It is generally believed that the Second World War began on September 1, 1939, with the invasion of Poland by Germany.  Some historians link it to the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on July 7, 1937. According to AJP Taylor, two wars were fought simultaneously; the Sino-Japanese War in East Asia and a Second European War in Europe and her colonies.  These two wars merged in 1941 resulting in a single global armed conflict that continued till 1945. There is not a single universally agreed upon date of the end of the Second World War either.  It is believed that the conflict ended with the armistice of August 14, 1945, popularly known as the Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day), a few days before the formal surrender of Japan on September 2, 1945.  According to some European Historians, it ended as early as on  May 8, 1945, known as the Victory in Europe Day (VE Day).

The main purpose of the text is

1. To throw light on the views of  AJP Taylor about the beginning of World War II

2. to highlight the generally held  view about the start and end of World War II

3. To prove that World War II did not end  on particular day throughout the world

4. To discuss the varying views about the start and end of World War II

As the earth rotates, a sequence of two high tides, separated by two low tides, is produced each day. Twice in each lunar month, when the sun, moon, and earth are directly aligned, with the moon between the earth and the sun (at new moon) or on the opposite side of the earth from the sun (at full moon), the sun and the moon exert their gravitational force in an additive fashion. Higher high tides and lower low tides are produced. These are called spring tides. At two positions 90 degrees in between, the gravitational forces of the moon and sun tend to counteract each other. These are called neap tides.

Which of the following most accurately summarizes the opinion of the author in the text?

1. Tides involve alternating rise and fall in the large water bodies of the earth.

2. The moon and the sun act to add or counteract the tide generating effect of each other.

3. Tides are caused by the gravitational attraction of the sun and the moon.

4. The period between succeeding tides varies as the result of movements of the sun and the moon.

Observe the dilemma of the fungus: it is a plant, but it possesses no chlorophyll. While all other plants put the sun’s energy to work for them combining the nutrients of ground and air into the body structure, the fungus must look elsewhere for energy supply. It finds it in those other plants which, having received their energy free from the sun, relinquish it at some point in their cycle either to animals (like us humans) or to the fungi.

In this search for energy the fungus has become the earth’s major source of rot and decay. Wherever you see mould forming on a piece of bread, or a pile of leaves turning to compost, or a blown-down tree becoming pulp on the ground, you are watching a fungus eating. Without fungus action the earth would be piled high with the dead plant life of past centuries. In fact, certain plants which contain resins that are toxic to fungi will last indefinitely; specimens of the redwood, for instance, can still be found resting on the forest floor centuries after having been blown down.

Which of the following statements in respect of the fungus cannot be derived from the text?

1. Fungus cleans up the planet for us.

2. Fungus is a non-parasitic plant.

3. Mould is a representation of fungus.

4. Fungus cannot eat some types of dead matter.

5. Fungus cannot source energy on its own.

It is necessary to have a standard of education. We can set two sorts of standards there. First, a minimum standard below which no one is allowed to fall, in the shape of so many years of elementary education in such and such subjects. And secondly, and in a way even more important, a standard of equal opportunity for all, to ensure that no boy or girl is deprived of the chance of climbing to the top of the educational ladder through poverty or the accidents of birth. There are also standards of economic security. During the recent past, the sense of insecurity has been the single greatest cause, both of individual anxiety and frustration, and of social instability and unrest. A state must see to it that it gives to all its citizens minimum standards of security against ill health, against unemployment, against widowhood, against old age.

Issues of social security are, therefore, interlinked, irrespective of whether they are in the field of basic education, basic health, employment or even protection against economic needs arising out of old age, disability etc. The state expenditure on social security is bound to fall upon the shoulders of the society at large. A society that cannot take due care of such basic needs of each and every of its members is not fit to be called in the true sense of the term.

Which of the following statements in respect of education and social security are true as per the text?

1. Equality of opportunity is a cornerstone of the standard of education.

2. The state is obligated to cater to the basic needs of its citizens.

3. A socially insecure person depends on the state to find a secure job.

4. It is not possible to take the issues of health and education in isolation.

5. Every citizen should reach the top of the educational ladder.

1. A perfect voice speaks so directly to the soul of the hearer that all appearance of artfully prepared effect is absent.

2. Every tone sung by a consummate vocal artist seems to be poured forth freely and spontaneously.

3. There is no evidence of calculation, of carefully directed effort, of attention to the workings of the voice, in the tones of a perfect singer.

4. Yet if the accepted idea of Voice Culture is correct, this semblance of spontaneity in the use of the voice can result only from careful and incessant attention to mechanical rules.

5. In no other form of expression do art and nature seem so closely identified as in the art of singing.

1. Some people think that in this cooperative endeavor, the intelligent students stand to lose since they cannot make the best of their talents, but this seems to be a vague fear.

2. It is only when a child works within a group that his qualities of leadership will manifest themselves.

3. His character will only be shaped by coming into contact with others and by working with them.

4. An important feature of modern education is that it encourages cooperation rather than competition.

5. In fact, personality development can only take place by working in co-operation with others and not in isolation.

There are the pessimists, largely the biologists who think that we are alone, that the appearance of life on Earth is a Blank 1__________ of such Blank 2__________ events that not even the astronomical numbers can compensate for it. The Blank 3__________ are impressed by the vastness of the universe and think otherwise. For them, it is the belief that once we know how life originates we will find it not such a rare Blank 4__________.

Tragic  |  optimists  |  game  |  phenomenon  |  structure  |  combination  |  rare

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True success requires respect, appreciation, integrity, and patience — all of which are Blank 1__________ that by human nature are genuinely difficult to Blank 2__________ —especially in the face of modern marketers who relentlessly deceive us, Blank 3__________ our thoughts, and usurp our independence in order to increase their Blank 4__________.

Forfeit  |  Trait  |  relinquish  |  control  |  integrity  |  bottom-line  |  attain  |  misery

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Although George Orwell was an Blank 1__________ columnist and essayist as well as the author of nine published books, nothing could have Blank 2__________ him for the success of the short novel, Animal Farm, so brief he had considered self-publishing it as a Blank 3__________. The novel brought together important Blank 4__________ —politics, truth, and class conflict—that had concerned Orwell for much of his life.

principles  |  pamphlet  |  experienced   |  compendium  |  novice  |  themes  |  prepared

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Early humans who lived in Africa about 1.66 million years ago used stone Blank 1__________ on bones of deer to butcher them for food. Ann Gibbons Blank 2__________ the various maverick fossil hunters such as Brunet and Leakey who endured Blank 3__________ heat, blowing sand and other Blank 4__________ of fieldwork in Africa.

ornaments  |  weapons   extreme  |  extra  |  hazards  |  flows  |  things  |  tools  |  introduces

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