpourings of magma began here and at different points
between Balasore in Odisha and Arcot near Chennai, where India was linked with Antarctica and
Australia.
d) From 870 to 680 million years ago, massive outpourings of magma began here and at different
points between Balasore in Odisha and Arcot near Chennai, where India was joined to Antarctica and
Australia.

Which of the following sentences is written in the future tense?

a) Around 88 million years ago a third major volcanic event divided India from Madagascar.
b) Around 88 million years from now a third major volcanic event will divide India from Madagascar.
c) Around 88 million years ago a third major volcanic event is dividing India from Madagascar.
d) Around 88 million years ago a third major volcanic event will divide India from Madagascar.
Which of the following sentences is in the present continuous tense?

a) In each of these volcanic events, immense lava flows will continue for millions of years and left
behind unmistakable remnants that have helped us fit together pieces of the jigsaw puzzle.
b) In each of these volcanic events, immense lava flows continued for millions of years and left behind
unmistakable remnants that have helped us fit together pieces of the jigsaw puzzle.
c) In each of these volcanic events, immense lava flows are continuing for millions of years to leave
behind unmistakable remnants that are helping us fit together pieces of the jigsaw puzzle.
d) In each of these volcanic events, immense lava flows will continue for millions of years to leave
behind unmistakable remnants that will help us fit together pieces of the jigsaw puzzle.

From the geologist’s point of view, the rock where Vivekanand Memorial stands today is
important because:

a) It has the Vivekananda Memorial.

b) It was formed due to magma outpouring.
c) It rises 60 meters above the sea.
d) It marks a point at which five countries were once joined.

The passage describes Marion and Crozet as “hotspots”, meaning areas of intense volcanic activity,
usually under the ocean floor. However, this word is also used in many other contexts in our everyday
lives. Which of the following contexts is it not used in?

a) A location for internet connectivity.

b) A place of peace and serenity.
c) An area with high temperatures.
d) A popular food joint.

The main conclusion that the passage arrives at is:

a) All the land masses of the world existed as a single supercontinent in the beginning.
b) Vivekananda Rock Memorial is situated at Gondwana junction.
c) Marion and Crozet emerged from beneath south-east India and Madagascar.
d) Gond-wana’ is a remote jungle-dwelling Indian tribe.

From the passage, what appears to be the main reason for the separation of the supercontinent into
smaller continents:

a) Movement of landmasses
b) Volcanic eruption
c) Climatic changes
d) Ocean currents
In 1809, the British established a cantonment in Bangalore, when the city was part of the princely state
of Mysore. This attracted Europeans, Anglo-Indians and Parsis to settle in the city although most of the
original residents lived in the ‘old city’, which consisted of localities known as ‘pethes’. (Para 1)

All was well till 1897, when deaths from the bubonic plague, which had broken out in Bombay city, were
detected in parts of Bombay Province that are now parts of Northern Karnataka. The colonial
government lost no time in preparing for a pandemic. Besides invoking the Epidemic Diseases Act II of
1897, it allotted the princely sum of Rs 2,45,970 to the Plague Fund and appointed the Inspector
General of Police V P Madhav Rao as the Plague Commissioner. But the pandemic swept into
Bangalore anyway, striking both the city and cantonment areas. It seems the plague had ridden in on
a train of the Southern Maratha Railways. The train had pulled into the Bangalore Cantonment Station
from Bombay via Hubli on 11th August of 1898. As a precaution, the railways had begun physically
screening passengers, and a police constable would escort them to their destinations, to keep tabs on
their health. These passengers had to report for health checks for ten consecutive days. Among the
passengers who had alighted at the station was a railway loco superintendent and his butler, the latter
showing symptoms of the epidemic in a few days. The butler died of the plague on 15 th August 1898.
It wasn’t long before the pandemic spread across the city. (Para 2)

Within nine days of the first plague death, several cases were reported from the Goods Shed areas.
Twelve people died by 24th August. The next few days saw a surge in plague cases, and the number
of deaths hit 2,665 by June 1899. There was panic all around. Hospital workers abandoned their duties
and fled, and sweepers too went into hiding. An additional 348 plague deaths were reported from
cantonment areas the following year. (Para 3)

