Reading Comprehension

What kind of awareness does the child demonstrate at two?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the given question.

By the time a child has reached the age of two years, the psychologist says that he is 'self-conscious'. This is not the same as the lay use of the term, although there is a connection. The psychologist means that the child is aware that he is a self and not an extension of his mother. This awareness is shown in such behavioural acts as disobedience and the use of the word 'no' with emphasis, because the child is aware that he does not have to obey parental commands. Parental commands (moral imperatives) are given throughout these two years first for the child's own safety e.g. ‘don’t touch the fire' and secondly, so that he begins to develop some sense of right and wrong. An adult is able to weigh the consequences of his actions partly because he has developed a concept or idea of time. The young child lacks this concept and is governed by immediate desires which must be fulfilled. Thus, in some situations, he can be excused for not behaving morally, i.e. making the choice which is 'good' for himself and others. In other situation, he knows what is right and chooses not to do it. Immature adults can also behave in this self centred way.

An immature adult is like a child because

Directions: Read the passage and answer the given question.

By the time a child has reached the age of two years, the psychologist says that he is 'self-conscious'. This is not the same as the lay use of the term, although there is a connection. The psychologist means that the child is aware that he is a self and not an extension of his mother. This awareness is shown in such behavioural acts as disobedience and the use of the word 'no' with emphasis, because the child is aware that he does not have to obey parental commands. Parental commands (moral imperatives) are given throughout these two years first for the child's own safety e.g. ‘don’t touch the fire' and secondly, so that he begins to develop some sense of right and wrong. An adult is able to weigh the consequences of his actions partly because he has developed a concept or idea of time. The young child lacks this concept and is governed by immediate desires which must be fulfilled. Thus, in some situations, he can be excused for not behaving morally, i.e. making the choice which is 'good' for himself and others. In other situation, he knows what is right and chooses not to do it. Immature adults can also behave in this self centred way.

Parental orders are given too frequently to children till they reach the age of two to ensure that

Directions: Read the passage and answer the given question.

By the time a child has reached the age of two years, the psychologist says that he is 'self-conscious'. This is not the same as the lay use of the term, although there is a connection. The psychologist means that the child is aware that he is a self and not an extension of his mother. This awareness is shown in such behavioural acts as disobedience and the use of the word 'no' with emphasis, because the child is aware that he does not have to obey parental commands. Parental commands (moral imperatives) are given throughout these two years first for the child's own safety e.g. ‘don’t touch the fire' and secondly, so that he begins to develop some sense of right and wrong. An adult is able to weigh the consequences of his actions partly because he has developed a concept or idea of time. The young child lacks this concept and is governed by immediate desires which must be fulfilled. Thus, in some situations, he can be excused for not behaving morally, i.e. making the choice which is 'good' for himself and others. In other situation, he knows what is right and chooses not to do it. Immature adults can also behave in this self centred way.

The two year old child begins to refuse orders

Directions: Read the passage and answer the given question.

By the time a child has reached the age of two years, the psychologist says that he is 'self-conscious'. This is not the same as the lay use of the term, although there is a connection. The psychologist means that the child is aware that he is a self and not an extension of his mother. This awareness is shown in such behavioural acts as disobedience and the use of the word 'no' with emphasis, because the child is aware that he does not have to obey parental commands. Parental commands (moral imperatives) are given throughout these two years first for the child's own safety e.g. ‘don’t touch the fire' and secondly, so that he begins to develop some sense of right and wrong. An adult is able to weigh the consequences of his actions partly because he has developed a concept or idea of time. The young child lacks this concept and is governed by immediate desires which must be fulfilled. Thus, in some situations, he can be excused for not behaving morally, i.e. making the choice which is 'good' for himself and others. In other situation, he knows what is right and chooses not to do it. Immature adults can also behave in this self centred way.

Which of the following factors compels a mountaineer to spend more time in his assault on the summit?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the given question.

These two factors, the altitude and the weather, tend separately and together to defeat the climber. The height weakness slows him down. It forces him to ­spend days and nights in the course of his assault on the summit. The weather, besides adding to the ­demands on his energy and moral fortitude, conspires to deny him the time he needs to complete his mission. Whereas in lower mountains and on easy ground the weather may be no more than a handicap, in the high Himalayas it is decisive, regardless of terrain.

