PASSAGE 1 Among the chief glories of Le Notres vision, the ornamental groves were intimate spaces.

Concealed from view by facades of trellised hornbeam surrounding thick copses of lime or chestnut, their sculptured terraces and fountains were intended to be discovered one by one like successive scene changes in a baroque opera. The design of the Three Fountains Grove was reputed to bear the imprint of the kings own hand. Gardening can be an expensive pastime. Le Notre and Le Brun got through 1.5 m livres (over $250 m at todays prices) in the first two years after they began laying out the park at Versailles in 1661. Trees take longer than stone walls to reach maturity, so the first groves and parterres were planted before work began on the palace itself. Created as the backdrop to spectacular royal entertainments, the park was seen from the start as theatrical decor. Passages of hornbeam flanked the main alleys to allow servants to pass to and fro without intruding on the spectacle. For four decades Le Notre hardly paused for breath, draining marshes, extending perspectives, planting, shaping, cutting down and replanting, as the kings fancy and changing tastes dictated. As many as 36,000 gardeners and earth-shifters toiled to meet the royal deadlines. By the time of Le Notres death (in 1700) domestic plumbing was still unknown to the townsfolk outside the walls, but the Versailles gardens boasted more ornamental fountains than any place on earth. To supply the huge reservoirs, miles of aqueduct were constructed and rivers were diverted by fantastic pumping projects dreamed up by top military engineers. Pierre-Andre Lablaude, chief architect of historical monuments and author of a comprehensive book on the gardens of Versailles, pieced together the authentic condition of the groove in the late 17th century from visual references and written accounts of the day. His team had to revive forgotten construction techniques and find obsolete materials. A disused stone quarry, the indispensable source of a rare configuration of sandstone swirls, had to be restored to working order. When digging began, the remains of terraces and structures destroyed by centuries of neglect and the ravages of war were found buried under dense undergrowth. 1. a] b] c] d] 2. a] c] 3. a] c] 4. a] 5. a] b] c] d] The passage is about: the construction of a huge park in the 17th century the restoration of a park that had been made in the 17th century. a description of a 17th century park a tourist attraction of a 17th century park How long did it take for Le Notre to complete the park? 4 years b] 40 years more than 40 years d] none of these The park mentioned above was made for: the kings entertainment b] a gift to the people of France d]

a part of the royal theatre a place of recreation for the people

What would be the best meaning of the word copses (first paragraph) mentioned in the passage above? dead bodies b] small areas c] collections d] groves It can be inferred that: the garden has been in use for many years now the garden is a World Heritage site the garden has been in disuse for many years and has been restored now. the garden has been restored using almost 36,000 gardeners and earth shifters. PASSAGE 2

Skin stays healthy and young-looking because of a fine balance between two processes that are constantly at work. The first breaks down the old skin while the second makes new skin. The body breaks down the old skin with enzymes called matrix metalloproteinases, or MMPs. They chop up the fibres that form collagen the connective tissue that makes up around 80 per cent of normal skin. Akimichi Morita and his colleagues at Nagoya City University Medical School suspected that smoking disrupte d the bodys natural process of breaking down old skin and renewing it. To test their idea, they first made a solution of cigarette smoke by pumping smoke through a saline solution. Smoke was sucked from cigarettes for two seconds every minute. Tiny drops of this smoke solution were added to dishes of human fibroblasts, the skin cells that produce collagen. After a day in contact with smoke solution, the researchers tested the skin cells to see how much collagen-degrading MMP they were making. Morita found that cells exposed to cigarette smoke had produced far more MMP than normal skin cells. Morita also tested the skin cells to see how much new collagen they were producing. He found that the smoke caused a drop in the production of fresh collagen by up to 40 per cent. He says that this combined effect of degrading collagen more rapidly and producing less new collagen is probably what causes premature skin ageing in smokers. In both cases, the more concentrated the smoke solution the greater the effect on collagen.

