Reading Comprehension Questions and Answers

Direction for [ Question No: 131 To 132 ] :

Passage I

Light pollution is one of the most rapidly growing threats to our environment. The resultant increase of brightness of the night sky is not only damaging our view of the starry sky, but is altering our perception of dark and moonlit nights and even our physical and mental health. It is only recently that these effects of outdoor lighting have been recognised. Light pollution also indicates wasted energy, since upward directed light does not usually provide useful or intended illumination. Dealing with light pollution and its adverse effects is a complex issue with potential conflicts of interest between the utility providers, environmentalists, astronomers, the lighting industry and various governmental agencies.

Satellite images looking down at the Earth at night have been available since the early 1970s. They measure the light beamed upwards from sources on the Earth's surface but do not give any direct information about the effects of this light pollution on the night sky brightness, as observed by humans on the surface of the Earth, or about its impact on the visibility.

These effects may be calculated by including a physical model of the effects of scattering of light by air molecules and other small particles. Maps that show this calculated sky brightness have now been prepared for the entire world and provide a vivid record of growth of light pollution in both developed urban areas and densely populated areas.

Direction for [ Question No: 133 To 135 ] :

Read the following excerpt and answer the questions asked at the end. The answers to the questions should be based on the excerpt.

Availability of pre- and post-natal health care facilities in order to reduce infant mortality and post-delivery deaths among mothers, old age health care, adequate nutrition and safety of individual are some important measures of a healthy and reasonably long life. India has done reasonably well in some of the health indicators like decline in death rate from 25.1 per thousand in 1951 to 8.1 per thousand in 1999, and infant mortality from 148 per thousand to 70 during the same period. Similarly, it also succeeded in increasing life expectancy at birth from 37.1 years to 62.3 years for males and 36.2 years to 65.3 years for females from 1951 to 1999. Though, these are great achievements, a lot needs to be done. Similarly, it has also done reasonably well in bringing down birthrate from 40.8 to 26.1 during the same years, but it still is much higher than that of many developed countries.

The situation is more alarming when seen in the context of gender specific and rural and urban health indicators. India has recorded declining female sex ratio. The findings of 2001 Census of India are very disturbing particularly in case of child sex ratio between 0-6 age groups. The other significant features of the report are, with the exception of Kerala, the child sex ratio has declined in all the States and it is the most alarming in the developed States of Haryana and Punjab, where it is below 800 female children per thousand male children.

Direction for [ Question No: 136 To 139 ] :

Read the following excerpt and answer the questions asked at the end. The answers to the questions should be based on the excerpt.

Any economy can be divided into three sectors, namely agriculture, industry and services, based on the nature of productive activity. India's economy at the time of independence was dominated by agriculture contributing 52% to the gross domestic product, followed by services with 34% and industry with 14%. In the nearly 70 years since that time, the structure of the economy has changed dramatically, with agriculture now contributing only 17%, industry 29% and services 54%. Thus, the Indian economy has transformed from an agriculture-driven to a services-driven economy. A high share of services in the economy and a corresponding low share of agriculture is typically a sign of a developed economy. While this is true of the Indian economy as well, India can be considered only a developing economy as the services sector in India is largely composed of low productivity, manual labour activity, rather than high-technology value-added services. Most developed countries have transitioned from agricultural economies to industrialized ones, and only then moved to services-dominated economies. Large-scale industrialization helped absorb the large labour force from agriculture that became unemployed or under-employed because of rising productivity. However, in India, the contribution of industry has grown only from 14% to 29%, and thus the surplus labour force was forced to transition to low-paying jobs in the services sector.

Direction for [ Question No: 140 To 140 ] :

Read the following excerpt and answer the questions asked at the end. The answers to the questions should be based on the excerpt.

The Lok Sabha is composed of representatives of people chosen by direct election on the basis of Universal Adult Suffrage. The maximum strength of the House is 552 members-530 members to represent the States, 20 members to represent the Union territories and 2 members to be nominated by the President from the Anglo-Indian Community. At present, the strength of the House is 545. The term of the Lok Sabha, unless dissolved, is five years from the date appointed for its first meeting. However, while a proclamation of emergency is in operation, this period may be extended by the Parliament by law for a period not exceeding one year at a time and not extending in any case, beyond a period of six months after the proclamation has ceased to operate. After every Lok Sabha election, the President invites the political party or alliance of parties that has the majority of new elected members to form the Government.