Antonyms

Directions: Which of the following is most OPPOSITE in meaning to the word given in capitals as used in the passage?

FRAUGHT

Directions: The passage below is followed by a question based on its content. Answer the question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.

Our current approach to solving global warming will not work. It is flawed economically, because carbon taxes will cost a fortune and do little, and it is flawed politically because negotiations to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions will become ever more fraught and divisive. And even if you disagree on both counts, the current approach is also flawed technologically.
Many countries are now setting ambitious carbon cutting goals ahead of global negotiations. Let us imagine that the world ultimately agrees on an ambitious target. Say, we decide to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by three-quarters by the year 2100 while maintaining reasonable growth. Herein lies the technological problem to meet this goal, non-carbon based sources of energy would have to be astounding 2.5 times greater in 2100 than that was in the year 2000.
These figures were calculated by economists of a foreign university. Their research shows that confronting global warming effectively requires nothing short of a technological revolution. We are not taking this challenge seriously. If we continue on our current path, technological development will be nowhere near significant enough to make non-carbon based energy sources competitive with fossil fuels on price and effectiveness.
Sadly, during the international negotiations, the focus is on how much carbon to cut, rather than on how to do so. Little or no consideration will be given to whether the means of cutting emissions are sufficient to achieve the goals. Politicians will base their decisions on global warming models that simply assume that technological breakthroughs will happen by themselves. This faith is sadly and dangerously misplaced.
Economists examine the state of non-carbon based energy today - nuclear, wind, solar, and geothermal and find that, taken together, alternative energy sources would get us less than halfway towards a path of stable carbon emissions by 2050, and only a tiny fraction of the way towards stabilization by 2100. We need many times more non-carbon based energy than which is currently produced.
Yet the needed technology will not be ready in terms of scalability or stability. In many cases, there is still a need for the most basic research and development. We are not even close to getting this revolution started.
Current technology is so inefficient that to take just one example, if we were serious about wind power, we would have to blanket most countries with wind turbines to generate enough energy for everybody, and we would still have the massive problem of storage. We don't know what to do when the wind does not blow.
Policy makers should abandon fraught carbon reduction negotiations and instead make agreements to invest in research and development to get this technology to the level where it needs to be.

Directions: Which of the following is most OPPOSITE in meaning of the word given in capitals as used in the passage?

MASSIVE

Directions: The passage below is followed by a question based on its content. Answer the question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.

Our current approach to solving global warming will not work. It is flawed economically, because carbon taxes will cost a fortune and do little, and it is flawed politically because negotiations to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions will become ever more fraught and divisive. And even if you disagree on both counts, the current approach is also flawed technologically.
Many countries are now setting ambitious carbon cutting goals ahead of global negotiations. Let us imagine that the world ultimately agrees on an ambitious target. Say, we decide to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by three-quarters by the year 2100 while maintaining reasonable growth. Herein lies the technological problem to meet this goal, non-carbon based sources of energy would have to be astounding 2.5 times greater in 2100 than that was in the year 2000.
These figures were calculated by economists of a foreign university. Their research shows that confronting global warming effectively requires nothing short of a technological revolution. We are not taking this challenge seriously. If we continue on our current path, technological development will be nowhere near significant enough to make non-carbon based energy sources competitive with fossil fuels on price and effectiveness.
Sadly, during the international negotiations, the focus is on how much carbon to cut, rather than on how to do so. Little or no consideration will be given to whether the means of cutting emissions are sufficient to achieve the goals. Politicians will base their decisions on global warming models that simply assume that technological breakthroughs will happen by themselves. This faith is sadly and dangerously misplaced.
Economists examine the state of non-carbon based energy today - nuclear, wind, solar, and geothermal and find that, taken together, alternative energy sources would get us less than halfway towards a path of stable carbon emissions by 2050, and only a tiny fraction of the way towards stabilization by 2100. We need many times more non-carbon based energy than which is currently produced.
Yet the needed technology will not be ready in terms of scalability or stability. In many cases, there is still a need for the most basic research and development. We are not even close to getting this revolution started.
Current technology is so inefficient that to take just one example, if we were serious about wind power, we would have to blanket most countries with wind turbines to generate enough energy for everybody, and we would still have the massive problem of storage. We don't know what to do when the wind does not blow.
Policy makers should abandon fraught carbon reduction negotiations and instead make agreements to invest in research and development to get this technology to the level where it needs to be.

