Reading Comprehension

Which of these fits gap (iii)?

Directions: Read the following passage having some numbered gaps.

In old Greece, there was a wise man called Diogenes who lived in Athens. He was eccentric and bad tempered and ____(i)____ in a tub. One day he came to the market place with a lighted lantern in his hand, although it was broad day light. He went about peering at everyone he met, with his lantern. Soon ___(ii)___ to know what he was doing. At last he blew out his lantern and ____(iii)_____ to his tub. But the people who still followed him kept asking him what he had been looking for. At last he stopped and said, “I was looking for an honest man, but ____(iv)_____."

Which of these fits gap (iv)?

Directions: Read the following passage having some numbered gaps.

Gandhiji’s views were too spiritual to be strictly adopted in life. However, his influence and importance were ___(i)___. It was he who got us freedom without bloodshed and ___(ii)____ other nations to demand their freedom. He championed against many ___(iii)___. He loved India but more importantly he loved God and man. His name has become a ___(iv)____. There has hardly been any revolutionary who was so powerfully good.

Which of the following could replace the word “draped” as used in the passage?

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and answer the question.

Winter is the time of the year when the intensity of the heat and light emitted by the sun is reduced. Dogs abandon the shadowy retreats of houses, trees and ditches for the open spaces of yards, lawns, terraces and verandas where they stretch out savouring the affection of the balmy sun. Their elderly human companions catch its benign rays to thaw out their joint pains while having settled comfortably in recliners, easy chairs and other comfartable perches. Morning walk routes also burst into colours as the morning walkers come out draped in a variety of colourful winter dressings.

In context, which of the following revisions would NOT improve sentence 9 (reproduced below)?

People who have never live under a fascist government have difficulty understanding how difficult - and how dangerous it is - to organize opposition to the government.

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 answers for the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask you to consider organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

White Rose

(1)The White Rose is a shining example of resistance to Hitler. (2) The Nazi authorities also showed ruthlessness when faced with any opposition. (3) In early 1943, the  fortunes of war were clearly turning against the Germans. (4) The battle of Stalingrad had been a complete disaster, resulting in the surrender of the Sixth Army on January 31, 1943.  (5) Around this time, a small group of students, mostly centered in the University of Munich, began openly to agitate against the Nazi regime.  (6)  They say the war was lost, the good things they had thought would result from the Nazis in the 1930s as having been thrown away, and were horrified at the mistreatment of the Jews.  (7) The leaders of the student revolt were Hans Scholl (25), a medical student and his sister Sophie (21), a biology student. (8) Hans Scholl had been an enthusiastic member of the Hitler Youth in 1933, but he quickly became disillusioned with Nazism as its inhumanity and barbarism became more and more clear with the passage of time.

(9) People who have never lived under a fascist government have difficulty understanding how difficult - and how dangerous it is - to organize opposition to the government (10)  The Nazis in particular were organized right down to the street level and people were encouraged to inform on their parents, relatives, and friends to the Gestapo; in short, anyone who manifested disagreement with the Nazis could be in serious trouble. (11) Under its law, over 5,000 people were executed for such trivial offenses as making jokes about Hitler or listening to radio broadcasts from Britain.  (12) Most of the White Rose members were medical students, except for Sophie Scholl, who majored in biology and philosophy, and many had Jewish friends or classmates, who had been persecuted under the Nazis. (13) Their disillusionment became most pronounced as the brutality of the regime became more apparent and especially when the mass deportations of the Jews began.

What is the best revision of the underlined portion of sentence 15 (reproduced below)?

A mere hoper won’t bother (or dare) to keep exactly what God says to a person with true faith when he tries and succeeds when he does.

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 answers for the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask you to consider organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

White Rose

(1)The White Rose is a shining example of resistance to Hitler. (2) The Nazi authorities also showed ruthlessness when faced with any opposition. (3) In early 1943, the  fortunes of war were clearly turning against the Germans. (4) The battle of Stalingrad had been a complete disaster, resulting in the surrender of the Sixth Army on January 31, 1943.  (5) Around this time, a small group of students, mostly centered in the University of Munich, began openly to agitate against the Nazi regime.  (6)  They say the war was lost, the good things they had thought would result from the Nazis in the 1930s as having been thrown away, and were horrified at the mistreatment of the Jews.  (7) The leaders of the student revolt were Hans Scholl (25), a medical student and his sister Sophie (21), a biology student. (8) Hans Scholl had been an enthusiastic member of the Hitler Youth in 1933, but he quickly became disillusioned with Nazism as its inhumanity and barbarism became more and more clear with the passage of time.

