Reading Comprehension

Which of the following statements is not true about an engineer?

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

Mathematics is the language in which the Book of Nature is written: Mathematics is the queen of sciences. It is universally agreed that Mathematics is the backbone of science and technology. For without Mathematics the engineer is but an artist or a sculptor. He can build the bridge, attest to its form and beauty, but without Mathematics he cannot guarantee its reliability to serve the purpose for which it is built. Mathematics is indeed the science of sciences. It is also the art of all arts. It is right, legitimate and defensible to consider Mathematics as an art. The poet, the musician, the artist and the mathematician have a lot in common. Fundamental to all their studies and works is their common interest in the logical study related to concepts and objects to form patterns which will produce beauty, harmony and order. Thus, the poet arranges words to produce a pattern called poetry; the musician arranges sounds to produce a pattern called music; the artist arranges colours to produce a pattern called painting and the mathematician arranges abstract ideas into a pattern, using symbols, to produce equations. Each of these patterns-the poem, the music, the painting and the equation must stand up to the test of the same order, harmony and beauty. So if mathematics is not an art, what is art?

According to the author, Mathematics is

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

Mathematics is the language in which the Book of Nature is written: Mathematics is the queen of sciences. It is universally agreed that Mathematics is the backbone of science and technology. For without Mathematics the engineer is but an artist or a sculptor. He can build the bridge, attest to its form and beauty, but without Mathematics he cannot guarantee its reliability to serve the purpose for which it is built. Mathematics is indeed the science of sciences. It is also the art of all arts. It is right, legitimate and defensible to consider Mathematics as an art. The poet, the musician, the artist and the mathematician have a lot in common. Fundamental to all their studies and works is their common interest in the logical study related to concepts and objects to form patterns which will produce beauty, harmony and order. Thus, the poet arranges words to produce a pattern called poetry; the musician arranges sounds to produce a pattern called music; the artist arranges colours to produce a pattern called painting and the mathematician arranges abstract ideas into a pattern, using symbols, to produce equations. Each of these patterns-the poem, the music, the painting and the equation must stand up to the test of the same order, harmony and beauty. So if mathematics is not an art, what is art?

The term 'aftermath' as used in the passage means

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

The evidence given so far demonstrates that a nuclear exchange in the Northern Hemisphere would have an unavoidable global aftermath making the continued existence of mankind impossible anywhere. It is also very improbable that a nuclear exchange would be confined exclusively to the vicinity of the industrialized states. Current developments indicate that a nuclear disaster would be carried into the territories of the developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. These developments include the preparations being made by aggressive forces for the armed seizure of the Middle East oilfields, the nuclear missile deployment in the south of Western Europe, the establishment of military bases for the Rapid Deployment Forces in North Africa and the Indian Ocean, and the tensions in the South Atlantic and the Caribbean.

Which word in the passage can replace the word 'orderliness'?

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

Mathematics is the language in which the Book of Nature is written: Mathematics is the queen of sciences. It is universally agreed that Mathematics is the backbone of science and technology. For without Mathematics the engineer is but an artist or a sculptor. He can build the bridge, attest to its form and beauty, but without Mathematics he cannot guarantee its reliability to serve the purpose for which it is built. Mathematics is indeed the science of sciences. It is also the art of all arts. It is right, legitimate and defensible to consider Mathematics as an art. The poet, the musician, the artist and the mathematician have a lot in common. Fundamental to all their studies and works is their common interest in the logical study related to concepts and objects to form patterns which will produce beauty, harmony and order. Thus, the poet arranges words to produce a pattern called poetry; the musician arranges sounds to produce a pattern called music; the artist arranges colours to produce a pattern called painting and the mathematician arranges abstract ideas into a pattern, using symbols, to produce equations. Each of these patterns-the poem, the music, the painting and the equation must stand up to the test of the same order, harmony and beauty. So if mathematics is not an art, what is art?

What did Christie do with her travel experiences?

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

Agatha Christie was probably the most successful writer in history. She wrote seventy-eight crime novels, six other novels, one hundred and fifty short stories, four non-fiction books and nineteen plays. That represents two billion books sold: more than William Shakespeare’s.

Christie became a writer by accident. She was bored when her husband was away in the First World War. Agatha was working in a hospital dispensary (which is where she learned all the information about poisons that she used in her books). She decided to write a novel to pass the time. She chose a detective novel because she loved reading them. Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was an instant success. Each book had a new ingenious plot. Readers loved the books, particularly because Christie always gave the readers all the information they needed to find the solution.

Christie loved travelling. When she became rich she could go all over the world. She used the travels in her writing. Agatha Christie died in 1976, but her stories are still immensely popular. Many have been adapted into films or for television.