The outbreak led to a mass exodus from Bangalore city, as people took refuge in rural areas and small
towns. The population of Bangalore almost halved by December 1899. For those who stayed behind,
life was miserable. The prices of essential goods skyrocketed while people were penniless as there
was no work. (Para 4)

Despite the hardships that the pandemic had inflicted, there was a silver lining. The government
realized that Bangalore's infrastructure had to be modernized to avoid a health crisis in future. The
government spent a ransom to modernize the city's drainage system. Large-scale disinfection, covering
thousands of houses, was carried out. The Health Department inspected every house, identified
buildings without proper ventilation and arranged for ventilation either by removing parts of the roofs or
drilling large holes in them! Building regulatory norms were framed and made mandatory for all future
constructions. (Para 5)

(“Bengaluru: A Phoenix that Rose from the Plague” by Dinesh Nayak, Live History India, April 2021.)

Questions

Which of the following was not part of preparation done by the government to handle the pandemic?

a) Invoking the Epidemic Diseases Act II of 1897

b) Allocation of a sum of Rs 2,45,970 to the Plague Fund
c) Appointment of Inspector General of Police V P Madhav Rao as the Plague Commissioner
d) Establishment of Bangalore Cantonment

Which of the following statements is not true about the effect of pandemic on residents of Bangalore?

a) There was a huge emotional effect on the residents.

b) There were no jobs in the city and people became poor.
c) Bodies of dead persons were lying all over deserted areas.
d) The population of the city decreased due to the migration of people to nearby villages.

Paragraph 2 has the sentence “Among the passengers who had alighted at the station was a railway
loco superintendent and his butler, the latter showing symptoms of the epidemic in a few days.” Which
of the following modified sentences conveys the same meaning as this one?

a) Among the passengers who had alighted at the station was a butler and a railway loco
superintendent, the latter showing symptoms of the epidemic in a few days.
b) Among the passengers who had alighted at the station was a railway loco superintendent and his
butler, the former did not show any symptoms of the epidemic in a few days.
c) Among the passengers who had alighted at the station was a railway loco superintendent and his
butler, the former showing symptoms of the epidemic in a few days.
d) Among the passengers who had alighted at the station was a butler and a railway loco
superintendent, the former showing symptoms of the epidemic in a few weeks.

Which of the following is not the correct word to replace “penniless” in the statement: “The prices of
essential goods skyrocketed while people were penniless as there was no work” in paragraph 4?

a) Moneyless
b) Destitute
c) Opulent
d) Indigent

Why is 11th August of 1898 significant?

a) The arrival of the first identified plague patient from Bombay.

b) The Bangalore Cantonment Station officially opens.
c) The loco superintendent appoints a new butler.
d) The Hubli-Bombay railway line is inaugurated

What steps comprised initial attempts at containing the plague in Bangalore?

a) Affected people were quarantined in “pethes”, away from the old city.
b) Checks were undertaken at primary health centers across the city.
c) Europeans, Anglo-Indians and Parsis arrived to volunteer their efforts.
d) Legislative measures and allocation of funds for controlling the outbreak.

Read paragraph 3 closely. How can one best describe the plague situation as characterized here?

a) Frustrating
b) Alarming
c) Annoying
d) Hopeful
If “exodus” means a mass migration out of the city, what would you call its opposite?

a) Discharge
b) Outflow
c) Influx
d) Effluence

What does the word “refuge” mean, in the context of the article?

a) A shelter from danger

b) Disinfection measures
c) A positive side-effect
d) A situation that is worse than earlier

Which of the following options shows a correct joining of these two sentences:

The train had pulled into the Bangalore Cantonment Station from Bombay via Hubli on 11th August of
1898. The railways had begun physically screening passengers, and a police constable would escort
them to their destinations, to keep tabs on their health.

