Reading Comprehension

Which of the following cannot be inferred from the passage that

1. the CVC Bill will be passed and the Directive will be challenged in the court
2. the CVC Bill will be passed but the Directive will never be challenged in the court
3. the CVC Bill will fail in the lower house
4. if the CVC Bill is passed, there is a great probability that it will be challenged in the court
   

Directions: Read the following passage and then answer the question that follows:

PASSAGE – II

There was some fierce criticism of the Central Vigilance Commission Bill before it was passed in the Rajya Sabha, thus paving the way for its enactment. Unfortunately, there was not enough. More than one provision in the Bill — which gives the office of the CVC a statutory status and broad superintendence over the Central Bureau of Investigation — may deserve to be critically examined. The introduction of one clause deserves to be roundly condemned. What Section 6A does is to restore the so-called `Single Directive', an iniquitous rule or guideline that was explicitly and unambiguously quashed by the Supreme Court. Under the Single Directive, it was mandatory for the CBI to secure the prior approval of the Central Government before launching an investigation into a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act if the allegations related to an official of the rank of Joint Secretary or higher. The Supreme Court in the Vineet Narain/Jain hawala judgment of 1997 struck down the Directive. Every person accused of committing the same offence is to be dealt with in the same manner..., the Court had observed when striking down the Directive.

Against this background, the very presence of section 6A in the CVC Bill is mischievous. It is particularly shocking when one considers that an earlier bid to smuggle the Directive into the CVC ordinance had met with grave judicial disapproval. This eventually resulted in the ordinance being amended, with the offending provision thrown out. It is mystifying why, having been bitten once, the Government is not shy of daring the Supreme Court again. What the resurfacing of the Directive suggests is that, when it comes to issues where it has a vested interest, the higher bureaucracy can exercise an extraordinary influence over its political masters.

The much bigger issue of course is that the Directive can be, and has been, used to stymie the investigation of corruption cases. Since some of these cases involve a conspiratorial nexus between bureaucrats and politicians, many politicians clearly have a vested interest in keeping the Directive alive. The cynical manner in which such self-serving legal protection is perceived was evident during the debate on the CVC Bill. One of the issues discussed was this: when such protection existed for bureaucrats, why was there no such cover for MPs? The Supreme Court struck down the Directive on the grounds that it was discriminatory and that there was no reasonable basis for distinguishing between decision-making officers and other bureaucrats for the purpose of investigating an offence for which they were accused. After the Bill is formally enacted, it is virtually certain that the Directive will be challenged in Court. It never pays to speculate about the workings of the judicial mind, but there will be no surprise if the Directive is struck down, if the Government is taken sternly to task, and if the Court has the last laugh.

What is the main idea of the passage?

Directions: Read the following passage and then answer the question that follows:

PASSAGE – II

There was some fierce criticism of the Central Vigilance Commission Bill before it was passed in the Rajya Sabha, thus paving the way for its enactment. Unfortunately, there was not enough. More than one provision in the Bill — which gives the office of the CVC a statutory status and broad superintendence over the Central Bureau of Investigation — may deserve to be critically examined. The introduction of one clause deserves to be roundly condemned. What Section 6A does is to restore the so-called `Single Directive', an iniquitous rule or guideline that was explicitly and unambiguously quashed by the Supreme Court. Under the Single Directive, it was mandatory for the CBI to secure the prior approval of the Central Government before launching an investigation into a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act if the allegations related to an official of the rank of Joint Secretary or higher. The Supreme Court in the Vineet Narain/Jain hawala judgment of 1997 struck down the Directive. Every person accused of committing the same offence is to be dealt with in the same manner..., the Court had observed when striking down the Directive.

Against this background, the very presence of section 6A in the CVC Bill is mischievous. It is particularly shocking when one considers that an earlier bid to smuggle the Directive into the CVC ordinance had met with grave judicial disapproval. This eventually resulted in the ordinance being amended, with the offending provision thrown out. It is mystifying why, having been bitten once, the Government is not shy of daring the Supreme Court again. What the resurfacing of the Directive suggests is that, when it comes to issues where it has a vested interest, the higher bureaucracy can exercise an extraordinary influence over its political masters.