Readers liked her novels because

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

Agatha Christie was probably the most successful writer in history. She wrote seventy-eight crime novels, six other novels, one hundred and fifty short stories, four non-fiction books and nineteen plays. That represents two billion books sold: more than William Shakespeare’s.

Christie became a writer by accident. She was bored when her husband was away in the First World War. Agatha was working in a hospital dispensary (which is where she learned all the information about poisons that she used in her books). She decided to write a novel to pass the time. She chose a detective novel because she loved reading them. Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was an instant success. Each book had a new ingenious plot. Readers loved the books, particularly because Christie always gave the readers all the information they needed to find the solution.

Christie loved travelling. When she became rich she could go all over the world. She used the travels in her writing. Agatha Christie died in 1976, but her stories are still immensely popular. Many have been adapted into films or for television.

Why did she start by writing detective stories?

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

Agatha Christie was probably the most successful writer in history. She wrote seventy-eight crime novels, six other novels, one hundred and fifty short stories, four non-fiction books and nineteen plays. That represents two billion books sold: more than William Shakespeare’s.

Christie became a writer by accident. She was bored when her husband was away in the First World War. Agatha was working in a hospital dispensary (which is where she learned all the information about poisons that she used in her books). She decided to write a novel to pass the time. She chose a detective novel because she loved reading them. Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was an instant success. Each book had a new ingenious plot. Readers loved the books, particularly because Christie always gave the readers all the information they needed to find the solution.

Christie loved travelling. When she became rich she could go all over the world. She used the travels in her writing. Agatha Christie died in 1976, but her stories are still immensely popular. Many have been adapted into films or for television.

Why is Christie considered the most commercially successful writer in history?

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

Agatha Christie was probably the most successful writer in history. She wrote seventy-eight crime novels, six other novels, one hundred and fifty short stories, four non-fiction books and nineteen plays. That represents two billion books sold: more than William Shakespeare’s.

Christie became a writer by accident. She was bored when her husband was away in the First World War. Agatha was working in a hospital dispensary (which is where she learned all the information about poisons that she used in her books). She decided to write a novel to pass the time. She chose a detective novel because she loved reading them. Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was an instant success. Each book had a new ingenious plot. Readers loved the books, particularly because Christie always gave the readers all the information they needed to find the solution.

Christie loved travelling. When she became rich she could go all over the world. She used the travels in her writing. Agatha Christie died in 1976, but her stories are still immensely popular. Many have been adapted into films or for television.

What does the author mean by the expression 'fixing the meaning of the words we use'?

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

If our thoughts are to be clear and we are to succeed in communicating them to other people, we must have some method of fixing the meaning of the words we use. When we use a word whose meaning is not certain, we may well be asked to define it. There is a useful traditional device for doing this by indicating the class to which it belongs, and also the particular property which distinguishes it from all other members of the same class. Thus, we may define a whale as a marine animal that spouts. “Marine animal” in this definition indicates the general class to which the whale belongs, and spouts indicate the particular property that distinguishes whales from other such marine animals as fish, seals, jellyfish and lobsters. In the same way, we can define an even number as a finite integer divisible by two or democracy as a system of government in which the people themselves rule.

There are other ways of course of indicating the meaning of words. We may for example, find it hard to make a suitable definition of the word ‘animal’, so we say that an animal is such a thing as a rabbit, dog, fish or goat. Similarly, we may say that religion is such a system as Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism. This way of indicating the meaning of a term by enumerating examples of what it includes is obviously of limited utility. If we indicated our use of the word animal as above, our hearers might, for example be doubtful whether a sea anemone or a slug was to be included in the class of animals. It is however, a useful way of supplementing a definition, if the definition itself is definite without being easily understandable. Failure of an attempt at definition to serve its purpose may result from giving it a distinguishing mark which either does not belong to all the things the definition intends to include, or does belong to some members of the same general class which the definition intends to exclude.

A definition needs to be supplemented with examples when

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

If our thoughts are to be clear and we are to succeed in communicating them to other people, we must have some method of fixing the meaning of the words we use. When we use a word whose meaning is not certain, we may well be asked to define it. There is a useful traditional device for doing this by indicating the class to which it belongs, and also the particular property which distinguishes it from all other members of the same class. Thus, we may define a whale as a marine animal that spouts. “Marine animal” in this definition indicates the general class to which the whale belongs, and spouts indicate the particular property that distinguishes whales from other such marine animals as fish, seals, jellyfish and lobsters. In the same way, we can define an even number as a finite integer divisible by two or democracy as a system of government in which the people themselves rule.

