READING COMPREHENSION

READING COMPREHENSION

Reading Comprehension is the ability to read text, process it and understand its meaning. In addition, RCs are aimed at
testing a candidates Knowledge of two elements i.e. Vocabulary and Text Comprehension.
And it is interesting to note that both these elements play a crucial role in better understanding of the passage i.e. for
understanding a text, one must have better knowledge of Vocabulary. But what is more complex and varied out of the
above two elements is the Text Comprehension.
The current trend of questions that come in the RC are inference based i.e. the questions are not direct but one has to infer
from the given passage. Also there can be one or more conclusions given in the question which are true/false depending
on what is asked in the question.
Now let’s move towards the Approach that one should follow while performing a RC in the exam.
The most common suggestion and approach is first read the entire passage and then answer the question that follows.
Firstly let’s discuss this approach in detail.
Try to make notes while solving/ reading RCs. It is crucial for locating the appropriate information and also acts as a
mental bookmark, thus helping in better understanding of the topic.
While making notes, one must look towards and identify following things:
i) Subject of the passage – which/what is the precise thing the author, is talking about.
ii) Main idea of the passage – what the author is saying about the subject.
iii) Tone of the author of the passage – which is manner author has adopted in the passage.
As soon as one figure out the above three things and central point of the passage, one will be familiar with the gist (GI –
general Idea + S – Structure + T- Tone ) of the passage. This will also help you to build a thematic composition and
logical sequence of the passage. Thus enable you to answer questions from particular parts of the passage.
But this sole approach is beneficial for the ones who generally read very fast. Then what approach should one follow in a
RC, below are the some of the approaches that one must try.
1. Instead of reading the entire passage, read critically the first and last paragraph of the RC. Generally what the author is
saying can be identified in the first few lines of the passage, which in case of longer passages becomes roughly 1/3rd of
the passage. For the rest passage examine hastily, what the author has said about the subject.
Also for longer passages, try to put down in 10-15 words, for each paragraph, what you feel are the central points of the
passage.
2. The next thing in this approach is to identify the structural words that tell you the important Ideas or Transitions in a
passage. These structural words play a specific role in a sentence and paragraph. The most common structural words are
given below:
These three kinds of words describe three roles that words can play in a paragraph.
For e.g.
Continuity words: The author would support his point of view further.
Contrast words: The author would introduce a contrarian point of view.
Conclusion words: The author would sum up his argument so far.
3. Further try to recognize the words that represent positive and negative role in the passage. These words will let you
decide whether the author is for or against the subject. A few examples of such words are given below:
Thus these words help you establish the motive of the author.
4. Whenever a question is asked on a phrase given in the passage, just read the three lines above and below that phrase to
have an idea of what is implicit from that phrase.
5. There are around 4-6 questions based on Synonyms and Antonyms, these questions can be answered if you have good
vocabulary and if your vocabulary is not good, then read the sentence in which the word is used to get a rough idea of the
meaning of the word.

Now let’s discuss how one should attempt Reading Comprehension (RC) questions in the Exam. Generally, there
are 2 ways in which a RC can be attempted which are given below:
1. PQ Approach (passage first, then the questions)
• Read the entire passage thoroughly first and then read the questions
• Skim & Scan through the passage and keep going back and forth with questions and passage
• Read the first 2 paragraphs, scan all the questions and see what you can answer, then read Para 3 & 4, scan the
questions and see what you can answer, then read Para 5& 6!!
2. QP approach (questions first, then the passage)
• Read all the questions with their answer options first and then the passage
• Read question 1 with all the options, then go through the entire passage to answer it. Then read question 2, go
through the entire passage. Then question 3!
• Just read all the question stems, without reading the answer options. Then read the passage and try answering the
questions by reading them with the options.
1. Read the passage below and then choose the best answer to the question. Answer the question on the basis
of what is stated or implied in this passage.
Experienced truck drivers often travel in a convoy--a group of trucks that are traveling to the same part of the country.
Convoys can help truckers to stay alert.
The author implies that professional long-distance truck drivers may avoid traveling alone because:
A) They might drive too fast.
B) They want to arrive before anyone else.
C) Accidents happen more frequently to lone truck drivers than to car drivers who travel alone.
D) Long-distance travel can cause drowsiness.
2. Read the passage below and then choose the best answer to the question.
Huge beasts such as the dinosaur have never really become extinct. Mothra, a giant caterpillar who later becomes a
moth, destroys Tokyo, and stars in the 1962 Japanese film named for him. Mothra is born, dies, and reborn regularly on
classic movie channels. In Japan Mothra is one of the most popular films ever made. Mothra has survived the creation
of more current scary creatures such as giant apes, extraterrestrial beings and swamp creatures. More than 30 years after
his creation, Mothra still lives.
The main subject of the passage is:
A) the reasons that fads do not endure
B) the lasting appeal of Mothra
C) the difficulty of marketing good horrormovies
D) old models for creatures are still used because making new monsters is expensive
3. Two underlined sentences are followed by a question or statement. Read the sentences, and then choose the
best answer to the question or the best completion of the statement.
Anxious to ensure that America would depart from European traditions regarding religion and royalty, the early U.S.
could be described as a place that focused more on work than on the entertainment offered by spectacle and ceremony in
the Old World.
However, national celebrations such as the lighting of the White House Christmas Tree and the ceremonies used to
swear in new federal officials give the American people some experiences that are based upon national tradition.
What does the second sentence do?
A) It cancels the meaning of the first.
B) It provides an example of the firstsentence.
C) It adds more detail to the firstsentence.
D) It offers an exception to the information given in the first sentence.
4. Read the passage below and choose the best answer to the question.
The Earthʹs past climate--including temperature and elements in the atmosphere--has recently been studied by
analyzing ice samples from Greenland and Antarctica. The air bubbles in the ice have shown that, over the past
160,000 years, there has been a close correlation between temperature changes and level of natural greenhouse gases
carbon dioxide and methane. One recent analysis from Greenland showed that at the end of the last glacial period
(when the great ice sheets began to retreat to their present position), temperatures in southern Greenland rose from 5
to 7 degrees in about 100 years.
Air bubbles are not the only method of determining characteristics of the Earthʹs ancient climate history. Analysis of
dust layers from ancient volcanic activity is another such method; as is the study of ice cores, which interpret past
solar activity that may have affected our climate.