The much bigger issue of course is that the Directive can be, and has been, used to stymie the investigation of corruption cases. Since some of these cases involve a conspiratorial nexus between bureaucrats and politicians, many politicians clearly have a vested interest in keeping the Directive alive. The cynical manner in which such self-serving legal protection is perceived was evident during the debate on the CVC Bill. One of the issues discussed was this: when such protection existed for bureaucrats, why was there no such cover for MPs? The Supreme Court struck down the Directive on the grounds that it was discriminatory and that there was no reasonable basis for distinguishing between decision-making officers and other bureaucrats for the purpose of investigating an offence for which they were accused. After the Bill is formally enacted, it is virtually certain that the Directive will be challenged in Court. It never pays to speculate about the workings of the judicial mind, but there will be no surprise if the Directive is struck down, if the Government is taken sternly to task, and if the Court has the last laugh.

Which of the following can be inferred from the passage? I. As per the Supreme Court judgments, only social circumstances can be taken as a determinant of backwardness. II. The constitution stipulates that an amendment should not alter its basic structure. III. Under certain circumstances amendment might be allowed to change the basic structure of the constitution.

Directions: Read the following passage and then answer the question that follows:

PASSAGE – I

By setting up a Group of Ministers (GoM) to study the possibilities of a Constitution Amendment Bill to provide for job reservation to the forward castes on economic grounds, the Union Government has set the ball rolling for yet another controversy on the concept of quotas. The Prime Minister's commitment came in response to a resolution orchestrated by the Chief Minister recommending statutory changes to reserve 14 per cent of Government jobs for the poor among the forward castes. The Chief Minister's shrewd move put immense pressure on parties and groups across the political spectrum. A campaign on the same issue by the Social Justice Front has been in full swing for some time; it gained strength after Jats were included in the list of Other Backward Classes a couple of years ago.

In a State where the forward castes continue to play a significant role in determining election outcomes, CM's move set the terms of the discourse. The high level of unemployment is a general problem, but it is particularly severe among people belonging to the forward castes. The proportion of educated unemployed should, after all, be higher among the forward castes than among castes kept out of the education system over the years. Political parties across the spectrum can hardly afford to gloss over this reality in a context where the Government continues to be seen as the provider of jobs. Add to this the sense of power that comes with Government jobs in most parts of India and one can understand the desperation in the quest for such opportunities.

A constitutional amendment, however, is not as simple as it is made out to be. A proposal to include the poor among the forward castes in the reservation bracket was made by the Congress party in the context of implementing the Mandal Commission's recommendation. The Narasimha Rao Government's proposal to reserve 10 per cent of Government jobs for the poor among the forward castes was struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1992. Article 15 (4) of the Constitution, inserted by the Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951, is very specific. The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes aside, it sanctions special provisions for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes. Article 16 (4) sanctions reservation in Government jobs for any backward class of citizens, which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State. Article 340 relates to the appointment of a Commission to investigate the conditions of backward classes. What is established by a series of Supreme Court judgments is that only social and educational circumstances can be taken as determinants of backwardness. The proposal now is to amend the Constitution, but amendments are subject to judicial review and need to avoid falling foul of the `basic structure' doctrine propounded and refined by the Supreme Court. A consensus among political parties might turn out to be a necessary but insufficient condition for making reservation for the poor among the forward castes a feasible proposition.

Which of the following cannot be concluded from the passage?

