Synonyms Questions and Answers

Direction for [ Question No: 11 To 11 ] :

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

We today revel in the idea that we are living in a world of science and science can work wonders for us. It is evident that science has revolutionised modern life. What our forefathers, half a century ago, could not even dream of, we have that at our beck and call. Electricity is a wonder and what it is doing would have appeared to be a fairy tale for our forefathers. A button is pressed, the room gets flooded with light; the fan moves, the AC cools or warms the room, water is boiled or cooled, even frozen, eatables can be preserved for days. Human suffering has greatly been alleviated. Science has investigated into disease and found startling cures for them. Artificial limbs can be fitted into the bodies of the disabled, and even kidney and heart transplants are being performed. Machinery has eliminated human labour and made life more mechanical and less arduous. Means of communication – the fax, the email, the mobile smart phones – are really wonderful means given to us by science. Atomic energy that if put to use for peaceful purposes can work wonders. We have begun to feel beholden to science and the scientists.

But there is the other side of the picture too. Man has become a slave to the machines. Human labour has been minimised but that has led to a more luxurious living and less of physical activity. Mankind has begun suffering from such elements that life without the modern scientific gadgets is impossible. True, that all this has happened and which our hard-working forefathers never knew of; more and more use of machines has led to large scale unemployment. We are unnecessarily using chemicals for agriculture. The pesticides and germicides used in saving the crops are sending out such alarming signals as precariously depleting the ozone layer which protects Earth from the harmful radiation of the sun’s rays. The world is getting exposed to the situations of great alarm and danger. GMOs are good for some crops and not so for others. Wild varieties cannot be allowed to go extinct. Furthermore, atomic energy is being used for destructive purposes and the nuclear explosions are causing radiations which are fatal for mankind. Can we ever forget what happened to Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan during the World War II? Do we want to live under such further threats of large-scale devastation and destruction?

Therefore, what is necessary is that we imperatively use science as our slave – take the utmost advantage from it but do not permit it to become our master. We have to keep the ‘genie’ under our control, use it for the good of mankind; cure disease with its help, explore treasures of the earth through it; communicate with one another at the quickest pace but keep its dangerous uses under check. Let science remain our ‘slave’ and not allow it to become our master. Let science, like Aladdin’s ‘genie’, remain in Aladdin’s controlling power, not to overpower and become a menace to mankind.

Direction for [ Question No: 12 To 12 ] :

Refer the above passage and answer the Questions.

Few industries tout their sustainability credentials more forcefully than the fashion industry. Products ranging from swimsuits to wedding dresses are marketed as carbon positive, organic, or vegan while yoga mats made from mushrooms and sneakers from sugar cane dot retail shelves. New business models including recycling, resale, rental, reuse, and repair are sold as environmental life savers.

The sad truth however is that all this experimentation and supposed “innovation” in the fashion industry over the past 25 years have failed to lessen its planetary impact - a loud wake-up call for those who hope that voluntary efforts can successfully address climate change and other major challenges facing society.

Take the production of shirts and shoes, which has more than doubled in the past quarter century - three quarters end up burned or buried in landfills. This feels like a personal failure of sorts. The reasons for the industry's sustainability letdown are complicated. Pressure for unrelenting growth summed with consumer demand for cheap, fast fashion has been a major contributor. So too are the related facts that real prices for footwear and apparel have halved since 1990 with most new items made from non-biodegradable petroleum-based synthetics.

Direction for [ Question No: 13 To 14 ] :

Refer to the below passage and answer the questions.

Ideally, global problems are serious issues that the contemporary international community is experiencing. Global problems transcend the regional and national boundaries and affect the survival and development of the whole human race. In the current century, the world has developed, and with the integration of the international community, global problems are more produced. With globalization, individuals can live in any part of the world. As a result, global problems such as ecological imbalance, environmental pollution, shortage of resources, war, among others, exist. Therefore, global problems are natural consequences of unrestrained economic growth and modern globalization.