Directions: Which of the following is the most OPPOSITE in meaning to the word given in capitals as used in the passage?

REASONABLE

Directions: The passage below is followed by a question based on its content. Answer the question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.

Our current approach to solving global warming will not work. It is flawed economically, because carbon taxes will cost a fortune and do little, and it is flawed politically because negotiations to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions will become ever more fraught and divisive. And even if you disagree on both counts, the current approach is also flawed technologically.
Many countries are now setting ambitious carbon cutting goals ahead of global negotiations. Let us imagine that the world ultimately agrees on an ambitious target. Say, we decide to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by three-quarters by the year 2100 while maintaining reasonable growth. Herein lies the technological problem to meet this goal, non-carbon based sources of energy would have to be astounding 2.5 times greater in 2100 than that was in the year 2000.
These figures were calculated by economists of a foreign university. Their research shows that confronting global warming effectively requires nothing short of a technological revolution. We are not taking this challenge seriously. If we continue on our current path, technological development will be nowhere near significant enough to make non-carbon based energy sources competitive with fossil fuels on price and effectiveness.
Sadly, during the international negotiations, the focus is on how much carbon to cut, rather than on how to do so. Little or no consideration will be given to whether the means of cutting emissions are sufficient to achieve the goals. Politicians will base their decisions on global warming models that simply assume that technological breakthroughs will happen by themselves. This faith is sadly and dangerously misplaced.
Economists examine the state of non-carbon based energy today - nuclear, wind, solar, and geothermal and find that, taken together, alternative energy sources would get us less than halfway towards a path of stable carbon emissions by 2050, and only a tiny fraction of the way towards stabilization by 2100. We need many times more non-carbon based energy than which is currently produced.
Yet the needed technology will not be ready in terms of scalability or stability. In many cases, there is still a need for the most basic research and development. We are not even close to getting this revolution started.
Current technology is so inefficient that to take just one example, if we were serious about wind power, we would have to blanket most countries with wind turbines to generate enough energy for everybody, and we would still have the massive problem of storage. We don't know what to do when the wind does not blow.
Policy makers should abandon fraught carbon reduction negotiations and instead make agreements to invest in research and development to get this technology to the level where it needs to be.

Choose the word most opposite in meaning to the word ‘Realised’, as used in the passage.

Directions: Read the following passage carefully to answer the given question. 

In 1971, China contributed US \$ 2.78 billion to world trade (exports), which was 0.82 percent of world trade. Since then, its contribution to world trade consistently increased: US \$ 183.59 billion (3.37 percent) in 1998; and US $ 250 billion (over 4 percent) in 2001. India's contribution in 1971 was US $ 2.04 billion (0.60 percent of world trade) and US \$ 33.44 billion in 1998. In 2001, we achieved exports of US \$ 44.5 billion (0.70 percent of world trade). The export figures between India and China showed a big difference in 2001 though it was marginal in 1971.

The key factors influencing world trade are: External trade and foreign investment; relocation of global manufacturing basis; and rapid technological developments. External trade & foreign investment: Capital flows in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI's) and foreign invested enterprises (FIE's). Cross border acquisitions and mergers constituted a major percentage of FDI flows. FDI flow to developing countries increased by six fold from 1990 to 1998. During 1995-98, FDI flow increased to US \$ 1886 billion. Of this, China alone attracted US \$ 164 billion while India's share was only US \$ 11 billion. The impact of FDI to a host country's economy is widely recognised. The foreign-funded firms contributed to nearly 45 per cent of China's export during 1999.

Relocation of global manufacturing basis: Large-scale shift in global manufacturing basis to Asian countries has occurred through the 1990's, with factor costs, especially wages increased in developed countries. The other factor which determined the choice of shifting was the labour laws and work related rules and regulations. China which was associated with rigid labour laws and other economy related rules and regulations came out with a concept of special export zones which are a foreign enclave in the country where no labour laws and other economy related rules are made applicable. In fact, China soon realised that it may not be possible to change labour laws and other economy related rules in the country so soon. However, having realised their importance for attracting FDI and to the growth of their economy, it accepted the idea of creating these foreign enclaves such as Shenzen and attracted foreign capital and technology. That is the reason why approximately 45 per cent of China's exports come from such zones.