This passage states that:
A) the Greenhouse effect is destroying the planetʹs atmosphere.
B) temperatures in Greenland have been unusually stable over the past 100 years.
C) there is more than one kind of information that scientists can use to determine the characteristics of
the Earthʹs early climate.
D) solar energy is the wave of the future.
5. Two passages are followed by a question or statement. Read the passages, then choose the best answer to
the question or the best completion of the statement.
Before video cameras were widely used, home and business owners had to rely only on written reports and photos as
a way to document their valuables for insurance purposes. This form of documentation was difficult for some insurance
policy holders. They found it was easy to lose lists, forget to add new items they purchased, or delete items they no
longer had. As a result these insurance inventories were often inaccurate.
While videotaping is not an option for every home or business owner, this kind of insurance documentation is helpful
for some.
How are these passages related?
A) They repeat the same idea.
B) They contradict one another.
C) They compare two forms of written documentation.

D) They present a problem and a solution.
6. Two underlined sentences are followed by a question or a statement. Read the sentences, and then choose
the best answer to the question or the best completion of the statement.
Public speaking is very different from everyday conversation.
First of all, speeches are much more structured than a typical informal discussion.
How are these sentences related?
A) Sentence two offers support for the statement made in the first sentence.
B) Sentence two contradicts the statement made in the first sentence.
C) Sentence two shows an exception to the firstsentence.
D) Sentence two compares two kinds ofspeeches.
7. Answer the question on the basis of what is stated or implied in these passages.
French physicist Charles Fabry found ozone gas in the atmosphere in 1913. At room temperature, ozone is a colorless
gas; it condenses to a dark blue liquid at -170 F. At temperatures above the boiling point of water, 212 F, it decomposes.
Ozone is all around us. After a thunderstorm, or around electrical equipment, ozone is often detected as a sharp odor.
Ozone is used as a strong oxidizing agent, a bleaching agent, and to sterilize drinking water. This gas is also highly
reactive. For example, rubber insulation around a carʹs spark plug wires will need to be replaced eventually, due to the
small amounts of ozone produced when electricity flows from the engine to the plug.
These passages imply that:
A) Ozone is the result of pollution.
B) High ozone levels in the atmosphere will cause large numbers of people to buy new car batteries.
C) Ozone has no practical uses.
D) Ozone is a natural part of the Earthʹs atmosphere.
8. Read the passages below and then choose the best answer to the question. Answer the question on the basis
of what is stated or implied in these passages.
Many people who have come close to death from drowning, cardiac arrest or other causes have described near-death
experiences--profound, subjective events that sometimes result in dramatic changes in values, beliefs, behavior, and
attitudes toward life and death. These experiences often include a new clarity of thinking, a feeling of well being, a
sense of being out of the body, and visions of bright light or mystical encounters. Such experiences have been reported
by an estimated 30 to 40 percent of hospital patients who were revived after coming close to death and about 5 percent
of adult Americans in a nationwide poll. Near-death experiences have been explained as a response to a perceived threat
of death (a psychological theory); as a result of biological states that accompany the process of dying (a physiological
theory); and as a foretaste of an actual state of bliss after death (a transcendental theory).
The primary purpose of this passage is to:
A) entertain
B) persuade
C) inform
D) express disbelief in the afterlife
9. Read the passage below and then choose the best answer to the question on the basis of what is stated or implied
in these passages.
In most cases little birds lay little eggs. The kiwi is an astonishing exception to this rule--it is a smallish bird that lays
a big egg. The kiwi, a flightless bird found in New Zealand, weighs about four pounds, and its egg weighs, believe it
or not, about one pound. That is one-fourth of the birdʹs body weight! If an ostrich laid an egg that was in the same
proportion to the ostrich as the kiwi egg is to the kiwi, an ostrich egg would weigh a whopping seventy-five pounds
instead of the usual three pounds.
Which statement below best describes the organizational method used in this passage?
A) description
B) comparison/contrast
C) chronological
D) cause/effect
10. Jazz is a peculiarly American contribution to Western culture. It was born out of the unique experience of
American Blacks. Although its history is not entirely clear, jazz obviously has roots in the rhythm patterns and
melodic lines of Africa, the tradition of Christian spirituals as sung by slave communities, the music of the blues
as developed in the Deep South, and ragtime.
According to this passage, one can conclude that:
A) Jazz is the sole Black contribution to Westernculture.
B) There is some difficulty tracing the origin of jazz.
C) Jazz is most closely related to spiritual music.
D) Jazz is not a complex musical form.
11. Read the statements below and then choose the best answer to the question from the list of lettered choices
that follows.
Sometimes when we donʹt get enough sleep we become very short-tempered. It is important to set a time to go to bed that
is realistic.
How are these two sentences related?
A) The first sentence explains the meaning of thesecond.
B) The second sentence explains why a lack of sleep affects us.
C) The second sentence proposes a solution.
D) The second sentence contradicts the first.
12. Read the statements below and then choose the best answer to the question from the list of lettered choices
that follows.
Most people collect Star Wars toys for sentimental reasons. Some people collect them strictly to make money.
What is the relationship between the two sentences?
A) cause and effect
B) contrast
C) repetition
D) statement & example
13. Answer the question based on what is stated or implied.
There are two kinds of jewelry that I do. There is commercial jewelry--class rings, necklaces, the kinds of things most
people wear. I sell these items to meet my expenses for raw materials, supplies, and to make my living. The other,
more creative work I do makes me feel that I am developing as a craftsperson.
The author of this passage implies that:
A) Artists are poor.
B) There is no market for creative work.
C) Commercial and creative work fulfills different needs for the artist.
D) Rings and necklaces can not be creative.
14. Some actors and rock stars are paid almost 100 times as much per year as school teachers. Not to downgrade the
role of entertainment in our lives, but these people are not the valuable social resource that educators are. As another
example, professional athletes earn vastly more than the nation’s firefighters. Again, there is little doubt that the lower
paid group contributes a more vital function to communities. Finally, dress designers, who can make up to $50,000 for
a gown, far out-earn police officers, whose very presence makes our cities and towns livable.
Based on this passage, the earning power in our society:
A) is subject to staggering inflation.
B) does not relate to one’s usefulness in society.
