Reading Comprehension

'This time it is more complex and has several new aspects to it' is in reference to

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

A synthesis of the regional or group cultures into a common national culture has already been achieved thrice in the history of India—first with the fusion of the Aryan Dravidian, then with the Hindu and Buddhist and lastly with the fusion of Hindu and Muslim cultures. Today we are faced with the same problem. But this time it is more complex and has several new aspects to it.

Before we can think of a rational solution we must get rid of the futile mentality which urges some of us to try to revive the culture life which prevailed during the Vedic period. For this implies the exclusion of all elements which have come from outside, especially those of the Muslim culture; these have been so completely assimilated in the intellectual, aesthetic and social life of India that they have, as it were, entered the stream of the life-blood running through the veins of Indian culture. The attempt to separate these ingredients and get them out of the system through a process of blood-letting will never succeed. It will only enervate our culture and cause it to suffer from pernicious anaemia.
The first thing that we have to realize then is that the dominating complexion of the present common culture is that of the North Indian culture. That is why its influence over the South India is very limited. To be truly national it has to assimilate the best elements of the various regional cultures specifically those of the South Indian provinces. This requires a maximum cultural contact. Several important steps have already been taken in this direction. Youth festivals in the late fifties held every year at the beginning of the winter was a welcome step in that direction. It was an occasion for the university students from all parts of the country to live together for a few days and give one another glimpses into the cultural life of their respective regions—their music, dance, drama, paintings and sculpture etc. Earlier, three academies were set up, one, for the promotion of the representational arts, another for music, dance and drama and a third for literature. But these academies which bring together their members and Fellows only for a few days in the year cannot provide the continuous and permanent contact among the representatives of group cultures which is required for the process of fusion of the multifarious cultural elements fructifying into the lasting amalgam of a national culture. If they are to serve as cultural laboratories of the Gupta and Mughal periods, they should be turned into institutes where the Fellows are in a permanent residence and receive liberal pensions so that, free from all financial worries they can devote themselves whole-heartedly to evolving common expression to that inner spirit of unity, animating the various peoples of the vast land called India.
Writers’ Camps under the scheme of “Aadan Pradan” where writers of the various regional languages have their selected books published from each language into all others is a laudable course of action. Another course could be adopted to pull down the barriers separating the various linguistic groups and to awaken and foster the spirit of cultural unity among them is the large scale exchange of teachers. Under an exchange system, selected teacher from each linguistic region who knows several Indian languages could be induced with liberal terms to offer their services in different linguistic areas for sufficiently long periods so that they can enter into the spirit of the regional cultures and recognize in them local variants of the common culture of India. These teachers will prove, like the Fellows of the National Academies, to be the makers as well as the messengers of a national culture.

What, according to the passage, is the concern of the writer?

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

A synthesis of the regional or group cultures into a common national culture has already been achieved thrice in the history of India—first with the fusion of the Aryan Dravidian, then with the Hindu and Buddhist and lastly with the fusion of Hindu and Muslim cultures. Today we are faced with the same problem. But this time it is more complex and has several new aspects to it.

