Reading Comprehension Test 30

[passage-header]Read the extract and answer the following question choosing the appropriate option.[/passage-header]You are young, I should like you to have the pride of youth and the ambition of youth to do something worthwhile and big. All of you may not be geniuses, but some of you might yet do worth while things in some department of human activity or other. I do not like people who have no pride and ambition and are just sloppy people. I am not using the words pride and ambition in a small personal sense. I do not mean the pride of getting money, which is the silliest of all types of pride. Pride should consist in doing your job in the best possible manner. If you are a scientist, think of becoming an Einstein, not merely a reader in your university. If you are a medical man, think of some discovery which will bring healing to the human race. If you are an engineer, aim at some new invention. The mere act of aiming at something big makes you big. If my colleagues and I and others who function on the public stage today appear big leaders to you, look back on how we became so. We may have had some virtue and some ability, but essentially we became what we were because we had some ambition and pride, because we hitched our wagon to a star, because we tried to do big things and in trying so our stature increased a little.

[passage-header]Read the following passage and answer the question selecting the most appropriate option.[/passage-header]    Mother was surprised looking at the stranger. He was Bishamber, Phatik's maternal uncle. She welcomed him and touched his feet. Bishamber came to see his sister after many years.
    The brother asked about studies of the two boys. The sister said that Phatik was a nuisance to her. He was disobedient and wild. But Makhan was very good and gentle and very fond of reading. Bishamber kindly offered to take Phatik to Kolkata and educate him there with his own children. The widowed mother agreed readily.
Phatik agreed to go to Kolkata joyfully. He was very eager for that. At night he lay awake most of the time. As a parting gift he gave Makhan his finishing-rod, his big kite and his marbles.
    Phatik reached Kolkata with his uncle. He met his aunt for the first time. She was not happy seeing Phatik. Her own three boys were difficult to manage. Phatik soon realized that he was an unwelcome guest at his aunt's house. His cousins mocked at him and his aunt always found fault with him.

There was once a bundle of matches, who were all extremely proud of their high descent, for the tall fir tree, from which each of them was a splinter, had been a tree of great antiquity and distinguished by his height from all the other trees of the forest. The matches were now lying on the mantlepiece between a tinder-box and an old iron saucepan, and to these two they often talked about their youth. "Ah, when we were upon the green branches", said they, when we really lived upon green branches- that was a happy time! Every morning and evening we had diamond tea: that is dew; the whole day long we had sunshine, at least whenever the sun shone, and all the little birds used to tell stories to us. It might easily be seen, too, that we were rich for the other trees were clothed with leaves only during the summer, whereas our family could afford to wear green cloths in both summer and winter. But at last came the woodcutters: then was the great revolution, and our family was dispersed. The father trunk obtained a situation as main-mast to a magnificent ship, which could sail round the world if it chose, the bough were carried off to various places, and our work was henceforth to kindle light for low, common people. Now you will understand how it comes to pass that persons of such high descent as we should be living in a kitchen.

[passage-header]Read the extract and answer the following question choosing the appropriate option.[/passage-header]You are young, I should like you to have the pride of youth and the ambition of youth to do something worthwhile and big. All of you may not be geniuses, but some of you might yet do worth while things in some department of human activity or other. I do not like people who have no pride and ambition and are just sloppy people. I am not using the words pride and ambition in a small personal sense. I do not mean the pride of getting money, which is the silliest of all types of pride. Pride should consist in doing your job in the best possible manner. If you are a scientist, think of becoming an Einstein, not merely a reader in your university. If you are a medical man, think of some discovery which will bring healing to the human race. If you are an engineer, aim at some new invention. The mere act of aiming at something big makes you big. If my colleagues and I and others who function on the public stage today appear big leaders to you, look back on how we became so. We may have had some virtue and some ability, but essentially we became what we were because we had some ambition and pride, because we hitched our wagon to a star, because we tried to do big things and in trying so our stature increased a little.

There was once a bundle of matches, who were all extremely proud of their high descent, for the tall fir tree, from which each of them was a splinter, had been a tree of great antiquity and distinguished by his height from all the other trees of the forest. The matches were now lying on the mantlepiece between a tinder-box and an old iron saucepan, and to these two they often talked about their youth. "Ah, when we were upon the green branches", said they, when we really lived upon green branches- that was a happy time! Every morning and evening we had diamond tea: that is dew; the whole day long we had sunshine, at least whenever the sun shone, and all the little birds used to tell stories to us. It might easily be seen, too, that we were rich for the other trees were clothed with leaves only during the summer, whereas our family could afford to wear green cloths in both summer and winter. But at last came the woodcutters: then was the great revolution, and our family was dispersed. The father trunk obtained a situation as main-mast to a magnificent ship, which could sail round the world if it chose, the bough were carried off to various places, and our work was henceforth to kindle light for low, common people. Now you will understand how it comes to pass that persons of such high descent as we should be living in a kitchen.

