COMPREHENSION TEST
71. Antibiotics are called overworked miracles because
SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
(1) they performed miracles.
intriguing : very interesting because of being unusual
(2) they are hardly used. or not having an obvious answer.
(3) they are over-used. commensal : living on another animal/plant and getting
(4) they exhausted their miracles. food from the situation, but doing no harm.
72. ‘We cannot think of a return to pre-antibiotic days’ hitch hiker : taking lifts from others (here, remora is
means the hitch hiker).
(1) antibiotics became indispensable. parasitism : living on another animal plant and getting
(2) we must go back to pre-antibiotic days. its food from it.
(3) we cannot stop using antibiotics. ticks : small insects that bite humans and ani-
mals and suck their blood.
(4) we can stop using antibiotics.
mutualism : sharing by two or more people.
73. The passage tells us that
predators : animals that kill and eat other animals.
(1) the antibiotics work miracles.
symbiosis : a relationship of mutual benefit/depen-
(2) the antibiotics are available at the counters. dence
(3) the use of antibiotics is uncontrollable.
76. Remora attaches itself to the shark or whale
(4) antibiotics are used indiscriminately.
(1) by entwining its long body around the bigger fish.
74. The passage discusses the use of
(2) by biting into the fish’s body with its teeth.
(1) drugs in general.
(3) with an adhesive organ found in its head.
(2) miracle drugs.
(4) with a hook like structure in its head.
(3) antibiotics.
77. Commensal relationship is a type of symbiosis in which
(4) combination of different drugs. the relationship is beneficial
75. These days it is not uncommon to prescribe antibiot- (1) to one and harmless to other.
ics’ means (2) to one and harmful to other.
(1) it is rare to prescribe antibiotics. (3) to both.
(2) it is a common practice to prescribe antibiotics. (4) to both for a very short time.
(3) it is not a common practice to prescribe antibiot- 78. The passage talks about how animals
ics. (1) help each other.
(4) it is compulsory to prescribe antibiotics. (2) live together.
Passage II (3) take advantage of the weaker ones.
Among Nature’s most intriguing phenomena are the part- (4) are related to each other.
nerships formed by any different species. The name used 79. Parasites
for these relationships, Symbiosis, comes from Greek
(1) are neither beneficial nor harmful to animals they
meaning "living together". Not all symbiotic relationships are with.
are the same. There are some called commensal relation-
(2) benefit at the expense of the animals they live with.
ships, in which one partner gains a benefit while the oth-
(3) are beneficial to the animals they live with.
er gains little or none but is not harmed. One example is
the relationship between two types of fish – remoras and (4) harm the animals they live with.
sharks. The remora, which is long and often striped, at- 80. Remora feeds
taches itself to a shark (sometimes to another type of fish (1) on the shark it travels with.
or a whale), using a sucker on its head. When the shark (2) on the left-over parts of the shark’s prey.
makes a kill, the hitchhiker briefly detaches itself to feed (3) by detaching itself to attack the prey.
on the scraps. Another type of symbiotic relationship is (4) on a whale or another type of fish.
parasitism, in which one partner benefits at the expense Directions (81-90) : You have two brief passages with
of others. Ticks and tapeworms are among familiar para- five questions following each passage. Read the passages
sites. carefully and choose the best answer to each question out
The third type of symbiotic relationship, called mutual- of the four alternatives.
ism, is a true partnership in which both partners benefit. (SSC Statistical Investigators Grade-IV
The relationship may be limited as when zebras and wild- Exam. 13.08.2006)
beast graze together on the vast African grasslands. Each PASSAGE–I
species can survive on its own, but together their chances Power and possession have been central pursuits of
of detecting predators are improved because each contrib- modern civilisation for a long time. They blocked out or
utes a specially keen sense. (Zebras have the better eye- distorted other features of the western renaissance (re-
sight; wildbeast, hearing and sense of smell). In a few cas- vival) which promised so much for humanity. What people
es partners are so interdependent that one cannot survive have been and are still being taught to prize are money,
without the other. Most mutualistic relationships probably success, control over the lives of others, acquisition of more
lie somewhere in betwe and more objects. Modern social, political, and economic
SEE–912