Unseen Comprehenson Passages (1) 1. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow: The doctors camourng aganst reservatons for OBCs have demanded that mert be the soe crtera for admsson to medca and engneerng coeges. Then, how s t that they havent ob|ected ether to the NRI quota or canddates who procure admsson on the bass of captaton fee? Does ths not affect quaty ? Reservaton was ntroduced n the Kohapur State as eary as n 1902 and n the State of Mysore n 1921 . In Tam Nadu, where the human heath ndex s much better than n other states, there s as much as 69 per cent reservaton. Let us take for a moment that upper caste doctors are mertorous. But s ths of any hep to thenaton when many of them use ete nsttutes as sprngboard to go abroad for hgher wages. Neary 70 per centof doctors from AIIMS doctors go abroad. How are these ete nsttutes, under such crcumstances, servng the nterests of the common peope ? On the other hand , t has been n Tam Nadu that a good number of SC/ST/OBC doctors, who procured admsson nto coeges due to the reservaton pocy, stck to ther stste or hometown, resutng n better heathcare servces. 2. Reservaton s not a phenomenon excusve to our country. The Amercan MNC,IBM, vountary n traduced reservatons for Backs n 1930 . In Maaysa there are reservatons not |ust n |obs but aso n contracts , cences and company shares for Maays. Reservaton for the depressed and weaker sectons exst n many countres ke Braz, South Afrca, |apan, Netherand and Ireand. There s 50 per cent reservaton for Backs and women n the medca facuty of Harvard Unversty. And the Whtes have never made an ssue of beng egbe ony for 50 per cent of the seats. In fact, t s the handfu of ant- reservatonst doctors, who tak of dsntegraton of socety on account of reservaton, who are reay responsbe for creatng dssenson and obstaces n the ways of soca |ustce of the OBCs.The meda have, of course, payed a negatve roe. But t s a reaty that Indan socety s consttuted on caste nes .If the ant reservatons are so concerned about the dsntegratonof socety on caste nes, they shoud frst ead the strugge aganst soca dscrmnaton. 3. Reservaton get a |ob or admsson even f they get ess percentage of marks, In one of the cases a person was n Indan Revenue Servce. He saw that canddates gettng hgh marks n a competton were not necessary successfu n the fed. Mert, as t s beng presenty understood, does not ncude honesty, hardwork and patrotsm. In the Amercan schoo system, besdes the syabus, students have to undergo practca tranng n soca 4. servces, etc. and marks are added n the certfcate based on performance n thus area. The ony peope tang of mert today are those who have studed n pubc schoos or whose chdren study n such schoos. 5. The expendture ncurred on educaton n pubc schoos n 50 to 100 tmes more than those of corporaton/ government schoos. There s a vast dfference n quaty between the teachers of pubc and government schoos. Parents who can afford to send ther chdren to pubc schoos are mosty educated. They not ony teach the chdren themseves at home but aso provde coachng for them . On the other hand , parents who send ther chdren to corporaton/ government schoos are mosty uneducated . These chdren have to end a hepng hand to ther parents after schoos hours . Under such crcumstances, what s wrong f such students ask for concesson of a few marks? 6. Reservaton w brng unty and ntegrated n socety. Reservaton n ete nsttutes w enabe peope from dfferent soca strata to come together and estabshed bonhome among them . It s true that reservaton s not a permanent souton to the vexed probem of our socety. As and when equa and compusory educaton s ntroduced n the country, Dats and OBCs w not stake ther cams to reservaton. 7. Reservaton s not a pancea for the economc backwardness of the country. For ths purpose ,the government has aready aunched many schemes. Reservaton s ony a concesson gven to socay and educatonay backward peope, so that they may ntegrate wth the manstream. We have no ob|ecton f the poor among the upper caste peope, too, are the beneft of reservatons. But the probem here s that the among them start takng advantage of the pocy. On the basis of your reading the passage, answer the following questions: (a) Why were the Indan doctors camourng aganst reservaton? Ans. Vaue Pont: mert be the soe crtera for admsson to medca and engneerng coeges. (b) Wrte down the procedure on the bass of captaton fee. Ans. Vaue pont:Reservaton was ntroduced n the Kohapur State as eary as n 1902, n the state of Mysore n 1921.. In Tam Nadu, where the human heath ndex s much better than n other states, there s as much as 69 percent reservaton. (c) What deas do you know about reservatons n Maaysa and Harvard Unversty? Ans. vaue pont: In Maaysa there are reservatons not |ust n |obs but aso n contracts, cences and company shares for Maays. There s 50 percent reservaton for Backs and women n the medca facuty of Harvard Unversty (d) What vew s taken by the Indans and Amercans about mert? Ans.vaue ponts: In nda reservaton on caste nes and reservatonsts get a |ob or admsson even f they get ess percentage of marks. In Amercan schoo system, besdes the syabus, students have to undergo practca tranng n soca servce, etc. and marks are added n the certfcate based on performance n ths area. (e) Pont out the dfference n Pubc as we as Government Unversty. Ans. vaue ponts: The expendture ncurred on educaton n pubc schoos n 50 to 100 tmes more than those of corporaton/ government schoos.There s a vast dfference n quaty between the teachers of pubc and government schoos. (f) What way out has been suggested n the passage about reservaton? Ans. Vaue Ponts : Reservaton s ony a concesson gven to socay and educatonay backward peope so that they may ntegrate wth the manstream. We have no ob|ecton f the poor among the upper caste peope, too, are gven the beneft of reservatons. 8. On the bass of readng the passage, trace words that are smar n meanng to the foowng:. (a) the best possbe(para-2) (b) academcay abe(para- 5) (c) a fne remedy(para- 5) (d) money spent (para -4) Ans. (a)egbe (b)Ans. educated c. Ans.souton d. Ans-expendture