The international community play a significant role in solving global problems. However, the international community has failed when solving international issues. One of the reasons is ignorance, in which the international community does not carry out comprehensive research on the root cause of the global problem to provide an appropriate solution. Further, global inequality has interfered with the international community’s ability to solve global issues. Countries across the world are diverse. Some of the countries are resource-rich, while others are resource-poor. Furthermore, countries have different priorities, which affects the international community when solving global problems. Global politics has also affect the international community when solving global issues. Some countries want to have a significant role in global politics. This has caused conflict among nations and thus making it difficult for the international community to solve global problems.

Direction for [ Question No: 15 To 15 ] :

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

1. Chocoholics no longer need to feel guilty about their desire for chocolate. They are simply the victim of the genes, scientists have found. The so called "sweet-tooth gene" has been identified by separate teams of researchers and helps explain why some find it harder to resist chocolate bars and cream cakes. It also raises the possibility of designing a drug which could "switch off" the gene and help people resist sugary foods. Children, in particular, risk their health by eating too many sweets and chocolates.

2. To identify the gene, research teams conducted almost identical experiments using mice which have differences in their ability to taste sweet foods. One of the team members said "A sweet taste receptor recognises the sweet content of food and initiates a cascade of events which signals to the brain that a sweet food has been eaten." He further added, "The same gene exists in humans, so it means that if your parents have a sweet tooth then you probably will as well".

3. He said, "We have always known that some people have a sweeter tooth than others. But it has also been proved that if you are gradually exposed to less sugar, then the body becomes accustomed to less. They will be satisfied with a lower level of sweetness. Doctors warn against any form of gene therapy which seeks to deactivate the sweet gene. "We have produced this gene through evolution because sweet foods in nature are not poisonous, they give us energy. We all need to have some sugar in our diet," claim scientists. US researchers are using this discovery to develop artificial sweeteners without any after-taste.

Direction for [ Question No: 16 To 16 ] :

Read the poem given below and answer the questions that follow :

Great, wide, beautiful, wonderful world,
With the wonderful water round you curled.
And the wonderful grass upon your breast
World, you are beautifully drest.

The wonderful air is over me,
And the wonderful wind is shaking the tree,
It walks on the water, and whirls the mills,
And talks to itself on the tops of the hills.

You friendly Earth! How far do you go,
With the wheat-fields that nod and the rivers that flow.
With cities and gardens, and cliffs, and isles,
And people upon you for thousands of miles ?

Ah, you are so great, and I am so small,
I tremble to think of you, World, at all;
And yet, when I said my prayers today,
A whisper inside me seemed to say,
'You are more than the Earth, though you are such a dot,
You can love and think, and the Earth cannot!'

Direction for [ Question No: 17 To 19 ] :

Complete the given word analogy :

Direction for [ Question No: 20 To 20 ] :

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

My home town in the mid-1970s was a laid-back place, resembling a remote rural area, except in having some amenities. Our house was almost at one end of the town. About 15 km away, there was a small village where a fair was held for a week every year during the harvest season. The village deity was worshipped by many from the places in the vicinity.

Devotees thronged the fair not only for divine blessings but also for watching street-shows and other entertainment events. Only a mud track led to the village and everyone reached there by walking or on bullock carts.

My father, an advocate by profession, was popular among the villagers. His clients from the place used to arrange bullock carts for us and a few family friends and relatives to attend the fair.

The journey would start early in the morning. We children will be in a separate cart. I used to eagerly look forward to this occasion every year as though it was a journey of a life-time and worth enjoying every minute of it. Money saved for this fair would be tucked firmly in my pockets during the journey. Whenever the cart jerked or sped away, I would hold my pockets tightly so that coins would not spill out.

The crowd at the temple in the foothill used to be highly unorganised, especially the food counter where prasadam was served. Hot and spicy puffed rice and tea made of jaggery were the delectable combination of food and beverage every devotee craved for.

Going to the temple used to be the last priority of us children. Fearing elders' wrath, we would hurriedly finish the formality of darshan.