English II Reading Comprehension II 15.07.2019 for CDS & Defence Exams

Question 1

Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.

Once two merchants lost a camel. They met a traveller and asked him if he had seen it. The man replied he had not." But was your camel blind in the right eye?" Said he to them.
"Yes, he was", replied the merchants. "Was it lame in one left foot?" The man asked again. "Certainly it was", said the merchants.
"Was its front tooth missing?” said he to them." Indeed “said they. “Was it loaded with honey on one side and with wheat on the other?" "That is just how it was loaded," they answered. "Please take us to it."
"But I have not seen your camel," said the man "and I do not know where it is". The merchants got angry and said, "Then how could you tell us so exactly everything about our camel?" "That is my secret," said the man.
The merchants took him to the king who asked him where the camel was. The man replied that he had not seen it. At this, the king asked him how he knew so much about it. The man answered that the camel had eaten grass only on the left side of the path. So he knew that it was blind.
The marks of its one left foot were faint. This showed that the camel was lame. While eating grass, it had left a little turf in the middle. So he learnt that it had lost front teeth. There were ants carrying grains of corn on one side of the path and flies eating honey on the other. The king was satisfied with his explanation and let him go.

Why were the merchants angry?

Question 2

Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.

Once two merchants lost a camel. They met a traveller and asked him if he had seen it. The man replied he had not." But was your camel blind in the right eye?" Said he to them.
"Yes, he was", replied the merchants. "Was it lame in one left foot?" The man asked again. "Certainly it was", said the merchants.
"Was its front tooth missing?” said he to them." Indeed “said they. “Was it loaded with honey on one side and with wheat on the other?" "That is just how it was loaded," they answered. "Please take us to it."
"But I have not seen your camel," said the man "and I do not know where it is". The merchants got angry and said, "Then how could you tell us so exactly everything about our camel?" "That is my secret," said the man.
The merchants took him to the king who asked him where the camel was. The man replied that he had not seen it. At this, the king asked him how he knew so much about it. The man answered that the camel had eaten grass only on the left side of the path. So he knew that it was blind.
The marks of its one left foot were faint. This showed that the camel was lame. While eating grass, it had left a little turf in the middle. So he learnt that it had lost front teeth. There were ants carrying grains of corn on one side of the path and flies eating honey on the other. The king was satisfied with his explanation and let him go.

What did the traveler replied when the merchants asked how he knew so much about the camel?

Question 3

Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.

Once two merchants lost a camel. They met a traveller and asked him if he had seen it. The man replied he had not." But was your camel blind in the right eye?" Said he to them.
"Yes, he was", replied the merchants. "Was it lame in one left foot?" The man asked again. "Certainly it was", said the merchants.
"Was its front tooth missing?” said he to them." Indeed “said they. “Was it loaded with honey on one side and with wheat on the other?" "That is just how it was loaded," they answered. "Please take us to it."
"But I have not seen your camel," said the man "and I do not know where it is". The merchants got angry and said, "Then how could you tell us so exactly everything about our camel?" "That is my secret," said the man.
The merchants took him to the king who asked him where the camel was. The man replied that he had not seen it. At this, the king asked him how he knew so much about it. The man answered that the camel had eaten grass only on the left side of the path. So he knew that it was blind.
The marks of its one left foot were faint. This showed that the camel was lame. While eating grass, it had left a little turf in the middle. So he learnt that it had lost front teeth. There were ants carrying grains of corn on one side of the path and flies eating honey on the other. The king was satisfied with his explanation and let him go.

How did the traveler know that the camel was blind?

Question 4

Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.

Once two merchants lost a camel. They met a traveller and asked him if he had seen it. The man replied he had not." But was your camel blind in the right eye?" Said he to them.
"Yes, he was", replied the merchants. "Was it lame in one left foot?" The man asked again. "Certainly it was", said the merchants.
"Was its front tooth missing?” said he to them." Indeed “said they. “Was it loaded with honey on one side and with wheat on the other?" "That is just how it was loaded," they answered. "Please take us to it."
"But I have not seen your camel," said the man "and I do not know where it is". The merchants got angry and said, "Then how could you tell us so exactly everything about our camel?" "That is my secret," said the man.
The merchants took him to the king who asked him where the camel was. The man replied that he had not seen it. At this, the king asked him how he knew so much about it. The man answered that the camel had eaten grass only on the left side of the path. So he knew that it was blind.
The marks of its one left foot were faint. This showed that the camel was lame. While eating grass, it had left a little turf in the middle. So he learnt that it had lost front teeth. There were ants carrying grains of corn on one side of the path and flies eating honey on the other. The king was satisfied with his explanation and let him go.

How did the traveler know that the camel had lost front teeth?

Question 5

Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.

