COMPREHENSION TEST
in ordinary English and partly to secure greater exactness            (3) the average man often uses in his own vocabulary
in nomenclature. Such special dialects or jargons are nec-                what was once technical language not meant for
essary in technical discussion of any kind. Being univer-                 him.
sally understood by the devotees of the particular science            (4) everyone is interested in scientific findings.
or art, they have the precision of a mathematical formula.      175. In recent years, there has been a marked increase in
Besides, they save time, for it is much more economical to            the number of technical terms in the nomenclature of
name a process than to describe it. Thousands of these                (1) Farming.               (2) Fishing.
technical terms are very properly included in every large
                                                                      (3) Sports.                (4) Government.
dictionary, yet, as a whole, they are rather on the outskirts
of the English language than actually within its borders.             Directions (176–180) : You have one brief passage
                                                                with 5 questions following the passage. Read the passage
       Different occupations, however, differ widely in the
                                                                carefully and choose the best answer to each question out
character of their special vocabularies. In trades and handi-
crafts and other vocations like farming and fishing that        of the four alternatives.
have occupied great numbers of men from remote times,                                       (SSC Combined Graduate Level Tier-I
the technical vocabulary is very old. An average man now                                      Exam. 16.05.2010 (Second Sitting)
uses these in his own vocabulary. The special dialects of             In May 1966, the World Health Organisation was
law, medicine, divinity and philosophy have become famil-       authorised to initiate a global campaign to eradicate small-
iar to cultivated persons.                                      pox. The goal was to eradicate the disease in one decade.
                                                                Because similar projects for malaria and yellow fever had
                 SOME IMPORTANT WORDS                           failed, few believed that smallpox could actually be eradi-
 designate           : to describe/ name something/somebody     cated, but eleven years after the initial organisation of the
                        in a particular way.                    campaign, no cases were reported in the field.
 nomenclature : a system of naming things.                            The strategy was not only to provide mass vaccina-
 dialects            : the form of language that is spoken      tions, but also to isolate patients with active small-pox in
                        in an area with grammar, words and      order to contain the spread of the disease and to break the
                        pronunciation that may be different     chain of human transmission. Rewards for reporting small-
                        from other forms of the same language.  pox assisted in motivating the public to aid health workers.
 jargons             : words or expressions that are used       One by one, each small-pox victim was sought out, removed
                        by a particular profession or group of  from contact with others and treated. At the same time, the
                        people, and are difficult for others to entire, village where the victim had lived was vaccinated.
                        understand.                                   Today small-pox is no longer a threat to humanity.
 precision           : the quality of being exact, accurate     Routine vaccinations have been stopped worldwide.
                        and careful accuracy.
                                                                                SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
  cultivated
                                                                 eradicate          : to destroy/to get rid of something
  people             : having a high level of education and                            completely.
                        showing good manners.
                                                                 transmission       : transfer.
 outskirts           :  out of :                                 sought out         : found, using a lot of effort.
 vocations           :  a type of work/way of life that you
                        believe is suitable for you             176. Which of the following is the best title for the pas-
                                                                      sage ?
171. Special words used in technical discussion                       (1) The World Health Organisation
       (1) may become part of common speech.                          (2) The Eradication of Small-pox
       (2) never last long.                                           (3) Small-pox Vaccinations
       (3) should resemble mathematical formula.                      (4) Infectious Diseases
       (4) should be confined to scientific fields.             177. What was the goal of the campaign against small-pox ?
172. The writer of this article is                                    (1) To decrease the spread of small-pox worldwide.
       (1) a scientist.         (2) a politician.                     (2) To eliminate small-pox worldwide in ten years.
       (3) a linguist.          (4) a businessman.                    (3) To provide mass vaccinations against small-pox
                                                                          worldwide.
173. This passage is primarily concerned with
                                                                      (4) To initiate worldwide projects for small-pox, ma-
       (1) various occupations and professions.                           laria and yellow fever at the same time.
       (2) technical terminology.                               178. According to the paragraph what was the strategy
       (3) scientific undertakings.                                   used to eliminate the spread of small-pox ?
       (4) a new language.                                            (1) Vaccination of the entire village
174. It is true that                                                  (2) Treatment of individual victims.
       (1) various professions and occupations often inter-           (3) Isolation of victims and mass vaccinations.
           change words.                                              (4) Extensive reporting of outbreaks.
       (2) there is always a non-technical word that may be     179. Which statement doesn’t refer to small-pox ?
           substituted for the technical word.                        (1) Previous projects had failed.
                                                            SEE–923