Reading Comprehension – 2

Organisations are institutions in which members complete for status and power. They compete for resource of the organisation, for example finance to expand their own departments, for career advancement and for power to control the activities of others. In pursuit of these aims, groups are formed and sectional interests emerge. As a result, policy decisions may serve the ends of political and career systems rather than those of the concern. In this way, the goals of the organisation may be displaced in favour of sectional interests and individual ambition. These preoccupations sometimes prevent the emergence of organic systems. Many of the electronic firms in the study had recently created research and development departments employing highly qualified and well paid scientists and technicians. Their high pay and expert knowledge were sometimes seen as a threat to the established order of rank, power and privilege. Many senior managers had little knowledge of technicality and possibilities of new developments and electronics. Some felt that close cooperation with the experts in an organic system would reveal their ignorance and show their experience was now redundant.

1. The theme of the passage is
A. groupism in organizations
B. individual ambitions in organizations
C. frustration of senior managers
D. emergence of sectional interests in organizations

2. “Organic system” as related to the organization implies its
A. growth with the help of expert knowledge
B. growth with input from science and technology
C. steady all around development
D. natural and unimpeded growth

3. Policy decision in organization would involve
A. cooperation at all levels in the organization
B. modernization of the organization
C. attracting highly qualified personnel
D. keeping in view the larger objectives of the organizations

4. The author makes out a case for
A. organic system
B. Research and Development in organisations
C. an understanding between senior and middle level executives
D. a refresher course for senior managers

5. The author tends to the senior managers as
A. ignorant and incompetent
B. a little out of step with their work environment
C. jealous of their younger colleagues
D. robbed of their rank, power and privilege

1. D
2. A
3. D
4. A
5. A

Harold a professional man who had worked in an office for many years had a fearful dream. In it, he found himself in a land where small slug like animals with slimy tentacles lived on people’s bodies. The people tolerated the loathsome creatures because after many years they grew into elephants which then became the nation’s system of transport, carrying everyone wherever he wanted to go. Harold suddenly realised that he himself was covered with these things, and he woke up screaming. In a vivid sequence of pictures this dream dramatized for Harold what he had never been able to put in to words; he saw himself as letting society feed on his body in his early years so that it would carry him when he retired. He later threw off the “security bug” and took up freelance work.

6. In his dream Harold found the loathsome creatures
A. in his village
B. in his own house
C. in a different land
D. in his office

7. Which one of the following phrases best helps to bring out the precise meaning of ‘loathsome creatures’?
A. Security bug and slimy tentacles
B. Fearful dream and slug like animals
C. Slimy tentacles and slug like animals
D. slug like animals and security bug

8. The statement that ‘he later threw off the security bug’ means that
A. Harold succeeded in overcoming the need for security
B. Harold stopped giving much importance to dreams
C. Harold started tolerating social victimisation
D. Harold killed all the bugs troubled him

9. Harold’s dream was fearful because
A. it brought him face to face with reality
B. it was full of vivid pictures of snakes
C. he saw huge elephant in it
D. in it he saw slimy creatures feeding on people’s bodies

6. C
7. C
8. A
9. D

Laws of nature are not commands but statements of acts. The use of the word “law” in this context is rather unfortunate. It would be better to speak of uniformities in nature. This would do away with the elementary fallacy that a law implies a law giver. If a piece of matter does not obey a law of nature it is punished. On the contrary, we say that the law has been incorrectly started.