PASSAGE!. The government appears to have woken up to the probem of acute agraran dstress. In a furry of actvty surroundng the prme mnster,s vst to Vdarbha, the government had decared ts ntent to seek remedes for the crss affectng the peasantry, symbozed by the spate of farmers sucdes over theast few years . Ths s ndeed wecome, though the response shoud have come sooner. Reports and studes from varous sources, ncudng government commssons, on farmerssusdes and ther proxmate causes have anaysed the ssue to the bone. What was mssng was concerted acton on the part of the Centre. The package beng put together now recognzes that the mmedate probem s not one of eccess to credt or the eve of the nterest rate (though these are ndeed medum- term ssues0 but of a egacy of debt that cannot be borne. Low farm gate prces, rsng nput cost and anadequate ncreases n productvty have combned to make nterest and debt repayment commtments too onerous to bear. The expans the governments decson to wrteoff debt ay east n the case of margna and sma farmers, and, f the Fnance Mnstry agrees, to nsure them aganst crop faure so to prevent the egacy of debt from becomng an unbearabe burden for many more. These are sgnfcant steps forward. However the government aso adopt poces that mtates aganst ong term redressa of the agraran crss that underes farmers dstress. The frst of these s a fsca pocy stance that precudes the adopton of measures that are cruca to revtaze agrcuture. : Massve pubc nvestment n rura nfrastructure, ncudng rrgaton, dranage and food contro; owerng of nput cost through subsdes where necessary; and a hke n expendture to restructure the provson of a host of extenton and a support servces to mprove agrcutura productvty. Wth the government focused on fsca defct reducton rather on rasng Indaabysma tax-GDP rato and expandng much needed expendtures, thse measures are beng vrtuay gnored. Rather the emphass, as refected n ths years budget for exampe, s on ncreasng the fow of credt to rura areas, wthout recognzng why even the current mted fow has taken the farmng communty nto a debt trap. The second s the decson to use free mports as a means to dampen nfaton. The evdence on nfaton s cear. Whe aggregate nfaton on an annua pont to pont bass(as measured by the offca Whoesae prce ndex) stood at |ust 5.24 percent over the week endng |une 10, 2006, the rate of nfaton n the case of ndvsua essenta commodtes was much hgher: Between 9 and 10 percent n the wheat, fue and sugar and as much as 35 percent n the case of puses. A factor underyng these trends s ong term deteroraton n agrcutura performances. In most cases ower demand resutng from mted purchasng power among some sectons of the popuaton has ensure that poor agrcutura performance has yet to resut n a short fa n suppy reated to demand. Even so, specuatve hoardng has ndeed resuted n an artfca short fa. Specuaton has been added by a number of decsons of the government such as remova of contro on the movements of agrcutura, commodtes and berazaton of rues reatng to the operaton of the prvate traders and agr- busness frms, whch n turn have resuted n the faure to procure adequate government stocks at the mnmum support prce where appcabe. The government have sort to augment suppy wth mports. Besde decdng February to mport wheat to repensh dwndng government stocks, t has now decded to permt prvate actua users of wheat ke four mers bscut manufacturers and bread makers to mport wheat duty free t the next rab harvest. It has aso aow custom duty free mport of sugar t the bgnnng of the next crushng season whch start n October. And t has put a ban on exports of puses ths efforts to enhance domestc suppy wth mport may be successfu n dempenng n nfatonary expectatons and hodng the prce eve n the short run. But t coud aso adversey affect revenues garnered by the aready- dstressed peasantry wth attended mpcatons for prvate expendture needed to sustan and mprove agrcutura producton. E.g., Reance on PL-480 mports n the 1950s and eary 1960s, whe dampenng prce n nfaton durng Second Pan Years, was party responsbe for the nadequate yed growth that preceded the aggraron crss of the md-1960s. Reance on mports to dampen prce ncreases can, Therefore, worsen the agraran crss and the dstressed condton of farmers n the medum term. What s needed s to drecty curb specuatve actvtes, reverse poces wth regard to freer agrcutura trade that have brought n arge prvate payers drven by opportuntes for proft and combne ths wth an nvestment- ed agrcutura strategy. If not, the sma reef beng offered the prme mnster of farmers n the worst affected areas woud amount to tte other than temporary reef and a decaraton of concern. On the basis of reading passage answer the following questions. a) What s the actua probem of agrarans n Vdarbha? Ans : VALUE POINTS : Acute agraran dstress, the crss effectng the peasantry, smbosed the spate of farmers sucdes over the ast few years.