Rapid technological developments: Rapid technological developments have led to a steep decline in transportation and telecommunication costs. These in turn have vastly reduced the impact of physical distance for global commerce. Though China had a distinct disadvantage of the lack of knowledge of English, it has come out with Chinese as computer compatible language. It has declared that Chinese will be the world's no.1 computer language soon. The flow of FDI capital has also brought with it the technology from the West including the USA. The cultural ties with Taiwan have helped China to a great extent in achieving access to technology and export.

China has achieved the number one position in world trade in regard to toys and stuffed toys. China captured, in 1999, business to the tune of US \$ 52 billion out of global US \$ 300 billion in textile and clothing. China achieved more than US \$ 20 billion in world trade of US \$ 850 billion in electronics and computers in 1999-2000. China's next target is gem and jewellery which is low cost capital but highly labour oriented industry of approximately US \$ 40 billion. China is equally exploring organic and inorganic chemicals which had a world trade of US \$ 574 billion last year.

Destination wise analysis will show that in the USA's import of top 100 items, China figures among top exporters in respect of 61 items while India appears in only 15 items. Similar is the position in regard to the European Union. In the top 100 items of import by Japan, China appears at 76 items. China has foreign reserves of more than US \$ 250 billion but the share of FDI's in it is a question mark.

Should India be afraid of China or should prepare for competing with China in international trade. This writer is of the opinion that where we cannot compete we should co-operate with China and bring some success to our industry by importing semi finished products both for domestic and international trade. India should learn lesson from the next door neighbour and modify its economic policies, including the Exim policy with the sole motive of converting human factor from liability to an asset.

Choose the word most opposite in meaning to the word 'retreat', as used in the passage.

Directions: Read the following passage carefully to answer the given question. Some words/phrases are printed in bold to help you locate them while answer the question.

Bangladesh, a country numbering almost 140 million, whose population is 90 percent Muslim, is a prime example of a nation under siege from a deluge of NGOs. Since 1981, foreign NGOs have created an indigenous mercenary army and set up a parallel government of their own in the country. Given handsome salaries, bribes, awards, vehicles, machinery and huge funds, the nouveau riche mercenaries pretending to be writers, lawyers, teachers, artists and human–right activists, among others, have set up factories, printing presses, and publishing houses.

Bangladesh is probably the world leader in non–governmental organizations, NGOs, perhaps because economically it is near the bottom of the heap. The 20,000 or so NGOs there operate mainly in the country's 86,000 villages, providing education, health, small loans and agricultural development far more efficiently than the corrupt and inefficient government. Yet, while outsiders have lavished praise on the NGOs, Bangladeshis themselves are ambivalent. Some fear the organizations are becoming a parallel State, financed by foreigners and accountable to nobody.

Most of the foreign money (around \$ 250m a year) goes to a handful of famous NGOs such as the Grameen Bank, the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), Proshika and the Association for Social Advancement. These are among the biggest rural–development organizations in the world, and they have an awesome reach.

BRAC alone has 1900 full–time employees, 34,000 part–time teachers, and 2.3m members (96% female) in 66,000 villages. Its schools admit only those who do not attend or have dropped out of government schools, and at least 70% of these must be girls. It hires teachers from each village, of whom 96% are women without teaching qualifications. They run schools in rented thatched huts, set neither exams nor homework, and have flexible school hours that enable children to work in the fields with their parents, reducing the incentive to drop out. Teachers are paid 600 taka (\$ 12) a month and reach children that government teachers (paid six times as much) cannot.

The Grameen Bank has pioneered small loans to the poor. Commercial banks say it is too risky to make loans of around $100 to people without assets. But Grameen organizes borrowers into groups which guarantee a loan to any member (exerting peer pressure for repayment). Its repayment rate is over 95%. Other NGOs have followed this route, and now more than poor people (almost all women) have obtained small loans for shops, sewing machines, chicken farming and the like.

Micro–credit is one reason for the fall in poverty in Bangladesh, from 59% of the population in 1991–92 to 53% in 1995–96. A more important reason is the attention to women that NGOs have given. By directing education, jobs and credit at women, the NGOs have created a social revolution in a conservative Muslim society. This is mainly why the fertility rate in Bangladesh has crashed from 6.1 births per woman in 1960 to 3.4 births today. It is expected to decline to 2.5 births by 2010. The mullahs hate NGOs for eroding the traditional male–dominated structure, and occasionally attack their offices.