C) is highest among those whose achievements are the greatest.
D) should be highest among actors and rock.
15. Read the statements below and then choose the best answer to the question from the list of lettered choices
that follows.
Jenny does not like cake. She does not like to bake it, to ice it, or to eat it.
What does the second sentence do?
A) It states the cause of the first.
B) It compares the three things Jenny does not like about cake.
C) It draws a conclusion aboutJenny.
D) It emphasizes what is stated in the first.
16. Read the sentences below and then choose the best answer to the question from the list of lettered choices
that follows.
When we write a check that we know is going to ʺbounceʺ we are in fact performing a criminal act. It is a crime to
knowingly write a ʺhotʺ check, one we know we donʹt have sufficient funds to cover.
What does the second statement do?
A) It provides supporting evidence for the firststatement.
B) It restates the central idea of the firstsentence.
C) It draws a conclusion from the firstsentence.
D) It provides a contradictory point of view.
17. Read the statements below and then choose the best answer to the question from the list of lettered choices
that follows.
The new Dance Tunes CD has proved to be very popular. It has sold 80,000 copies over the last year.
How are these two sentences related?
A) The first sentence explains the meaning of the second
B) The second sentence provides evidence of thefirst.
C) The second sentence explains why the CD ispopular.
D) The first sentence contradicts the second.
18. Read the passage below and then choose the best answer to the question from the list of lettered choices
that follows.
Before the invention of automobiles and airplanes travel was a slow process. When traveling long distances families
would be out of communication until the travelers reached their destination. Sometimes people lost touch with each
other permanently.
The author would most likely continue the passage with which of the following sentences?
A) Airplanes make travel more fun.
B) Driving a car helps families stay in touch.
C) Cars can be used to travel comfortably.
D) Advances in communication have helped travelers stay in communication.
19. Read the passage below and then choose the best answer to the question from the list of lettered choices
that follows.
Scuba diving is the most exhilarating experience I have ever had. The first time I went, the dark mirror of the water
beckoned me to drop from the side of the boat. I jumped feet first and entered a brightly colored world populated with
fish, plants, and objects I had never dreamed of.
Which of the following best describes the mood of the author after having this experience?
A) bored
B) excited
C) anxious
D) serene
20. Read the passage below and then choose the best answer to the question from the list of lettered choices
that follows.
Did you know that a half-gallon milk container holds about $50.00 in pennies? While all investment counselors realize
that we must accumulate money in order to save, most recommend different kinds of investments for people who are
in different stages of life. Older investors, those with limited funds to invest, or people with greater financial and family
commitments, should take fewer risks. Younger, wealthier, and unmarried investors can afford to venture into the
unknown.
Which of the following best describes the main idea of this passage?
A) A penny saved is a penny earned
B) Old people have the most money.
C) Our ages and stage of life are part of what determines the investments that are best for us.
D) Young people should concentrate on collecting pennies.
Answers:
1 – D 2 – B 3 – D 4 – C 5 – D 6 – A 7 – D 8 – C 9– B 10 – B
11- C 12-B 13-C 14-B 15-D 16-B 17-B 18-D 19-B 20-C

Read the following passage and answer the questions 1 to 5:
Knowledge creation in many cases requires creativity and idea generation. This is especially important in generating
alternative decision support solutions. Some people believe that an individual’s creative ability stems primarily from
personality traits such as inventiveness, independence, individuality, enthusiasm, and flexibility. However, several
studies have found that creativity is not so muck a function of individual traits as was once believed, and that individual
creativity can be learned and improved. This understanding has led innovative companies to recognise that the key to
fostering creativity may be the development of an idea-nurturing work environment. Idea- generation methods and
techniques, to be used by individuals or in groups, are consequently being developed. Manual methods for supporting
idea generation, such as brainstorming in a group, can be very successful in certain situations. However, in other
situations, such an approach is either not economically feasible or not possible. For example, manual methods in group
creativity sessions will not work or will not be effective when : (1) there is no time to conduct a proper idea-
generation session; (2) there is a poor facilitator (or no facilitator at all); (3) it is too expensive to conduct an idea-
generation session; (4) the subject matter is too sensitive for a face-to-face session; or (5) there are not enough
participants, the mix of participants is not optimal, or there is no climate for idea generation. In such cases, computerised
idea-generation methods have been tried, with frequent success.
Idea-generation software is designed to help stimulate a single user or a group to produce new ideas, options and choices.
Take user does all the work, but the software encourages and pushes, something like a personal trainer. Although idea-
generation software is still relatively new, there are several packages on the market. Various approaches are used by
idea-generating software to increase the flow of ideas to the user. Idea Fischer, for example, has an associate lexicon of
the English language that cross-references words and phrases. These associative links, based on analogies and
metaphors, make it easy for the user to be fed words related to a given theme. Some software packages use questions to
prompt the user towards new, unexplored patterns of thought. This helps users to break out of cyclical thinking patterns,
conquer mental blocks, or deal with bouts ofprocrastination.
1. The author, in this passage has focused on
(A) knowledge creation (B) idea-generation
(C) creativity (D) individual traits
2. Fostering creativity needs an environment of
(A) Decision support systems (B) idea-nurturing
(C) Decision support solutions (D) alternative individual factors
3. Manual methods for the support of idea-generation, in certain occasions,
(A) are alternatively effective (B) can be less expensive
(C) Do not need a facilitator (D) require a mix of optimal participants
4. Idea-generation software works as if it is a:
(A) Stimulant (B) knowledge package
(C) User-friendly trainer (D) climate creator
5. Mental blocks, bouts of procrastination and cyclical thinking patterns can be won when:
(A) Innovative companies employ electronic thinking methods
(B) Idea-generation software prompts questions
(C) Manual methods are removed
(D) Individuals acquire a neutral attitude towards the software
Read the following passage and answer the questions 6 to 10:
After almost three decades of contemplating Swarovski-encrusted navels on increasing flat abs, the Mumbai film industry
is on a discovery of India and itself. With budgets of over 30 crore each, four soon to be released movies by premier
directors are exploring the idea of who we are and redefining who the other is. It is a fundamental question which the
bling-bling, glam-sham and disham-disham tends to avoid. It is also a question which binds an audience when the lights
go dim and the projector rolls : as a nation, who are we ? As a people, where are we going? The Germans coined a word
for it, zeitgeist, which perhaps Yash Chopra would not care to pronounce. But at 72, he remains the person who can best
capture it. After being the first to project the diasporic Indian on screen in Lamhe in 1991, he has returned to his roots in
a new movie. Veer Zaara, set in 1986, where Pakistan, the traditional other, the part that got away, is the lover and the
saviour. In Subhas Ghai’s Kisna, set in 1947, the other is the English woman. She is not a memsahib, but a mehbooba. In
Ketan Mehta’s The Rising, the East India Englishman is not the evil oppressor of countless cardboard characterisations,
which span the spectrum from Jewel in the Crown to Kranti, but an honourable friend. This is Manoj Kumar’s Desh Ki
dharti with a difference : there is culture, not contentious politics; balle balle, not bombs : no dooriyan (distance), only
nazdeekiyan (closeness). All four films are heralding a new hero and heroine. The new hero is fallible and vulnerable,
committed to his dharma, but also not afraid of failure - less of a boy and more of a man. He even has a grown up name
: Veer Pratap Singh in Veer-Zaara and Mohan Bhargav in Swades. The new heroine is not a babe, but often a bebe,
dressed in traditional Punjabi clothes, often with the stereotypical body type as well, as in Bride and Prejudice of Gurinder
Chadha.