The deduction to be drawn from these two factors was clear enough. We must either fortify ourselves so that we could continue, without detriment, to live and have our being above the limit of natural acclimatisation, or, better still, we must solve the problem of speed. It was desirable, in fact, that we should meet both these requirements and thus give to those chosen to attempt the summit and to their supporting teams some measure of insurance against ­the vagaries of the weather, for safety in mountain climbing is as much a matter of swiftness as of sureness of foot. Either or both could be achieved only by the administration of oxygen in sufficient quantities to make up for the deficiency in the air, and for the duration of the upward journey above the limit of successful acclimatization.

Which word in the passage can replace the expression 'unpredictable behaviour’?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the given question.

These two factors, the altitude and the weather, tend separately and together to defeat the climber. The height weakness slows him down. It forces him to ­spend days and nights in the course of his assault on the summit. The weather, besides adding to the ­demands on his energy and moral fortitude, conspires to deny him the time he needs to complete his mission. Whereas in lower mountains and on easy ground the weather may be no more than a handicap, in the high Himalayas it is decisive, regardless of terrain.

The deduction to be drawn from these two factors was clear enough. We must either fortify ourselves so that we could continue, without detriment, to live and have our being above the limit of natural acclimatisation, or, better still, we must solve the problem of speed. It was desirable, in fact, that we should meet both these requirements and thus give to those chosen to attempt the summit and to their supporting teams some measure of insurance against ­the vagaries of the weather, for safety in mountain climbing is as much a matter of swiftness as of sureness of foot. Either or both could be achieved only by the administration of oxygen in sufficient quantities to make up for the deficiency in the air, and for the duration of the upward journey above the limit of successful acclimatization.

As per the passage, a mountaineer can achieve swiftness and sureness of foot by

Directions: Read the passage and answer the given question.

These two factors, the altitude and the weather, tend separately and together to defeat the climber. The height weakness slows him down. It forces him to ­spend days and nights in the course of his assault on the summit. The weather, besides adding to the ­demands on his energy and moral fortitude, conspires to deny him the time he needs to complete his mission. Whereas in lower mountains and on easy ground the weather may be no more than a handicap, in the high Himalayas it is decisive, regardless of terrain.

The deduction to be drawn from these two factors was clear enough. We must either fortify ourselves so that we could continue, without detriment, to live and have our being above the limit of natural acclimatisation, or, better still, we must solve the problem of speed. It was desirable, in fact, that we should meet both these requirements and thus give to those chosen to attempt the summit and to their supporting teams some measure of insurance against ­the vagaries of the weather, for safety in mountain climbing is as much a matter of swiftness as of sureness of foot. Either or both could be achieved only by the administration of oxygen in sufficient quantities to make up for the deficiency in the air, and for the duration of the upward journey above the limit of successful acclimatization.

Which of the following factors is likely to compel a mountaineer to hurry up?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the given question.

These two factors, the altitude and the weather, tend separately and together to defeat the climber. The height weakness slows him down. It forces him to ­spend days and nights in the course of his assault on the summit. The weather, besides adding to the ­demands on his energy and moral fortitude, conspires to deny him the time he needs to complete his mission. Whereas in lower mountains and on easy ground the weather may be no more than a handicap, in the high Himalayas it is decisive, regardless of terrain.

The deduction to be drawn from these two factors was clear enough. We must either fortify ourselves so that we could continue, without detriment, to live and have our being above the limit of natural acclimatisation, or, better still, we must solve the problem of speed. It was desirable, in fact, that we should meet both these requirements and thus give to those chosen to attempt the summit and to their supporting teams some measure of insurance against ­the vagaries of the weather, for safety in mountain climbing is as much a matter of swiftness as of sureness of foot. Either or both could be achieved only by the administration of oxygen in sufficient quantities to make up for the deficiency in the air, and for the duration of the upward journey above the limit of successful acclimatization.