b) How the government can hep for ther redressa? Wrte ateast two ma|or steps. Ans : VALUE POINTS : Intent to see remedes for the crss, to mtate aganst ong term red ressa of the agraran crss that underes farmers dstress. Frst- Precudes adopton of measures that are cruca to revtazes agrcutura ncudng rrgaton, dranage and food contro, provson of a host of extenson supports servces to mprove agrcutura productvty. Second- to use free mports as a means to dampen nfaton. c) In what does the hoardng create a probem for a? Wrte down the souton. Ans : VALUE POINTS : Specuaton has been aded by a number of decsons of the government such as remova of contros on the movements of agrcutura commodtes and berazaton of rues reatng to the operaton of prvate traders and agrbussnessfrm,whch n turn have resuted n the faure to procure adequate government stock s at the mnmum support prce where appcabe. The government has sought to respond to the stuaton by seekng to augment suppy wth mports. d) Menton the steps ntated by the government to tacke the stuaton? Ans : VALUE POINTS : to permt prvate actua users of wheat ke four mers, bscut manufacturers and bread makers to mport wheat duty free t the next rab harvest. , aowed customs duty- free, a ban on exports of puses. e) What souton has been put forth by the wrter n the concudng para? Ans : VALUE POINTS : to drecty curb specuatve actvty, reverse poces wth regard to freer agrcutura trade that have brought n arge prvate payers drven by opportuntes for proft and combne ths wth an nvestment- ed agrcutura strategy,the sma reef offer by prme mnster of farmers n the the worst affected areas woud amount to tte other than temporary reef . 3.Fnd words from the above passage that are smar n meanng to the foowng: (a) havoc(para -1) (b) To shut off( para -3) (c) Coecton (para-6 (d) farmng( para-1) Ans : (a) furry (b) mtate (c) garner (d) agraran PASSAGE" !. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow: It s reported that the government s cose to fnazng a system of dua prcng for the pubc procurement of food grans. There woud be two basc eements to ths system: Afxed Mnmum Support Prce (MSP) coverng the cost of cutvaton, as at present,recommended by the Commsson on Agrcutura Costs and Prces (CACP), and varabe procurement prces, at the dscreton of the department of food , dependng on market For exampe, accordng to a workng group of the Pannng Commsson, over the fve year perod endng 2001-02 when there was a steep rse n procurement prce resutng n accumuaton of embarrassng arge stock of food grans of over 60 mon tones wth the government, consumpton of foodgrauns n the country was reduced, on ths account, by at east fve mon tones per annum. The new system by assgnng a greater roe for prvate trade can mprove the effcency n the dstrbuton of foodgrans and susdtantay cut down subsdes, whch can hep to step up much needed pubc nvestment n agrcuture. The proposed dua prcng ststem s a better aternatve than tota marketsaton of foodgrans trade by dsbandng atogether pubc procurement at MSP. Such a dsmantng coud ead to a crash n market prces of foodgrans n years of food harvest. Even though ths may take exports compettve and rase domestc consumpton of food grans n the short run, t may undermne food securty by sappng producer ncentves. The experence of green revouton undernes the mportance of assured MSP ncudng the farmers to step up ther own nvestment and effrt and derve fu beneft from avaabe nfrastructure. For the dua prcng system to yed desred resuts, t needs to be backed by severa other pocy measures. Snce the mpetus for crop dversfcaton woud be greater n the nfrastructuray- deveoped regons ke the north-west , ths can sow down the growth of foodgrans output n the country and, n partcuar, the surpuses procured, uness mmedate measures are taken to strengthen pubc support for rrgaton, technoogy, extenson and credt n thr rest of the company, especay n the centra and eastern regons where there s a arge potentaas the growth of food grans output has barey kept pace wth popuaton growth snce the md-90s. Ths aso cas for more effectve pubc procurement of food grans at MSP n these regons, as farmers have to often se ther produce mmedatey after the harvest at prces that are ower than MSP. Therefore, dua prcng system can be sustaned ony through non-prce nterventons such as nfrastructura support for regona dspersa of growth n foodgrans output. The new system requres better market ntegence forecasts as we as