CDS English

Brown and his men, huddling round a fire, ate the last of the food

• Reading Comprehension L1

Brown and his men, huddling round a fire, ate the last of the food that Kassim had brought them that day. Cornelius sat among them, half- asleep. Then one of the crew remembered that some tobacco had been left in the boat, and said he would go and fetch it. He didn't think there was any danger in going to the creek in the dark. He disappeared down the hillside, and a moment later he was heard climbing into the boat and then climbing out again.

1. Consider the following statements:

1. Brown and Cornelius sat round the fire.
2. Cornelius lay half-asleep at a little distance from the fire.
3. All the people sat round the fire.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 3 only
2. 1 and 2
3. 1 and 3
4. 2 only

2. “He didn’t think ...in the dark.” This sentence actually implies that he

1. was bold and adventurous
2. would face some trouble
3. was the only person who knew where in the boat tobacco was
4. was addicted to smoking

The prisoner awaited his chance. For three solid years

• Reading Comprehension L1

The prisoner awaited his chance. For three solid years he had schemed for this opportunity. Now that escape seemed to near at hand, those three years lost some of their monotony. But he would never forget the lashes, the close confinement, low diet, and worse still the mental strain of those black days. Suddenly the warden did what he had hoped. He stopped to unlock the lower padlock. With a dull thud he slumped forward with keys in his hands. Swiftly the prisoner seized his keys, unlocked the cell and ran into the courtyard. It took him four seconds to reach the rope-ladder secretly placed there by his accomplices, five more to clamber over the wall, and three more to jump into the waiting car to be whisked away to freedom. Even though he was guilty, the prisoner felt he had paid for his crime, for the man he had robbed three years ago was still a millionaire.

1. For what crime had the prisoner been punished

1. Robbery
2. Kidnapping
3. Arson
4. Murder

2. What did the prisoner suffer the most during imprisonment

1. Physical torture
2. Poor health
3. Mental strain
4. Absence from his family

The first day out we met our first rhino

• Reading Comprehension L1

The first day out we met our first rhino, two of them, and I had the fright of my life. The pair had got our scent before we spotted them, and being bad tempered beasts, they rushed towards where they thought we were. Now it just happened that we were about fifty yards to one side of where they expected to find us - which was just as well, for I must say I did not like their look. As they thundered past, we crouched low and let them go. It did not strike me as a good opportunity for rhino photography. Anyhow I was much too frightened to have been able to hold the camera steady.

1. From the above passage it appears that rhinos

1. stand still if they are not attacked
2. rush to attack when they smell human scent
3. hide under the bushes at the sight of human beings
4. run away when they see human beings

2. The author could not take the photographs of the rhinos because

1. he did not like the look of rhinos
2. he was too far away from rhinos
3. he was not carrying a good camera
4. it did not occur to him that he had a chance to do so

When Ibbotson returned from Pauri

• Reading Comprehension L1

When Ibbotson returned from Pauri, I told him of the leopard's habit of going down the road between Rudraprayag and Golabrai on an average once in every five days, I convinced him that the only hope I now had of shooting the man-eater was by sitting over the road for ten nights; for, the leopard would be almost certain to use the road at least once during the period. Ibbotson agreed to my plan reluctantly, for I had already sat up many nights, and he was afraid that another ten nights on end would be too much for me.

1. Ibbotson was reluctant to agree to the narrator's plan because he was afraid that

1. the leopard would kill him
2. the narrator would kill the leopard
3. the narrator would become very tired
4. the leopard might not come

2. The narrator wanted to

1. frighten the leopard
2. see the leopard
3. shoot the leopard
4. capture the leopard

My father was passionate about two things

• Reading Comprehension L1

My father was passionate about two things: education and socialism. He was himself a born teacher. Indeed, he could never restrain himself from teaching, and as a small boy I was frequently embarrassed by his desire to instruct everybody - people in railway carriages, for instance - though I realized even then that it was an innocent desire, quite free from vanity. He was equally ready to receive instruction. Education, to men of his generation and temperament, was something it has largely ceased to be nowadays. It was the great golden gateway to the enchanted realms of the mind.

1. From the passage it is clear that the author

1. loved and admired his father
2. disapproved his father's love of teaching
3. thought of him as vain
4. considered his father's education inadequate

2. The author often felt embarrassed by the behaviour of his father because

1. he taught badly
2. he lost self-control while teaching
3. he taught even at odd places
4. he wanted to show off his learning

A large number of people had come to attend the meeting

• Reading Comprehension L1

A large number of people had come to attend the meeting to be addressed by the gifted speaker. The organizers had a difficult time keeping the assembled people quiet as the meeting did not commence at the scheduled time. After some time the people lost their patience and began to shout and heckle. The organizers had great difficulty in assuaging the anger of the crowd when they were forced to cancel the meeting as the speaker had to be hospitalized due to sudden illness.

1. Further delay resulted in the people

1. fighting with the organizers
2. making noise
3. leaving the place
4. making the speaker ill

2. What does the word "assuaging" imply

1. Reducing
2. Removing
3. Accepting
4. Tolerating

As soon as I saw the elephant I knew with perfect certainty

• Reading Comprehension L1

As soon as I saw the elephant I knew with perfect certainty that I ought not to shoot him. It is a serious matter to shoot a working elephant - it is comparable to destroying a huge and costly piece of machinery - and obviously one ought not to do it if it can possibly be avoided. And at that distance, peacefully eating, the elephant looked no more dangerous than a cow.