It takes less time to complete a lesson when one uses an overhead projector than a chalkboard because

Directions: Read the passage and answer the given question.

(This article was written in the late 20th century)

The chalkboard is by far the commonest teaching aid used at virtually all levels of education from the nursery to the university. It is the most enduring teaching aid and per­haps will be the most difficult to replace. In the advanced countries of the world, it is being threatened by the over­head projector However, the overhead projector requires constant supply of electricity - which is one reason we cannot rely on it yet. The chalkboard used to be black, that was why the name "blackboard" stuck for ages; but today, there are boards of various colours: blue, green, even white.

Now, most chalkboards are made of wood nailed to the wall, instead of the concrete board made of cement and fine sand that was more common. Some are also made of metal. The chalkboard has the advantages of low cost, availability and ease of maintenance, usually involving mere cleaning and occasional retouching of the surface with the renovator. However, if the board is metal, the felt marker should be protected against drying by replacing the cap when it is not in use. The major drawback in the use of the chalkboard is that the information on it can only be temporary. If there is only one board for the class, it is usually impossible to leave the information there for more than a few hours, since other teachers would want to use it.

It is not easy to draw complex diagrams showing minute details, such as parts of the body and contours, unless one is a good artist. Where one has succeeded with the laborious illustrations, using different colours, it could be painful when the board has to be cleaned by the next teacher. However, there are nowadays various innovations, including foldable boards made of plywood, which allow teachers more room to leave their materials for longer periods.

Finally, it is a great disadvantage that during the course of teaching, much time is spent in writing on the board than when one is using the overhead projector. So, in all, more time is needed for any lesson when one uses the board rather than the overhead projector.

Prolonged eye contact between two individuals is weighted with great significance because

Directions: Read the passage and answer the given question.

One of the most potent elements in body language is eye behaviour. You shift your eyes, meet another person's gaze or fail to meet it - and produce an effect out of all proportion to the trifling muscular effort you have made. When two people look searchingly into each other's eyes, emotions are heightened and  the relationship tipped toward greater intimacy.

In normal conversation, each eye contact lasts only about a second before one or both individuals look away. Because the longer meeting of the eyes is rare, it is weighted with significance when it happens and can generate a special kind of human-to-human awareness. Most of the time, a lingering look is inter­preted as a sign of attraction and this should be scru­pulously avoided except in appropriate circumstances. A young woman once complained. ‘That man makes me so uncomfortable, half the time when I glance at him he's already looking at me - and he keeps right on looking.'

Proper street behaviour requires a balance of at­tention and intention. You are supposed to look at a passer-by just enough to show that you are aware of his presence. If you look too little, you appear haughty or furtive; too much and you are inquisitive. Usually what happens is that people eye each other until they are about eight feet apart, at which point both cast down their eyes.

Much of eye behaviour is so subtle that we react to it only on the intuitive level. This has been demon­strated in elaborate experiments. Subjects sit and talk in the psychologist's laboratory, irrespective of the fact that their eye behaviour is being observed from be­hind a one-way vision screen. In one fairly typical ex­periment, subjects were induced to cheat while per­forming a task, then were interviewed and observed. It was found that those who. had cheated met the interviewer's eyes less often than was normal, an in­dication that 'shifty eyes' can actually be a tip-off to an attempt to deceive.

However, none of the `facts' of eye behaviour are cut and dried, for there are variations between indi­viduals. People use their eyes differently and spend different amounts of time looking at others. Besides, no pattern of eye behaviour is precisely predictable in any normal conversation.

As per the author, the muscular effort we make is

Directions: Read the passage and answer the given question.

One of the most potent elements in body language is eye behaviour. You shift your eyes, meet another person's gaze or fail to meet it - and produce an effect out of all proportion to the trifling muscular effort you have made. When two people look searchingly into each other's eyes, emotions are heightened and  the relationship tipped toward greater intimacy.

In normal conversation, each eye contact lasts only about a second before one or both individuals look away. Because the longer meeting of the eyes is rare, it is weighted with significance when it happens and can generate a special kind of human-to-human awareness. Most of the time, a lingering look is inter­preted as a sign of attraction and this should be scru­pulously avoided except in appropriate circumstances. A young woman once complained. ‘That man makes me so uncomfortable, half the time when I glance at him he's already looking at me - and he keeps right on looking.'

