English Questions

A passage is given with 5 questions following it. Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.

The quest to find life outside the solar system got a big boost with the discovery of seven Earth-size extra-solar planets, or exoplanets, orbiting a dwarf star about 40 light years away. Unlike earlier discoveries of exoplanets, all seven planets could possibly have liquid water — a key to life as we know it on Earth — with three planets having the greatest chance. This is by far the largest collection of Earth-like planets in the habitable 'Goldilocks' zone of a star — neither too close nor too far from a star, which raises the possibility of liquid water being present on the surface. Only Earth has liquid water in the solar system. Since the dwarf star is much cooler than the Sun, the dimming of light each time a planet passes or transits before the star could be easily recorded from Earth unlike in cases when planets transit a Sun-like bright star. Since the initial discovery of three planets was made using the Chile-based Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope, the exoplanet system is called TRAPPIST-1.

How many planets in our solar system have liquid water?

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

Another marvel on the far side of the lake was a little farm that felt like a secret in the city. Some of the gaunt Karnataka labourers even looked away when children came to dig and eat. But the greatest pleasure, this side of the lake, was the jamun tree. A few months back, Kalu and Sunil had a feast in the branches, shaking down a few berries for Mirchi.

That's when they came to know the second-coolest thing about the jamun tree : There were parrots nesting in it. Since then, some other road boys had been capturing the parrots one by one to sell at the Marol Market, but Sunil had brought Kalu around to the belief that the birds should be left as they were. Sunil listened for their squawks each morning, to make sure they hadn't been abducted in the night.

Kalu's expertise was in the recycling bins inside airline catering compounds. Private waste collectors emptied these dumpsters on a regular basis, but Kalu had mastered the trash truck's schedules. The night before pickup, Kalu would climb over the barbed-wire fences and raid the overflowing bins.

Kalu's routine had become known by the local police, however. He kept getting caught, until some constables proposed a different arrangement. Kalu could keep his metal scrap if he'd pass on information he picked up on the road about local drug dealers.

What was the second coolest thing about the Jamun tree?

In the following question, out of the four alternatives, choose the word which is opposite in meaning to the given word and click the button corresponding to it.

RUGGED

In the following question, out of the given four alternatives, select the one which is opposite in meaning of the given word.

Discordant

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.
They said, “We pray everyday.”

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

The conclusion of World Trade Organization’s 11th biennial ministerial conference at Buenos Aires was worrisome. From an Indian standpoint, there was no loss as status quo continues in the most important issue: the right to continue the food security programme by using support prices. But the inability of the negotiators to reach even one substantive outcome suggests that WTO’s efficacy is under question. As a 164-country multilateral organisation dedicated to crafting rules of trade through consensus, WTO represents the optimal bet for developing countries such as India. Strengthening WTO is in India’s best interest.

Perhaps the biggest threat to WTO’s efficacy today is the attitude of the US. The world’s largest economy appears to have lost faith in the organisation and has begun to undermine one of its most successful segments, the dispute redressal mechanism. This is significant as the US has been directly involved in nearly half of all cases brought to WTO. Separately, large groups of countries decided to pursue negotiations on e-commerce, investment facilitation and removal of trade obstacles for medium and small scale industries. By itself this should not weaken WTO. But it comes at a time when there is growing frustration with gridlock at WTO.

India did well to defend its position on its food security programme. The envisaged reform package which will see a greater use of direct cash transfers to beneficiaries will be in sync with what developed countries do. But it’s important for India to enhance its efforts to reinvigorate WTO. In this context, India’s plan to organise a meeting of some countries early next year is a step in the right direction. WTO represents the best available platform to accommodate interests of a diverse set of nations. Therefore, India should be at the forefront of moves to fortify it.

What is the biggest threat to WTO’s efficacy today?

Rearrange the parts of the sentence in correct order.
In Tamil nadu,
P-cows and bulls are worshipped and celebrated
Q-on Maattu Pongal,
R-and the finale is Jallikattu

The boy fell .... the bicycle.