concurrent anayses on prces and saes n markets n Inda and abroad #uestions. (a) What are the two eements of dua prcng system for procurng foodgrans? Ans : VALUE POINTS : A fxed Mnmum Support Prce (MSP) coverng the cost of cutvaton, as at present, recommended by the Commsson on Agrcuture Costs and Prces(cacp) and varabe procurement prces, at the dscreton of the department of food, dependng on market condtons n dfferent seasons and regons of the country. (b) How w the above proposed system beneft the naton? ANS: VALUE POINTS: It woud enabe to the country to more effectvey cope wth emergng chaenges n agrcuture .the proposa aso recognzes the greater abty of our economy , n the post - berazaton era ,to meet temporary shortages of food grans through mports. (c) Menton ateast four non food gran tem used by the consumer ANS: VALUE POINTS : Non food gran tems such as sugar , edbe os ,mk, meat, fsh, eggs, vegetabes and fruts are used by the consumer (d) What s the resut of ecoogca degradaton n the north-western regon of Inda ? ANS: VALUE POINTS : The depeton of so nutrents and water tabe drven down to unsustanaby Low eves (e) In order to boost the dua system what urgent measures are needed to be taken? ANS: VALUE POINTS : Improvng the effcency n the dstrbuton of food grans and substantay cut down subsdes, whch can hep to step up much needed pubc nvestment n agrcuture. (f) How we can sustan the dua prcng system? ANS: VALUE POINTS: Ony through non prce nterventons such as nfrastructura support for regona dspersa of growth n food grans output . Trace words from the passage that are the synonyms of the foowng (a) Extra (para-3) (b) extract(para3) (c) a drvng force (para-5) (d) Two roes(para-5) Ans. a surpus b. depeton c. mpetus d. dua PASSAGE $ Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow: One of the greatest advances n modern technoogy has been the nventon of computers. They are wdey used n Industres and n Unverstes . Now there s hardy any sphere of human fe where computers have not been pressed n to servce of man. We are headng fast on the cose of ths present century towards a stuaton when a computer w be as much part of mans day fe as a teephone or a cacuator. Computers are capabe of dong extremey compcated work n a branches of earnng . They can sove the most compex mathematca probems or put thousands of unreated facts n order. These machnes can be put to vared uses. For nstance, they can provde nformaton on the best way to prevent traffc, or they can count the number of tmes the word "and" has been used n the Bbe. Because they work accuratey and at hgh speed, they save the research workers hard work. Ths whoe process by whch machnes can be used to work for us had been caed automaton. In the future automaton may enabe human bengs for more esure than they do today. The comng of automaton s bound to have mportant soca consequences . Some years ago an expert on automaton , Sr Leon Bagrt , ponted out that t was a mstake to beeve that these machnes coud thnk . There no possbty that human bengs w be " controed by machnes". Thougth computers are capabe of earnng from ther mstakes and mprovng on ther performance, they need detaed nstructons from human bengs to operate. They can never ,as t were, ead ndependent ves or" rue the word" by makng decson of ther own. Sr Leon sad that n future, computers woud be deveoped whch woud be sma enough to carry n the pocket. Ordnary peope woud than be abe to use them to obtan vauabe nformaton. Computers coud be pugged nto a natona network and be used ke rados. For nstance, peope gong on hoday coud be nformed about weather condtons. Car drvers can be gven aternatve routes when there are traffc |ams. It w aso be possbe to make tny transatng machnes. Ths w enabe peope who do not share a common anguage to tak to each other wthout any dffcuty or to read foregn pubcaton. It s mpossbe to assess that mportance of a machne of ths short, for many nternatona msunderstandngs are caused smpe through our faure to understand each other. Computers w aso be used n ordnary pubc hospta, by provdng a machne wth a patents systems; a doctor w be abe to dagnoss the nature of ness. Smary machnes coud be used to keep a check on a patents heath record and brng t up to date. Doctors w there for have mmedate access to a great many facts whch w hep n ther work. Bookkeepers and accountants too coud be reeved of du cerca work, for the tedous task of compng and checkng sts of fgures coud be done entrey by machnes. Computers w aso be abe to te the exact the age a man s gong to ve, wth the hep of hs bood pcture. Computers are the most effcent servants man has ever had and there s no mt to the way they can be used to mprove our fe stye and fe. O.1 what s the greatest advancement n modern technoogy? 