Questions

Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the given four alternatives.

The Amazon basin has been continuously inhabited for at least 10, 000 years, possibly more. Its earliest inhabitants were stone-age peoples, living in hundreds of far-flung tribes, some tiny, others numbering in the tens of thousands. It was from the west that Europeans explorers first arrived. In 1541 a Spanish expedition from Quito, led by Gonzalo Pizarro, ran short of supplies while exploring east of the Andes in what is today Peru. Pizarro’s cousin Francisco de Orellana offered to take 60 men along with the boats from the expedition and forage for supplies. De Orellana floated down the Rio Napo to its confluence with the Amazon, near Iquitos (Peru), and then to the mouth of the Amazon. Along the way his expedition suffered numerous attacks by Indians; some of the Indian warriors, they reported, were female, like the Amazons of Greek mythology, and thus the world’s greatest river got its name. No one made a serious effort to claim this sweaty territory, however, until the Portuguese built a fort near the mouth of the river at Belém in 1616, and sent Pedro Teixeira up the river to Quito and back between 1637 and 1639. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Portuguese bandeirantes (groups of roaming adventurers) penetrated ever further into the rain forest in pursuit of gold and Indian slaves, exploring as far as present-day Rondônia, and the Guaporé and Madeira river valleys. Amazonian Indians had long used the sap from rubber trees to make waterproof bags and other items. European explorers recognized the potential value of natural latex, but were unable to market it because it tended to grow soft in the heat, or brittle in the cold, and thus had limited appeal outside the rain forest. However, in 1842 American Charles Goodyear developed vulcanization (made natural rubber durable) and in 1890 Ireland’s John Dunlop patented pneumatic rubber tires. Soon there was an unquenchable demand for rubber in the recently industrialized USA and Europe, and the price of rubber on international markets soared. As profits skyrocketed, so did exploitation of the seringueiros, or rubber tappers, who were lured into the Amazon, mostly from the drought-stricken northeast, by the promise of prosperity only to be locked into a cruel system of virtual slavery dominated by seringalistas (owners of rubber-bearing forests). Rigged scales, hired guns, widespread illiteracy among the rubber tappers, and monopoly of sales and purchases all combined to perpetuate the workers’ debt and misery. In addition, seringueiros had to contend with jungle fevers, Indian attacks and all manner of deprivation.

Seringalistas refers to

In the following question, a sentence has been given in Direct/Indirect speech. Out of the four alternatives suggested, select the one which best expresses the same sentence in Indirect/Direct speech.

We said to her, "Don’t give up. You are almost there."

In the following passage, some of the words have been left out. Read the passage carefully and select the correct answer for the given blank out of the four alternatives.

This was enough ___________ the book store-owner-turned librarian Husain to asses its valuable contents. "The preface of the book read: 'painters __________ technical knowledge to paint, but lack to understand nature, ______________ they fail to create a masterpiece," points out Husain, adding, "All I ______________ in my life is about books and from books. The grand library ___________ the palace is a cache of knowledge."

This was enough ___________ the book store-owner-turned librarian

In the following passage, some of the words have been left out. Read the passage carefully and select the correct answer for the given blank out of thefour alternatives.

When the kerosene burned, the fuel in the tank below would be __________ pressure, and __________ a small circular flame would appear in the burner. The valve had tobe opened to let more kerosene vapour to the burner and pumping resumed. With the increase in pressure, the burner flame would spread _________ a loud noise. Tolower the flame, the valve had to be _________ opened to reduce the pressure and then tightened until the desired flame size was achieved. _________ you wanted theflame to be bigger, you had to hit the piston again. Pump stoves are still in vogue.

had to be _________ opened to reduce

In the following passage some of the words have been left out. Read the passage carefully and select the correct answer for the given blank out of the four alternatives.

The preacher challenged hundreds of thousands of young people who gathered in a ___________ Polish meadow to reject being a "____________" who retreats into video games and computer screens and instead engage in social activism and politics to create a more just world. __________ his speech with ______________, the 79- year-old pope, despite a long day of public appearances, addressed his eager audience with enthusiasm yesterday on a warm summer night. Pope Francis spoke of a ______________ that comes from merely seeking convenience, from confusing happiness with a complacent way of life that could end up depriving people of the ability to determine their own fates.

who gathered in a ___________ Polish meadow

In the following passage some of the words have been left out. Read the passage carefully and select the correct answer for the given blank out of the four alternatives.

Targeting inflation comes from a belief that policy should be _________ and transparent, so that the private sector can factor this ___________ their decision-making. The question that this ________ is: are there more "complicated" policies which _________ better? I just note that one such policy is called "nominal income targeting". _____________ it is more complicated and the private sector is deemed to be intellectually challenged.

policy should be _________ and transparent,

In the following passage some of the words have been left out. Read the passage carefully and select the correct answer for the given blank out of the four alternatives.

In Greek mythology, it is said that Lycurgus, the ruler of Sparta, ___________ a promise from his ____________, assuring him of the immutability of his laws till he returned from an _______________ journey. To make his laws immutable, Lycurgus _____________. Seven justices of the Indian Supreme Court on a historic day in 1973 christened themselves as modern­day Lycurguses, seeking to create, in India's constitutional context, an island of immutability, ___________ titled the "basic structure".

it is said that Lycurgus, the ruler of Sparta, ___________

In the following passage, some of the words have been left out. Read the passage carefully and select the correct answer for the given blank out of the four alternatives.

Of the three activities of thought, word and deed, perhaps thought is the most ______ and powerful force, for it is the ______ of the other two. Success is achieved twice, once in the mind and the second time in the real world. No matter in whose mind thought occurs; its laser-like energy seeks a target. That’s why we give so much importance to ______, seeking divine blessings before ______ on any project as we know that positive thinking is a strong force that can be ______ for the welfare and success of all.

importance to ______, seeking