6. Which word Yash Chopra would not be able to pronounce?
(A) Bling + bling (B) Zeitgeist
(C) Montaz (D) Dooriyan
7. Who made Lamhe in 1991 ?
(A) Subhash Ghai (B) Yash Chopra
(C) Aditya Chopra (D) Sakti Samanta
8. Which movie is associated with Manoj Kumar ?
(A) Jewel in the Crown (B) Kisna
(C) Zaara (D) Desh Ki dharti
9. Which is the latest film by Yash Chopra ?
(A) Deewar (B) Kabhi Kabhi
(C) Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (D) Veer Zaara
10. Which is the dress of the heroine in Veer-Zaara ?
(A) Traditional Gujarati Clothes
(B) Traditional Bengali Clothes
(C) Traditional Punjabi Clothes
(D) Traditional Madrasi Clothes
Read the following passage and answer the questions 11 to 15:
The superintendence, direction and control of preparation of electoral rolls for, and the conduct of, elections to
Parliament and State Legislatures and elections to the offices of the President and the Vice - President of India are vested
in the Election Commission of India. It is an independent constitutional authority.
Independence of the Election Commission and its insulation from executive interference is ensured by a specific
provision under Article 324 (5) of the constitution that the chief Election Commissioner shall not be removed from his
office except in like manner and on like grounds as a Judge of the Supreme Court and conditions of his service shall not
be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment.
In C.W.P. No. 4912 of 1998 (Kushra Bharat Vs. Union of India and others), the Delhi High Court directed that
information relating to Government dues owed by the candidates to the departments dealing with Government
accommodation, electricity, water, telephone and transport etc. and any other dues should be furnished by the candidates
and this information should be published by the election authorities under the commission.
10. The text of the passage reflects or raises certain questions :
(A) The authority of the commission can not be challenged.
(B) This would kelp in stopping the criminalisation of Indian politics.
(C) This would reduce substantially the number of contesting candidates.
(D) This would ensure fair and free elections.
11. According to the passage, the Election Commission is an independent constitutional authority. This is under
Article No. :
(A) 324 (B) 356 (C) 246 (D) 161
12. Independence of the Commission means:
(A) have a constitutional status (B) have legislative powers
(C) have judicial powers (D) have political powers
13. Fair and free election means :
(A) transparency (B) to maintain law and order
(C) Regional considerations (D) role for pressure groups
14. The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from his office under Article :
(A) 125 (B) 352 (C) 226 (D) 324
Read the following passage and answer the questions 16 to 20:
Gandhi’s overall social and environmental philosophy is based on what human beings need rather than what they want.
His early introduction to the teachings of Jains, Theosophists, Christian sermons, Ruskin and Tolstoy, and most
significantly the Bhagavad Gita, were to have profound impact on the development of Gandhi’s holistic thinking on
humanity, nature and their ecological interrelation. His deep concern for the disadvantaged, the poor and rural population
created an ambience for an alternative social thinking that was at once far-sighted, local and immediate. For Gandhi was
acutely aware that the demands generated by the need to feed and sustain human life, compounded by the growing
industrialisation of India, far outstripped the finite resources of nature. This might nowadays appear naïve or
commonplace, but such pronouncements were as rare as they were heretical a century ago. Gandhi was also concerned
about the destruction, under colonial and modernist designs, of the existing infrastructures wick had more potential for
keeping a community flourishing within ecologically-sensitive traditional patterns of subsistence, especially in the rural
areas, than did the incoming Western alternatives based on nature-blind technology and the enslavement of human spirit
and energies.
Perhaps the moral principle for wick Gandhi is best known is that of active non-violence, derived from the traditional
moral restraint of not injuring another being. The most refined expression of this value is in the great epic of the
Mahabharata, (c. 100 BCE to 200 CE), where moral development proceeds through placing constraints on the liberties,
desires and acquisitiveness endemic to human life. One’s action is judged in terms of consequences and the impact it is
likely to have on another. Jainas kad generalised this principle to include all sentient creatures and bio communities
alike. Advanced Jaina monks and nuns will sweep their path to avoid harming insects and even bacteria. Non-injury is
a non-negotiable universal prescription.
15. Which one of the following have a profound impact on the development of Gandhi’s holistic thinking on
humanity, nature and their ecological interrelations ?