Proper street behaviour requires a balance of at­tention and intention. You are supposed to look at a passer-by just enough to show that you are aware of his presence. If you look too little, you appear haughty or furtive; too much and you are inquisitive. Usually what happens is that people eye each other until they are about eight feet apart, at which point both cast down their eyes.

Much of eye behaviour is so subtle that we react to it only on the intuitive level. This has been demon­strated in elaborate experiments. Subjects sit and talk in the psychologist's laboratory, irrespective of the fact that their eye behaviour is being observed from be­hind a one-way vision screen. In one fairly typical ex­periment, subjects were induced to cheat while per­forming a task, then were interviewed and observed. It was found that those who. had cheated met the interviewer's eyes less often than was normal, an in­dication that 'shifty eyes' can actually be a tip-off to an attempt to deceive.

However, none of the `facts' of eye behaviour are cut and dried, for there are variations between indi­viduals. People use their eyes differently and spend different amounts of time looking at others. Besides, no pattern of eye behaviour is precisely predictable in any normal conversation.

The young woman in the passage was uncomfortable because

Directions: Read the passage and answer the given question.

One of the most potent elements in body language is eye behaviour. You shift your eyes, meet another person's gaze or fail to meet it - and produce an effect out of all proportion to the trifling muscular effort you have made. When two people look searchingly into each other's eyes, emotions are heightened and  the relationship tipped toward greater intimacy.

In normal conversation, each eye contact lasts only about a second before one or both individuals look away. Because the longer meeting of the eyes is rare, it is weighted with significance when it happens and can generate a special kind of human-to-human awareness. Most of the time, a lingering look is inter­preted as a sign of attraction and this should be scru­pulously avoided except in appropriate circumstances. A young woman once complained. ‘That man makes me so uncomfortable, half the time when I glance at him he's already looking at me - and he keeps right on looking.'

Proper street behaviour requires a balance of at­tention and intention. You are supposed to look at a passer-by just enough to show that you are aware of his presence. If you look too little, you appear haughty or furtive; too much and you are inquisitive. Usually what happens is that people eye each other until they are about eight feet apart, at which point both cast down their eyes.

Much of eye behaviour is so subtle that we react to it only on the intuitive level. This has been demon­strated in elaborate experiments. Subjects sit and talk in the psychologist's laboratory, irrespective of the fact that their eye behaviour is being observed from be­hind a one-way vision screen. In one fairly typical ex­periment, subjects were induced to cheat while per­forming a task, then were interviewed and observed. It was found that those who. had cheated met the interviewer's eyes less often than was normal, an in­dication that 'shifty eyes' can actually be a tip-off to an attempt to deceive.

However, none of the `facts' of eye behaviour are cut and dried, for there are variations between indi­viduals. People use their eyes differently and spend different amounts of time looking at others. Besides, no pattern of eye behaviour is precisely predictable in any normal conversation.

The writer prefers to use the word chalkboard rather than blackboard because

Directions: Read the passage and answer the given question.

(This article was written in the late 20th century)

The chalkboard is by far the commonest teaching aid used at virtually all levels of education from the nursery to the university. It is the most enduring teaching aid and per­haps will be the most difficult to replace. In the advanced countries of the world, it is being threatened by the over­head projector However, the overhead projector requires constant supply of electricity - which is one reason we cannot rely on it yet. The chalkboard used to be black, that was why the name "blackboard" stuck for ages; but today, there are boards of various colours: blue, green, even white.

Now, most chalkboards are made of wood nailed to the wall, instead of the concrete board made of cement and fine sand that was more common. Some are also made of metal. The chalkboard has the advantages of low cost, availability and ease of maintenance, usually involving mere cleaning and occasional retouching of the surface with the renovator. However, if the board is metal, the felt marker should be protected against drying by replacing the cap when it is not in use. The major drawback in the use of the chalkboard is that the information on it can only be temporary. If there is only one board for the class, it is usually impossible to leave the information there for more than a few hours, since other teachers would want to use it.

