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.

Where did De Orellano float down to for its confluence with the Amazon?

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.

"I always drink warm water in the morning," she said to me.

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 scene will now shift to obtaining __________________ instruments of ratification to bring the agreement into force _________________ 2020, the first year of its________________ implementation. The agreement will enter into force with the ratification of ______________ 55 countries, whose aggregate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions ________________ at least 55 per cent of global emissions.

The scene will now shift to obtaining __________________ instruments

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.

__________ his speech with

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 ______________ of gurudakshina is very ancient and it is ________________ to the Indian culture and tradition. If you are absolutely ______________ about India, then it's advisable that you first try to understand the meaning of a guru and the ________________ of his presence in the lives of those around him. This, in turn, will help you to understand what guru dakshina is. In ancient India, a teacher or a guru was a spiritually _____________ guide.

a teacher or a guru was a spiritually _____________ guide

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."

All I ______________ in my life is about books and from books.

In the following question, some part of the sentence may have errors. Find out which part of the sentence has an error and select the appropriate option. If a sentence is free from error, select 'No Error'.

Ramesh is smarter enough (A)/ to get selected for this post,(B)/ without any recommendations. (C)/ No Error (D)

The question below consists of a set of labelled sentences. Out of the four options given, select the most logical order of the sentences to form a coherent paragraph.
P: When all the credit worthy people were given loans to a logical limit, they ceased to be a part of the market.
Q: Even this would have been understandable if it could work as an eye opener.
R: Owing to the materialistic culture elsewhere, it was possible to keep selling newer products to the consumers despite having existing ones which served equally
well.
S: They were lured through advertising and marketing techniques of 'dustbinisation' of the customer; and then finally, once they became ready customers, they were
given loans and credits to help them by more and more.