a) Due to the train pulling into the Bangalore Cantonment Station from Bombay via Hubli on 11 th
August of 1898, the railways had nevertheless begun physically screening passengers, and a
police constable would escort them to their destinations, to keep tabs on their health.
b) When the train pulled into the Bangalore Cantonment Station from Bombay via Hubli on 11th August
of 1898, the railways had already begun physically screening passengers, and a police constable
would escort them to their destinations, to keep tabs on their health.
c) As soon as the train had pulled into the Bangalore Cantonment Station from Bombay via Hubli on
11th August of 1898, but the railways had begun physically screening passengers, and a police
constable would escort them to their destinations, to keep tabs on their health.
d) Although the train had pulled into the Bangalore Cantonment Station from Bombay via Hubli on
11th August of 1898, the railways had only begun physically screening passengers, and a police
constable would escort them to their destinations, to keep tabs on their health.

The powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6, 2023 killed almost
50,000 people, most of whom died under rubble. The immediate cause of the human tragedy was not
the shaking ground itself, but the buildings people were in, most of which were constructed of reinforced
cement concrete, a relatively quick and cheap building method. (Para 1)
Earthquakes don’t have to be so deadly, say scholars who study
this issue. Many traditional buildings have stood the test of time in regions that have endured high
seismic activity for centuries. (Para 2)

In Japan, people had long built earthquake-resistant structures mostly from wood. But a different
tradition shows that even stone buildings can withstand vigorous shaking—if they are built with clever
physics and architectural adaptations, honed over the centuries. (Para 3)

In the mountainous region of Himachal Pradesh in India, near where the Indian Plate is colliding with
the Eurasian Plate, many structures built in the kath kuni style have survived at least a century of
earthquakes. In this traditional building method, the name, which translates to “wood corner,” in part
explains the method: Wood is laced with layers of stone, resulting in improbably sturdy multi-story
buildings. (Para 4)
It is one of several ancient techniques that trace fault lines across Asia. The foundations for the timber
lacing system of architecture may have originally been laid in Istanbul around the fifth century. Stone
masonry and wood-beam construction can still be seen in Nepal as well as in the traditions of Kashmiri
Taq and Dhajji Dewari and Pakistani Bhatar. Even Turkey has a long tradition of similar construction
methods. Despite their ancient origins, this model of construction has mostly fared better over centuries
than much of the contemporary building across the continent’s many active seismic zones. (Para 5)

Built along the natural contours of the hills, kath kuni buildings typically get their signature corners from
giant deodar cedars, which grow upward of 150 feet tall and 9 feet across in the Himalayas. These
wooden beams layer between dry stones, which create walls. A single wooden “nail” joins the beams
where they come together. (Para 6)

As the ponderous-looking structures rise vertically, usually up to two to three stories, the heavy stone
masonry reduces, giving way to more wood. The overhanging roof typically has slate shingles resting
on wooden beams. “The structure is like a body with heavy base, the projecting wooden balconies are
limbs, and the heavy slate roof is like a head adding stability to the structure,” says Jay Thakkar, a
faculty member at the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology University in Ahmedabad,
India, who co-authored the book Prathaa: Kath-kuni Architecture of Himachal Pradesh. (Para 7)

The buildings stand free of any mortar or metal, which makes them more capable of shifting and flexing
along with torques in the ground. While a building constructed out of what seems almost like rubble to
begin with might seem a strange defense against earthquake damage, it works. The gravitational force
of the structure itself holds the stones in place. “Unlike the cement brick wall, which becomes a single
solid mass, the dry stone masonry is flexible,” Thakkar says. (Para 8)

Despite centuries of visible evidence of these traditional structures’ soundness, people have turned
more and more to reinforced concrete construction. By the early and mid-20th century, reinforced
concrete was taking hold across Asia and quickly gained popularity because of its substantially lower
labor costs. As such, it became the default method for much new construction, including any
government-funded buildings. But “for reinforced concrete construction, poor quality construction in this
material has so often produced buildings that are more dangerous than the traditional unreinforced
masonry buildings they replaced, despite the promises made about concrete buildings,” wrote a team
of researchers studying traditional timber and masonry buildings in Turkey. (Para 9)

The onus now lies on practicing architects and researchers to convince government agencies to
support the traditional system of construction, which could help contain destruction the next time an
earthquake rocks the region, which, as the geologic plates continue to collide, is only a matter of time.
(Para 10)

(670 words, Adapted from “The Ancient Architecture that Defies Earthquakes” by Shoma Abhyankar,
Nautilus, April 2023.)