1. the single directive inclusion in the CVC Bill was permitted by the judiciary
2. an earlier attempt to include the single directive into the CVC Bill was thwarted by the judiciary
3. inclusion of the single directive has been unanimously supported by both the houses of the Parliament

Directions: Read the following passage and then answer the question that follows:

PASSAGE – II

There was some fierce criticism of the Central Vigilance Commission Bill before it was passed in the Rajya Sabha, thus paving the way for its enactment. Unfortunately, there was not enough. More than one provision in the Bill — which gives the office of the CVC a statutory status and broad superintendence over the Central Bureau of Investigation — may deserve to be critically examined. The introduction of one clause deserves to be roundly condemned. What Section 6A does is to restore the so-called `Single Directive', an iniquitous rule or guideline that was explicitly and unambiguously quashed by the Supreme Court. Under the Single Directive, it was mandatory for the CBI to secure the prior approval of the Central Government before launching an investigation into a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act if the allegations related to an official of the rank of Joint Secretary or higher. The Supreme Court in the Vineet Narain/Jain hawala judgment of 1997 struck down the Directive. Every person accused of committing the same offence is to be dealt with in the same manner..., the Court had observed when striking down the Directive.

Against this background, the very presence of section 6A in the CVC Bill is mischievous. It is particularly shocking when one considers that an earlier bid to smuggle the Directive into the CVC ordinance had met with grave judicial disapproval. This eventually resulted in the ordinance being amended, with the offending provision thrown out. It is mystifying why, having been bitten once, the Government is not shy of daring the Supreme Court again. What the resurfacing of the Directive suggests is that, when it comes to issues where it has a vested interest, the higher bureaucracy can exercise an extraordinary influence over its political masters.

The much bigger issue of course is that the Directive can be, and has been, used to stymie the investigation of corruption cases. Since some of these cases involve a conspiratorial nexus between bureaucrats and politicians, many politicians clearly have a vested interest in keeping the Directive alive. The cynical manner in which such self-serving legal protection is perceived was evident during the debate on the CVC Bill. One of the issues discussed was this: when such protection existed for bureaucrats, why was there no such cover for MPs? The Supreme Court struck down the Directive on the grounds that it was discriminatory and that there was no reasonable basis for distinguishing between decision-making officers and other bureaucrats for the purpose of investigating an offence for which they were accused. After the Bill is formally enacted, it is virtually certain that the Directive will be challenged in Court. It never pays to speculate about the workings of the judicial mind, but there will be no surprise if the Directive is struck down, if the Government is taken sternly to task, and if the Court has the last laugh.

Directions: Read the passage and answer the question that follows. Would you believe that the first outstanding deaf teacher in America was a Frenchman? His name was Laurent Clerc. He became a friend of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and together they founded America's first school for the deaf. At the age of 12, Laurent entered the Royal Institution for the Deaf in Paris where he excelled in his studies. After he graduated, the school asked him to stay on as an assistant teacher. He was a dedicated teacher; and consequently, was promoted to teach the highest class. Meanwhile, in America, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was studying to be a minister when he met a young deaf girl, Alice Cogswell. He was upset to learn that there were no schools for the deaf in America. He was very concerned about the lack of educational opportunities for the deaf. Therefore, in 1815, Gallaudet sailed to London, England to seek ideas on how to teach deaf people. However, he was unable to get help and he became frustrated. While he was there, he met a French educator of the deaf who invited him to go to Paris to spend three months learning at the Royal Institution for the Deaf, the school where Laurent Clerc was teaching. Gallaudet accepted the offer, and went to the Royal Institution for the Deaf, where Clerc became his Sign Language teacher. At the school, Clerc led a busy life. He taught signs to Principal Gallaudet; he taught the pupils; and he taught hearing men who came to the school to study deaf education. At that time, the state would only pay for each student to stay at the school for five years. Therefore, Clerc had to teach his pupils as much as he could as quickly as possible.

How could the main idea of this passage be best stated?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

Imagine for a moment that each of us is entrusted at birth with a hope diamond in the rough, a precious and sacred particle of the Divine Will. Through us, the will of the creator can enter the material world. We bear the seed, we are the seed, the growing tip of the universal will. In a vast and incomprehensible process, the unconditioned will gradually spiritualises the material universe, drawing it more directly into its service. We may recognise this difficult and uncertain process in ourselves, if we endeavor to cooperate with this great work of the spirit. We cut and polish our diamond will, returning it to the service of the divine will from which it originates…

What does service to the divine will consist of? In partial response we envision an immense ecology of energies. Within the Earth’s living ecosystem we witness the exchange, transformation, and recycling of the energies of heat, light, and molecular bonds in the food chain.
Similarly, the sacred, universal ecosystem harmonises the exchange and transformation of the energies of sensation, consciousness, and the rest, within the great chain of being. Human beings naturally use, convert, and store energies.