There are other ways of course of indicating the meaning of words. We may for example, find it hard to make a suitable definition of the word ‘animal’, so we say that an animal is such a thing as a rabbit, dog, fish or goat. Similarly, we may say that religion is such a system as Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism. This way of indicating the meaning of a term by enumerating examples of what it includes is obviously of limited utility. If we indicated our use of the word animal as above, our hearers might, for example be doubtful whether a sea anemone or a slug was to be included in the class of animals. It is however, a useful way of supplementing a definition, if the definition itself is definite without being easily understandable. Failure of an attempt at definition to serve its purpose may result from giving it a distinguishing mark which either does not belong to all the things the definition intends to include, or does belong to some members of the same general class which the definition intends to exclude.

The expression 'we may well be asked' used in the first paragraph means that

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

If our thoughts are to be clear and we are to succeed in communicating them to other people, we must have some method of fixing the meaning of the words we use. When we use a word whose meaning is not certain, we may well be asked to define it. There is a useful traditional device for doing this by indicating the class to which it belongs, and also the particular property which distinguishes it from all other members of the same class. Thus, we may define a whale as a marine animal that spouts. “Marine animal” in this definition indicates the general class to which the whale belongs, and spouts indicate the particular property that distinguishes whales from other such marine animals as fish, seals, jellyfish and lobsters. In the same way, we can define an even number as a finite integer divisible by two or democracy as a system of government in which the people themselves rule.

There are other ways of course of indicating the meaning of words. We may for example, find it hard to make a suitable definition of the word ‘animal’, so we say that an animal is such a thing as a rabbit, dog, fish or goat. Similarly, we may say that religion is such a system as Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism. This way of indicating the meaning of a term by enumerating examples of what it includes is obviously of limited utility. If we indicated our use of the word animal as above, our hearers might, for example be doubtful whether a sea anemone or a slug was to be included in the class of animals. It is however, a useful way of supplementing a definition, if the definition itself is definite without being easily understandable. Failure of an attempt at definition to serve its purpose may result from giving it a distinguishing mark which either does not belong to all the things the definition intends to include, or does belong to some members of the same general class which the definition intends to exclude.

The word used in the passage that can be a synonym of 'count' is

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

If our thoughts are to be clear and we are to succeed in communicating them to other people, we must have some method of fixing the meaning of the words we use. When we use a word whose meaning is not certain, we may well be asked to define it. There is a useful traditional device for doing this by indicating the class to which it belongs, and also the particular property which distinguishes it from all other members of the same class. Thus, we may define a whale as a marine animal that spouts. “Marine animal” in this definition indicates the general class to which the whale belongs, and spouts indicate the particular property that distinguishes whales from other such marine animals as fish, seals, jellyfish and lobsters. In the same way, we can define an even number as a finite integer divisible by two or democracy as a system of government in which the people themselves rule.

There are other ways of course of indicating the meaning of words. We may for example, find it hard to make a suitable definition of the word ‘animal’, so we say that an animal is such a thing as a rabbit, dog, fish or goat. Similarly, we may say that religion is such a system as Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism. This way of indicating the meaning of a term by enumerating examples of what it includes is obviously of limited utility. If we indicated our use of the word animal as above, our hearers might, for example be doubtful whether a sea anemone or a slug was to be included in the class of animals. It is however, a useful way of supplementing a definition, if the definition itself is definite without being easily understandable. Failure of an attempt at definition to serve its purpose may result from giving it a distinguishing mark which either does not belong to all the things the definition intends to include, or does belong to some members of the same general class which the definition intends to exclude.

According to the author, which of the following is a disadvantage of defining by enumerating?

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

If our thoughts are to be clear and we are to succeed in communicating them to other people, we must have some method of fixing the meaning of the words we use. When we use a word whose meaning is not certain, we may well be asked to define it. There is a useful traditional device for doing this by indicating the class to which it belongs, and also the particular property which distinguishes it from all other members of the same class. Thus, we may define a whale as a marine animal that spouts. “Marine animal” in this definition indicates the general class to which the whale belongs, and spouts indicate the particular property that distinguishes whales from other such marine animals as fish, seals, jellyfish and lobsters. In the same way, we can define an even number as a finite integer divisible by two or democracy as a system of government in which the people themselves rule.

There are other ways of course of indicating the meaning of words. We may for example, find it hard to make a suitable definition of the word ‘animal’, so we say that an animal is such a thing as a rabbit, dog, fish or goat. Similarly, we may say that religion is such a system as Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism. This way of indicating the meaning of a term by enumerating examples of what it includes is obviously of limited utility. If we indicated our use of the word animal as above, our hearers might, for example be doubtful whether a sea anemone or a slug was to be included in the class of animals. It is however, a useful way of supplementing a definition, if the definition itself is definite without being easily understandable. Failure of an attempt at definition to serve its purpose may result from giving it a distinguishing mark which either does not belong to all the things the definition intends to include, or does belong to some members of the same general class which the definition intends to exclude.