Resentment also comes from politicians, bureaucrats and leftists, all of whose shortcomings have been exposed by the success of NGOs. Leftwing critics accuse NGOs of exploitative rates of interest: BRAC charges 15%, Grameen up to 22%. Yet the high rate of repayment is the best evidence of affordability. In fact, in labour–intensive work, interest charges are a small proportion of total costs.

Grameen Bank has a policy of only giving its loans to women. This has led to calls that its effects are weakening the institution of the family. It is interested in pursuing a policy that will lead Bangladesh to a situation to that we see in the West where the institution of marriage is on the retreat (marriage break down is at an all time high). When one examines who the patrons of the Grameen Bank are things become much clearer. The World Bank, ADB together with the UN, sets the whole agenda of the Grameen Bank. The World Bank is of course the best example of an NGO, whose abject failures at alleviating poverty are all too well documented.

Politicians complain that NGOs have money and power without accountability, embezzle foreign funds and cook their books. The NGOs reply that their accounts are audited, and sometimes not just in Bangladesh but also, to satisfy donors, by auditors abroad. They say they are accountable both to donors and the villagers they serve. The easy availability of donor funds has encouraged some crooks to set themselves up as NGOs. But corruption among NGOs is a trickle compared to the rivers in government.

Choose the word most opposite in meaning to the word 'Recognised', as used in the passage.

Directions: Read the following passage carefully to answer the given question. 

In 1971, China contributed US \$ 2.78 billion to world trade (exports), which was 0.82 percent of world trade. Since then, its contribution to world trade consistently increased: US \$ 183.59 billion (3.37 percent) in 1998; and US $ 250 billion (over 4 percent) in 2001. India's contribution in 1971 was US $ 2.04 billion (0.60 percent of world trade) and US \$ 33.44 billion in 1998. In 2001, we achieved exports of US \$ 44.5 billion (0.70 percent of world trade). The export figures between India and China showed a big difference in 2001 though it was marginal in 1971.

The key factors influencing world trade are: External trade and foreign investment; relocation of global manufacturing basis; and rapid technological developments. External trade & foreign investment: Capital flows in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI's) and foreign invested enterprises (FIE's). Cross border acquisitions and mergers constituted a major percentage of FDI flows. FDI flow to developing countries increased by six fold from 1990 to 1998. During 1995-98, FDI flow increased to US \$ 1886 billion. Of this, China alone attracted US \$ 164 billion while India's share was only US \$ 11 billion. The impact of FDI to a host country's economy is widely recognised. The foreign-funded firms contributed to nearly 45 per cent of China's export during 1999.

Relocation of global manufacturing basis: Large-scale shift in global manufacturing basis to Asian countries has occurred through the 1990's, with factor costs, especially wages increased in developed countries. The other factor which determined the choice of shifting was the labour laws and work related rules and regulations. China which was associated with rigid labour laws and other economy related rules and regulations came out with a concept of special export zones which are a foreign enclave in the country where no labour laws and other economy related rules are made applicable. In fact, China soon realised that it may not be possible to change labour laws and other economy related rules in the country so soon. However, having realised their importance for attracting FDI and to the growth of their economy, it accepted the idea of creating these foreign enclaves such as Shenzen and attracted foreign capital and technology. That is the reason why approximately 45 per cent of China's exports come from such zones.

Rapid technological developments: Rapid technological developments have led to a steep decline in transportation and telecommunication costs. These in turn have vastly reduced the impact of physical distance for global commerce. Though China had a distinct disadvantage of the lack of knowledge of English, it has come out with Chinese as computer compatible language. It has declared that Chinese will be the world's no.1 computer language soon. The flow of FDI capital has also brought with it the technology from the West including the USA. The cultural ties with Taiwan have helped China to a great extent in achieving access to technology and export.

China has achieved the number one position in world trade in regard to toys and stuffed toys. China captured, in 1999, business to the tune of US \$ 52 billion out of global US \$ 300 billion in textile and clothing. China achieved more than US \$ 20 billion in world trade of US \$ 850 billion in electronics and computers in 1999-2000. China's next target is gem and jewellery which is low cost capital but highly labour oriented industry of approximately US \$ 40 billion. China is equally exploring organic and inorganic chemicals which had a world trade of US \$ 574 billion last year.

Destination wise analysis will show that in the USA's import of top 100 items, China figures among top exporters in respect of 61 items while India appears in only 15 items. Similar is the position in regard to the European Union. In the top 100 items of import by Japan, China appears at 76 items. China has foreign reserves of more than US \$ 250 billion but the share of FDI's in it is a question mark.