(A) Jain teachings (B) Christian sermons
(C) Bhagavad Gita (D) Ruskin and Tolstoy
16. Gandhi’s overall social and environmental philosophy is based on human beings’ :
(A) need (B) desire
(C) Wealth (D) welfare
18. Gandhiji’s deep concern for the disadvantaged, the poor and rural population created an ambience for an
alternative:
(A) rural policy (B) social thinking
(C) urban policy (D) economic thinking
19. Colonial policy and modernisation led to the destruction of :
(A) Major industrial infrastructure (B) irrigation infrastructure
(C) Urban infrastructure (D) rural infrastructure
20. Gandhi’s active non-violence is derived from :
(A) Moral restraint of not injuring another being
(B) Having liberties, desires and acquisitiveness
(C) Freedom of action
(D) Nature-blind technology and enslavement of human spirit and energies
Read the following passage and answer the questions 21 to 25:
All political systems need to mediate the relationship between private wealth and public power. Those that fail risk a
dysfunctional government captured by wealthy interests. Corruption is one symptom of such failure with
private willingness-to-paytrumping public goals. Private individuals and business firms pay to get routine services and to
get to the head of the bureaucratic queue. They pay to limit their taxes, avoid costly regulations, obtain contracts at inflated
prices and get concessions and privatised firms at low prices. If corruption is endemic, public officials - both bureaucrats
and elected officials - may redesign programmes and propose public projects with few public benefits and many
opportunities for private profit. Of course, corruption, in the sense of bribes, pay-offs and kickbacks, is only one type of
government failure. Efforts to promote ‘good governance’ must be broader than anti-corruption campaigns. Governments
may be honest but inefficient because no one has an incentive to work productively, and narrow elites may capture the
state and exert excess influence on policy. Bribery may induce the lazy to work hard and permit those not in the inner
circle of cronies to obtain benefits. However, even in such cases, corruption cannot be confined to ‘functional’ areas. It
will be a temptation whenever private benefits are positive. It may be a reasonable response to a harsh reality but, over
time, it can facilitate a spiral into an even worse situation.
21. The governments which fail to focus on the relationship between private wealth and public power are likely to
become:
(A) Functional (B) Dysfunctional
(C) Normal functioning (D) Good governance
22. One important symptom of bad governance is:
(A) Corruption (B) High taxes
(C) Complicated rules and regulations (D) High prices
23. When corruption is rampant, public officials always aim at many opportunities for :
(A) Public benefits (B) Public profit
(C) Private profit (D) Corporate gains
24. Productivity linked incentives to public/private officials is one of the indicatives for :
(A) Efficient government (B) Bad governance
(C) Inefficient government (D) Corruption
25. The spiraling corruption can only be contained by promoting:
(A) Private profit (B) Anti-corruption campaign
(C) Good governance (D) Pay-offs and kick backs
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions 26 to 30 :
Radically changing monsoon patterns, reduction in the winter rice harvest and a quantum increase in respiratory diseases
all part of the environmental doomsday scenario which is reportedly playing out in South Asia. According to a United
Nations Environment Programme report, a deadly three-kilometer deep blanket of pollution comprising a fearsome,
cocktail of ash, acids, aerosols and other particles has enveloped in this region. For India, already struggling to cope with
a drought, the implication of this are devastating and further crop failure will amount to a life and death question for many
Indians. The increase in premature deaths will have adverse social and economic consequences and a rise in morbidities
will place an unbearable burden on our crumbling health system. And there is no one to blame but ourselves. Both official
and corporate India has always been allergic to any mention of clean technology. Most mechanical two wheelers roll of
the assembly line without proper pollution control system. Little effort is made for R&D on simple technologies, which
could make a vital difference to people’s lives and the environment.
However, while there is no denying that South Asia must clean up its act, skeptics might question the timing of the haze
report. The Kyoto meet on climate change is just two weeks away and the stage is set for the usual battle between the
developing world and the West, particularly the Unites States of America. President Mr. Bush has adamantly refused to
sign any protocol, which would mean a change in American consumption level. U.N. environment report will likely find
a place in the U.S. arsenal as it plants an accusing finger towards controls like India and China. Yet the U.S.A. can hardly
deny its own dubious role in the matter of erasing trading quotas.
Richer countries can simply buy up excess credits from poorer countries and continue to pollute. Rather than try to get
the better of developing countries, who undoubtedly have taken up environmental shortcuts in their bid to catch up with
the West, the USA should take a look at the environmental profigacy, which is going on within. From opening up virgin
territories for oil exploration to relaxing the standards for drinking water, Mr. Bush’s policies are not exactly beneficial,
not even to America’s interests. We realize that we are all in this together and that pollution anywhere should be a global
concern otherwise there will only be more tunnels at the end of the tunnel.
26. Both official and corporate India is allergic to:
(A)Failure of Monsoon (B) Poverty and Inequality
(C)Slowdown in Industrial Production (D) Mention of Clean Technology
27. If the rate of premature death increases it will:
(A)Exert added burden on the crumbling economy (B)Have adverse social and economic consequences
(C)Make positive effect on our effort to control population (D) Have less job aspirants in the society
28. According to the passage, the two wheeler industry is not adequately concerned about :
(A)Passenger safety on the roads (B) Life cover insurance of the vehicle owner
(C)Pollution control system in the vehicle (D) Rising cost of the two wheelers
29. What could be the reason behind timing of the haze report just before the Kyoto meet?
(A) United Nations is working hand-in-glove with U.S.A.
(B) Organizers of the forthcoming meet to teach a lesson to the U.S.A.
(C) Drawing attention of the world towards devastating effects of environment degradation.
(D) U.S.A. wants to use it as a handle against the developing countries in the forthcoming meet
30. Which of the following is the indication of environmental degradation in South Asia?
(A)Social and economic inequality (B) Crumbling health care system
(C)Inadequate pollution control system (D) Radically changing monsoon pattern
Read the following passage and answer the questions 31 to 35:
The fundamental principle is that Article 14 forbids class legislation but permits reasonable classification for the purpose
of legislation which classification must satisfy the twin tests of classification being founded on an intelligible differentia
which distinguishes persons or things that are grouped together from those that are left out of the group and that differentia
must have a rational nexus to the object sought to be achieved by the Statute in question. The thrust of Article 14 is that
the citizen is entitled to equality before law and equal protection of laws. In the very nature of things the society being
composed of unequal a welfare State will have to strive by both executive and legislative action to help the less fortunate
in society to ameliorate their condition so that the social and economic inequality in the society may be bridged. This
would necessitate a legislative application to a group of citizens otherwise unequal and amelioration of whose lot is the
object of state affirmative action. In the absence of the doctrine of classification such legislation is likely to flounder on
the bed rock of equality enshrined in Article 14. The Court realistically appraising the social and economic inequality and
keeping in view the guidelines on which the State action must move as constitutionally laid down in Part IV of the
Constitution evolved the doctrine of classification. The doctrine was evolved to sustain a legislation or State action
designed to help weaker sections of the society or some such segments of the society in need of succour. Legislative and
executive action may accordingly be sustained if it satisfies the twin tests of reasonable classification and the rational
principle correlated to the object sought to be achieved.
