Reading Comprehension Test 11

[passage-header][/passage-header]Tyagaraja was born at Tiruvarur in Tanjavur district of Tamil Nadu on May 4, 1767. He was the third child of his parents, Ramabrahmam and Sitamma. They spoke Telugu at home. Tyagaraja had an elder brother named Panchapakesan or Jalpesan. 
There was music in Tyagaraja's blood. His mother was a good singer. He had his first lessons in music from her. His father was a good scholar in Telugu and Sanskrit. He learnt both the languages from him. When he was seven years old, the family moved to a village called Thiruvaiyaru. 
Tyagaraja was interested in music from his childhood. Even as a young boy he used to compose songs and write them on the walls of his house. Noticing his son's interest in music, his father took him to Sonti Venkataramayya, a musician at the court of King Sarabhoji of Tanjavur. Tyagaraja became his disciple and learnt music from him. 
When he grew up, he spent most of his time composing songs and singing them in front of the idol of Lord Rama in his house. He was married at the age of eighteen. Once a week, he went along the streets singing songs in praise of God and maintained his family with what people gave him. He never cared for wealth. But his elder brother, Jalpesan, wanted him to earn money through his music.
One day, the Raja of Tanjavur invited Tyagaraja to sing in his court. He offered him a gift of fifty acres of land and a lot of gold coins. But Tyagaraja refused to sing in the king's court. Jalpesan was wild with anger. He insisted Tyagaraja to sing in the king's court. They can be rich and live a happy life. When Tyagaraja disagreed, he threw the idol of Lord Rama into the river Kaveri. 
Not finding his deity at home, Tyagaraja composed many songs in praise of Lord Rama and sang them with great feeling. After two months he had a dream: He saw the place where his idol of Lord Rama was lying. The next morning he went to the place, found the idol and brought it back home. In a joyful mood, he sang many songs in praise of his deity.

[passage-header][/passage-header]Tyagaraja was born at Tiruvarur in Tanjavur district of Tamil Nadu on May 4, 1767. He was the third child of his parents, Ramabrahmam and Sitamma. They spoke Telugu at home. Tyagaraja had an elder brother named Panchapakesan or Jalpesan. 
There was music in Tyagaraja's blood. His mother was a good singer. He had his first lessons in music from her. His father was a good scholar in Telugu and Sanskrit. He learnt both the languages from him. When he was seven years old, the family moved to a village called Thiruvaiyaru. 
Tyagaraja was interested in music from his childhood. Even as a young boy he used to compose songs and write them on the walls of his house. Noticing his son's interest in music, his father took him to Sonti Venkataramayya, a musician at the court of King Sarabhoji of Tanjavur. Tyagaraja became his disciple and learnt music from him. 
When he grew up, he spent most of his time composing songs and singing them in front of the idol of Lord Rama in his house. He was married at the age of eighteen. Once a week, he went along the streets singing songs in praise of God and maintained his family with what people gave him. He never cared for wealth. But his elder brother, Jalpesan, wanted him to earn money through his music.
One day, the Raja of Tanjavur invited Tyagaraja to sing in his court. He offered him a gift of fifty acres of land and a lot of gold coins. But Tyagaraja refused to sing in the king's court. Jalpesan was wild with anger. He insisted Tyagaraja to sing in the king's court. They can be rich and live a happy life. When Tyagaraja disagreed, he threw the idol of Lord Rama into the river Kaveri. 
Not finding his deity at home, Tyagaraja composed many songs in praise of Lord Rama and sang them with great feeling. After two months he had a dream: He saw the place where his idol of Lord Rama was lying. The next morning he went to the place, found the idol and brought it back home. In a joyful mood, he sang many songs in praise of his deity.

[passage-header]Read the poem and answer the question that follows:
[/passage-header]WHAT'S THE LIFE OF A MAN 
As I was walking one morning with ease 
Viewing the leaves that had fallen from the trees, 
All in full motion appearing to be 
Those that had withered, they fell from the tree. 

If you had seen the leaves just a few days ago 
How beautiful and bright they did all seem to grow, 
A frost came upon them and withered them all 
A storm came upon them and down they did fall. 