Should India be afraid of China or should prepare for competing with China in international trade. This writer is of the opinion that where we cannot compete we should co-operate with China and bring some success to our industry by importing semi finished products both for domestic and international trade. India should learn lesson from the next door neighbour and modify its economic policies, including the Exim policy with the sole motive of converting human factor from liability to an asset.

Choose the word most opposite in meaning to the word 'Fragile', as used in the passage.

Directions: Read the following passage carefully to answer the given question. Some words/phrases are printed in bold to help you locate them while answer the question.

My father died twice. The first time was in an ambulance as he rushed to the hospital after suffering a heart attack. His heart had stopped beating for several minutes before the paramedics were able to revive him. Afterwards, he described a vision he had as he lay without a pulse in the speeding ambulance. He saw his brother Joe, who had passed away some years earlier, dressed in flowing white robes sitting on a kind of throne at the top of hill. As my father approached, Joe was laughing uproariously and waving his hand, urging him to turn around and go back. The second time my father died was about three years later. Again it was his heart that failed him. This time, though his brother Joe wasn¢t there to wave him back to this world.

What my father encountered in the back of that ambulance was a classic example of a near death experience (NDE). According to statistics compiled by the International Association for Near-Death studies some 35-40% of people who have had a close brush with death later report a NDE. They commonly tell of a feeling that the self has left the body a sensation of moving through a dark space or tunnel a vision of golden or white light and the receipt in some form of the message "your time has not yet come."

Are NDEs evidence for life after death or are they just the last, desperate projections of the dying brain? While modem science can explain why we age, it tells us very little about why we die, much less about what happens if anything after death. "In death, science is pitted against an impenetrable information barrier", says David Darling, an astronomer and physicist who has written several books on death and dying. "When we die, each of us makes a solo flight across that barrier and gives up all possibility of sending back news of what we find."

Many people don't require hard evidence about what's on the other side. They are satisfied with the explanations provided for millennia by the world's religions. But for those not blessed with religious faith, science may never be able to prove whether the NDE is a news flash from the hereafter or just one of the mind's grandest illusions. Darling suggests there are two events that approximate death: the near death experiences itself and the memory loss suffered by victims of Alzheimer's disease and traumatic brain injury. "Losing your memory is perhaps as close as we can come to death without actually dying", he says. "The person is dead because the memories are gone. And memories are the only things that give meaning and identity to our lives."

If the difference between life and death is a question of memory, could death's sting be parried by replacing the fragile human memory with an infallible computerized one? In his book Design for Dying completed earlier this year before he died from prostate cancer, psychologist and LSD guru Timothy Leary explored various strategies for achieving immortality. One of the most promising tactics, he suggested is to transfer an individual's consciousness into a supercomputer before death. This could be done by using multimedia technologies (video, audio, CDs) to record all your thoughts, feelings and experience onto a computer equipped with artificial intelligence. The result: a real life ghost in the machine. Endowed with all your memories, the new computerized you would be able to chat and interact with people just as you would-except it would be doing so long after you had died.

The idea is not as far-out as it seems. According to Chris Winter, Peter Cochrane and Ian Pearson, futurologists at British Telecom's Advanced Research Department, computers (or “soulcatchers") with storage and processing capacities equivalent to the human brain will be developed within the next 20 years. "We will be able to transfer human minds into some machine form", says Pearson. Perhaps our only chance of making full use of such technology is to become part of the technology itself.

But are these intimations of immortality real? The silicon soul described by Leary is actually not a captured consciousness at all, but an elaborate interactive home video of history. As useful and entertaining as that might be, it’s a far cry from life after death. And how big an improvement is it over say the good old-fashioned book? We can already make contact with some of the world's great lost simply by dipping into the novels of James Joyce or the poems of John Donne.

In his book, ‘Dancing on the Grave’, British anthropologist Nigel Barely describes a trip to Africa during which a group of tribal elders explain their idea of reincarnation by visiting a local brewery. “You could see returned bottles through a plate glass window", Barely writes “entering via one door, whirling from machine to machine being endlessly refilled with squirting beer relabelled and pushed out through another door.... life, death, spirit and body”. Now you have seen (the elders) said. Though it comes from Africa, this little episode is a fitting metaphor for Western attitudes towards death: the body is a machine and death is a spanner in the works. But you don't have to postulate the existence of an eternal soul to acknowledge that there may be some things in the universe, like death, that we just can't fix. Let's not be too proud that our technological prowess may one day bring immortality. “Never send to know for whom the computer crashes, it crashes for thee”.