(9) People who have never lived under a fascist government have difficulty understanding how difficult - and how dangerous it is - to organize opposition to the government (10)  The Nazis in particular were organized right down to the street level and people were encouraged to inform on their parents, relatives, and friends to the Gestapo; in short, anyone who manifested disagreement with the Nazis could be in serious trouble. (11) Under its law, over 5,000 people were executed for such trivial offenses as making jokes about Hitler or listening to radio broadcasts from Britain.  (12) Most of the White Rose members were medical students, except for Sophie Scholl, who majored in biology and philosophy, and many had Jewish friends or classmates, who had been persecuted under the Nazis. (13) Their disillusionment became most pronounced as the brutality of the regime became more apparent and especially when the mass deportations of the Jews began.

In context, which of the following revisions is necessary in sentence 5 (reproduced below)?

The friendship of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn is one of the most celebrated in,American literature, built on imaginative adventures, shared superstitions, and loyalty that had risen above social convention.

PASSAGE-II

Direction for questions 7 to 12: 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 answers for the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask you to consider organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

(1) Mark Twain’s publication is 1876 of his popular novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer followed the publication of his previous novel. (2)  The Gilded Age reversed a brief downturn in his success. (3) Twain wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer while he and his family were living in Hartford, Connecticut, and Twain was enjoying his fame. (4) The escapades of a young boy and his friends in St. Petersburg as told in the novel, Missouri, a village near the Mississippi River, recalls Twain’s own childhood in a small Missouri town. (5) The friendship of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn is one of the most celebrated in,American literature, built on imaginative adventures, shared superstitions, and loyalty that had risen above social convention. (6) Twain’s American reading audience loved this novel and its young hero, and the novel remains one of the most popular and famous work of American literature.

(7) Scenes such as Tom Sawyer tricking his friends into whitewashing Aunt Polly’s fence for him, Injun Joe leaping through the window of courthouse after Tom names him as Dr.  Robinson’s murderer, and Tom and Becky lost in the cave have become so familiar to American readers that one almost doesn’t have to read the book to know about them.  (8) But the pleasure of reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer has kept readers coming back to the novel for over a century. (9) The novel and its characters have achieved folk hero status in the American popular imagination.

 (10) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is fun to read, there is another reason for the novel’s contemporary popularity:  It introduces the character of Huckleberry Finn, who, with the publication of Twain’s 1884 novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, has become one of the greatest characters in American literature.

In context, which is the best way to deal with sentence 7?

PASSAGE-II

Direction for questions 7 to 12: 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 answers for the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask you to consider organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

(1) Mark Twain’s publication is 1876 of his popular novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer followed the publication of his previous novel. (2)  The Gilded Age reversed a brief downturn in his success. (3) Twain wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer while he and his family were living in Hartford, Connecticut, and Twain was enjoying his fame. (4) The escapades of a young boy and his friends in St. Petersburg as told in the novel, Missouri, a village near the Mississippi River, recalls Twain’s own childhood in a small Missouri town. (5) The friendship of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn is one of the most celebrated in,American literature, built on imaginative adventures, shared superstitions, and loyalty that had risen above social convention. (6) Twain’s American reading audience loved this novel and its young hero, and the novel remains one of the most popular and famous work of American literature.

(7) Scenes such as Tom Sawyer tricking his friends into whitewashing Aunt Polly’s fence for him, Injun Joe leaping through the window of courthouse after Tom names him as Dr.  Robinson’s murderer, and Tom and Becky lost in the cave have become so familiar to American readers that one almost doesn’t have to read the book to know about them.  (8) But the pleasure of reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer has kept readers coming back to the novel for over a century. (9) The novel and its characters have achieved folk hero status in the American popular imagination.

 (10) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is fun to read, there is another reason for the novel’s contemporary popularity:  It introduces the character of Huckleberry Finn, who, with the publication of Twain’s 1884 novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, has become one of the greatest characters in American literature.

The author wishes to divide the passage into two shorter paragraphs. The most appropriate place to begin a new paragraph would be

PASSAGE-II

Direction for questions 7 to 12: 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 answers for the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask you to consider organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

(1) Mark Twain’s publication is 1876 of his popular novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer followed the publication of his previous novel. (2)  The Gilded Age reversed a brief downturn in his success. (3) Twain wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer while he and his family were living in Hartford, Connecticut, and Twain was enjoying his fame. (4) The escapades of a young boy and his friends in St. Petersburg as told in the novel, Missouri, a village near the Mississippi River, recalls Twain’s own childhood in a small Missouri town. (5) The friendship of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn is one of the most celebrated in,American literature, built on imaginative adventures, shared superstitions, and loyalty that had risen above social convention. (6) Twain’s American reading audience loved this novel and its young hero, and the novel remains one of the most popular and famous work of American literature.

