Reading Comprehension Passage set 3 for SSC CGL

Reading Comprehension Passage Set 3:

Directions: In She following questions, you have two brief passages with 5 questions following each passage. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives and mark in the answer sheet.

PASSAGE-I

What, one wonders, is the lowest common denominator : of Indian culture today? The attractive Hema Malini?

The songs of vividh Bharati? Or the mouth-watering Masala Dosa? Delectable as these may be, each yields pride of place to that false (?) symbol of a new era - the synthetic fibre. In less than twenty years the nylon sari and the terylene shirt have swept the countryside, penetrated to the farthest comers of the land and persuaded every common man, woman and child that the key to success in the present day world lies in artificial fibres: glass nylon, crepe nylon, tery mixes, polyesters and what have you. More than the bicycles, the wristwatch or the transistor radio, synthetic clothes have come to represent the first step )' away from the village square. The village lass treasures the flashy nylon sari in her trousseau most lovingly; the village youth gets a great kick out of his cheap terrycot shirt and u trousers, the nearest he can approximate to the expensive s synthetic sported by his wealthy city bred contemporaries. And the Neo-rich craze for 'phoren' is nowhere more apparent a than in the price that people will pay for smuggled, stolen, begged or borrowed second-hand or thrown away synthetics. Alas, even the unique richness of the traditional tribal costume is being fast eroded by the deadening uniformity of nylon.

1. 'The lowest common denominator' of the Indian culture today is
(a) Hema Malini
(b) songs of Vividh Bharati
(c) Masala Dosa
(d) synthetic fibre

2. The synthetic fibre has
(a) always been popular in India
(b) become popular during the last twenty years
(c) never been popular in India
(d) been as popular as other kinds of fibre

3. The latest symbol of modernity for the rural people is
(a) the bicycle
(b) the wristwatch
(c) the transistor
(d) the synthetic cloth

4. The term 'Neo-rich' means
a) the aristocracy
(b) the industrialists
(c) the newly rich people
(d) the common people

5. The tone of the passage is
(a) tragic

(b) ironic
(c) sombre

(d) satiric

Answer
1. (d) 2. (b) 3. (d) 4. (c) 5. (b)

PASAGE-II

Most people who bother with the matter at all would admit that the English language is in a bad way, but it is generally assumed that we cannot by conscious action do anything about it. Our civilization is decadent and our language - so the argument runs - must inevitably share in the general collapse. It follows that any struggle against the abuse of language is a sentimental archaism, like preferring candles to electric light or hansom cabs to aeroplanes. Underneath this lies the half-conscious belief that language is a natural growth and not an instrument which we shape for our own purposes.

Now it is clear that the decline of a language must ultimately have political and economic causes: it is not due simply to the bad influence of this or that individual writer. But an effect can become a cause, reinforcing the original cause and producing the same effect in an intensified form, and so on indefinitely. A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts. The point is that the process is reversible. Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble. If one gets rid of these habits, one can think more clearly, and to think clearly is a necessary first step towards political regeneration; so the fight against bad English is not frivolous and is not the exclusive concern of professional writer.

1. Many people believe that nothing can be done about the English language because
(a) bad habits spread by imitation.
(b) we live in a decadent civilization.
(c) there are too may bad writers.
(d) people are too lazy to change their bad habits.

2. The author believes that.
(a) it's now too late to do anything about the problem.
(b) language is a natural growth and cannot be shaped for our own purposes.
(c) the decline in the language can be stopped.
(d) the process of an increasingly bad language cannot be stopped.

3. The author believes that the first step towards the political regeneration of the language would be
(a) taking the necessary trouble to avoid bad habits
(b) avoiding being frivolous about it
(c) clear thinking
(d) for professional writers to help

4. The author believes that
(a) English is becoming ugly.
(b) bad language habits are inevitable.
(c) our thoughts are becoming uglier because we are making the language uglier. .
(d) our civilisation is decadent so nothing can be done to stop the decline of the language.

5. What causes bad language in the end?
(a) The bad influence of individual writers
(b) The imitation of bad language habits
(c) Political and economic causes
(d) An assumption that nothing can be done about it.

Answer
1. (b) 2. (c) 3. (c) 4. (c) 5. (c)

PASSAGE-III

The Printing Press has made knowledge available to the vast multitude of people. But what kind of knowledge is it? Is it of any permanent character? Books have become common and, when we say that books like the Sexton Blake series sell like hot cakes, we have an index of the nature of knowledge which a typical person in a vast multitude seeks. Let me tell you of an incident that took place in America a few years ago. An American publisher printed a million copies of the works of Charles Dickens in the hope that he could easily sell them on the name of the author. But to his disappointment, not even the widest publicity and advertisement could enable him to sell the books. Being sorely tired, he hit on a plan. He tore off the cover pages, substituted covers containing sensational love headings for the titles and again advertised the new books. In a week, all the books were sold out. We are not concerned here with the moral of the bookseller's action. What we have to note is that only books of a sensational type are really sought for by the ordinary folk who have a great aversion to serious study. So, you will see that the grand argument that the Printing Press' has made knowledge available even to the masses is certainly fallacious and quite misleading. To put it correctly, it has created a taste for a low order of books.

1. Sexton Blake series are big sellers because they
(a) disseminate knowledge
(b) are informative
(c) satisfy a typically serious reader
(d) are sensational

2. The American publisher had chosen the works of Charles Dickens to
(a) give wide publicity to Dickens works
(b) offer the readers what best he could
(c) counter the trash
(d) make money easily

3. What is the main contention of the passage?
(a) To stress the popularity of the printing press
(b) To point out the disappointment of serious readers
(c) To shed light on the morale of the publishers
(d) To bring out the evil impacts of the printing press

4. The author's contention makes us feel that he
(a) is unilateral in his argument
(b) is balanced
(c) is a typical critic
(d) argues convincingly

5. Who is Charles Dickens?
(a) A playwright
(b) An epic poet
(c) A short story writer
(d) A novelist

Answer
1. (d) 2. (d) 3. (d) 4. (d) 5. (d)

PASSAGE-IV

Our awareness of time has reached such a pitch of intensity that we suffer acutely whenever our travels take us into some corner of the world where people are not interested in minutes and seconds. The unpunctuality of the Orient, for example, is appalling to those who come freshly from a land of fixed mealtimes and regular train services. For a modern American or Englishman; waiting is a psychological torture. An Indian accepts the blank hours with resignation, even with satisfaction. He has not lost the fine art of doing nothing. Our notion of time as a collection of minutes, each of which must be filled with some business or amusement, is wholly alien to the Greek. For the man who lives in a pre-industrial world, time moves at a slow and easy pace: for the good reason that he has not been made conscious of the existence of minutes.

1. What is the main theme of the passage?
(a) Concept of time in pre-industrial world
(b) The Greek concept of time
(c) Awareness of time in the modern industrial world
(d)&bbsp; The Orientals and their awareness of time

2. The Orientals are alien to
(a) the business of amusement
(b) the notion of time as a collection of minutes
(c) industrialization
(d) the fine art of doing nothing

3. A person who belongs to pre-industrial world
(a) knows the utility of time
(b) knows how to derive happiness by making use of time carefully
(c) does not care about each minute
(d) cares much for every minute

4. According to the author
(a) the Orientals are very punctual
(b) the Americans or the Englishmen are punctual
(c) the Greek and the Orientals are very punctual
(d) the Indians are very punctual

5. The 'orient' in the passage refers to
(a) China and Japan
(b) Japan and England
(c) England and America
(d) America alone

Answer 1. (c) 2. (b) 3. (c) 4. (b) 5. (a)

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