Comprehension Questions and Answers

Answer: C

The writer suggests universalisation of elementary education because almost half of the children in the 6-14 age group do not enter school. This statement is in the first lines of the passage and is the reason for the whole argument, option C.

Option A is a means (non-formal education), not the reason; option B is one cause of drop-out, not the reason for universalisation; option D, the quality of education, is mentioned only in passing.

Answer: D

The keyed answer is that non-formal education increases the number of skilled and literate persons, option D. The passage gives NFE as an alternative and supportive system that brings out-of-school children into the fold of primary education, so as to widen literacy.

Options A and B only give facts about its start (1979-80, ten backward States), not the reason for its role. Option C, the special social situation, is a reason for the need of non-formal education in the passage but not for its role as a support to formal education, so D is the best choice.

Answer: B

The keyed answer is that the writer gives a message to parents. The passage says that children stay away because of economic compulsions and the demands of home and family life, so it speaks to families to send children to school or to non-formal centres.

The passage does not address planners, school teachers or children outside the school directly, though it concerns them, so the keyed choice is the best of the four rather than a statement made in the text.

Answer: D

The keyed answer is the lack of people's participation. The passage says the NFE programme runs throughout India but the demand stays unfulfilled, and the lack of involvement of the community is the factor the options point to as the reason.

The passage does not name the cause; options A, B and C (defects in planning, shortage of funds, lack at the implementation level) are possible but are not supported by it, so the keyed option is taken as the best reading.

Answer: C

The phrase means that additional guidelines to use technology are needed. In the passage the author calls the current obsession with technology a dead end and goes on at once to say that we need additional guidelines for our actions, so a dead end here means that technology alone leads nowhere without further guidance.

It does not mean that technology should not be used or that new technology should not be produced, since the writer only says that science and technology alone cannot solve the problems of the new millennium. The darkest face of human development is what the passage says will be reflected if the planet is not protected, not the meaning of the phrase itself.

Answer: B

Karle's warning of a return to dark ages follows a list of conditions: continued increase of the earth's population, destruction of the environment and children growing up without love, self-respect and culture. The first of these is the one that is a matter of numbers, so the phrase reflects an uncontrolled increase in human population, as the key gives.

Reversal of the use of science and technology is not what the passage asks for, and it does not tie the phrase to poverty or illiteracy as such; these are only possible results of the overall loss of quality of life.

Answer: D

The passage says that great scientists are convinced that progress of mankind is measured by achievements in cosmic knowledge, extension of the life span of human beings and genetically modifying the human species. It does not list spiritual attainment among these measures, and the later paragraphs stress faith in the miraculous mystery of man's soul as something technology has not given.

So spiritual attainment is the item from which progress is not measured, according to the scientists described. The other three options are the stated measures, which is why they are wrong in a question that asks for the one that is not measured.

Answer: D

The key is 'All the above'. To talk about sustainable development is a sincere effort of scientific research, since the idea rests on scientific study of resources and the environment. It is a concern for the futuristic society, because it is about meeting present needs without harming future generations. And the passage notes that it is a well accepted conversation piece in upper class society, a fashion of the day.

As each of the first three statements has some basis in the passage and its theme, none of them alone is complete, which is why the key gives the combined option.

Answer: C

The expression 'Eat and be eaten' is used in the passage when the author says that if we do not think long term, nature will find its own ways to set limits. It describes the harsh outcome that will fall on mankind: humans who consume nature will in the end be consumed by the limits nature sets. So the phrase refers to mankind.

It does not refer to nature, which is the one that sets the limits, nor to science. Future generations are mentioned in the next sentence as the ones who must experience the fatal limits, but the phrase itself is aimed at mankind as a whole.

Answer: B

The tone of the passage is critical. The author finds fault with society for blaming science while using its benefits, with scientists for believing in unlimited technological progress, and with the present obsession with technology, which is called a dead end.

It is not merely descriptive, as it passes judgement throughout. It is not analytical in the strict sense of weighing evidence step by step, and it is not prescriptive, because the passage offers no list of actions beyond the remark that additional guidelines are needed.