Questions:

Which of the following is not described as an earthquake-resistant building practice?

a) Wooden structures
b) Walls made with both stone and wood
c) Walls made of metal or mortar
d) Houses made of dry stone masonry
What purpose do the references to Japanese and Indian architecture serve in the article?

a) The comparison shows how Japanese architecture has influenced earthquake-defiant buildings in
India.
b) By comparing East Asian and South Asian architecture, the author can claim to be unbiased.
c) It establishes how traditional Asian architecture was miles ahead of the rest of the world.
d) The differences between the two are used to introduce the concept of dry stone masonry.

According to Jay Thakkar, what causes the “flexibility” of kath kuni architecture?

a) The rigidity of the brick and cement walls.

b) The age of the wood - older wood results in sturdy structures.
c) The interlacing of wood and stone in the walls.
d) The overhanging roof and wooden beams.

How does paragraph 5 contribute to the main argument of the paper?

a) It offers examples to support the concept of wood laced structures, introduced in the previous
paragraph.
b) It introduces the idea of kath kuni, which is explained in the paragraph that follows.
c) It uses examples to disprove the effectiveness of reinforced cement concrete in making
earthquake-resistant buildings.
d) It proves that traditional practices in Nepal, Pakistan and Kashmir are similar to the ones in Istanbul.

Read this sentence from paragraph 9: “Despite centuries of visible evidence of these traditional
structures’ soundness, people have turned more and more to reinforced concrete construction.”

How does the passage explain this choice by the public?

a) The low cost of constructing a concrete building as opposed to a traditional one.
b) To meet the standards set by government-funded buildings built with reinforced concrete.
c) Concrete buildings were too popular for people to resist the trend.
d) The low demand for labour forced workers into reinforced concrete construction.

Paragraph 10 ends with the phrase, “only a matter of time”. Which inevitable event is being referred to
here?

a) The collision of tectonic plates

b) An earthquake
c) An earthquake that causes buildings to collapse
d) The carelessness of government agencies
According to the author, whose responsibility is it primarily to ensure the return to traditional forms of
architecture?

a) Wood workers
b) Government agencies
c) The public
d) Architects and researchers

In paragraph 3, the word “vigorous” is used to describe an earthquake. Which of the following words
does not accurately describe an earthquake?

a) Devastating
b) Formidable
c) Unforeseen
d) Tranquil

In paragraph 3, the word “vigorous” is used to describe an earthquake. Which of the following words
does not accurately describe an earthquake?

a) Devastating
b) Formidable
c) Unforeseen
d) Tranquil

In this article, which one of the following ideas are asserted more than the others?

a) It brings to light the human tragedy of lost lives and livelihoods that every earthquake leaves behind.
b) It refutes the common understanding that wood is the most earthquake-resistant building material.
c) It explains, using scientific reasoning, the preeminence of earlier methods of construction.
d) It concludes that the increasing reliance on concrete buildings is a recipe for disaster.

Persuasion is the art of convincing someone to agree with your point of view. According to the ancient
Greek philosopher Aristotle, there are three basic tools of persuasion: ethos, pathos, and logos. [Para
1]

Ethos refers to “the appeal to credibility”. It refers to the reputation or how credible the speaker is. When
it comes to ethos, one important consideration is how the speaker presents themselves to the audience:
Does it seem like they know what they are talking about? Are they an expert? Do they have some
experience or skills that tell us we should listen to them? Ethos is important because it often influences
the opinion or mood of the audience. If a speaker seems unprepared or inexperienced, the audience
is not going to believe the speaker’s argument. [Para 2]

