Task 1 : Clearly stated information and deriving meaning of a word from context

Dr. A.J. Boyd was the principal of Madras Christian College (1938-1957). He had a very strict rule. No one
should walk across the college lawns or climb over the hedges. The punishment for climbing over a
hedge was a fine of five rupees. If a student was caught doing this, Dr. Boyd would feel the student’s
pocket and collect the fine on the spot.
One day, a student saw Dr. Boyd coming towards him. Wanting to do something funny, he jumped over
the hedge, held up a ten rupee note and asked for change. Dr. Boyd pocketed the note and walked off,
saying cheerily, “ Jump across the hedge, my boy!”

Answer the following questions in not more than two sentences.

1. Who was Dr. Boyd? What sort of person was he?
2. What were the two things that the students were fined for?
3. What do you understand by the word “hedge”?

In prolonged space flight, besides the obvious hazards of meteors, rocky debris, and radiation,
astronauts will have to deal with muscle atrophy brought on by weightlessness; therefore, when they
return to Earth, they face a protracted period of weight training to rebuild their strength.

55. The underlined word atrophy, as used in the paragraph, most nearly means
a. pain. b. wasting. c. weakening. d. cramping.

Although Cherapunji, in the Khasi-Jaintia hills ,is commonly accepted as the place which gets the highest
rainfall, it is actually, Mawasynrnam, about 24 kms away, which holds the record. The average rainfall in
this part is about 1,080 cms (490 inches). It is supposed to be the wettest place in the world. A deluge of
over 3 cms in five minutes in not uncommon here.

Choose the appropriate meaning of the word DELUGE from the given choices

a. Great flood b. Steady rain c. Light shower d. Drizzle

Winter is cold in some places. Many plants do not grow during winter. Some plants die. Snow and ice
may cover the ground. It can be hard for animals to find food during winter. Animals get through this
time in many ways. Birds and butterflies can fly. Many of them do not stick around for the winter. They
leave. They go to a place with nice weather. Then they come home in the spring. We call this
migration. Migrating is a good way to avoid the cold.
Another good way to avoid the cold is to sleep through it. Many animals hide during the winter. Their
bodies slow down. They save their energy. They do not eat. They live off of their fat. They do this until
food returns. We call this hibernation. Snakes, frogs, and bears hibernate.

1. Which of these animals migrates during the winter?

a. fox b. snakes c. bears d. butterflies

2. Which does not hibernate?

a. Skunks b. frogs c. snakes d. bears
 Task 2 : Skimming/ main idea/gist of the passage

Critical reading is a demanding process. To read critically, you must slow down your reading and, with
pencil in hand, perform specific operations on the text. Mark up the text with your reactions,
conclusions, and questions. When you read, become an active participant.

This paragraph best supports the statement that

b. critical reading is a slow, dull, but essential process.
c. the best critical reading happens at critical times in a person’s life.
d. readers should get in the habit of questioning the truth of what they read.
e. critical reading requires thoughtful and careful attention.
f. critical reading should take place at the same time each day.

A Korean airbus with 199 passengers crashed 4.8 km away from Tripoli airport in Libiya today, and burst
into flames, killing atleast 100 people. The official Libiyan News Agency, Jana, said that the plane fell on
two houses, killing four persons in one of them. Jana reported that80 to 100 people, including the
captain survived the crash near Tripoli. The crash occurred at 7 a.m. local time, 25 minutes before the
expected time of landing.

Select the appropriate heading for the news item from the choices given below

a. hundreds feraed killed in plane crash

b. tragedy near Tripoli
c. Captain survived plane crashed
d. Airbus in flames

Use of electronic mail (e-mail) has been widespread for more than a decade. E-mail simplifies the flow of
ideas, connects people from distant offices, eliminates the need for meetings, and often boosts
productivity. However, e-mail should be carefully managed to avoid unclear and inappropriate
communication. E-mail messages should not be concise and limited to one topic. When complex issues
need to be addressed, phone calls are still best.