Before we can think of a rational solution we must get rid of the futile mentality which urges some of us to try to revive the culture life which prevailed during the Vedic period. For this implies the exclusion of all elements which have come from outside, especially those of the Muslim culture; these have been so completely assimilated in the intellectual, aesthetic and social life of India that they have, as it were, entered the stream of the life-blood running through the veins of Indian culture. The attempt to separate these ingredients and get them out of the system through a process of blood-letting will never succeed. It will only enervate our culture and cause it to suffer from pernicious anaemia.
The first thing that we have to realize then is that the dominating complexion of the present common culture is that of the North Indian culture. That is why its influence over the South India is very limited. To be truly national it has to assimilate the best elements of the various regional cultures specifically those of the South Indian provinces. This requires a maximum cultural contact. Several important steps have already been taken in this direction. Youth festivals in the late fifties held every year at the beginning of the winter was a welcome step in that direction. It was an occasion for the university students from all parts of the country to live together for a few days and give one another glimpses into the cultural life of their respective regions—their music, dance, drama, paintings and sculpture etc. Earlier, three academies were set up, one, for the promotion of the representational arts, another for music, dance and drama and a third for literature. But these academies which bring together their members and Fellows only for a few days in the year cannot provide the continuous and permanent contact among the representatives of group cultures which is required for the process of fusion of the multifarious cultural elements fructifying into the lasting amalgam of a national culture. If they are to serve as cultural laboratories of the Gupta and Mughal periods, they should be turned into institutes where the Fellows are in a permanent residence and receive liberal pensions so that, free from all financial worries they can devote themselves whole-heartedly to evolving common expression to that inner spirit of unity, animating the various peoples of the vast land called India.
Writers’ Camps under the scheme of “Aadan Pradan” where writers of the various regional languages have their selected books published from each language into all others is a laudable course of action. Another course could be adopted to pull down the barriers separating the various linguistic groups and to awaken and foster the spirit of cultural unity among them is the large scale exchange of teachers. Under an exchange system, selected teacher from each linguistic region who knows several Indian languages could be induced with liberal terms to offer their services in different linguistic areas for sufficiently long periods so that they can enter into the spirit of the regional cultures and recognize in them local variants of the common culture of India. These teachers will prove, like the Fellows of the National Academies, to be the makers as well as the messengers of a national culture.

What is a vampire bat?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question:

South America is the home to some of the strangest, some of the loveliest and some of the most horrifying animals in the world. There can be few creatures more improbable than the sloth which spends its life in a permanent state of mute slow motion, hanging upside down in the tall forest trees: few more bizarre than the giant ant eater of the Savannahs with its absurdly disproportionate anatomy, its tail enlarged into a shaggy banner and its jaws elongated into a curved and toothless tube. On the other hand, beautiful birds are so common as to become almost unremarkable. Gaudy macaws flap through the forest, their splendid plumage contrasting incongruously with their harsh cries; and humming-birds, like tiny jewels, flit from flower to flower sipping nectar, their iridescent feathers flashing the colours of the rainbow as they fly.
Many of the South American animals inspire the fascination which comes from revulsion. Shoals of cannibal fish infest the rivers waiting to rip the flesh from any animal which tumbles among them, and vampire bats, a legend in Europe but a grim reality in South America, fly out at night from their roosts in the forests to suck blood from cows and men.

A shoal of fish can be substituted by

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question:

South America is the home to some of the strangest, some of the loveliest and some of the most horrifying animals in the world. There can be few creatures more improbable than the sloth which spends its life in a permanent state of mute slow motion, hanging upside down in the tall forest trees: few more bizarre than the giant ant eater of the Savannahs with its absurdly disproportionate anatomy, its tail enlarged into a shaggy banner and its jaws elongated into a curved and toothless tube. On the other hand, beautiful birds are so common as to become almost unremarkable. Gaudy macaws flap through the forest, their splendid plumage contrasting incongruously with their harsh cries; and humming-birds, like tiny jewels, flit from flower to flower sipping nectar, their iridescent feathers flashing the colours of the rainbow as they fly.
Many of the South American animals inspire the fascination which comes from revulsion. Shoals of cannibal fish infest the rivers waiting to rip the flesh from any animal which tumbles among them, and vampire bats, a legend in Europe but a grim reality in South America, fly out at night from their roosts in the forests to suck blood from cows and men.

This passage opens with a striking sentence. What method does the author employ to achieve his effect?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question:

South America is the home to some of the strangest, some of the loveliest and some of the most horrifying animals in the world. There can be few creatures more improbable than the sloth which spends its life in a permanent state of mute slow motion, hanging upside down in the tall forest trees: few more bizarre than the giant ant eater of the Savannahs with its absurdly disproportionate anatomy, its tail enlarged into a shaggy banner and its jaws elongated into a curved and toothless tube. On the other hand, beautiful birds are so common as to become almost unremarkable. Gaudy macaws flap through the forest, their splendid plumage contrasting incongruously with their harsh cries; and humming-birds, like tiny jewels, flit from flower to flower sipping nectar, their iridescent feathers flashing the colours of the rainbow as they fly.
Many of the South American animals inspire the fascination which comes from revulsion. Shoals of cannibal fish infest the rivers waiting to rip the flesh from any animal which tumbles among them, and vampire bats, a legend in Europe but a grim reality in South America, fly out at night from their roosts in the forests to suck blood from cows and men.