According to you, what is the theme of the passage?

The passage answers all the below given questions except

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

The famous gorilla experiment conducted by Harvard University when a woman dressed in a gorilla suit ambled across the floor thumping her chest, but 50 % of the audience didn’t notice. The study shows we often err when it comes to concentration and perception. Humans have a limited capacity for attention which in turn means that we have a limited capacity to process information at any given point of time.
When we open our eyes, the whole image gets projected on the retina, but only selective parts of the image are sensed by the brain. This is because as the amount of information in the image was too great to be processed, the brain selectively puts its attention on the most important aspects. Scientists have found that highly prominent events may go unnoticed. 
Researchers now recognize a phenomenon known as “change blindness”, which means that people often fail to detect changes in their field of vision, so long that the change takes place during an eye movement or when the view is somehow interrupted. It has been discovered that our brain tries to construct a meaningful whole out of stimuli that fits in with the scenario of its interest and is capable of discarding majority of other information. This fact can be easily explained by observing a child play the game “spot the difference”. On the first look the child finds the pictures to be similar. Only after careful attention, does he find the differences. The present decade has seen a lot of research into this field. The questions that the scientists are trying to answer are: What is the amount of visual input a brain can consciously and unconsciously encode?
Why do some objects come in the field of observation and not others? What happens to information that is subconsciously perceived?
Arien Mack and Irvin Rock also conducted many experiments and co-authored a book “Inattentional Blindness” in 1998. One of their experiments was very simple. They asked the subjects to observe a cross on the computer screen. The subjects were repetitively asked to judge which arm of the cross was longer. They were in a way made to concentrate on the cross. After some time, unrepentantly, another brightly coloured object was inserted in their field of vision. The researchers reported that the participants often failed to notice the unexpected object on the screen, even when it appeared in the middle of their line of vision. The study gave a conclusive proof that there exists a wide gulf between perception and attention. Some psychologists are of the view that intentional blindness may be in some way related to selective memory instead of selective perception. The cause of the ‘intentional amnesia’ may be organic, functional or circumstantial.
Harvard university researchers have concluded that “we consciously see far less of our world than we think we do. We might well encode much of our visual world without awareness.” We believe that we generally see what is in front of us and by basically looking. But looking and seeing are two different events. It has been observed that we look without seeing during moments of intense concentration. We have all observed that our eyes may be open, the images form on the retina, but still we have limited perception. We all remember these moments of blurred visuals and they come usually when either we are in deep thoughts or involved in an interesting conversation.

Which of the following statements can be directly inferred from the passage about intentional blindness?