The concept of equality before the law does not involve the idea of absolute equality among human beings which is a
physical impossibility. All that Article 14 guarantees is a similarity of treatment contra-distinguished from identical
treatment. Equality before law means that among equals the law should be equal and should be equally administered and
that the likes should be treated alike. Equality before the law does not mean that things which are different shall be as
though they are the same. It ofcourse means denial of any special privilege by reason of birth, creed or the like. The
legislation as well as the executive government, while dealing with diverse problems arising out of an infinite variety of
human relations must of necessity have the power of making special laws, to attain any particular object and to achieve
that object it must have the power of selection or classification of persons and things upon which such laws are to operate.
31. Right to equality, one of the fundamental rights, is enunciated in the constitution under Part III, Article :
(A) 12 (B) 13
(C) 14 (D) 15
32. The main thrust of Right to equality is that it permits:
(A) Class legislation (B) Equality before law and equal protection under the law
(C) Absolute equality (D) Special privilege by reason of birth
33. The social and economic inequality in the society can be bridged by:
(A) Executive and legislative action (B) Universal suffrage
(C) Identical treatment (D) none of the above
34. The doctrine of classification is evolved to:
(A)Help weaker sections of the society (B) Provide absolute equality
(C)Provide identical treatment (D) none of the above
35. While dealing with diverse problems arising out of an infinite variety of human relations, the government :
(A) Must have the power of making special laws (B) Must not have any power to make special laws
(C) Must have power to withdraw equal rights (D) none of the above
Read the following passage and answer the Question Nos. 36 to 41:
The decisive shift in British Policy really came about under mass pressure in the autumn and winter of 1945 to 46 – the
months which Perderel Moon while editing Wavell’s Journal has perceptively described as ‘The Edge of a Volcano’.
Very foolishly, the British initially decided to hold public trials of several hundreds of the 20,000 I.N.A. prisoners (as
well as dismissing from service and detaining without trial no less than 7,000). They compounded the folly by holding
the first trial in the Red Fort, Delhi in November 1945, and putting on the dock together a Hindu, a Muslim and a Sikh
(P.K. Sehgal, Shah Nawaz, Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon). Bhulabhai Desai, Tejbahadur Sapru and Nehru appeared for the
defense (the latter putting on his barrister’s gown after 25 years), and the Muslim League also joined the countrywide
protest. On 20 November, an Intelligence Bureau note admitted that “there has seldom been a matter which has attracted
so much Indian public interest and, it is safe to say, sympathy … this particular brand of sympathy cuts across communal
barriers.’ A journalist (B. Shiva Rao) visiting the Red Fort prisoners on the same day reported that ‘There is not the
slightest feeling among them of Hindu and Muslim … A majority of the men now awaiting trial in the Red Fort is Muslim.
Some of these men are bitter that Mr. Jinnah is keeping alive a controversy about Pakistan.’ The British became extremely
nervous about the I.N.A. spirit spreading to the Indian Army, and in January the Punjab Governor reported that a Lahore
reception for released I.N.A. prisoners had been attended by Indian soldiers in uniform.
36. Which heading is more appropriate to assign to the above passage?
(A) Wavell’s Journal (B) Role of Muslim League
(C) I.N.A. Trials (D) Red Fort Prisoners
37. The trial of P.K.Sehgal, Shah Nawaz and Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon symbolises
(A) Communal harmony (B) threat to all religious persons
(C) Threat to persons fighting for the freedom (D) British reaction against the natives
38. I.N.A. stands for
(A) Indian National Assembly (B) Indian National Association
(C) Inter-national Association (D) Indian National Army
39. ‘There has seldom been a matter which has attracted so much Indian Public Interest and, it is safe to say, sympathy
… this particular brand of sympathy cuts across communal barriers.’ Who sympathises to whom and against whom?
(A)Muslims sympathised with Shah Nawaz against the British
(B)Hindus sympathised with P.K. Sehgal against the British
(C)Sikhs sympathised with Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon against the British
(D)Indians sympathised with the persons who were to be trialled
40. The majority of people waiting for trial outside the Red Fort and criticising Jinnah were the
(A) Hindus (B) Muslims
(C) Sikhs (D) Hindus and Muslims both
41. The sympathy of Indian soldiers in uniform with the released I.N.A. prisoners at Lahore indicates
(A)Feeling of Nationalism and Fraternity (B) Rebellious nature of Indian soldiers
(C)Simply to participate in the reception party (D) none of the above
Read the following passage and answer the questions 42 to 46:
Each day at the Shantiniketan School starts with the Saraswati Vandana. When painting competitions are held in the
school, images of Hindu gods and goddesses are most common. Sanskrit is a favourite subject of many student. Nothing
new about it except that the 1,200 - odd students studying in the Hindu - run school are Muslims.
In 1983, when Ranchodbhai Kiri started Shantiniketan in the all - Muslim Juhapura area of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, only
20 percent of the students were Muslims. But when riots involving the Muslims of Juhapura and the Hindus of nearby
Jivrajpark - Vejalpur affected the locality, Hindus started migrating. Today, all the students are Muslims and the school
is an unparalled example of harmony. In the 2002, when a section of inflamed Muslims wanted the school closed, the
parents of the students stood like a wall behind it.
Shantiniketan’s principal says, “We never thought of moving the school out of the area because of the love and affection
of the local Muslims. Indeed they value the high standard of education which we have set.” Such is the reputation of
the school that some of the local Muslim strongmen accused of involvement in communal riots are willing to protect
the school during the riots.
The parents of Shantiniketan’s students believe that it’s the best school when it comes to the quality of the teaching.
A large number of students have gone for both graduation and post-graduation studies. Significantly, the only Muslim
teacher in the 40 - member teaching staff, Husena Mansuri, teaches Sanskrit. In fact, she is so happy at the school that
she recently declined the principal skip of another Muslim - run school.
Some of the students’ entries in a recent school painting competition mere truly moving. One drew a picture of Bharat
Mata with a mosque and temple, while another portrayed a boy tying rakhi to his sister. Truly, Shantiniketan is a beacon
of hope that, despite the provocations from both communities, Hindus and Muslims can live side-by-side with mutual
respect.