(7) Scenes such as Tom Sawyer tricking his friends into whitewashing Aunt Polly’s fence for him, Injun Joe leaping through the window of courthouse after Tom names him as Dr.  Robinson’s murderer, and Tom and Becky lost in the cave have become so familiar to American readers that one almost doesn’t have to read the book to know about them.  (8) But the pleasure of reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer has kept readers coming back to the novel for over a century. (9) The novel and its characters have achieved folk hero status in the American popular imagination.

 (10) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is fun to read, there is another reason for the novel’s contemporary popularity:  It introduces the character of Huckleberry Finn, who, with the publication of Twain’s 1884 novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, has become one of the greatest characters in American literature.

In context, what should be done with sentence 9?

PASSAGE-II

Direction for questions 7 to 12: 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 answers for the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask you to consider organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

(1) Mark Twain’s publication is 1876 of his popular novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer followed the publication of his previous novel. (2)  The Gilded Age reversed a brief downturn in his success. (3) Twain wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer while he and his family were living in Hartford, Connecticut, and Twain was enjoying his fame. (4) The escapades of a young boy and his friends in St. Petersburg as told in the novel, Missouri, a village near the Mississippi River, recalls Twain’s own childhood in a small Missouri town. (5) The friendship of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn is one of the most celebrated in,American literature, built on imaginative adventures, shared superstitions, and loyalty that had risen above social convention. (6) Twain’s American reading audience loved this novel and its young hero, and the novel remains one of the most popular and famous work of American literature.

(7) Scenes such as Tom Sawyer tricking his friends into whitewashing Aunt Polly’s fence for him, Injun Joe leaping through the window of courthouse after Tom names him as Dr.  Robinson’s murderer, and Tom and Becky lost in the cave have become so familiar to American readers that one almost doesn’t have to read the book to know about them.  (8) But the pleasure of reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer has kept readers coming back to the novel for over a century. (9) The novel and its characters have achieved folk hero status in the American popular imagination.

 (10) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is fun to read, there is another reason for the novel’s contemporary popularity:  It introduces the character of Huckleberry Finn, who, with the publication of Twain’s 1884 novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, has become one of the greatest characters in American literature.

In context, which of the following is the best way to revise the underlined portion of sentence 4 (reproduced below)?

The escapades of a young boy and his friends in St. Petersburg as told in the novel, Missouri, a village near the Mississippi River, recalls Twain’s own childhood in a small Missouri town.

PASSAGE-II

Direction for questions 7 to 12: 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 answers for the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask you to consider organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

(1) Mark Twain’s publication is 1876 of his popular novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer followed the publication of his previous novel. (2)  The Gilded Age reversed a brief downturn in his success. (3) Twain wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer while he and his family were living in Hartford, Connecticut, and Twain was enjoying his fame. (4) The escapades of a young boy and his friends in St. Petersburg as told in the novel, Missouri, a village near the Mississippi River, recalls Twain’s own childhood in a small Missouri town. (5) The friendship of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn is one of the most celebrated in,American literature, built on imaginative adventures, shared superstitions, and loyalty that had risen above social convention. (6) Twain’s American reading audience loved this novel and its young hero, and the novel remains one of the most popular and famous work of American literature.

(7) Scenes such as Tom Sawyer tricking his friends into whitewashing Aunt Polly’s fence for him, Injun Joe leaping through the window of courthouse after Tom names him as Dr.  Robinson’s murderer, and Tom and Becky lost in the cave have become so familiar to American readers that one almost doesn’t have to read the book to know about them.  (8) But the pleasure of reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer has kept readers coming back to the novel for over a century. (9) The novel and its characters have achieved folk hero status in the American popular imagination.

 (10) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is fun to read, there is another reason for the novel’s contemporary popularity:  It introduces the character of Huckleberry Finn, who, with the publication of Twain’s 1884 novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, has become one of the greatest characters in American literature.

In context, which of the following is the best way to revise and combine the underlined portions of sentences 2 and 3 (reproduced below)?

The novel is regarded as Hawthorne’s greatest accomplishment, which he tends to deny. But frequently as the greatest novel in American literacy history.