[passage-header]Read the following passage carefully and answer the question: [/passage-header]Mankind has undoubtedly progressed since medieval times. The earliest men lived like brutes. Individuals fought among themselves and the strong destroyed the weak for that was the law of the jungle, the law of irrational life. But man was not an animal. He possessed rational faculties. These faculties gradually developed and appeared in his actions and man gave up the law of the jungle and made his own rational laws. Men saw that the law of physical strength was not applicable to their lives. They realized that they had souls and strength of being with a soul can consist in a variety of capabilities other than the power to cut and kill, tear and bite. For instance a man can be strong in fashioning tools, or in controlling the actions of other rational beings by the power to cut and tear and bite. For instance a man can be strong in fashioning tools, or in controlling the actions of other rational beings by the power of song or speech. Thus men realized that they should not be fighting among themselves. But they should be working together and giving one another opportunities to develop their respective strengths. This was the first step in man's progress. By these means men gained such control over the forces of nature. They made each other so much wiser and more comfortable that they were convinced that they were the best creation of God. 

[passage-header]Read the following passage carefully and answer the question: [/passage-header]Mankind has undoubtedly progressed since medieval times. The earliest men lived like brutes. Individuals fought among themselves and the strong destroyed the weak for that was the law of the jungle, the law of irrational life. But man was not an animal. He possessed rational faculties. These faculties gradually developed and appeared in his actions and man gave up the law of the jungle and made his own rational laws. Men saw that the law of physical strength was not applicable to their lives. They realized that they had souls and strength of being with a soul can consist in a variety of capabilities other than the power to cut and kill, tear and bite. For instance a man can be strong in fashioning tools, or in controlling the actions of other rational beings by the power to cut and tear and bite. For instance a man can be strong in fashioning tools, or in controlling the actions of other rational beings by the power of song or speech. Thus men realized that they should not be fighting among themselves. But they should be working together and giving one another opportunities to develop their respective strengths. This was the first step in man's progress. By these means men gained such control over the forces of nature. They made each other so much wiser and more comfortable that they were convinced that they were the best creation of God. 

[passage-header]Read the following passage carefully and answer the question: [/passage-header]Mankind has undoubtedly progressed since medieval times. The earliest men lived like brutes. Individuals fought among themselves and the strong destroyed the weak for that was the law of the jungle, the law of irrational life. But man was not an animal. He possessed rational faculties. These faculties gradually developed and appeared in his actions and man gave up the law of the jungle and made his own rational laws. Men saw that the law of physical strength was not applicable to their lives. They realized that they had souls and strength of being with a soul can consist in a variety of capabilities other than the power to cut and kill, tear and bite. For instance a man can be strong in fashioning tools, or in controlling the actions of other rational beings by the power to cut and tear and bite. For instance a man can be strong in fashioning tools, or in controlling the actions of other rational beings by the power of song or speech. Thus men realized that they should not be fighting among themselves. But they should be working together and giving one another opportunities to develop their respective strengths. This was the first step in man's progress. By these means men gained such control over the forces of nature. They made each other so much wiser and more comfortable that they were convinced that they were the best creation of God. 

[passage-header]Read the following passage carefully and answer the question: [/passage-header]Mankind has undoubtedly progressed since medieval times. The earliest men lived like brutes. Individuals fought among themselves and the strong destroyed the weak for that was the law of the jungle, the law of irrational life. But man was not an animal. He possessed rational faculties. These faculties gradually developed and appeared in his actions and man gave up the law of the jungle and made his own rational laws. Men saw that the law of physical strength was not applicable to their lives. They realized that they had souls and strength of being with a soul can consist in a variety of capabilities other than the power to cut and kill, tear and bite. For instance a man can be strong in fashioning tools, or in controlling the actions of other rational beings by the power to cut and tear and bite. For instance a man can be strong in fashioning tools, or in controlling the actions of other rational beings by the power of song or speech. Thus men realized that they should not be fighting among themselves. But they should be working together and giving one another opportunities to develop their respective strengths. This was the first step in man's progress. By these means men gained such control over the forces of nature. They made each other so much wiser and more comfortable that they were convinced that they were the best creation of God. 

[passage-header]Read the following passage and answer the question.[/passage-header]Patholes Keep Luxury Cars Indoors
        (Newspaper Reporter)
Three years after the city roomed to global fame when it picked up 150  luxury cars in a record bulk deal, the cars have largely gone missing from roads, parked as they are in the safety of their owners' garages. Fearing damage and dents to their dream drives, the owners said they cannot risk them on the city potholed roads. Many owners said they regretted their decision to buy these premium buys as the pitiable condition of roads has ensured they cannot take their cars out for their commute to work or simply a spin around town. A few owners have switched to their other not-so-so premium cars in their fleet for their daily commute, while a couple of them have already sold their high-end luxury cruisers. Some owners are negotiating an extended warranty period with the auto giant. As per the star agreement, the cars get a free service once a year or 15,000 kms, for three years. They also get the standard warranty of a company that covers most of the car's maintenance, but pats like tyres are not covered, like is the case with most auto brands. A car owner said that he carefully picks the road he would drive his car on, even if it means taking a longer route to reach the destination.