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

The famous gorilla experiment conducted by Harvard University when a woman dressed in a gorilla suit ambled across the floor thumping her chest, but 50 % of the audience didn’t notice. The study shows we often err when it comes to concentration and perception. Humans have a limited capacity for attention which in turn means that we have a limited capacity to process information at any given point of time.
When we open our eyes, the whole image gets projected on the retina, but only selective parts of the image are sensed by the brain. This is because as the amount of information in the image was too great to be processed, the brain selectively puts its attention on the most important aspects. Scientists have found that highly prominent events may go unnoticed. 
Researchers now recognize a phenomenon known as “change blindness”, which means that people often fail to detect changes in their field of vision, so long that the change takes place during an eye movement or when the view is somehow interrupted. It has been discovered that our brain tries to construct a meaningful whole out of stimuli that fits in with the scenario of its interest and is capable of discarding majority of other information. This fact can be easily explained by observing a child play the game “spot the difference”. On the first look the child finds the pictures to be similar. Only after careful attention, does he find the differences. The present decade has seen a lot of research into this field. The questions that the scientists are trying to answer are: What is the amount of visual input a brain can consciously and unconsciously encode?
Why do some objects come in the field of observation and not others? What happens to information that is subconsciously perceived?
Arien Mack and Irvin Rock also conducted many experiments and co-authored a book “Inattentional Blindness” in 1998. One of their experiments was very simple. They asked the subjects to observe a cross on the computer screen. The subjects were repetitively asked to judge which arm of the cross was longer. They were in a way made to concentrate on the cross. After some time, unrepentantly, another brightly coloured object was inserted in their field of vision. The researchers reported that the participants often failed to notice the unexpected object on the screen, even when it appeared in the middle of their line of vision. The study gave a conclusive proof that there exists a wide gulf between perception and attention. Some psychologists are of the view that intentional blindness may be in some way related to selective memory instead of selective perception. The cause of the ‘intentional amnesia’ may be organic, functional or circumstantial.
Harvard university researchers have concluded that “we consciously see far less of our world than we think we do. We might well encode much of our visual world without awareness.” We believe that we generally see what is in front of us and by basically looking. But looking and seeing are two different events. It has been observed that we look without seeing during moments of intense concentration. We have all observed that our eyes may be open, the images form on the retina, but still we have limited perception. We all remember these moments of blurred visuals and they come usually when either we are in deep thoughts or involved in an interesting conversation.

The primary purpose of the passage is

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

The famous gorilla experiment conducted by Harvard University when a woman dressed in a gorilla suit ambled across the floor thumping her chest, but 50 % of the audience didn’t notice. The study shows we often err when it comes to concentration and perception. Humans have a limited capacity for attention which in turn means that we have a limited capacity to process information at any given point of time.
When we open our eyes, the whole image gets projected on the retina, but only selective parts of the image are sensed by the brain. This is because as the amount of information in the image was too great to be processed, the brain selectively puts its attention on the most important aspects. Scientists have found that highly prominent events may go unnoticed. 
Researchers now recognize a phenomenon known as “change blindness”, which means that people often fail to detect changes in their field of vision, so long that the change takes place during an eye movement or when the view is somehow interrupted. It has been discovered that our brain tries to construct a meaningful whole out of stimuli that fits in with the scenario of its interest and is capable of discarding majority of other information. This fact can be easily explained by observing a child play the game “spot the difference”. On the first look the child finds the pictures to be similar. Only after careful attention, does he find the differences. The present decade has seen a lot of research into this field. The questions that the scientists are trying to answer are: What is the amount of visual input a brain can consciously and unconsciously encode?
Why do some objects come in the field of observation and not others? What happens to information that is subconsciously perceived?
Arien Mack and Irvin Rock also conducted many experiments and co-authored a book “Inattentional Blindness” in 1998. One of their experiments was very simple. They asked the subjects to observe a cross on the computer screen. The subjects were repetitively asked to judge which arm of the cross was longer. They were in a way made to concentrate on the cross. After some time, unrepentantly, another brightly coloured object was inserted in their field of vision. The researchers reported that the participants often failed to notice the unexpected object on the screen, even when it appeared in the middle of their line of vision. The study gave a conclusive proof that there exists a wide gulf between perception and attention. Some psychologists are of the view that intentional blindness may be in some way related to selective memory instead of selective perception. The cause of the ‘intentional amnesia’ may be organic, functional or circumstantial.
Harvard university researchers have concluded that “we consciously see far less of our world than we think we do. We might well encode much of our visual world without awareness.” We believe that we generally see what is in front of us and by basically looking. But looking and seeing are two different events. It has been observed that we look without seeing during moments of intense concentration. We have all observed that our eyes may be open, the images form on the retina, but still we have limited perception. We all remember these moments of blurred visuals and they come usually when either we are in deep thoughts or involved in an interesting conversation.