PASSAGE-I
Direction for questions 1 to 6: 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 answers for the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask you to consider organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

The Scarlet Letter

(1)Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is famous for presenting some of the greatest interpretive difficulties in all of American literature. (2) The novel is regarded as Hawthorne’s greatest accomplishment, which he tends to deny. (3) But frequently as the greatest novel in American literary history.  (4) After it was published in 1980, critics hailed it as initiating a distinctive American literary tradition. (5) It is a novel in which, in terms of action, almost nothing happens. (6) Hawthorne’s emotional, psychological drama revolves around Hester Prynne. (7) The civil and Puritan authorities in colonial Boston convicted her as she was indulged in adultery. (8) She is condemned to wear the scarlet letter “A” on her chest as a permanent sign of her sin.  (9) The narrative describes the effort to resolve the torment suffered by Hester and her co-adulterer, the minister Arthur Dimmesdale, in many years of their affair. (10) In fact, the story excludes even the representation of the passionate moment which enables the entire novel. (11) It begins at the close of Hester’s imprisonment many months after her affair and proceeds through many years to her final acceptance of her place in the community as the wearer of the scarlet letter. (12) Hawthorne was masterful in the use of symbolism, and the scarlet letter “A” stands as his most potent symbol, around which interpretations of the novel revolve. (13) At one interpretive pole the “A” stands for adultery and sin, and the novel is the story of individual punishment and reconciliation.  (14) At another pole it stands for America and allegory, and the story suggests national sin and its human cost. (15) The most convincing reading, taking account of all others, sees the “A” as a symbol of ambiguity, the very fact of multiple interpretations and the difficulty of achieving consensus.

Sentence 7 in the passage is best described as

The leaders of the student revolt were Hans Scholl (25), a medical student and his sister Sophie (21), a biology student.

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 answers for the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask you to consider organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

White Rose

(1)The White Rose is a shining example of resistance to Hitler. (2) The Nazi authorities also showed ruthlessness when faced with any opposition. (3) In early 1943, the  fortunes of war were clearly turning against the Germans. (4) The battle of Stalingrad had been a complete disaster, resulting in the surrender of the Sixth Army on January 31, 1943.  (5) Around this time, a small group of students, mostly centered in the University of Munich, began openly to agitate against the Nazi regime.  (6)  They say the war was lost, the good things they had thought would result from the Nazis in the 1930s as having been thrown away, and were horrified at the mistreatment of the Jews.  (7) The leaders of the student revolt were Hans Scholl (25), a medical student and his sister Sophie (21), a biology student. (8) Hans Scholl had been an enthusiastic member of the Hitler Youth in 1933, but he quickly became disillusioned with Nazism as its inhumanity and barbarism became more and more clear with the passage of time.

(9) People who have never lived under a fascist government have difficulty understanding how difficult - and how dangerous it is - to organize opposition to the government (10)  The Nazis in particular were organized right down to the street level and people were encouraged to inform on their parents, relatives, and friends to the Gestapo; in short, anyone who manifested disagreement with the Nazis could be in serious trouble. (11) Under its law, over 5,000 people were executed for such trivial offenses as making jokes about Hitler or listening to radio broadcasts from Britain.  (12) Most of the White Rose members were medical students, except for Sophie Scholl, who majored in biology and philosophy, and many had Jewish friends or classmates, who had been persecuted under the Nazis. (13) Their disillusionment became most pronounced as the brutality of the regime became more apparent and especially when the mass deportations of the Jews began.

Which of the following is the best way to revise and combine the underlined portions of sentences 1 and 2 (reproduced below)?

The White Rose is a shining example of resistance to Hitler. The Nazi authorities also showed ruthlessness when faced with any opposition.

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 answers for the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask you to consider organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

White Rose

(1)The White Rose is a shining example of resistance to Hitler. (2) The Nazi authorities also showed ruthlessness when faced with any opposition. (3) In early 1943, the  fortunes of war were clearly turning against the Germans. (4) The battle of Stalingrad had been a complete disaster, resulting in the surrender of the Sixth Army on January 31, 1943.  (5) Around this time, a small group of students, mostly centered in the University of Munich, began openly to agitate against the Nazi regime.  (6)  They say the war was lost, the good things they had thought would result from the Nazis in the 1930s as having been thrown away, and were horrified at the mistreatment of the Jews.  (7) The leaders of the student revolt were Hans Scholl (25), a medical student and his sister Sophie (21), a biology student. (8) Hans Scholl had been an enthusiastic member of the Hitler Youth in 1933, but he quickly became disillusioned with Nazism as its inhumanity and barbarism became more and more clear with the passage of time.