On the other hand, a knowledgeable and confident speaker is much more likely to win an audience
over. A speaker’s word choice, grammar, and language also contribute to ethos. Ethos can also be
influenced by nonverbal factors as well, such as posture, body language, eye contact, and even the
speaker’s choice of clothing. Here is a simple example of ethos: “As a former minister, I believe we can
solve this crisis if we work together.” The speaker uses ethos by alerting the audience of their
credentials and experience. By doing so, they rely on their reputation to be more persuasive. [Para 3]

Pathos refers to “the appeal to emotion.” An author or speaker is using pathos when they are trying to
persuade an audience by causing some kind of emotional reaction. When it comes to pathos, any and
all emotions are on the table: sadness, fear, hope, joy, anger, pity, etc. Both positive and negative
emotions can heavily influence an audience: for example, an audience will want to support a speaker
whose position will make them happy, a speaker who wants to end their sadness, or a speaker who is
opposed to something that makes them angry. [Para 4]

Here is a simple example of pathos - “Every day, the rainforests are getting destroyed and innocent
animals are killed. We must do something about this calamity before the planet we call our home is
damaged beyond repair.” Here, the author is trying to win over an audience by making them feel sad,
concerned, or afraid. The author’s choice of words like “innocent” and “calamity” enforce the fact that
they are trying to rely on pathos. [Para 5]

Logos is often referred to as “the appeal to reason.” If a speaker or author relies on logos, they typically
cite facts or provide evidence for their argument. Logos does away with all the methods of ethos and
pathos and straightforwardly presents a rational argument. Logos can be effective in arguments
because it is impossible to argue against truth and facts. An audience is more likely to agree with a
speaker who can provide strong, factual evidence that shows their position is correct. A speaker who
presents a lot of supporting evidence and data to the audience is likely to come across as
knowledgeable and someone to be listened to, which can help the speaker establish their ethos as
well. [Para 6]

Here is a simple example of logos - “According to market research, sales of computers have increased.
If the trend continues then the market is going to grow further.” In this example, the author is using
evidence, data, and logic to make their argument. They hope to use logos to convince an audience to
agree with them. [Para 7]

While ethos, pathos, and logos are all useful alone, they are most effective when used together. Most
speakers rely on a combination of ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade their audience. [Para 8]
(Adapted from “Understand the Difference Between Ethos, Pathos, And Logos to Make Your Point”,
Thesaurus.com – January 2022)

Which of the following is not a requirement for ethos?

a) How the speaker presents themselves to the audience.

b) The kind of language the speaker uses.
c) The reason and the evidence used by the speaker.
d) The speaker’s body language, posture, clothing, etc.

Which of the following is not a requirement for ethos?

a) How the speaker presents themselves to the audience.

b) The kind of language the speaker uses.
c) The reason and the evidence used by the speaker.
d) The speaker’s body language, posture, clothing, etc.
According to the text, logos refers to

a) Appeal to credibility
b) Appeal to emotion
c) Appeal to reason
d) Appeal to ignorance

According to the text, logos refers to

a) Appeal to credibility
b) Appeal to emotion
c) Appeal to reason
d) Appeal to ignorance

According to the passage, logos can build ethos because

a) Logos requires audience to understand the reason and evidence which requires the speaker to
exercise ethos.
b) By presenting reason and evidence, the speakers become more credible for the audience.
c) Only relying on pathos makes the audience too emotional and the audience will get too sad or
angry.
d) Ethos and Logos are more related to each other than Ethos and Pathos.

Ram is running to become a minister. Ram says the following to the audience:

“The data shows that the water in this district is contaminated. Around 1000 people last year got ill by
drinking this water. Doesn’t this make you sad? Your innocent children are getting harmful diseases.
As a water conservation activist, I know what needs to be done to make the water supply drinkable.
Therefore, you should vote for me.”

What tools of persuasion is he using –

a) Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
b) Ethos and Pathos
c) Pathos and Logos
d) Logos and Ethos

Suppose you want to persuade your father to buy you a cricket bat. You tell him “I really need this
cricket bat. All my friends have their own bat and if I do not have one, they all will laugh at me.”