1. The elephant looked no more dangerous than a cow because

1. cows can be very dangerous sometimes
2. unlike lions, it is a vegetarian animal
3. it was quietly doing its work
4. its tusks resemble the cow’s horns

2. The writer was against shooting the elephant because

1. he suspected it to be a wild one and was afraid of it
2. he was certain that the elephant was innocent
3. it would amount to avoidable waste of useful property
4. his heart was full of compassion for animals

Nationalism is only a curse when it becomes narrow and fanatical

• Reading Comprehension L1

Nationalism is only a curse when it becomes narrow and fanatical. Like so many other things available to man, say, religion, it can easily lead men astray. Nationalism can lead people into thinking only of themselves, or their own struggles, of their own misery. It can also cause a nation to become suspicious and fearful of its neighbours, to look upon itself as superior, and to become aggressive. And it is when nationalism impels a state to become expansionist and seek domination over others that it becomes a positive curse and harmful internationally.

1. From the passage, which of the following statements most correctly reflects the opinion of the author

1. Nationalism makes people self-centered and self-conceited
2. Nationalism helps a nation to become superior to other nations
3. Nationalism regulates international relationships
4. Nationalism helps a nation to expand its territories and become powerful

2. From the passage which of the following statements can be assumed to be most likely to be true

1. The author believes that nationalism is always a curse
2. The author believes that it is possible for men to misuse religion
3. The author thinks that religion always leads men astrays
4. The author pleads for a mix-up of religion and nationalism

A well-dressed young man entered a big textile shop one evening

• Reading Comprehension L1

A well-dressed young man entered a big textile shop one evening. He was able to draw the attention of the salesmen who thought him rich and likely to make heavy purchases. He was shown the superior varieties of suit lengths and sarees. But after casually examining them, he kept moving to the text section where ready made goods were being sold and further on to the hosiery section. By then, the salesmen had begun to doubt his intentions, and drew the attention of the manager. The manger asked him what exactly he wanted and he replied that he wanted courteous treatment. He explained that he had come to the same shop in casual dress that morning and drawn little attention. His pride was hurt and he wanted to assert himself. He had come in good dress only to get decent treatment, not for getting any textiles. He left without making any purchase.

1. The manager asked the young man what he wanted because

1. he thought they could do more business with him that way
2. he would give him exactly what he was looking for
3. he thought the visitor was dissatisfied
4. the salesman had drawn his attention to the indifferent attitude of the young man

2. The salesmen in the shop are described as people who pay attention to

1. pretty women
2. only rich customers
3. only young men and women
4. regular customers

Many poor farmers had been compelled to take up indigo cultivation

• Reading Comprehension L1

Many poor farmers had been compelled to take up indigo cultivation when the British settlers were given the right to purchase and cultivate land in India. Many whites, therefore, either acquired land or advanced loans to poor farmers and pressurized them to forsake the farming of food-grains and other cash crops for indigo cultivation. Indigo export to Europe was lucrative for the British settlers who held a monopoly of this business. Within a few years, most of the fertile lands had undergone forcible indigo cultivation, resulting in a famine situation in Bengal. When the farmers declined to cultivate indigo, they were tortured, jailed and even killed.

1. British settlers bought land in Bengal in order to

1. introduce cultivation of cash crops in India
2. cultivate indigo
3. settle down in India
4. promote export business in Bengal

2. Indigo export was profitable for the British settlers because

1. they could oppress the farmers
2. they had no competitors
3. the labour was cheap
4. the crop yield was good

We started looking on the ground for blood

• Reading Comprehension L1

We started looking on the ground for blood, hair, or a drag mark that would lead us to the deer killed by the tiger. We had proceeded a hundred yards, examining every foot of the ground, and going dead slow, when Mothi, just as I turned my head to look at him, started backwards, screaming as he did so. Then he whipped round and ran for dear life, beating the air with his hands as if warding off a swarm of bees and continuing to scream as he ran. The sudden and piercing scream of a human being in a jungle where a moment before all has been silent is terrifying to hear. Instinctively I knew what had happened. With his eyes fixed on the ground, looking for the blood or hair of the kill, Mothi had failed to see where he was going, and had walked towards the tiger.

1. Before Mothi screamed, the jungle was

1. dark
2. noisy
3. terrifying
4. quiet

2. In the context of the passage "kill" means

1. a wounded tiger
2. an animal killed by the tiger
3. the act of killing
4. a human being killed by the tiger

Galileo desired to use his telescope to make more discoveries

• Reading Comprehension L1

Galileo desired to use his telescope to make more discoveries in the heavens, but his instrument was too small. He made another and larger telescope which magnified eight times, and then another which magnified thirty times, and pointed it at the moon. His heart leaped with joy, for he saw what no human eye had ever before seen - ranges of mountains, deep hollows, and broad plains! He turned his telescope on the planets, and found they appeared with disks like the moon at a quarter full. He turned it on the Milky Way, and beheld innumerable tiny stars.

1. Galileo made several telescopes because

1. only some of them could magnify the stars
2. he wanted to compare the findings obtained from different telescopes
3. he needed all of them to explore the heavens
4. the earlier ones he made were not powerful enough

2. When Galileo saw what no human eye had ever before seen he

1. was overjoyed
2. felt humble
3. was shocked
4. was very proud