2x4=8 Ans. Vaue Ponts; the nventon of computers. O.2 Expan Automaton? Ans. Vaue Ponts: Computers are capabe of dong extremey compcated work n a branches of earnng. They can sove the most compex mathematca probems or put thousands of unreated facts n order. These machnes can be put to vared uses. Ths whoe process by whch machnes can be used to work for us had been caed"automaton" O.3 What was the predcton of Sr Leon about the computers n future? Ans. Vaue Ponts: n the future , computer s woud be deveoped whch woud be sma enough to carry n the pocket. O.4 Name the areas where computers can be effectvey used? Ans. Vaue Ponts: used ke rado, car drvers use for aternatve routes, used n ordnary pubc hosptas, patent,s systems, use for cerca work, te the exact age of a man. O.5 Fnd word n above passage whch convey the smar meanng for 1x2=3 ) Dffcut or compex ) Another choce Ans.5 ) compcated ) aternatve
PASSAGE% The New year s the tme for resouton .Mentay, at east most of us coud compe formdabe sts of dos and donts. The same od favourtes recur year n and year out wth the chdren, do a thousand and one |ob abut the house, be nce to peope we dont ke, drve carefuy, and take the dog for a wak every day. Past experence has tahght us that certan accompshments are beyond attanment. If we reman deep rooted ars, t s ony because we have so often experenced the frustraton that resuts from faure. Most of us fa n our efforts at sef mprovement because our schemes are too ambtous and we never have tme to carry them out. We aso make the fundamenta error of announcng our resouton to everybody so that we ook even more foosh when we spback nto our bad od ways. Aware of these ptfas, ths year I attempted to keep my resouton to mysef. I mted mysef to two modest ambtons, to do physcat exercese every mornmg and to read more n the evenng. An overnght party on New years eve provded me wth a good excuse for not carryng out eter of these new resouton on the frst day of the year, but on the second, Iapped mysef assduousy to the task. The day exercse asted ony eeven mnutes and I proposed to do them eary n the mornng before anyone had got up. The sef dscpne reqred to drag mysef out of bed eeven mnutes earer than usua was consderabe. Nevertheess, I managed to creep down nto the vng room for two days before anyone found me out. After |umpng about n the carpet and twsted the human frame nto uncomfortabe postons.I sat down at the breakfast tabe n an exhausted condton. It was ths that betrayed me. The next mornng the whoe famy trooped nto watch the performance. That was reay unsettng but I fended off the taunts and |bes of the famy good humouredy and soon everybody got used to the dea. However, my enthusasm waned , the tme I spent at exercses graduay dmnshed. Ltte by tte the eeven mnutes fe to zero. By |anuary10th I was back to where I had started from. I argued that f I spent ess tme exhaustng mysef at exercses n the mornng. I woud keep my mnd fresh for readng when I got home from work. Resstng the hypnotzng effect of teevson, Isat n my room for a few evenngs wth my eyes gued to a book. One nght, however, feeng cod and oney, I went downstars and sat n front of the teevson pretendng to read. That proved to be my undong, for I soon got back to the od bad habt of dozng off n front of the screen. I st havent gven up my resouton to do more readng. In fact, I have |ust bought a book entted How to Read a Thousand Words a Mnute. Perhaps t w sove my probem, but I|ust have not had tme to read t. O.1. Why most of us fa n our efforts for sef-mprovement? Ans. Vaue Ponts: because our schemes are too ambtous and we never have tme to carry them out. O.2. Why s t a basc mstake to announce our resouton to everybody ? Ans. Vaue Ponts: ook even more foosh when we spback nto our bad od ways. O.3. Why dd the wrter not carry out hs resouton on New Years Day Ans. Vaue Ponts: An overnght party on New Years Eve provded the wrter wth a good excuse for not carryng out ether of these new resoutons on the frst day of the year.
O.4. Fnd out the words n the above passage whch convey the smar meanng to the foowng: (1) Overwhemng (2) Drawbacks (3) Decrease Ans..(1) Formdabe (2) Ptfas (3) Wane