In which phrase of the passage, do you find an illustration of the proverb 'Familiarity breeds contempt'?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question:

South America is the home to some of the strangest, some of the loveliest and some of the most horrifying animals in the world. There can be few creatures more improbable than the sloth which spends its life in a permanent state of mute slow motion, hanging upside down in the tall forest trees: few more bizarre than the giant ant eater of the Savannahs with its absurdly disproportionate anatomy, its tail enlarged into a shaggy banner and its jaws elongated into a curved and toothless tube. On the other hand, beautiful birds are so common as to become almost unremarkable. Gaudy macaws flap through the forest, their splendid plumage contrasting incongruously with their harsh cries; and humming-birds, like tiny jewels, flit from flower to flower sipping nectar, their iridescent feathers flashing the colours of the rainbow as they fly.
Many of the South American animals inspire the fascination which comes from revulsion. Shoals of cannibal fish infest the rivers waiting to rip the flesh from any animal which tumbles among them, and vampire bats, a legend in Europe but a grim reality in South America, fly out at night from their roosts in the forests to suck blood from cows and men.

Explain the meaning of the word 'bizarre'.

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question:

South America is the home to some of the strangest, some of the loveliest and some of the most horrifying animals in the world. There can be few creatures more improbable than the sloth which spends its life in a permanent state of mute slow motion, hanging upside down in the tall forest trees: few more bizarre than the giant ant eater of the Savannahs with its absurdly disproportionate anatomy, its tail enlarged into a shaggy banner and its jaws elongated into a curved and toothless tube. On the other hand, beautiful birds are so common as to become almost unremarkable. Gaudy macaws flap through the forest, their splendid plumage contrasting incongruously with their harsh cries; and humming-birds, like tiny jewels, flit from flower to flower sipping nectar, their iridescent feathers flashing the colours of the rainbow as they fly.
Many of the South American animals inspire the fascination which comes from revulsion. Shoals of cannibal fish infest the rivers waiting to rip the flesh from any animal which tumbles among them, and vampire bats, a legend in Europe but a grim reality in South America, fly out at night from their roosts in the forests to suck blood from cows and men.

Vampire bats are described as a legend in Europe because

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question:

South America is the home to some of the strangest, some of the loveliest and some of the most horrifying animals in the world. There can be few creatures more improbable than the sloth which spends its life in a permanent state of mute slow motion, hanging upside down in the tall forest trees: few more bizarre than the giant ant eater of the Savannahs with its absurdly disproportionate anatomy, its tail enlarged into a shaggy banner and its jaws elongated into a curved and toothless tube. On the other hand, beautiful birds are so common as to become almost unremarkable. Gaudy macaws flap through the forest, their splendid plumage contrasting incongruously with their harsh cries; and humming-birds, like tiny jewels, flit from flower to flower sipping nectar, their iridescent feathers flashing the colours of the rainbow as they fly.
Many of the South American animals inspire the fascination which comes from revulsion. Shoals of cannibal fish infest the rivers waiting to rip the flesh from any animal which tumbles among them, and vampire bats, a legend in Europe but a grim reality in South America, fly out at night from their roosts in the forests to suck blood from cows and men.

The Savannahs are found generally in

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question:

South America is the home to some of the strangest, some of the loveliest and some of the most horrifying animals in the world. There can be few creatures more improbable than the sloth which spends its life in a permanent state of mute slow motion, hanging upside down in the tall forest trees: few more bizarre than the giant ant eater of the Savannahs with its absurdly disproportionate anatomy, its tail enlarged into a shaggy banner and its jaws elongated into a curved and toothless tube. On the other hand, beautiful birds are so common as to become almost unremarkable. Gaudy macaws flap through the forest, their splendid plumage contrasting incongruously with their harsh cries; and humming-birds, like tiny jewels, flit from flower to flower sipping nectar, their iridescent feathers flashing the colours of the rainbow as they fly.
Many of the South American animals inspire the fascination which comes from revulsion. Shoals of cannibal fish infest the rivers waiting to rip the flesh from any animal which tumbles among them, and vampire bats, a legend in Europe but a grim reality in South America, fly out at night from their roosts in the forests to suck blood from cows and men.