42. How the Shantiniketan school starts the day ?
(A) National anthem (B) Prayer
(C) Saraswati Vandana (D) Puja
43. Write the subject which is preferred by most of the students
(A) Hindi (B) English
(C) Sanskrit (D) Gujarati
44. Who protects the school during the riot times?
(A) Local Muslims (B) Hindus
(C) Politicians (D) Christians
45. Who is the teacher of Sanskrit?
(A) Ranchodbhai Kiri (B) Manisha Vakil
(C) Husena Mansuri (D) Husena Kkatoon
46. What is the hope despite the communal riots ?
(A) Hindus and Muslims cannot live side by side
(B) Hindus and Muslims can live side by side
(C) Only Hindus can live
(D) Only Muslims can live
Read the following passage carefully and answer questions from 47 to 52:
It should be remembered that the nationalist movement in India, like all nationalist movements, was essentially a
bourgeois movement. It represented the natural historical stage of development, and to consider it or to criticise it as
a working-class movement is wrong. Gandhi represented that movement and the Indian masses in relation to that
movement to a supreme degree, and he became the voice of Indian people to that extent. The main contribution of Gandhi
to India and the Indian masses has been through the powerful movements which he launched through the National
Congress. Through nation-wide action he sought to mould the millions, and largely succeeded in doing so, and changing
them from a demoralised, timid and hopeless mass, bullied and crushed by every dominant interest, and incapable of
resistance, into a people with self-respect and self-reliance, resisting tyranny, and capable of united action and sacrifice
for a larger cause.
Gandhi made people think of political and economic issues and every village and every bazaar hummed with argument
and debate on the new ideas and hopes that filled the people. That was an amazing psychological change. The time was
ripe for it, of course, and circumstances and world conditions worked for this change. But a great leader is necessary to
take advantage of circumstances and conditions. Gandhi was that leader, and he released many of the bonds that
imprisoned and disabled our minds, and none of us who experienced it can ever forget that great feeling of release and
exhilaration that came over the Indian people.
Gandhi has played a revolutionary role in India of the greatest importance because he knew how to make the most of the
objective conditions and could reach the heart of the masses, while groups with a more advanced ideology functioned
largely in the air because they did not fit in with those conditions and could therefore not evoke any substantial response
from the masses.
It is perfectly true that Gandhi, functioning in the nationalist plane, does not think in terms of the conflict of classes, and
tries to compose their differences. But the action he has indulged and taught the people has inevitably raised mass
consciousness tremendously and made social issues vital. Gandhi and the Congress must be judged by the policies they
pursue and the action they indulge in. But behind this, personality counts and colours those policies and activities. In the
case of very exceptional person like Gandhi the question of personality becomes especially important in order to
understand and appraise him. To us he has represented the spirit and honour of India, the yearning of her sorrowing
millions to be rid of their innumerable burdens, and an insult to him by the British Government or others has been an
insult to India and her people.
47. Which one of the following is true of the given passage?
(A) The passage is a critique of Gandhi’s role in Indian movement for independence.
(B) The passage hails the role of Gandhi in India’s freedom movement.
(C) The author is neutral on Gandhi’s role in India’s freedom movement.
(D) It is an account of Indian National Congress’s support to the working-class movement.
48. The change that the Gandhian movement brought among the Indian masses was
(A)Physical (B) Cultural
(C)Technological (D) Psychological
49. To consider the nationalist movement or to criticise it as a working-class movement was wrong because it was a
(A) Historical movement (B) Voice of the Indian people
(C) Bourgeois movement (D) Movement represented by Gandhi
50. Gandhi played a revolutionary role in India because he could
(A) Preach morality (B) Reach the heart of Indians
(C) See the conflict of classes (D) Lead the Indian National Congress
51. Groups with advanced ideology functioned in the air as they did not fit in with
(A) Objective conditions of masses (B) The Gandhian ideology
(C) The class consciousness of the people (D) The differences among masses
52. The author concludes the passage by
(A) Criticizing the Indian masses (B) The Gandhian movement
(C) Pointing out the importance of the personality of Gandhi
(D) Identifying the sorrows of millions of Indians
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions 53 to 58.
The phrase “What is it like?” stands for a fundamental thought process. How does one go about observing and reporting
on things and events that occupy segments of earth space? Of all the infinite variety of phenomena on the face of the
earth, how does one decide what phenomena to observe? There is no such thing as a complete description of the earth or
any part of it, for every microscopic point on the earth’s surface differs from every other such point. Experience shows
that the things observed are already familiar, because they are like phenomena that occur at home or because they resemble
the abstract images and models developed in the human mind.
How are abstract images formed ? Humans alone among the animals possess language; their words symbolize not only
specific things but also mental images of classes of things. People can remember what they have seen or experienced
because they attach a word symbol to them.
During the long record of our efforts to gain more and more knowledge about the face of the earth as the human habitat,
there has been a continuing interplay between things and events. The direct observation through the senses is described
as a percept; the mental image is described as a concept. Percepts are what some people describe as reality, in contrast to
mental images, which are theoretical, implying that they are not real.
The relation of Percept to Concept is not as simple as the definition implies. It is now quite clear that people of different
cultures or even individuals in the same culture develop different mental images of reality and what they perceive is a
reflection of these preconceptions. The direct observation of things and events on the face of the earth is so clearly a
function of the mental images of the mind of the observer that the whole idea of reality must be reconsidered.
Concepts determine what the observer perceives, yet concepts are derived from the generalizations of previous percepts.
What happens is that the educated observer is taught to accept a set of concepts and then sharpens or changes these
concepts during a professional career. In any one field of scholarship, professional opinion at one time determines what
concepts and procedures are acceptable, and these form a kind of model of scholarly behaviour.