What tool of persuasion are you using –

a) Ethos
b) Pathos
c) Logos
d) A combination of Ethos and Pathos
Suppose I want to persuade you that you should brush your teeth. I tell you that “brushing teeth keep
them healthy, healthy teeth mean that they will stay strong and not decay. If teeth decay, then you will
feel pain.”

What tools of persuasion am I using –

a) Logos
b) Ethos
c) A combination of Ethos and Pathos
d) A combination of Logos and Pathos

If you believe a doctor over your friend about how to cure your illness, which tool of persuasion are you
agreeing with?

a) Ethos
b) Pathos
c) Logos
d) None of the above

Which of the following is the antonym (opposite) of the word ‘credible’ as used in paragraph 2?

a) Interesting
b) Amazing
c) Boring
d) Doubtful

The word "subcontinent" used to describe the South Asian landmass highlights the fact that it is a
natural physical region separate from the rest of Eurasia. To the north, the series of mountain ranges
collectively known as the Himalayas form a belt about 2,500 kilometers in length and between 200 and
400 kilometers in width, beyond which lies the arid and high Tibetan plateau. The combination of
inhospitable plateau and formidable mountain barrier has largely sealed off access to the subcontinent
from the north. The Arabian Sea in the west and the Bay of Bengal in the east, bodies of water that
comprise part of the larger Indian Ocean, surround much of South Asia and provide it with a coastline
of approximately 8,500 kilometers. Hills run between the mountains and the ocean at both ends of the
subcontinent, to its west and to its east, serving to further demarcate the subcontinent's boundaries
and impede entry into it. South Asia - that is, the modern nations of Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, and
Bangladesh on the subcontinent, along with the large island nation of Sri Lanka - is set apart from the
rest of the world by these various natural geographical features, and its identity as a discrete world
region appears logical to us. [Para 1]

If we look back in history, however, it is clear that there was constant movement into and out of the
subcontinent. The geographic features that clearly define South Asia as a physical region by no means
sealed it off from the rest of the world. A lively sea traffic connected the coasts of lndia with the Persian
Gulf and Red Sea during the height of the Roman empire, while maritime contact with mainland
Southeast Asia was established by at least the fourth century CE. Overland routes into the subcontinent
from the northwest were accessible enough that Alexander the Great could lead a large army into the
Punjab during the fourth century BCE. To be sure, there was less overland traffic over the Himalayas,
although Buddhism and other aspects of Indian culture did diffuse into the Tibetan plateau during the
medieval period. Likewise, the eastern land corridor seems to have been little used: the eastern
extremities of the subcontinent were sparsely inhabited (as was the adjoining territory in modern
Myanmar) and lay outside the cultural and political perimeters of Indian civilization until 500 or less
years ago. [Para 2]

From a historical perspective, the western and eastern boundaries of South Asia as a cultural and
political region appear quite different from the current national borders that separate Pakistan from
Afghanistan and Iran to the west, on the one hand, and India and Bangladesh from Myanmar to the
east, on the other. Not until well into the period we are covering in this book did Bangladesh become
incorporated into the South Asian sphere. The situation in the west is even more ambiguous. The area
of Afghanistan and even parts of Central Asia were several times in the distant past included in a polity
based in South Asia. The cultural impact of Indian civilization was similarly felt far outside South Asia's
current limits during much of the first millennium CE: Buddhism flourished throughout Afghanistan and
Central Asia, while the North Indian Brahmi script was adapted to several Central Asian languages
such as Khotanese and Tocharian. For these reasons alone, one could make a strong case that
Afghanistan is (or at least once was) an integral part of South Asia, rather than the Middle East, in
cultural and political terms. [Para 3]