The role of the last paragraph of the passage is

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

The famous gorilla experiment conducted by Harvard University when a woman dressed in a gorilla suit ambled across the floor thumping her chest, but 50 % of the audience didn’t notice. The study shows we often err when it comes to concentration and perception. Humans have a limited capacity for attention which in turn means that we have a limited capacity to process information at any given point of time.
When we open our eyes, the whole image gets projected on the retina, but only selective parts of the image are sensed by the brain. This is because as the amount of information in the image was too great to be processed, the brain selectively puts its attention on the most important aspects. Scientists have found that highly prominent events may go unnoticed. 
Researchers now recognize a phenomenon known as “change blindness”, which means that people often fail to detect changes in their field of vision, so long that the change takes place during an eye movement or when the view is somehow interrupted. It has been discovered that our brain tries to construct a meaningful whole out of stimuli that fits in with the scenario of its interest and is capable of discarding majority of other information. This fact can be easily explained by observing a child play the game “spot the difference”. On the first look the child finds the pictures to be similar. Only after careful attention, does he find the differences. The present decade has seen a lot of research into this field. The questions that the scientists are trying to answer are: What is the amount of visual input a brain can consciously and unconsciously encode?
Why do some objects come in the field of observation and not others? What happens to information that is subconsciously perceived?
Arien Mack and Irvin Rock also conducted many experiments and co-authored a book “Inattentional Blindness” in 1998. One of their experiments was very simple. They asked the subjects to observe a cross on the computer screen. The subjects were repetitively asked to judge which arm of the cross was longer. They were in a way made to concentrate on the cross. After some time, unrepentantly, another brightly coloured object was inserted in their field of vision. The researchers reported that the participants often failed to notice the unexpected object on the screen, even when it appeared in the middle of their line of vision. The study gave a conclusive proof that there exists a wide gulf between perception and attention. Some psychologists are of the view that intentional blindness may be in some way related to selective memory instead of selective perception. The cause of the ‘intentional amnesia’ may be organic, functional or circumstantial.
Harvard university researchers have concluded that “we consciously see far less of our world than we think we do. We might well encode much of our visual world without awareness.” We believe that we generally see what is in front of us and by basically looking. But looking and seeing are two different events. It has been observed that we look without seeing during moments of intense concentration. We have all observed that our eyes may be open, the images form on the retina, but still we have limited perception. We all remember these moments of blurred visuals and they come usually when either we are in deep thoughts or involved in an interesting conversation.

All of the following were contributing factors for the wave of anti-Semitism except:

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

A DNA molecule is made up of two long polymers, the polymers being the mixture of compounds formed by polymerization, and consisting essentially of repeating structural units. The strands are joined together with hydrogen atoms and are woven together in the shape of a double helix. Each of the polymers contains chemicals called nucleotides which in turn can be broken down into many individualized components including four nitrogenous bases that form the basic building block of life and contain all the genetic information that an organism needs. The backbone of the DNA molecule is made up of alternating sugars and phosphates and, being quite strong, it protects the whole from damage and mutation. Since one strand is a photographic negative of the other, it is very easy to replicate the information once the structure of one of the two component strands is known and understood. Replication begins with the unwinding of the helix with an enzyme and it is not mandatory that the replication has to start at the ends of the strand. It can start anywhere and once started, the enzymes create two replication forks that continue to replicate the strand in both the directions. DNA contains all the information necessary for life processes but this information never leaves the nuclei of the cells.