This suggests the amount of collagen is important for skin ageing,he says. It looks like less collagen means more wrinkle formation. Morita doesnt know if this is the whole story of why smokers have more wrinkles. But he plans to confirm his fi ndings by testing skin samples from smokers and non-smokers of various ages to see if the smoking has the same effect on collagen. So far weve only done this in the lab, he says. We dont know exactly what happens in the body yetthat might take some time. Other dermatologists are impressed by the work. This is fascinating, says Lawrence Parish, director of the Centre for International Dermatology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. This confirms scientifically what weve lo ng expected, he says. 6. expect? a] b] c] d] 7. a] c] 8. a] c] 9. a] b] c] d] 10. a] b] c] d] The last line of the passage says, This confirms scientifically what weve long expected. What did the scientists that smoke can cause damage to the body that smoking directly affects the regenerative property of human skin that collagens directly affect formation of wrinkles in human skin. that cells exposed to cigarette smoke had produced far more MMP than normal skin cells. Most of the skin in humans is formed of : matrix metalloproteinases, or MMPs collagen What is the function of MMPs? breaking up of old skin absorbing smoke

b] d]

fibroblasts none of these

b] d]

regenerating new skin cells protection of skin

The study cited in the passage: has established irrefutable evidence of harmful effects of smoke on the human body has not established irrefutable evidence of harmful effects of smoke on the human body is experimental in nature and has given a possible outcome on the human body has shown how smoking affects collagen and how it behaves in the human body Suggest a suitable title for the passage. Effect of smoking on collagen New Research on Smoking Smoking and premature skin ageing Moritas path breaking research PASSAGE 3

Every technology has its positive and negative sides. It is the social process that controls the use and application of a technology which determines whether a particular technology delivers more good than bad. Unfortunately, the social process controlling the use and application of large dams has been extremely weak in India. Studies on corruption show that corrupt institutions focus much more on the hardware of a technology rather than on its software. Whether it is corruption, incompetence or plain ignorance, it is a matter of fact that the software of the vast irrigational resources created by large dams has been totally ignored, especially the dimensions of equity and sustainability. How should the water be used? What should be the cropping patterns? How should the water be shared? How are we going to deal with the problem of resettlement? Many such questions remain unaddressed in large irrigation systems built around big dams. The problem of resettlement is going to grow, if nothing else, because of population growth. A watershed that supported one lakh people will today support probably three lakh people and, in the years to come, even more. Will it be easy to resettle so many people? Many large dams, especially in the humid regions, have not brought many benefits. Even where they have boosted agricultural production, as in the arid, semi-arid and have been cornered by the more powerful farmers to grow water-intensive, but highvalue, crops like rice and sugarcane leaving many poor farmers without water. In any case, large dams mainly, benefit in the plains and not farmers in the hill and mountain regions (lands being up and down), which constitute a large part of land area where a number of poor farmers live. The ultimate problem is that even if the most optimistic projections for large dams and inter-basin transfers were to become a reality, a very substantial part of India will not get irrigation facilities. Until now, the Government has not come up with a real programme to address the problems farmers in existing rain fed agricultural lands face. It has simply left these farmers is misery, destitution and poverty. This is where the use of the local water harvesting, whose potential is not small, to provide not only stability but also increase productivity is critical. 11. a] b] The social process ensures how to make use of the negative effects of a particular how to upgrade a technology for the society

c] d]

how to make out a particular technology more beneficial for mankind how to make a technology eco-friendly.

