Reading Comprehension Test 44

[passage-header]Read the passage given below and answer the question that follows:[/passage-header]If life exists on Mars, it is most likely to be in the form of bacteria buried deep in the planet's permafrost or lichens growing within rocks, say scientists from NASA. There might even be fossilised Martian algae locked up in ancient lake beds, waiting to be found. Christopher McKay of NASA's Ames Research Centre in California told the AAAS that exobiologists, who look for life on other planets, should look for clues among the life forms of the Earth's ultra-cold regions, where conditions are similar to those on Mars. Lichens, for example, are found within some Antarctic rocks, just beneath the surface where sunlight can still reach them. The rock protects the lichen from cold and absorbs water, providing enough for the lichen's needs, said McKay. Bacteria have also been found in 3-million-year old permafrost dug up from Siberia. If there are any bacteria alive on Mars today, they would have survived from the time before the planet cooled more than 3 billion years ago. Nevertheless, McKay is optimistic: "It may be possible that bacteria frozen into the permafrost at the Martian South Pole may be viable." McKay said, "Algae are found in Antarctic lakes with permanently frozen surfaces. Although no lakes are thought to exist on Mars today, they might have existed long ago. If so, the dried-out Martian lake beds may contain the fossilised remains of algae." "On Earth, masses of microscopic algae form large, layered structures known as stromatolites, which survive as fossils on lake beds, and the putative Martian algae might have done the same thing," said Jack Farmer, one of McKay's colleagues. "The researchers are compiling a list of promising Martian lake beds to be photographed from spacecrafts," said Farmer. Those photographs could help to select sites for landers that would search for signs of life, past or present. "If we find algae on Mars, I would say the Universe is lousy with algae," McKay said. "Intelligence would be another question".

[passage-header]Read the passage given below and answer the question that follows.[/passage-header]Today every major anthology of nineteenth-century poetry includes examples of the work which Christina Rossetti produced during her long literary career. Born in 1830, she began composing verse at the age of eleven and continued to write for the remaining fifty-three years of her life. Her brother Dante Gabriel Rossetti, himself a poet and painter, soon recognized her genius and urged her to publish her poems. By the time of her death in 1894, Christina had written more than eleven hundred poems and had published over nine hundred of them. Although this work has earned her recognition as the greatest woman poet of the Victorian Age, there is still no authoritative edition of her poetry. 

[passage-header]Read the following passage and answer the question that follows:
[/passage-header]Jyoti lived with her mother in a small village. From a young age, she had witnessed her mother, a widow, being ill-treated by the villagers. But when she was in high school, she began to understand things. She couldn't take the insults to her mother anymore. She started the empowerment campaign. She spoke to village elders and knocked on two hundred doors to spread her message. She learned to organize street plays which she used to make people aware of the plight of widows. Naturally, her ideas were not acceptable to the society entrenched in tradition. People pushed her out of their houses and refused to listen to what she had to say. But she went on relentlessly without faltering. Today, widows are allowed to go out of their homes like others. Many, including her mother, are now employed at organizations and literacy centers.

[passage-header]Read the passage given below and answer the question that follows:[/passage-header]    "Companies can now keep sensitive information at a distance from the competition. Indian competition can now make it to big deals which are time bound", said MO, Hero Cycle, "Opening up of doing agricultural sector overseas is a major bonanza". Buoyed by the productivity gains, financial reforms, strong rupee, and bulging Forex reserves, Indian companies are thinking global. "This freedom is important for the companies to expand and grow. Often, companies need short windows to complete the deals", said BCG chairman. Aditya Birla group is going global aggressively and has acquired companies in Australia, China, and Indonesia. Dabur has acquired three companies this year. Tata's slogan this year is globalization. Hindalco is buying out Aluminium firms.
    Corporate India can now prowl on global companies priced above $100 million without obtaining permission from the government and bid against competition for the target takeovers. So far, the companies had to walk through bureaucratic mazes and waste crucial time fulfilling 'babudom' requirements, while acquiring foreign companies. Corporate India can make overseas investments up to 100 percent of their net worth.

[passage-header]Read the following passage and answer the question given after it.[/passage-header]The dainty swallow is known to be a great airborne, acrobatic artist, but its eating habits may come as a surprise. It needs to devour nearly a thousand tiny insects each day to keep its supple body energized. These black and white birds are found in the countryside, especially near water bodies and human habitations. Unlike birds who peck at insects on trees or on the ground, swallows feed on flying insects, houseflies, mosquitoes, gnats, midges, etc. They spend most of the time in flight and are natural hunters of flying insects. They play a role in our health by reducing the numbers of malaria and dengue-causing mosquitoes. Their bodies and wings allow incredible maneuverability and precision in flight. Their short, wide bills help them to feed as they sweep through clouds of swarming insects near water and grassland bits and above trees.

[passage-header]Read the following passage and answer the question that follows:
[/passage-header]Jyoti lived with her mother in a small village. From a young age, she had witnessed her mother, a widow, being ill-treated by the villagers. But when she was in high school, she began to understand things. She couldn't take the insults to her mother anymore. She started the empowerment campaign. She spoke to village elders and knocked on two hundred doors to spread her message. She learned to organize street plays which she used to make people aware of the plight of widows. Naturally, her ideas were not acceptable to the society entrenched in tradition. People pushed her out of their houses and refused to listen to what she had to say. But she went on relentlessly without faltering. Today, widows are allowed to go out of their homes like others. Many, including her mother, are now employed at organizations and literacy centers.

[passage-header]Read the following passage and answer the question that follows:
[/passage-header]Jyoti lived with her mother in a small village. From a young age, she had witnessed her mother, a widow, being ill-treated by the villagers. But when she was in high school, she began to understand things. She couldn't take the insults to her mother anymore. She started the empowerment campaign. She spoke to village elders and knocked on two hundred doors to spread her message. She learned to organize street plays which she used to make people aware of the plight of widows. Naturally, her ideas were not acceptable to the society entrenched in tradition. People pushed her out of their houses and refused to listen to what she had to say. But she went on relentlessly without faltering. Today, widows are allowed to go out of their homes like others. Many, including her mother, are now employed at organizations and literacy centers.

[passage-header]Read the passage and answer the question that follows:
[/passage-header]Ray Bradbury is regarded as one of the greats of 20th-century science fiction along with Isaac Asimov and A.C. Clarke. He established himself at the age of thirty with The Martial Chronicle, which perhaps remains his best-known work. The book celebrates space travel but it is also critical for the social abuses that modern technology has made possible. Though other writers had represented science and technology as a mixed bag of blessings, his book had a great impact. Initially, his audience was small as most readers had no patience with jargon. His popularity grew as he avoided technical words and expressed his ideas about the future in common language.

[passage-header]Read the following passage and answer the question that follows:
[/passage-header]Designing toys for children is challenging yet stimulating. Considering the low attention span of today's kids, toys with higher play value are able to engage them longer. Young minds are also quite impressionable. So toy design has to be conscious about ethics and values and also aid their cognitive, physical, emotional, and social skills. But above all, fun is the primary objective of play. Fun is what makes them come back for more; makes them learn and remember. Another crucial factor is eco-friendliness. Some of the best pro-environment design processes can actually be found in the Indian handicrafts industry. One such example is the lathe-turned toy craft of Channapatna - a town near Bengaluru. The age old craft uses wood and colors made completely from natural materials like turmeric, kumkum, indigo, etc. Creating modern designs based on such conventional techniques opens up a new range of products that are unique, educational, and organic.