Choose the word most opposite in meaning to the word 'Parried', as used in the passage.

Directions: Read the following passage carefully to answer the given question. Some words/phrases are printed in bold to help you locate them while answer the question.

My father died twice. The first time was in an ambulance as he rushed to the hospital after suffering a heart attack. His heart had stopped beating for several minutes before the paramedics were able to revive him. Afterwards, he described a vision he had as he lay without a pulse in the speeding ambulance. He saw his brother Joe, who had passed away some years earlier, dressed in flowing white robes sitting on a kind of throne at the top of hill. As my father approached, Joe was laughing uproariously and waving his hand, urging him to turn around and go back. The second time my father died was about three years later. Again it was his heart that failed him. This time, though his brother Joe wasn¢t there to wave him back to this world.

What my father encountered in the back of that ambulance was a classic example of a near death experience (NDE). According to statistics compiled by the International Association for Near-Death studies some 35-40% of people who have had a close brush with death later report a NDE. They commonly tell of a feeling that the self has left the body a sensation of moving through a dark space or tunnel a vision of golden or white light and the receipt in some form of the message "your time has not yet come."

Are NDEs evidence for life after death or are they just the last, desperate projections of the dying brain? While modem science can explain why we age, it tells us very little about why we die, much less about what happens if anything after death. "In death, science is pitted against an impenetrable information barrier", says David Darling, an astronomer and physicist who has written several books on death and dying. "When we die, each of us makes a solo flight across that barrier and gives up all possibility of sending back news of what we find."

Many people don't require hard evidence about what's on the other side. They are satisfied with the explanations provided for millennia by the world's religions. But for those not blessed with religious faith, science may never be able to prove whether the NDE is a news flash from the hereafter or just one of the mind's grandest illusions. Darling suggests there are two events that approximate death: the near death experiences itself and the memory loss suffered by victims of Alzheimer's disease and traumatic brain injury. "Losing your memory is perhaps as close as we can come to death without actually dying", he says. "The person is dead because the memories are gone. And memories are the only things that give meaning and identity to our lives."

If the difference between life and death is a question of memory, could death's sting be parried by replacing the fragile human memory with an infallible computerized one? In his book Design for Dying completed earlier this year before he died from prostate cancer, psychologist and LSD guru Timothy Leary explored various strategies for achieving immortality. One of the most promising tactics, he suggested is to transfer an individual's consciousness into a supercomputer before death. This could be done by using multimedia technologies (video, audio, CDs) to record all your thoughts, feelings and experience onto a computer equipped with artificial intelligence. The result: a real life ghost in the machine. Endowed with all your memories, the new computerized you would be able to chat and interact with people just as you would-except it would be doing so long after you had died.

The idea is not as far-out as it seems. According to Chris Winter, Peter Cochrane and Ian Pearson, futurologists at British Telecom's Advanced Research Department, computers (or “soulcatchers") with storage and processing capacities equivalent to the human brain will be developed within the next 20 years. "We will be able to transfer human minds into some machine form", says Pearson. Perhaps our only chance of making full use of such technology is to become part of the technology itself.

But are these intimations of immortality real? The silicon soul described by Leary is actually not a captured consciousness at all, but an elaborate interactive home video of history. As useful and entertaining as that might be, it’s a far cry from life after death. And how big an improvement is it over say the good old-fashioned book? We can already make contact with some of the world's great lost simply by dipping into the novels of James Joyce or the poems of John Donne.

In his book, ‘Dancing on the Grave’, British anthropologist Nigel Barely describes a trip to Africa during which a group of tribal elders explain their idea of reincarnation by visiting a local brewery. “You could see returned bottles through a plate glass window", Barely writes “entering via one door, whirling from machine to machine being endlessly refilled with squirting beer relabelled and pushed out through another door.... life, death, spirit and body”. Now you have seen (the elders) said. Though it comes from Africa, this little episode is a fitting metaphor for Western attitudes towards death: the body is a machine and death is a spanner in the works. But you don't have to postulate the existence of an eternal soul to acknowledge that there may be some things in the universe, like death, that we just can't fix. Let's not be too proud that our technological prowess may one day bring immortality. “Never send to know for whom the computer crashes, it crashes for thee”.