12. What do you mean by the statement that corrupt institutions focus much more on the hardware of technology rather than on its software? a] Such institutions pay attention to the technical or machinery side of a technology rather than on its implications on mankind. b] Such institutions think only of money making from a technology rather than its results. c] Such institutions only judge the upper part of a technology and not inner part. d] Both b] and c] 13. a] b] c] d] 14. a] b] c] d] 15. a] b] c] d] The issue of resettlement will get more serious with the passage of time because it needs to be addressed urgently it cannot be solved in a given timeframe no one wants to leave their native place population bears population Rice and sugarcane are the crops which put question mark on the efficiency of dams. only rich farmers can grow can only be grown beside dams consume a large quantity of water. Why are the large dams not so successful in the hill and mountain regions? because average farmers are poor and they cannot pay for the service because of corruption in the system because supplying of water through channels needs level field because it is costly to build dams in these regions. PASSAGE 4 India is said to be a land of contrasts. We have great affluence and dire poverty; we profess non-violence and tolerance and yet kill thousands in the name of religion. Another contrast lies in that while we emphasize spiritual values and disdain material success, many of our industrialists and traders are utterly amoral, if not actively dishonest. Are we, in fact, other worldly as our leaders loudly proclaim? Are the ethical standards of business in India so low? There can be little doubt that the people we respect are scholars and philosophers, not industrialists or skilled artisans. We respect and honour Jamshedji Tata but that was more as patriot and nationalist who set up an Indian industry, in defiance of British interest, than as an industrialist. Indian history contains many examples of pioneering work in astronomy and mathematics and, of course, philosophy but few instances of advances in technology. Ancient and medieval China gave the world paper and gunpowder; there are few corresponding Indian examples. It is a moot point as to whether our cultural values discouraged advances in technology, or whether the fact that we were technologically backward made us look down on industry and technology. The fact remains that when the British colonised us we were very backward except in some crafts such as weaving. And those crafts could not compete with modern technology. British rule did not bring about any major change. First, the British did not want to take steps which would affect the dominant position of their industry. Secondly, the British administrators who ran India shared the same cultural values of looking down on those who made or traded in things. This attitude was adopted by the Indian elite as it was the same as the Indian caste structure: the people at the top were the priests and the scholars; manufactures and traders belonged to the lower castes. Our freedom movement came under two strong influences. The Gandhian influence was Ruskinian : his emphasis was on village industries, shunning large-scale manufacturing and anything modern. The opinions of modernists like Pandit Nehru were largely influenced by socialistic thought: it was governed by the profit motive. The policies of independent India influenced by socialist thinking and paying lip service to Gandhian values continued to deprecate activities which were motivated by the desire to make money. Of course, this was, in most cases, sheer humbug. Ministers and MPs drew low salaries but made up the difference through munificent allowances and perquisites. Many were corrupt; quite a few who were not monetarily corrupt used their position to ensure that their relatives were given good jobs in industry. Our godmen always had a few prosperous businessmen -devotees who brought comfort and even luxury to a life of spartan asceticism. And the ordinary Indian was like any other person; his ambition was to live well, and, wherever he could, he wanted money for himself and his family. We are no more otherworldly than any one else. In the 40 years after independence we continued this way; most of us wanted money, power and other things money bought. Yet, we kept on proclaiming our belief in spiritual values and paying lip-service to socialism.

Those in power indeed made money from socialist policies and so did the businessmen and industrialists. Numerous rules and regulations were made in the name of socialism. Those who were in authority made money because they decided who would get the permits. The businessmen revelled in the result; the system created scarcity and curbed competition. Once a permit or license was secured, a steady profit was guaranteed. 16. a] b] c] d] 17. a] b] c] d] Which is not true as per the passage? The contrast in India stems from the equivocal attitudes of Indians. Indian socialism was never designed to genuinely uplift the poor. Gandhian ideals were carefully enshrined in Indian policies. Gandhian ideals have never been followed seriously. Which is false as per the passage? The roe of Jamshedji Tata in building the Indian infrastructure has been paid the attention it deserved, at least to some extent. The Indian caste-structure mentality reflects its presence in the way we respect our scholars and our industrialists. Indian contribution to modern science has been negligible. None of the above.