10. If a piece of matter violates nature’s law, it is not punished because
A. it is not binding to obey it
B. there is no superior being to enforce the law of nature
C. it cannot be punished
D. it simply means that the facts have not been correctly stated by law

11. Laws of nature differ from manmade laws because
A. the former state facts of Nature
B. they must be obeyed
C. they are natural
D. unlike human laws, they are systematic

12. The laws of nature based on observation are
A. conclusions about the nature of the universe.
B. true and unfalsifiable.
C. figments of the observer’s imagination
D. subject to change in the light of new facts

13. The author is not happy with word ‘law’ because
A. it connotes rigidity and harshness
B. it implies an agency which has made them
C. it does not convey the sense of nature’s uniformity
D. it gives rise to false beliefs

10. D
11. A
12. D
13. B

What needs to be set right is our approach to work. It is a common sight in our country of employees reporting for duty on time and at the same time doing little work. If an assessment is made of time they spent in gossiping, drinking tea, eating “pan” and smoking cigarettes, it will be shocking to know that the time devoted to actual work is negligible. The problem is the standard which the leadership in administration sets for the staff. Forget the ministers because they mix politics and administration. What do top bureaucrats do? What do the below down officials do? The administration set up remains weak mainly because the employees do not have the right example to follow and they are more concerned about being in the good books of the bosses than doing work.

14. The employees in our country
A. are quite punctual but not duty conscious
B. are not punctual, but somehow manage to complete their work
C. are somewhat lazy but good natured
D. are not very highly qualified

15. According to the writer, the administration in India
A. is by and large effective
B. is very strict and firm
C. is affected by red tape
D. is more or less ineffective

16. The word ‘assessment’ means
A. enquiry
B. report
C. evaluation
D. summary

17. The leadership in administration
A. sets a fine example to the employees
B. is of a reasonably high standard
C. is composed of idealists
D. is of a very poor standard

18. The central idea of passage could be best expressed by the following
A. The employee outlook towards work is justified
B. The employee must change their outlook towards work
C. The employees would never change their work culture
D. The employer employee relationship is far from healthy

14. A
15. D
16. C
17. D
18. B

At this stage of civilisation, when many nations are brought in to close and vital contact for good and evil, it is essential, as never before, that their gross ignorance of one another should be diminished, that they should begin to understand a little of one another’s historical experience and resulting mentality. It is the fault of the English to expect the people of other countries to react as they do, to political and international situations. Our genuine goodwill and good intentions are often brought to nothing, because we expect other people to be like us. This would be corrected if we knew the history, not necessarily in detail but in broad outlines, of the social and political conditions which have given to each nation its present character.

19. According to the author of ‘Mentality’ of a nation is mainly product of its
A. History
B. international position
C. politics
D. present character

20. The need for a greater understanding between nations
A. was always there
B. is no longer there
C. is more today than ever before
D. will always be there

21. The character of a nation is the result of its
A. mentality
B. cultural heritage
C. Gross ignorance
D. socio-political conditions

22. According to the author his countrymen should
A. read the story of other nations
B. have a better understanding of other nations
C. not react to other actions
D. have vital contacts with other nations

23. Englishmen like others to react to political situations like
A. us
B. themselves
C. others
D. each other

19. A
20. C
21. D
22. B
23. B

But I did not want to shoot the elephant. I watched him beating his bunch of grass against his knees, with the preoccupied grandmotherly air that elephants have. It seemed to me that it would be murder to shoot him. I had never shot an elephant and never wanted to. (Somehow it always seems worse to kill large animals) Besides, there was the beast’s owner to be considered. But I had got to act quickly. I turned to some experienced looking burmans who had been there when we arrived, and asked them how the elephants had been behaving. They all said the same thing; he took no notice of you if you left him alone, but he might charge if you went too close to him.

24. The phrase ‘Preoccupied grandmotherly air’ signifies
A. being totally unconcerned
B. pretending to be very busy
C. a very superior attitude
D. calm, dignified and affectionate disposition

25. From the passage it appears that the author was
A. an inexperienced hunter
B. kind and considerate
C. possessed with fear
D. a worried man

26. According to the passage, the elephant is described as:
A. hostile and aggressive
B. cunning and cruel
C. harmless and passive
D. peaceable but aggressive if threatened

24. D
25. B
26. B

Mahatma Gandhi believed that industrialisation was no answer to the problems that plague the mass of India’s poor and that villagers should be taught to be self-sufficient in food, weave their own cloth from cotton and eschew the glittering prizes that the 20th century so temptingly offers. Such an idyllic and rural paradise did not appear to those who inherited the reins of political power.