158. The main idea of the paragraph is that e-mail

a. is not always the easiest way to connect people from distant offices.
b. has changed considerably since it first began a decade ago.
c. causes people to be unproductive when it is used incorrectly.
d. is effective for certain kinds of messages but only if managed
wisely.
Task 3: implied meaning/ implicit meaning/ inferring meaning from context

What distinguishes humans from animals? For some it is language, for others it is the altruistic
willingness to help other members of the species. However this kind of altruism seems to exist in the
animal worlds as well.
Researchers working with Crisophe Boesch at the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in
Leipzig observed that West African chimpanzees adopt orphaned young, even though they are not
related to them. Several animals lavished care on juvenile for several years. Surprisingly, half of these
adoptive parents were male.
This behavior is thought to be encouraged by the pressure of leopards, with whom the West African
chimpanzees share their habitat. The constant threat from the big cats seems to have encouraged
cohesion and solidarity within the group. Accordingly, the scientists observed more chimpanzee
adoptions in West Africa’s Tai National Park than in East Africa.
Wild chimpanzees appear to be more prepared to help than those living in captivity. In zoos,
chimpanzees cooperate with other members of the group to only a very limited extent.’ Our
observations show that altruism in wild chimpanzees is much more widespread than studies of
chimpanzees in zoos would suggest,’ concludes Chrisophe Boesch.

Answer the following questions by choosing the right options.

1. Which of the following does the author want to establish by suggesting that animals are
altruistic?
a. That humans are beginning to behave like animals.
b. That animals are beginning to behave like animals.
c. That animals too, like humans, share empathy with fellow creatures.
d. That humans are not so empathetic to their fellow creatures as animals are.

2. Which of the following is not a reason for the altruistic behavior observed in West African
Chimpanzees?
a. The presence of a constant threat from leopards in their environment.
b. The presence of a natural altruistic willingness to help others.
c. The presence of a natural sense of competition in animals.
d. The presence of a natural environment that stimulate such a behavior in them.

Many animals hibernate during parts of the year, entering a state that is similar to a very deep sleep. But
hibernation is more than simply a deep sleep. The animal’s body temperature drops well below its
normal range, the animal does not wake up for a long period of time, and its metabolism slows to the
point that the animal does not need to eat or relieve itself during the period.
In order to prepare for hibernation, the animal must build up its body weight and increase its body fat.
This is important, since the animal will be living off its own body fat during the months of hibernation. Of
course, once the period of hibernation is over, the animal “wakes up” to find itself slim and trim once
again.

1. How does an animal prepare for hibernation?

a. It exercises for two months
b. It gradually increases its sleeping habits.
c. It grows extra fur
d. It eats more food than usual
Moscow has a history of chaotic periods of war that ended with the destruction of a once largely
wooden city and the building of a new city on top of the rubble of the old. The result is a layered city,
with each tier holding information about a part of Russia’s past. In some areas of the city, archaeologists
have reached the layer from 1147, the year of Moscow’s founding. Among the findings from the various
periods of Moscow’s history are carved bones, metal tools, pottery, glass, jewelry, and crosses.

1. From the above passage, the reader can infer that

a. the people of Moscow are more interested in modernization

than in preservation.
b. the Soviet government destroyed many of the historic buildings
in Russia.
c. Moscow is the oldest large city in Russia, founded in 1147.
d. Moscow has a history of invasions, with each new conqueror
razing past structures.
Task 4 : Scanning/Looking for a specific detail

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow.

After inventing dynamite, Swedish born Alfred Nobel became a very rich man. However, he foresaw its
universally destructive powers too late. Nobel preferred not to be remembered as the inventor of
dynamite. So in November 1985, just two weeks before his death, he created fund to be used for
awarding prizes to people who had made worthwhile contributions to humanity. Originally, there were
five awards: literature, physics, chemistry, medicine and peace. Economics was added in 1968, just sixty
seven years after the first awards ceremony in 1901. Nobel’s original legacy of nine million dollars was
invested, and the interest on this sum is used for the awards which vary from 30,000 to 125,000 dollars.
Every year on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death, the awards are presented to the winners.
Sometimes politics plays an important role in the judges’ decisions. Americans have won numerous
science awards, but relatively few literature prizes. No awards were presented from 1940 to 1942 at the
beginning of World War II. Some people have won two prizes, but this is rare; others have shared their
prizes.

Questions:

1. What had Alfred Nobel invented?

2. When did he create fund to be used for award prizes?
3. In which area have Americans received most awards?
4. In how many fields are prizes bestowed?
5. How much money did Nobel leave for the prizes?