Which of the following is mentioned as a linguistic weapon possessed by the third variety of speakers?

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

A study recently recognized three varieties of non-native spoken English. Speakers of the first variety exhibit characteristics of a very long and difficult process of internal interpretation from their mother-tongue into English. Thought and expression do not go closely together. A listener would notice this from the way the speaker pauses before expressing himself, apparently deciding which words to use and how to arrange them. Therefore, thinking is exclusively through the medium of the mother-tongue and English is a poor shadow of the original thoughts of the speaker. Utterances heard invariably have to be translated silently into the mother­ tongue to be maximally meaningful, and this makes statements slow, halting and jerky.

The second variety speakers exhibit features described above but to a much lesser degree. Internal translations from the mother-tongue to English still take place during the speaker's expression of opinions and complex concepts but the process now takes a shorter span of time. With ordinary words or simple ideas, internal interpretations need not intervene between the points at which the thought is conceived and the time it is given verbal expression. Discussions are quicker and smoother though these might not always be entirely free from minor halting gaps.
With the third variety, speaker’s thought is almost entirely in English and translation is not needed. The speaker has a wealth of linguistic weapons to choose from and the ability to express the minute distinctions between similar concepts comes quickly and easily. Thus for instance, whereas speakers of the lower varieties have only the word `rain', the speaker of variety recognizes distinctions between `shower', `downpour', `drizzle', 'mist', `deluge', etc., and uses each in the appropriate context. Also, his mastery of the sounds and features of the English Language equips him to express the utterances accurately and automatically without having to pause and think of the correct version of a sound since he masters the various distinctions in the pronunciation of each vowel and each consonant.
We need to recognise, however, that most non-native learners of English `graduate' from one variety to another, from the lowest stratum of variety to the highest stratum of that variety, and then to variety II and so on until they achieve variety III. Length or periods of education, exposure to Standard English and a personal conscious effort play major roles in deciding what variety a particular speaker uses.

Finally, we must recognise that most speakers of the higher varieties are still capable of reverting to the lower ones if they choose to. Thus, we can find even an English language professor switching to the lowest stratum of variety if he feels so inclined when talking to a house-servant or a porter.

Which of the following is common for both the first and second variety of speakers?

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

A study recently recognized three varieties of non-native spoken English. Speakers of the first variety exhibit characteristics of a very long and difficult process of internal interpretation from their mother-tongue into English. Thought and expression do not go closely together. A listener would notice this from the way the speaker pauses before expressing himself, apparently deciding which words to use and how to arrange them. Therefore, thinking is exclusively through the medium of the mother-tongue and English is a poor shadow of the original thoughts of the speaker. Utterances heard invariably have to be translated silently into the mother­ tongue to be maximally meaningful, and this makes statements slow, halting and jerky.

The second variety speakers exhibit features described above but to a much lesser degree. Internal translations from the mother-tongue to English still take place during the speaker's expression of opinions and complex concepts but the process now takes a shorter span of time. With ordinary words or simple ideas, internal interpretations need not intervene between the points at which the thought is conceived and the time it is given verbal expression. Discussions are quicker and smoother though these might not always be entirely free from minor halting gaps.
With the third variety, speaker’s thought is almost entirely in English and translation is not needed. The speaker has a wealth of linguistic weapons to choose from and the ability to express the minute distinctions between similar concepts comes quickly and easily. Thus for instance, whereas speakers of the lower varieties have only the word `rain', the speaker of variety recognizes distinctions between `shower', `downpour', `drizzle', 'mist', `deluge', etc., and uses each in the appropriate context. Also, his mastery of the sounds and features of the English Language equips him to express the utterances accurately and automatically without having to pause and think of the correct version of a sound since he masters the various distinctions in the pronunciation of each vowel and each consonant.
We need to recognise, however, that most non-native learners of English `graduate' from one variety to another, from the lowest stratum of variety to the highest stratum of that variety, and then to variety II and so on until they achieve variety III. Length or periods of education, exposure to Standard English and a personal conscious effort play major roles in deciding what variety a particular speaker uses.

Finally, we must recognise that most speakers of the higher varieties are still capable of reverting to the lower ones if they choose to. Thus, we can find even an English language professor switching to the lowest stratum of variety if he feels so inclined when talking to a house-servant or a porter.