Questions

A passage is given with five questions following it. Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the given four alternatives.

Teaching about compassion and empathy in schools can help deal with problems of climate change and environmental degradation,” says Barbara Maas, secretary,
Standing Committee for Environment and Conservation, International Buddhist Confederation (IBC). She was in New Delhi to participate in the IBC’s governing
council meeting, December 10-11, 2017. “We started an awareness campaign in the year 2005-2006 with H H The Dalai Lama when we learnt that tiger skins were
being traded in China and Tibet. At that time, I was not a Buddhist; I wrote to the Dalai Lama asking him to say that ‘this is harmful’ and he wrote back to say, “We
will stop this.” He used very strong words during the Kalachakra in 2006, when he said, ‘If he sees people wearing fur and skins, he doesn’t feel like living. ‘This sent
huge shock waves in the Himalayan community. Within six months, in Lhasa, people ripped the fur trim of their tubba, the traditional Tibetan dress.

The messenger was ideal and the audience was receptive,” says Maas who is a conservationist. She has studied the battered fox’s behavioral ecology in Serengeti, Africa. She heads the endangered species conservation at the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) International Foundation for Nature, Berlin. “I met Samdhong Rinpoche, The Karmapa, HH the Dalai Lama and Geshe Lhakdor and I thought, if by being a Buddhist, you become like this, I am going for it, “says Maas, who led the IBC initiative for including the Buddhist perspective to the global discourse on climate change by presenting the statement, ‘The Time to Act is Now: a Buddhist Declaration on Climate Change,’ at COP21 in Paris.

“It was for the first time in the history of Buddhism that leaders of different sanghas came together to take a stand on anything! The statement lists a couple of important things: the first is that we amass things that we don’t need; there is overpopulation; we need to live with contentment and deal with each other and the environment with love and compassion,” elaborates Maas. She is an ardent advocate of a vegan diet because “consuming meat and milk globally contributes more to climate change than all "transport in the world.”

Turning vegetarian or vegan usually requires complete change of perspective before one gives up eating their favorite food. What are the Buddhist ways to bring about this kind of change at the individual level? “To change our behavior, Buddhism is an ideal vehicle; it made me a more contented person,” says Maas, who grew up in Germany, as a sausage chomping, meat-loving individual. She says, “If I can change, so can anybody”.

What did HH Dalai Lama said to his followers which came as a blow to them?

In the following question, the sentence given with blank to be filled in with an appropriate word. Select the correct alternative out of the four and indicate it by selecting the appropriate option.

The velocity of an object is the rate of change of its position ______ respect to a frame of reference.

Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives and click the button corresponding to it.

Modern civilisation is completely dependent on energy, which has therefore to be abundant and also economical. About 85% of the world's energy is supplied by oil, coal and natural gas while nuclear, hydro, wind and solar power and biomass supply the rest. Coal, nuclear and hydro are used primarily to generate electricity while natural gas is widely used for heating. Biomass is used both for heating and cooking. The wind and solar power is the future's hope as they are sustainable energy sources. Oil powers almost all machines that move and that makes oil uniquely versatile. Oil powered airplanes carry 500 people across the widest oceans at nearly the speed of sound. Oil powered machines produce and transport food. Oil powered machines are ubiquitous. Clearly, we live in the age of oil but it is drawing to a close. According to data available if oil production remains constant until it's gone, there is enough to last 42 years. Oil wells will produce less as they become depleted, which will make it impossible to keep production constant. Similarly natural gas and coal will last another 61 years and 133 years respectively. Naturally, as they become scarce, they become expensive, leading to a worldwide energy crisis. If we are to survive on this planet, we have to make a transition to sustainable energy sources. The transition may be willy-nilly or planned - the choice is ours.

The dawning era of limited and expensive energy will be very difficult for everyone on earth but will be even more difficult if it is not anticipated. It is of utmost importance that the public and policymakers understand the global energy crisis and act in tandem to ensure that the species 'homo sapiens' does not become extinct.

The energy sources of the future are

In the following question, out of the four alternatives, select the alternative which best expresses the meaning of the idiom/phrase.

A thorn in the flesh

In the following question, sentence given with blank is to be filled in with an appropriate word. Select the correct alternative out of the four and indicate it by selecting the appropriate option.

For three months, I have had a ______________headache.

In the following question, out of the given four alternatives, select the alternative which best expresses the meaning of the Idiom/Phrase.

Catch 22

In the following question, out of the four alternatives, select the alternative which will improve the bracketed part of the sentence. In case no improvement is needed, select "no improvement".

Humongous changes (has occurred) in the last two decades

The sentences given with blanks are to be filled with an appropriate word(s). Four alternatives are suggested for each question. For each question, choose the correct alternative and click the button corresponding to it.

The new railway counter at Dwarka should _____ all travellers.