Which figure of speech is used by the author to describe the humming bird?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question:

South America is the home to some of the strangest, some of the loveliest and some of the most horrifying animals in the world. There can be few creatures more improbable than the sloth which spends its life in a permanent state of mute slow motion, hanging upside down in the tall forest trees: few more bizarre than the giant ant eater of the Savannahs with its absurdly disproportionate anatomy, its tail enlarged into a shaggy banner and its jaws elongated into a curved and toothless tube. On the other hand, beautiful birds are so common as to become almost unremarkable. Gaudy macaws flap through the forest, their splendid plumage contrasting incongruously with their harsh cries; and humming-birds, like tiny jewels, flit from flower to flower sipping nectar, their iridescent feathers flashing the colours of the rainbow as they fly.
Many of the South American animals inspire the fascination which comes from revulsion. Shoals of cannibal fish infest the rivers waiting to rip the flesh from any animal which tumbles among them, and vampire bats, a legend in Europe but a grim reality in South America, fly out at night from their roosts in the forests to suck blood from cows and men.

The creatures give one the feeling that they

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question:

South America is the home to some of the strangest, some of the loveliest and some of the most horrifying animals in the world. There can be few creatures more improbable than the sloth which spends its life in a permanent state of mute slow motion, hanging upside down in the tall forest trees: few more bizarre than the giant ant eater of the Savannahs with its absurdly disproportionate anatomy, its tail enlarged into a shaggy banner and its jaws elongated into a curved and toothless tube. On the other hand, beautiful birds are so common as to become almost unremarkable. Gaudy macaws flap through the forest, their splendid plumage contrasting incongruously with their harsh cries; and humming-birds, like tiny jewels, flit from flower to flower sipping nectar, their iridescent feathers flashing the colours of the rainbow as they fly.
Many of the South American animals inspire the fascination which comes from revulsion. Shoals of cannibal fish infest the rivers waiting to rip the flesh from any animal which tumbles among them, and vampire bats, a legend in Europe but a grim reality in South America, fly out at night from their roosts in the forests to suck blood from cows and men.

Give one example of each of the strangest, loveliest and most horrifying animals described in the passage.

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question:

South America is the home to some of the strangest, some of the loveliest and some of the most horrifying animals in the world. There can be few creatures more improbable than the sloth which spends its life in a permanent state of mute slow motion, hanging upside down in the tall forest trees: few more bizarre than the giant ant eater of the Savannahs with its absurdly disproportionate anatomy, its tail enlarged into a shaggy banner and its jaws elongated into a curved and toothless tube. On the other hand, beautiful birds are so common as to become almost unremarkable. Gaudy macaws flap through the forest, their splendid plumage contrasting incongruously with their harsh cries; and humming-birds, like tiny jewels, flit from flower to flower sipping nectar, their iridescent feathers flashing the colours of the rainbow as they fly.
Many of the South American animals inspire the fascination which comes from revulsion. Shoals of cannibal fish infest the rivers waiting to rip the flesh from any animal which tumbles among them, and vampire bats, a legend in Europe but a grim reality in South America, fly out at night from their roosts in the forests to suck blood from cows and men.

What does the last sentence of the passage imply?

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following data.

Her father, Edward Moulton Barren, was, as Elizabeth later wrote, a very peculiar person.  "Heir to a fortune, educated at Harrow and Cambridge, he was nevertheless a complete domestic tyrant".  After bearing him twelve children, his gentle wife had little strength left for struggle against  him, and  the children never dared oppose  his wishes.

Yet Elizabeth's childhood was happy. She romped and studied with her eldest brother, learnt Greek and French, read widely and wrote poetic tragedies.  Her own tragedy began at fifteen with a cough and an injury to her back, which resulted in increasingly bad health.  Then her mother died.