27. The meaning of ‘glittering prizes that the 20th century so temptingly offers’ is
A. pursuit of a commercialised material culture
B. replacement of rural by urban interests
C. complete removal of poverty
D. absence of violence and corruption

28. The basis of ‘an idyllic and rural paradise’ is
A. rapid industrialisation of villages
B. self-sufficiency in food clothes and simplicity of the lifestyle
C. bringing to the villages the glittering prizes of the 20th century
D. supporting those holdings powerful political positions

29. Which one of the following best illustrates the relationship between the phrases:
(i) ‘eschew the glittering prizes’ and
(ii) ‘idyllic and rural paradise’?
A. unless you do (i), you cannot have (ii)
B. (i) and (ii) are identical in meaning
C. first of all you must have (ii) in order to do (i)
D. the meaning of (i) is directly opposite to (ii)

30. Mahatma Gandhi’s views opposed industrialisation of villages because
A. it would help the poor and not the rich
B. it would take away the skill of the villagers
C. it would affect the culture of the Indians
D. it would undermine self-sufficiency and destroy the beauty of life of the villager

31. Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of ‘an idyllic and rural paradise’ was not shared by
A. those who did not believe in the industrialisation of the country
B. those who called him the Father of Nation
C. those who inherited political powers after independence
D. those who believed that villages should be self-sufficient in food and cloth

27. A
28. B
29. D
30. D
31. C

Speech is a great blessing but it can also be great curse, for while it helps us to make our intentions and desires known to our fellows, it can also if we use it carelessly, make our attitude completely misunderstood. A slip of the tongue, the use of unusual word, or of an ambiguous word, and so on, may create an enemy where we had hoped to win a friend. Again, different classes of people use different vocabularies, and the ordinary speech of an educated may strike an uneducated listener as pompous. Unwittingly, we may use a word which bears a different meaning to our listener from what it does to men of our own class. Thus speech is not a gift to use lightly without thought, but one which demands careful handling. Only a fool will express himself alike to all kinds and conditions to men.

32. The best way to win a friend is to avoid
A. irony in speech
B. pomposity in speech
C. verbosity in speech
D. ambiguity in speech

33. While talking to an uneducated person, we should use
A. ordinary speech
B. his vocabulary
C. simple words
D. polite language

34. If one used the same style of language with everyone, one would sound
A. flat
B. boring
C. foolish
D. democratic
 
35. A ‘slip of the tongue’ means something said
A. wrongly by choice
B. unintentionally
C. without giving proper thought
D. to hurt another person

36. Speech can be curse, because it can
A. hurt others
B. lead to carelessness
C. create misunderstanding
D. reveal our intentions

32. D
33. B
34. C
35. C
36. C

Male lions are rather reticent about expending their energy in hunting. More than three quarters of kills are made by lionesses who are in front, tensely scanning ahead. The cubs lag playfully behind and the males bring up the rear, walking slowly, their massive heads nodding with each step as if they were bored with the whole matter. But slothfulness may have survival value. With the lionesses busy hunting, the males function as guard for the cubs, protecting them particularly from hyenas.

37. According to the passage male lions generally do not hunt because
A. they do not like it
B. they want lioness to get training
C. they wish to save their vigour for other things
D. they are very lazy

38. Male lions protect their cubs
A. from the members of their own species
B. from hyenas only
C. from hyenas as much as from other enemies
D. more from hyenas than from other animals

39. Lionesses go for hunting
A. all alone
B. with their male partners only
C. with their cubs and male partners
D. with their cubs only

40. When the lionesses go in search for their prey, they are very
A. serious
B. cautious
C. playful
D. sluggish

37. C
38. D
39. C
40. A