What's the life of a man any more than a leaf 
A man has his seasons so why should he grieve. 
For although through this life we appear fine and grey 
Like a leaf we must wither and soon fade away.

[passage-header]Read the passage carefully and answer the question that follows:
[/passage-header]Great and marvelous indeed are the achievements of Science. It has broken down the barriers of time and distance. Traveling has become short, safe and comfortable. It has made contact and communication with the world easier and quicker by inventing telephones, telegraphs and the wireless. Agriculture is no longer at the mercy of nature. Yields have been multiplied with the help of mechanized farming and chemical fertilizers. Science has brought a revolution in the sphere of trade, commerce, industry and entertainment. It has relieved human suffering by discovering the secrets of health and disease. 
We, thus, see that Science is a blessing, but it is not an unmixed blessing. No doubt, it has turned impossibility into possibility, imagination into reality. But the question is whether it has taught us how to walk on mother earth. It has brought forth the evils of industrialization. Machines have become the masters of man. Can we forget dirty slums, unequal distribution of wealth and large scale unemployment in the wake of industrialization? Tars have become more hideous than ever before, thanks to the invention of terrible engines of destruction by Science.

Read the following passage carefully.

1. Caged behind thick glass, the most famous dancer in the world can easily be missed in the National Museum, Delhi. The Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro is that rare artefact that even school children are familiar with. Our school textbooks also communicate the wealth of our 5000 year heritage of art. You have to be alert to her existence there, amid terracotta animals to rediscover this bronze image. 
2. Most of us have seen her only in photographs or sketches, therefore the impact of actually holding her is magnified a million times over. One discovers that the dancing girl has no feet. She is small, a little over 10 cm tall - the length of a human palmbut she surprises us with the power of great artthe ability to communicate across centuries. 
3. A series of bangles-of shell or ivory or thin metal-clothe her left upper arm all the way down to her fingers. A necklace with three pendants bunched together and a few bangles above the elbow and wrist on the right hand display an almost modern art. 
4. She speaks of the undaunted, ever hopeful human spirit. She reminds us that it is important to visit museums in our country to experience the impact that a work of art leaves on our senses, to find among all the riches one particular vision of beauty that speaks to us alone.  

Read the following passage carefully.

1. Caged behind thick glass, the most famous dancer in the world can easily be missed in the National Museum, Delhi. The Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro is that rare artefact that even school children are familiar with. Our school textbooks also communicate the wealth of our 5000 year heritage of art. You have to be alert to her existence there, amid terracotta animals to rediscover this bronze image. 
2. Most of us have seen her only in photographs or sketches, therefore the impact of actually holding her is magnified a million times over. One discovers that the dancing girl has no feet. She is small, a little over 10 cm tall - the length of a human palmbut she surprises us with the power of great artthe ability to communicate across centuries. 
3. A series of bangles-of shell or ivory or thin metal-clothe her left upper arm all the way down to her fingers. A necklace with three pendants bunched together and a few bangles above the elbow and wrist on the right hand display an almost modern art. 
4. She speaks of the undaunted, ever hopeful human spirit. She reminds us that it is important to visit museums in our country to experience the impact that a work of art leaves on our senses, to find among all the riches one particular vision of beauty that speaks to us alone.  

The very first time she sang professionally, playback singer Kavita Krishnamurty learnt a lesson she's never forgotten. It was 1970, and at 16, she'd been selected by composer Vijay S. Padukone to sing a 60-second Tamil jingle advertising a popular brand of baby food. Already on edge when she arrived at the recording studio, Kavita was further unnerved to find the legendary Geeta Dutt there, preparing to sing the same jingle in Hindi.
"I'd almost certainly have muffed my lines," Kavita says, "Had not Geeta Dutt done something wonderful. Sensing my nervousness, she smiled and holding my hand said, 'I've heard that you sing well. So don't be afraid. Do your best.'"
"Her words immediately put me at ease and my recording went without a hitch."
Subsequently, during Kavita's struggle to make it as a playback singer, many other - including Hemant Kumar and Manna Dey - provided encouragement and advice. "They all taught me that you shouldn't reach for success by trampling on other people."