English in India is a historical legacy. English can open our door to the world as we can interact with the people globally if we have a command on English. English is the medium which can broaden our horizons of knowledge and experience. Our view point can be put forth to the foreigners and we can confidently debate our point of view. Many Indian spiritual gurus have foreign followers because with English they have expressed their ideas which have won many a foreign heart. Our culture and spirituality which earlier remained in bounds has gained an international identity.

What main point is the author trying to make?

1. The use of English enables India to merge with the rest of the world.

2. English language poses no threat to India’s regional languages.

3. English in its own domains has become the main language for communication.

4. English has played an important incremental role to India’s regional languages.

West Asia witnessed major political changes after the Second World War.

Jordan and Syria became independent in 1946 from Britain and France respectively.

Egypt wanted to renegotiate the 1936 Anglo Egyptian Treaty with Britain.

Lebanon also became fully independent when the French troops moved out in 1946.

The Arab League, formed in 1945 at the behest of Britain, suffered due to lack of trust among the member countries. In November 1947 the UN General Assembly approved the partition of Palestine to resolve the Arab-Israel conflict.  Although the Jewish Leadership accepted this, the Palestinian Arabs and the Arab League called it unfair and rejected it.  They wanted Palestinians to get the right to rule according to the UN Charter.

Which of the following pieces of information cannot be made out from the above passage?

1. Jordan was a British colony till 1946.

2. Many West Asian countries got independence after the Second World War.

3. The Arab League was virtually a creation of Britain.

4. The 1947 UN Resolution paved the way for a lasting solution to the Arab-Israeli dispute.

English is important not because a number of people know it, although it is a factor to be remembered. It is not important because it is the language of Milton and Shakespeare, although that also has to be considered. English is important because it is the major window on the modern world. And we dare not close that window. If we close it, we imperil our future. Be it industrialization, scientific development and technology, every door of modern knowledge will be closed if we do not have one or more foreign languages. We can have French, German or Russian, if you like, but obviously it is infinitely simpler for us to deal with a language which we know than to shift over to French, German, Russian or Spanish which will be a tremendous job. Every competent scientist today has to know two or three non-native languages. In the present age of industrialization, mechanization, scientific progress and research, we cannot progress without knowledge of English or, for that matter, French, German or Russian.

Which of the following statements can be derived from the text?

1. Since there are many in the country that can speak and understand English, the language is important for us.

2. The literary importance of English cannot be underestimated.

3. Language plays an important role in research and development.

4. English has today become the language of the world.

5. Knowledge of French, German or Russian is less important than knowledge of English.

Playing is natural Playing is as natural for children as breathing. They play because they are so full of animal spirits and so overcharged with muscular energy that they must expend it by playing. Running, jumping and other physical activities build their muscles and tone their motor development. It is all-instinctive.

Playing is learning Moreover, playing involves imagination, imitation and ‘make-believe’ and thus contributes to the development of the child’s mind also. In playing a child makes friends, develops the qualities of leadership and learns to function in a group. This develops his social responsibility. Moreover, playing is a rehearsal of those activities which will be useful to them in life.  For example, when girls play with dolls they practice being mothers and when boys play policeman game, they prepare themselves for active outdoor life.

Playing is a therapy Psychologists believe that playing also acts as a therapy for the child; it serves as an emotional vent. It gives him/her much-needed cathartic release. Children play to make up for defeats, sufferings and everyday frustration. He may have been scolded by a teacher or bullied by a class mate.

Playing is advisable It is, therefore, necessary that parents should let the children play when it is time to play. Some parents force their children to study as it is thought to be far more useful for life than play. It is a mistake on their part to think play as a waste of time. Through the experience of play a child enriches his life and becomes not only physically strong but also emotionally.

Which of the following statements about playing can be supported from the text?

1. All children love to play.

2. Playing releases pent-up feelings.

3. Parents forbid their children from playing.

4. Playing enables children to pay back love and affection.

5. Playing is a preparation for the business of life.

1. Closely spaced soundings show that many parts of the oceanic floors are as rugged as mountainous regions of the continents.

2. A broad, well-defined ridge - the Mid-Atlantic ridge - runs north and south between Africa and the two Americas.

3. However, the floor at the Atlantic is becoming fairy well known as a result of special surveys since 1920.

4. Numerous other major irregularities diversify the Atlantic floor.

5. The topography of the ocean floors is none too well known, since in great areas the available soundings are hundreds or even thousands of miles apart.

1. The average individual is of less value to himself, to his family and to society than he could be.

2. We are losing every year a vast army of individuals who are in their productive prime.

3. There is too much illness, too much suffering.

4. Of course, most people are well enough to attend to their work, but nearly all are suffering from some ill, mental or physical, acute or chronic.

5. It is natural to be healthy, but we have wandered so far astray that disease is the rule and good health the exception.

Women of all types have 1 __________ trails in new areas, so that in a matter of a few years the impossible has happened. There are women piloting British airliners, women as navigating and radio officers on ships, women detective superintendents leading murder enquiries, women military officers performing strenuous 2 __________ exercises all on equal terms. The change has not been one of 3 __________ speed but it has spread through a wide range of jobs.

Made |  Blazed  |  slow  |  training  |  domestic  |  revolutionary  |  limited

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Cars, ships and buildings were 1 __________ away by a wall of water after the 8.9 2 __________ tremor, which struck about 400km (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo. A state of 3 __________ was declared at a nuclear power plant, where pressure 4 __________normal levels.

emergency  |  transformed  |  driven  |  magnitude  |  force  |  requirement  |  swept  |  exceeded

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Critical Thinking is a glorious thing. That’s what our public schools are telling kids and parents. Critical Thinking is said to be Blank 1 with fairness, impartiality, science, logic, maturity, Blank 2, and enlightenment. If you read some of the Blank 3 on Critical Thinking, you will have the sense that you are being Blank 4 into a new religion.

inconsistent  |  ignorance  |  literature  |  discarded  |  welcomed  |  insanity  |  rationality  |  synonymous

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Anthropologists all over the world are 1 __________ today to find the “missing links” between the humans and apes and a mad race to 2 __________ fossils in order to track down the real existence of the first Adam has 3 __________. The quest for the earliest human ancestors is a challenging scientific pursuit to know how the “first human”  4 __________ millions of years ago. Modern researchers are seeking the help of molecular science to establish the veracity of  5 __________ taken from the fossils of humans and apes.

ignored  | engaged  |  hunt  |  destroyed  |  started  |  lived  |  tracing  |  evidence  |  busier

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