One of the earliest proponents of genetic research and the role of heredity in transmission of genetic disorders, and dare one say human cloning, was the now infamous Josef Menegle, from the concentration camp of Auschwitz in the Second World War. At the acme of Hitler’s power in Germany, and indeed in most of Europe and Africa, Jew hating wasn’t just a wave; it was a way of life with not only the state machinery arrayed against them, but also a lot of otherwise unbiased citizens and fellow humans who were just caught in the maelstrom of events between the hard choices of betraying friends and neighbors and being branded traitors to the cause themselves. The Nazi party and its followers started believing in the own racial superiority and being a Jew or a gypsy meant carrying a perpetual death sentence. Indeed another contemporary of Menegle, Joseph Goebbels, who, from a failed literary writer was to become the minister of propaganda for the Nazis, commenced his attacks on Jews in 1933 and continued through 1938 when they finally took the shape of the notorious ‘Final Solution’, which looked at the total annihilation of the Jews. Menegle was especially interested in studying twins and performed a variety of experiments on them without anesthesia to determine the genetic origins of diseases as at that time medical research into twin physiology was seen as the best tool of studying the variant factor in heredity. Also, he was extremely interested in genetic segregation of the Aryan blood as he thought that Jewish and Roma blood was impure and thought that twins were the best way to carry forward the purity of lineage. Taking forward the Nazi party line of the creation and preservation of the ‘Master Race’, which included thousands of vasectomies and operations on women to weed out the undesirable parts from the population, some even credit Menegle with having impregnated hundreds, perhaps thousands, of women with the Fuhrer’s semen in order to propagate the Aryan race.

The passage mentions all of the following except:

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

A DNA molecule is made up of two long polymers, the polymers being the mixture of compounds formed by polymerization, and consisting essentially of repeating structural units. The strands are joined together with hydrogen atoms and are woven together in the shape of a double helix. Each of the polymers contains chemicals called nucleotides which in turn can be broken down into many individualized components including four nitrogenous bases that form the basic building block of life and contain all the genetic information that an organism needs. The backbone of the DNA molecule is made up of alternating sugars and phosphates and, being quite strong, it protects the whole from damage and mutation. Since one strand is a photographic negative of the other, it is very easy to replicate the information once the structure of one of the two component strands is known and understood. Replication begins with the unwinding of the helix with an enzyme and it is not mandatory that the replication has to start at the ends of the strand. It can start anywhere and once started, the enzymes create two replication forks that continue to replicate the strand in both the directions. DNA contains all the information necessary for life processes but this information never leaves the nuclei of the cells.

One of the earliest proponents of genetic research and the role of heredity in transmission of genetic disorders, and dare one say human cloning, was the now infamous Josef Menegle, from the concentration camp of Auschwitz in the Second World War. At the acme of Hitler’s power in Germany, and indeed in most of Europe and Africa, Jew hating wasn’t just a wave; it was a way of life with not only the state machinery arrayed against them, but also a lot of otherwise unbiased citizens and fellow humans who were just caught in the maelstrom of events between the hard choices of betraying friends and neighbors and being branded traitors to the cause themselves. The Nazi party and its followers started believing in the own racial superiority and being a Jew or a gypsy meant carrying a perpetual death sentence. Indeed another contemporary of Menegle, Joseph Goebbels, who, from a failed literary writer was to become the minister of propaganda for the Nazis, commenced his attacks on Jews in 1933 and continued through 1938 when they finally took the shape of the notorious ‘Final Solution’, which looked at the total annihilation of the Jews. Menegle was especially interested in studying twins and performed a variety of experiments on them without anesthesia to determine the genetic origins of diseases as at that time medical research into twin physiology was seen as the best tool of studying the variant factor in heredity. Also, he was extremely interested in genetic segregation of the Aryan blood as he thought that Jewish and Roma blood was impure and thought that twins were the best way to carry forward the purity of lineage. Taking forward the Nazi party line of the creation and preservation of the ‘Master Race’, which included thousands of vasectomies and operations on women to weed out the undesirable parts from the population, some even credit Menegle with having impregnated hundreds, perhaps thousands, of women with the Fuhrer’s semen in order to propagate the Aryan race.

Why does the author say, 'the now infamous' while referring to Josef Menegle?