We have gone into this point at some length because history books today routinely characterize any
people whose origins lie to the west of Pakistan as "foreign" to South Asia and their large-scale
movements toward the southeast as "invasions" of the subcontinent. The Khyber Pass in northern
Pakistan and the Bolan Pass in southern Pakistan are typically described as the weak points in South
Asia's defenses which have repeatedly been penetrated by foreign invaders. This mindset ignores the
many interconnections over the millennia across the terrain that is now divided up between the
countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. Instead, it projects backward into the past a geo-political
reality that took shape only at the very end of the nineteenth century, after the British proved incapable
of extending their control westward to a line that ran on a north-south diagonal through the Afghan
cities of Kabul, Ghazni, and Qandahar. Historically, there was far more contact and communication
between the people living around Delhi and Kabul, separated by only 1,000 kilometers, than between
the major cities of north and south India, separated by 2,000 kilometers or more; even Mumbai is 1,400
kilometers distant from Delhi. [Para 4]

In other words, the coherence of South Asia as a world region in our current perception is largely a
legacy of British colonialism. The British were the first and only political power to ever extend their sway
over all of South Asia and the limits of their dominion now define the boundaries of the region. The
large size of the subcontinent, the varied nature of its physical environments, and the great diversity of
its human population in language, ethnicity, and mode of subsistence - made it impossible for any pre-
colonial polity to conquer, much less govern. [Para 5]
Adapted from Catherine B. Asher and Cynthia Talbot, India before Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2006), pp. 5-8.

According to the author, the word “subcontinent” serves to highlight that

a) South Asia is a natural physical region.

b) South Asia is a natural physical region separate from the rest of Eurasia.
c) South Asia is a natural physical region contiguous with the rest of Eurasia.
d) South Asia is not a continent.

According to the author, the word “subcontinent” serves to highlight that

a) South Asia is a natural physical region.

b) South Asia is a natural physical region separate from the rest of Eurasia.
c) South Asia is a natural physical region contiguous with the rest of Eurasia.
d) South Asia is not a continent.
In the second paragraph, according to the author, what becomes clear if we look back in history?

a) There was no movement into and out of the subcontinent.

b) The subcontinent was constantly moving.
c) There was constant movement into and out of the subcontinent.
d) There was no such thing as an Indian subcontinent.

During the height of the Roman empire, what facilitated the connection between the coasts of India
and the Persian Gulf and Red Sea?

a) Overland routes
b) Himalayan passages
c) Maritime traffic
d) Eastern land corridor

As per the second paragraph, which region remained thinly populated and beyond the cultural and
political boundaries of Indian civilization until relatively recently?

a) Punjab
b) Southeast Asia
c) Tibetan plateau
d) Eastern extremities of the subcontinent

According to the author, “the western and eastern boundaries of South Asia as a cultural and political
region appear quite different from the current national borders that separate Pakistan from Afghanistan
and Iran to the west, on the one hand, and India and Bangladesh from Myanmar to the east” when we
see things from an

a) Economic perspective
b) Political perspective
c) Historical perspective
d) Environmental perspective

What historical evidence does the passage provide to support the idea that Afghanistan could be
considered an integral part of South Asia?

a) The current national borders separating Afghanistan from Pakistan and Iran.
b) The incorporation of Bangladesh into the South Asian sphere.
c) Buddhism flourishing in Afghanistan and Central Asia during the first millennium CE.
d) The ambiguous situation in the west with regards to South Asia.

According to the passage, what is the significance of the North Indian Brahmi script in the context of
South Asian cultural influence?
a) It was exclusively used within the current borders of South Asia.
b) It had a limited impact on the cultural sphere of South Asia.
c) It was adapted to several Central Asian languages such as Khotanese and Tocharian.
d) It primarily influenced the Middle Eastern region.

Why does the text emphasize the historical contact between the people around Delhi and Kabul?

a) To highlight the military strategies employed by these regions.

b) To challenge the perception of foreign invasions in South Asia.
c) To underscore the geographical proximity between the two cities.
d) To criticize the British colonial influence in Delhi and Kabul.

What role does the text attribute to British colonialism in defining the boundaries of South Asia?

a) It argues that British colonialism was unsuccessful in extending its control over South Asia.
b) It suggests that British colonialism contributed to the cultural unity of South Asia.
c) It contends that British colonialism was the first and only power to dominate the entire region.
d) It states that British colonialism had minimal impact on shaping the perception of South Asian
history.