Once two merchants lost a camel. They met a traveller and asked him if he had seen it. The man replied he had not." But was your camel blind in the right eye?" Said he to them.
"Yes, he was", replied the merchants. "Was it lame in one left foot?" The man asked again. "Certainly it was", said the merchants.
"Was its front tooth missing?” said he to them." Indeed “said they. “Was it loaded with honey on one side and with wheat on the other?" "That is just how it was loaded," they answered. "Please take us to it."
"But I have not seen your camel," said the man "and I do not know where it is". The merchants got angry and said, "Then how could you tell us so exactly everything about our camel?" "That is my secret," said the man.
The merchants took him to the king who asked him where the camel was. The man replied that he had not seen it. At this, the king asked him how he knew so much about it. The man answered that the camel had eaten grass only on the left side of the path. So he knew that it was blind.
The marks of its one left foot were faint. This showed that the camel was lame. While eating grass, it had left a little turf in the middle. So he learnt that it had lost front teeth. There were ants carrying grains of corn on one side of the path and flies eating honey on the other. The king was satisfied with his explanation and let him go.

How did the traveler know that the camel was lame?

Question 6

Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.

In our societies, we experience fabricated leisure – a kind of planned ‘free time’ that is sandwiched between typically unpleasant work times. And we are bombarded with advertisements that promise we will have a great time if only we get the latest phone or the latest computer game. Ours is a culture that, under the guise of consumption, actually counsels the renunciation of enjoyment. In such a society, wants come apart from pleasures. If you get an expensive car because that’s what you think your status requires you to have that are not the same as enjoying it. The individual who succumbs to this idea does not relish owning the car. She just thinks she must have and display it. We inhabit a world that devalues pleasure while apparently serving it up in large doses. Rather than enjoyment playing a central role in people striving to become otherwise than they are, our culture works a strange ascetic turn. I am what I desire. I am what I consume. We are absorbed in an existence as desiring and consuming subjects, living as though we really are just those selves and no more.

In today’s world, to have a great time, we are relied upon

Question 7

Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.

In our societies, we experience fabricated leisure – a kind of planned ‘free time’ that is sandwiched between typically unpleasant work times. And we are bombarded with advertisements that promise we will have a great time if only we get the latest phone or the latest computer game. Ours is a culture that, under the guise of consumption, actually counsels the renunciation of enjoyment. In such a society, wants come apart from pleasures. If you get an expensive car because that’s what you think your status requires you to have that are not the same as enjoying it. The individual who succumbs to this idea does not relish owning the car. She just thinks she must have and display it. We inhabit a world that devalues pleasure while apparently serving it up in large doses. Rather than enjoyment playing a central role in people striving to become otherwise than they are, our culture works a strange ascetic turn. I am what I desire. I am what I consume. We are absorbed in an existence as desiring and consuming subjects, living as though we really are just those selves and no more.

For people, expensive things have become

Question 8

Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.

In our societies, we experience fabricated leisure – a kind of planned ‘free time’ that is sandwiched between typically unpleasant work times. And we are bombarded with advertisements that promise we will have a great time if only we get the latest phone or the latest computer game. Ours is a culture that, under the guise of consumption, actually counsels the renunciation of enjoyment. In such a society, wants come apart from pleasures. If you get an expensive car because that’s what you think your status requires you to have that are not the same as enjoying it. The individual who succumbs to this idea does not relish owning the car. She just thinks she must have and display it. We inhabit a world that devalues pleasure while apparently serving it up in large doses. Rather than enjoyment playing a central role in people striving to become otherwise than they are, our culture works a strange ascetic turn. I am what I desire. I am what I consume. We are absorbed in an existence as desiring and consuming subjects, living as though we really are just those selves and no more.

What is the significance of the word “fabricated” in the essay?

Question 9

Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.

In our societies, we experience fabricated leisure – a kind of planned ‘free time’ that is sandwiched between typically unpleasant work times. And we are bombarded with advertisements that promise we will have a great time if only we get the latest phone or the latest computer game. Ours is a culture that, under the guise of consumption, actually counsels the renunciation of enjoyment. In such a society, wants come apart from pleasures. If you get an expensive car because that’s what you think your status requires you to have that are not the same as enjoying it. The individual who succumbs to this idea does not relish owning the car. She just thinks she must have and display it. We inhabit a world that devalues pleasure while apparently serving it up in large doses. Rather than enjoyment playing a central role in people striving to become otherwise than they are, our culture works a strange ascetic turn. I am what I desire. I am what I consume. We are absorbed in an existence as desiring and consuming subjects, living as though we really are just those selves and no more.

As per the author’s views, what kind of world are we living in?

Question 10

Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.

In our societies, we experience fabricated leisure – a kind of planned ‘free time’ that is sandwiched between typically unpleasant work times. And we are bombarded with advertisements that promise we will have a great time if only we get the latest phone or the latest computer game. Ours is a culture that, under the guise of consumption, actually counsels the renunciation of enjoyment. In such a society, wants come apart from pleasures. If you get an expensive car because that’s what you think your status requires you to have that are not the same as enjoying it. The individual who succumbs to this idea does not relish owning the car. She just thinks she must have and display it. We inhabit a world that devalues pleasure while apparently serving it up in large doses. Rather than enjoyment playing a central role in people striving to become otherwise than they are, our culture works a strange ascetic turn. I am what I desire. I am what I consume. We are absorbed in an existence as desiring and consuming subjects, living as though we really are just those selves and no more.

What are the people doing these days to show themselves as ‘superior’?