Four years later, her father decided to sell the country home. The large family moved from house to house until her father bought No. 50 Wimpole Street.  There Elizabeth's health grew worse, and she became a creature of the shadows and silence.

As the years passed, the family grew used to her withdrawn life. She had a certain independence, for an uncle had left her a small income.  But her brothers and sisters were at the mercy of Mr. Barren's harsh rules, which hung over the household like thunder in heavy weather.  Chief among them was the absolute refusal to let his daughters marry.  He prevented the marriage of Elizabeth’s gay, dance-loving sister, Henrietta, and the scenes that followed broke Elizabeth’s heart. Yet she remained devoted to her father. It was a devotion that served to strengthen the walls of her prison.

In context, which of the following sentences would best fit between sentences 4 and 5?

Directions for the question:

The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answer for the question that follows. Keep in mind that some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider organization and development. In choosing the answer, follow the requirements of standard written English.

[1] Art probably owes more to form for its range of expression than to color. [2] Many of the noblest things it is capable of conveying are expressed by form more directly than by anything else. [3] And it is interesting to notice how some of the world's greatest artists have been very restricted in their use of color, preferring to depend on form for their chief appeal. [4] It is reported that Apelles only used three colors, black, red, and yellow, and Rembrandt used little else. [5] Drawing, although the first, is also the last thing the painter usually studies. [6] There is more in it that can be taught and that requires constant application and effort. [7] A student should set himself to acquire well-trained eye of which he might be capable of; for the appreciation of every form of art. [8] It is not enough in artistic drawing to portray accurately. [9] But to express any form one must first be moved by it. [10] There is in the appearance of all objects, animate and inanimate, a hidden rhythm that is not caught by the accurate, painstaking, but cold artist. [11] This form is never found in a mechanical reproduction like a photograph. [12] You are never moved to say when looking at one, "What fine form." [13] It is difficult to say in what this quality consists. [14] The emphasis and selection that is unconsciously given in a drawing, done directly under the guidance of strong feeling, are too subtle to be tabulated. [15] But it is this selection of the significant and suppression of the non-essential that often gives to a few lines drawn quickly, and having a somewhat remote relation to the complex appearance of the real object, more vitality and truth than are to be found in a highly-wrought and painstaking drawing, during the process of which the essential and vital things have been lost sight of in the labor of the work; and the non-essential, which is usually more obvious, is allowed to creep in and obscure the original impression.

What is the best way to deal with sentence 9?

Directions for the question:

The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answer for the question that follows. Keep in mind that some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider organization and development. In choosing the answer, follow the requirements of standard written English.

[1] Art probably owes more to form for its range of expression than to color. [2] Many of the noblest things it is capable of conveying are expressed by form more directly than by anything else. [3] And it is interesting to notice how some of the world's greatest artists have been very restricted in their use of color, preferring to depend on form for their chief appeal. [4] It is reported that Apelles only used three colors, black, red, and yellow, and Rembrandt used little else. [5] Drawing, although the first, is also the last thing the painter usually studies. [6] There is more in it that can be taught and that requires constant application and effort. [7] A student should set himself to acquire well-trained eye of which he might be capable of; for the appreciation of every form of art. [8] It is not enough in artistic drawing to portray accurately. [9] But to express any form one must first be moved by it. [10] There is in the appearance of all objects, animate and inanimate, a hidden rhythm that is not caught by the accurate, painstaking, but cold artist. [11] This form is never found in a mechanical reproduction like a photograph. [12] You are never moved to say when looking at one, "What fine form." [13] It is difficult to say in what this quality consists. [14] The emphasis and selection that is unconsciously given in a drawing, done directly under the guidance of strong feeling, are too subtle to be tabulated. [15] But it is this selection of the significant and suppression of the non-essential that often gives to a few lines drawn quickly, and having a somewhat remote relation to the complex appearance of the real object, more vitality and truth than are to be found in a highly-wrought and painstaking drawing, during the process of which the essential and vital things have been lost sight of in the labor of the work; and the non-essential, which is usually more obvious, is allowed to creep in and obscure the original impression.