It is not easy to draw complex diagrams showing minute details, such as parts of the body and contours, unless one is a good artist. Where one has succeeded with the laborious illustrations, using different colours, it could be painful when the board has to be cleaned by the next teacher. However, there are nowadays various innovations, including foldable boards made of plywood, which allow teachers more room to leave their materials for longer periods.

Finally, it is a great disadvantage that during the course of teaching, much time is spent in writing on the board than when one is using the overhead projector. So, in all, more time is needed for any lesson when one uses the board rather than the overhead projector.

One major disadvantage of the chalkboard is that ____________.

Directions: Read the passage and answer the given question.

(This article was written in the late 20th century)

The chalkboard is by far the commonest teaching aid used at virtually all levels of education from the nursery to the university. It is the most enduring teaching aid and per­haps will be the most difficult to replace. In the advanced countries of the world, it is being threatened by the over­head projector However, the overhead projector requires constant supply of electricity - which is one reason we cannot rely on it yet. The chalkboard used to be black, that was why the name "blackboard" stuck for ages; but today, there are boards of various colours: blue, green, even white.

Now, most chalkboards are made of wood nailed to the wall, instead of the concrete board made of cement and fine sand that was more common. Some are also made of metal. The chalkboard has the advantages of low cost, availability and ease of maintenance, usually involving mere cleaning and occasional retouching of the surface with the renovator. However, if the board is metal, the felt marker should be protected against drying by replacing the cap when it is not in use. The major drawback in the use of the chalkboard is that the information on it can only be temporary. If there is only one board for the class, it is usually impossible to leave the information there for more than a few hours, since other teachers would want to use it.

It is not easy to draw complex diagrams showing minute details, such as parts of the body and contours, unless one is a good artist. Where one has succeeded with the laborious illustrations, using different colours, it could be painful when the board has to be cleaned by the next teacher. However, there are nowadays various innovations, including foldable boards made of plywood, which allow teachers more room to leave their materials for longer periods.

Finally, it is a great disadvantage that during the course of teaching, much time is spent in writing on the board than when one is using the overhead projector. So, in all, more time is needed for any lesson when one uses the board rather than the overhead projector.

What is meant by the expression 'proper street behaviour' in the passage?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the given question.

One of the most potent elements in body language is eye behaviour. You shift your eyes, meet another person's gaze or fail to meet it - and produce an effect out of all proportion to the trifling muscular effort you have made. When two people look searchingly into each other's eyes, emotions are heightened and  the relationship tipped toward greater intimacy.

In normal conversation, each eye contact lasts only about a second before one or both individuals look away. Because the longer meeting of the eyes is rare, it is weighted with significance when it happens and can generate a special kind of human-to-human awareness. Most of the time, a lingering look is inter­preted as a sign of attraction and this should be scru­pulously avoided except in appropriate circumstances. A young woman once complained. ‘That man makes me so uncomfortable, half the time when I glance at him he's already looking at me - and he keeps right on looking.'

Proper street behaviour requires a balance of at­tention and intention. You are supposed to look at a passer-by just enough to show that you are aware of his presence. If you look too little, you appear haughty or furtive; too much and you are inquisitive. Usually what happens is that people eye each other until they are about eight feet apart, at which point both cast down their eyes.

Much of eye behaviour is so subtle that we react to it only on the intuitive level. This has been demon­strated in elaborate experiments. Subjects sit and talk in the psychologist's laboratory, irrespective of the fact that their eye behaviour is being observed from be­hind a one-way vision screen. In one fairly typical ex­periment, subjects were induced to cheat while per­forming a task, then were interviewed and observed. It was found that those who. had cheated met the interviewer's eyes less often than was normal, an in­dication that 'shifty eyes' can actually be a tip-off to an attempt to deceive.

However, none of the `facts' of eye behaviour are cut and dried, for there are variations between indi­viduals. People use their eyes differently and spend different amounts of time looking at others. Besides, no pattern of eye behaviour is precisely predictable in any normal conversation.