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

A DNA molecule is made up of two long polymers, the polymers being the mixture of compounds formed by polymerization, and consisting essentially of repeating structural units. The strands are joined together with hydrogen atoms and are woven together in the shape of a double helix. Each of the polymers contains chemicals called nucleotides which in turn can be broken down into many individualized components including four nitrogenous bases that form the basic building block of life and contain all the genetic information that an organism needs. The backbone of the DNA molecule is made up of alternating sugars and phosphates and, being quite strong, it protects the whole from damage and mutation. Since one strand is a photographic negative of the other, it is very easy to replicate the information once the structure of one of the two component strands is known and understood. Replication begins with the unwinding of the helix with an enzyme and it is not mandatory that the replication has to start at the ends of the strand. It can start anywhere and once started, the enzymes create two replication forks that continue to replicate the strand in both the directions. DNA contains all the information necessary for life processes but this information never leaves the nuclei of the cells.

One of the earliest proponents of genetic research and the role of heredity in transmission of genetic disorders, and dare one say human cloning, was the now infamous Josef Menegle, from the concentration camp of Auschwitz in the Second World War. At the acme of Hitler’s power in Germany, and indeed in most of Europe and Africa, Jew hating wasn’t just a wave; it was a way of life with not only the state machinery arrayed against them, but also a lot of otherwise unbiased citizens and fellow humans who were just caught in the maelstrom of events between the hard choices of betraying friends and neighbors and being branded traitors to the cause themselves. The Nazi party and its followers started believing in the own racial superiority and being a Jew or a gypsy meant carrying a perpetual death sentence. Indeed another contemporary of Menegle, Joseph Goebbels, who, from a failed literary writer was to become the minister of propaganda for the Nazis, commenced his attacks on Jews in 1933 and continued through 1938 when they finally took the shape of the notorious ‘Final Solution’, which looked at the total annihilation of the Jews. Menegle was especially interested in studying twins and performed a variety of experiments on them without anesthesia to determine the genetic origins of diseases as at that time medical research into twin physiology was seen as the best tool of studying the variant factor in heredity. Also, he was extremely interested in genetic segregation of the Aryan blood as he thought that Jewish and Roma blood was impure and thought that twins were the best way to carry forward the purity of lineage. Taking forward the Nazi party line of the creation and preservation of the ‘Master Race’, which included thousands of vasectomies and operations on women to weed out the undesirable parts from the population, some even credit Menegle with having impregnated hundreds, perhaps thousands, of women with the Fuhrer’s semen in order to propagate the Aryan race.

What is the thematic highlight of the passage?

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage:

There are two terms in ancient Chinese literature which seem to be used indiscriminately for God. One is T'ien, which has come to include the material heavens, the sky; and the other is Shang Ti, which has come to include the spirits of deceased Emperors. These two terms appear simultaneously, so to speak, in the earliest documents which have come down to us, dating back to something like the twentieth century before Christ. Priority, however, belongs beyond all doubt to T'ien, which it would have been more natural to find meaning, first the visible heavens, and secondly the Deity, whose existence beyond the sky would be inferred from such phenomena as lightning, thunder, wind, and rain.

But the process appears to have been the other way, so far at any rate as the written language is concerned. The Chinese script, when it first came into existence, was purely pictorial, and confined to visible objects which were comparatively easy to depict.

There does not seem to have been any attempt to draw a picture of the sky. On the other hand, the character T'ien was just such a representation of a human being as would be expected rom the hand of a prehistoric artist; and under this unmistakable shape the character appears.

Distinction between T'ien and Shang Ti.-The term Shang Ti means literally Supreme Ruler. It is not quite so vague as T'ien, which seems to be more of an abstraction, while Shang Ti is a genuinely personal God. Reference to T'ien is usually associated with fate or destiny, calamities, blessings, prayers for help, etc. The commandments of T'ien are hard to obey; He is compassionate, to be feared. Shang Ti lives in heaven, walks, leaves tracks on the ground, enjoys the sweet savor of sacrifice, approves or disapproves of conduct, deals with rewards and punishments in a more particular way, and comes more actually into touch with the human race. Thus Shang Ti would be the God who walked in the garden in the cool of the day, the God who smelled the sweet savor of Noah's sacrifice, and the God who allowed Moses to see His back. T'ien would be the God of Gods of the Psalms, whose mercy endures for ever; the everlasting God of Isaiah, who faints not, neither is weary.