53. The problem raised in the passage reflects on
(A) thought process (B) human behaviour
(C) Cultural perceptions (D) professional opinion
54. According to the passage, human beings have mostly in mind
(A) Observation of things (B) Preparation of mental images
(C) Expression through language (D) to gain knowledge
55. Concept means
(A) A mental image (B) A reality
(C) An idea expressed in language form (D) All the above
56. The relation of Percept to Concept is
(A) Positive (B) Negative
(C) Reflective (D) Absolute
57. In the passage, the earth is taken as
(A) The Globe (B) The Human Habitat
(C) A Celestial Body (D) A Planet
58. Percept means
(A) Direct observation through the senses (B) A conceived idea
(C) Ends of a spectrum (D) An abstract image
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions 59 to 64:
The catalytic fact of the twentieth century is uncontrollable development, consumerist society, political materialism, and
spiritual devaluation. This inordinate development has led to the transcendental ‘second reality’ of sacred perception that
biologically transcendence is a part of human life. As the century closes, it dawns with imperative vigour that the ‘first
reality’ of enlightened rationalism and the ‘second reality’ of the Beyond have to be harmonised in a worthy state of man.
The de facto values describe what we are, they portray the ‘is’ of our ethic, they are est values (Latin est means is). The
ideal values tell us what we ought to be, they are esto values (Latin esto ‘ought to be’). Both have to be in the ebb and
flow of consciousness. The ever new science and technology and the ever-perennial faith are two modes of one certainty,
that is the wholeness of man, his courage to be, his share in Being.
The materialistic foundations of science have crumbled down. Science itself has proved that matter is energy, processes
are as valid as facts, and affirmed the non-materiality of the universe. The encounter of the ‘two cultures’, the scientific
and the humane, will restore the normal vision, and will be the bedrock of a ‘science of understanding’ in the new century.
It will give new meaning to the ancient perception that quantity (measure) and quality (value) coexist at the root of nature.
Human endeavours cannot afford to be humanistically irresponsible.
59. The problem raised in the passage reflects overall on
(A) Consumerism (B) Materialism
(C) Spiritual devaluation (D) Inordinate development
60. The ‘de facto’ values in the passage means
(A) What is (B) What ought to be
(C) What can be (D) where it is?
61. According to the passage, the ‘first reality’ constitutes
(A) Economic prosperity (B) Political development
(C) Sacred perception of life (D) Enlightened rationalism
62. Encounter of the ‘two cultures’, the scientific and the human implies
(A) Restoration of normal vision (B) Universe is both material and non-material
(C) Man is superior to nature (D) Co-existence of quantity and quality in nature
63. The contents of the passage are
(A) Descriptive (B) Prescriptive
(C) Axiomatic (D) Optional
64. The passage indicates that science has proved that
(A) universe is material (B) matter is energy
(C) Nature has abundance (D) humans are irresponsible
Read the following passage carefully and answer questions 65 to 70:
All historians are interpreters of text if they be private letters, Government records or parish birth lists or whatever. For
most kinds of historians, these are only the necessary means to understanding something other than the texts themselves,
such as a political action or a historical trend, whereas for the intellectual historian, a full understanding of his chosen
texts is itself the aim of his enquiries. Of course, the intellectual history is particularly prone to draw on the focus of other
disciplines that are habitually interpreting texts for purposes of their own, probing the reasoning that ostensibly connects
premises and conclusions. Furthermore, the boundaries with adjacent sub disciplines are shifting and indistinct: the history
of art and the history of science both claim a certain autonomy, partly just because they require specialised technical
skills, but both can also be seen as part of a wider intellectual history, as is evident when one considers, for example, the
common stock of knowledge about cosmological beliefs or moral ideals of a period.
Like all historians, the intellectual historian is a consumer rather than a producer of ‘methods’. His distinctiveness lies in
which aspect of the past he is trying to illuminate, not in having exclusive possession of either a corpus of evidence or a
body of techniques. That being said, it does seem that the label ‘intellectual history’ attracts a disproportionate share of
misunderstanding.
It is alleged that intellectual history is the history of something that never really mattered. The long dominance of the
historical profession by political historians bred a kind of philistinism, an unspoken belief that power and its exercise was
‘what mattered’. The prejudice was reinforced by the assertion that political action was never really the outcome of
principles or ideas that were ‘more flapdoodle’. The legacy of this precept is still discernible in the tendency to require
ideas to have ‘licensed’ the political class before they can be deemed worthy of intellectual attention, as if there were
some reasons why the history of art or science, of philosophy or literature, were somehow of interest and significance
than the history of Parties or Parliaments. Perhaps in recent years the mirror-image of this philistinism has been more
common in the claim that ideas of any one is of systematic expression or sophistication do not matter, as if they were
only held by a minority.
Answer the following questions:
65. An intellectual historian aims to fully understand
(A) the chosen texts of his own (B) political actions
(C) historical trends (D) his enquiries
66. Intellectual historians do not claim exclusive possession of
(A) conclusions (B) any corpus of evidence
(C) distinctiveness (D) habitual interpretation
67. The misconceptions about intellectual history stem from
(A) a body of techniques (B) the common stock of knowledge
(C) the dominance of political historians (D) cosmological beliefs
68. What is philistinism?
(A) Reinforcement of prejudice (B) Fabrication of reasons
(C) The hold of land-owning classes (D) Belief that power and its exercise matter
69. Knowledge of cosmological beliefs or moral ideas of a period can be drawn as part of
(A) literary criticism (B) history of science
(C) history of philosophy (D) intellectual history
70. The claim that ideas of any one is of systematic expression do not matter, as if they were held by a minority, is
(A) to have a licensed political class (B) a political action
(C) a philosophy of literature (D) the mirror-image of philistinism
ANSWER KEY
1 – A, 2 – B, 3 – A, 4 – A, 5 – B, 6 – B, 7 – B, 8 – D, 9 – D, 10 – C, 11 – D, 12 – A, 13 – A, 14 – B, 15 – D, 16 – C,
17 – A, 18 – B, 19 – C, 20 – A, 21 – B, 22 – A, 23 – C, 24 – A, 25 – C, 26 – D, 27 – B, 28 – C, 29 – C, 30 – D, 31 – C,
32 – B, 33 – A, 34 – A, 35 – A, 36 – C, 37 – A, 38 – D, 39 – D, 40 – B, 41 – A42 – C, 43 – C, 44 – A, 45 – C, 46 – B,
47 – B, 48 – D, 49 – C, 50 – B, 51 – A, 52 – C, 53 – C, 54 – A, 55 – A, 56 – C, 57 – B, 58 – A, 59 – C, 60 – A, 61 – D,
62 – A, 63 – A, 64 – B, 65 – A, 66 – B, 67 – C, 68 – D, 69 – D, 70 - D