18. The author firmly agrees with the view that our cultural values are responsible for our relative stagnancy in technological fields. a] True b] False c] Cant be say d] Indeterminate 19. a] b] c] d] 20. a] b] c] d] The term munificent in the passage specifically refers to: large-scale manufacturing few prosperous business-devotees the allowances and perquisites of politicians the priests and the scholars Spartan asceticism is the term used to indirectly highlight: the life of devoted religious Godmen the strangeness in the Indian fascination with Godmen. the Godmens lives of luxury None of the above. PASSAGE 5 The Indian cooperative sector is celebrating its centenary this year. In the process of completing a century of its presence, this sector has built up a network, which is considered the worlds largest. More than five lakh individual cooperative organisations and over 25 crore members make it numerically the largest movement in the world. A paid up capital base of more than 50,000 crore rupees, presence in practically all walks of life and covering almost all villages of the country, makes it economically and socially the most significant set of organisations. But then, the problems too are plenty. The general perception is that the cooperative sector is weak and inactive. Barring exceptions, the sector seems to be ill-equipped to face the challenge of neoliberal thrust. Even after a hundred years, most cooperatives are dependent on government patronage both for their business and capital requirements. The future does not look bright if some structural changes are not effected to rejuvenate the sector and the movement as a whole. There are two very important vices that we have inherited and two essential values we have failed to inculcate, which have marred the cooperative character in our setting. The first of the vices is the bureaucratization and government control. When the colonial rulers officially brought the cooperatives to India, they introduced the omnipotent Registrar, a position specially created by the government in order to have the final controlling rights with it and not to allow the cooperative sector to blossom as a peoples movement. The government of free India, while championing the cause of cooperatives, not only retained this key position but also further added a long hierarchy of bureaucratic power centres. In fact, government directed cooperative movement is in itself a contradiction and against the logic of cooperative movement. The second vice, which we developed by ourselves, is that the politicians are cooperators by default. They are in cooperatives either because they want to move up in the political hierarchy (cooperatives as breeding grounds) or because they have temporarily failed to make headway in that route (cooperatives as rehabilitation centres). There is no harm in cooperators becoming politicians. In fact it would be a welcome development. But the other way round, which is the practice today, would kill the movement. Our cooperative sector has clearly failed to inculcate two of the very essential cooperative values. The first is that of self-help. Self-help was envisaged as a basic tenet of cooperatives. Both Robert Owen and Charles Fourier had seen cooperation as a process of creating self-help communities. In its very genesis the movement was opposed to Market and State, since both had failed to protect the interest of common man. Both are, in that sense, forces which the cooperators resist. Drawing support from

such sources is essentially a modern day political compromise, and it would be against the cooperative ideology. We need to understand that governments both in centrally planned economies and free market domains were too eager and willing to provide financial and other support to cooperatives and the sector fell prey to this temptation. A cooperative endeavour should necessarily depend on its own resources, energy and time, however small it could turn out to be its growth and expansion should be evolutionary. The second very important missing value is the member centrality. Cooperatives by their very nature are inward looking organisations. They are meant to serve the member community unlike the outward looking organisations such as the corporate which sells to anyone so long as there is profit. The focus of all activities of cooperatives should have been members. Business activities are to be developed based on member needs, policies are to be designed according to member views and administration is to be carried out through member participation. Indian cooperatives generally do not stick to this value. It is increasingly felt that the pressures of globalisation will have to be addressed to a large extent through self-help initiatives. The talk of social capital as an input for development and self-help groups as instruments of development is everywhere. This reinforces the need for cooperative endeavours. There is a definite credibility crisis for the cooperative sector. The process of withdrawal of the state from certain service areas should have in the ordinary course opened up the doors for cooperativisation instead of privatisation. But no one believes that the cooperative sector is competent enough to accept this challenge. Unle ss the sector moves away from the clutches of government control and comes out with the norms for restraining politicians from making use of the sector as a ladder for their personal benefits, the movement is sure to slip down further. It is inevitable that a good number of our cooperative enterprises will disappear in the coming years, since they are not strong enough to stand the trial of time. However, inculcating the values of self-help and member centrality can give rise to cooperatives, which are not just enterprises but instruments of creating cooperative communities. The cooperati ve ideology is indeed too precious and realistic to discard. Hard introspection and commitment to further the cause is needed during the centenary celebrations. 21. a] b] c] d] 22. a] b] c] d] 23. a] c] 24. a] c] According to the passage which one of the following statements is not true? The Indian cooperative sector is equipped well to face the challenges of neo-liberal business environment. A definite credibility crisis over shadows the cooperative sector. Cooperators oppose the forces of Market and State It would be a welcome development if cooperators become politicians What are the reasons for the cooperative movement to deteriorate. Government control on cooperative sector. Politicians ambition to use cooperative movements for individual gain. Both (1) and (2) None of these. Which is the significant vice that plagues the cooperative system? Bureaucratization b] Government control Politicians in cooperative movement d] All the above Which is/are the essential value(s) that the cooperative sector failed to develop? Self help b] Focus on members Resources d] Both (1) and (2)