(9) People who have never lived under a fascist government have difficulty understanding how difficult - and how dangerous it is - to organize opposition to the government (10)  The Nazis in particular were organized right down to the street level and people were encouraged to inform on their parents, relatives, and friends to the Gestapo; in short, anyone who manifested disagreement with the Nazis could be in serious trouble. (11) Under its law, over 5,000 people were executed for such trivial offenses as making jokes about Hitler or listening to radio broadcasts from Britain.  (12) Most of the White Rose members were medical students, except for Sophie Scholl, who majored in biology and philosophy, and many had Jewish friends or classmates, who had been persecuted under the Nazis. (13) Their disillusionment became most pronounced as the brutality of the regime became more apparent and especially when the mass deportations of the Jews began.

Which of the following is the best way to deal with sentence 10 (reproduced below)?

The Nazis in particular were organized right down to the street level and people were encouraged to inform on their parents, relatives, and friends to the Gestapo; in short, anyone who manifested disagreement with the Nazis could be in serious trouble.

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 answers for the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask you to consider organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

White Rose

(1)The White Rose is a shining example of resistance to Hitler. (2) The Nazi authorities also showed ruthlessness when faced with any opposition. (3) In early 1943, the  fortunes of war were clearly turning against the Germans. (4) The battle of Stalingrad had been a complete disaster, resulting in the surrender of the Sixth Army on January 31, 1943.  (5) Around this time, a small group of students, mostly centered in the University of Munich, began openly to agitate against the Nazi regime.  (6)  They say the war was lost, the good things they had thought would result from the Nazis in the 1930s as having been thrown away, and were horrified at the mistreatment of the Jews.  (7) The leaders of the student revolt were Hans Scholl (25), a medical student and his sister Sophie (21), a biology student. (8) Hans Scholl had been an enthusiastic member of the Hitler Youth in 1933, but he quickly became disillusioned with Nazism as its inhumanity and barbarism became more and more clear with the passage of time.

(9) People who have never lived under a fascist government have difficulty understanding how difficult - and how dangerous it is - to organize opposition to the government (10)  The Nazis in particular were organized right down to the street level and people were encouraged to inform on their parents, relatives, and friends to the Gestapo; in short, anyone who manifested disagreement with the Nazis could be in serious trouble. (11) Under its law, over 5,000 people were executed for such trivial offenses as making jokes about Hitler or listening to radio broadcasts from Britain.  (12) Most of the White Rose members were medical students, except for Sophie Scholl, who majored in biology and philosophy, and many had Jewish friends or classmates, who had been persecuted under the Nazis. (13) Their disillusionment became most pronounced as the brutality of the regime became more apparent and especially when the mass deportations of the Jews began.

The writer's story would be most improved if a paragraph were included on which of the following topics?

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 answers for the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask you to consider organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

White Rose

(1)The White Rose is a shining example of resistance to Hitler. (2) The Nazi authorities also showed ruthlessness when faced with any opposition. (3) In early 1943, the  fortunes of war were clearly turning against the Germans. (4) The battle of Stalingrad had been a complete disaster, resulting in the surrender of the Sixth Army on January 31, 1943.  (5) Around this time, a small group of students, mostly centered in the University of Munich, began openly to agitate against the Nazi regime.  (6)  They say the war was lost, the good things they had thought would result from the Nazis in the 1930s as having been thrown away, and were horrified at the mistreatment of the Jews.  (7) The leaders of the student revolt were Hans Scholl (25), a medical student and his sister Sophie (21), a biology student. (8) Hans Scholl had been an enthusiastic member of the Hitler Youth in 1933, but he quickly became disillusioned with Nazism as its inhumanity and barbarism became more and more clear with the passage of time.

(9) People who have never lived under a fascist government have difficulty understanding how difficult - and how dangerous it is - to organize opposition to the government (10)  The Nazis in particular were organized right down to the street level and people were encouraged to inform on their parents, relatives, and friends to the Gestapo; in short, anyone who manifested disagreement with the Nazis could be in serious trouble. (11) Under its law, over 5,000 people were executed for such trivial offenses as making jokes about Hitler or listening to radio broadcasts from Britain.  (12) Most of the White Rose members were medical students, except for Sophie Scholl, who majored in biology and philosophy, and many had Jewish friends or classmates, who had been persecuted under the Nazis. (13) Their disillusionment became most pronounced as the brutality of the regime became more apparent and especially when the mass deportations of the Jews began.