COMPREHENSION TEST
(2) people should have unquestionable faith in reli- 194. Malthus doomsday prediction did not come true due
gion. to two major reasons. They are
(3) Faith and reason are two separate entities. (1) rapid growth in population and Industrial devel-
(4) Faith without rational evidence may not be accept- opment.
able to the educated people. (2) very slow growth in population and modern agri-
190. What, according to the writer, is the role of religion in cultural practices and better irrigation.
the present age ? (3) increase in percapita income and economic
(1) To promote rational thinking. progress.
(2) To inculcate scientific spirit in man. (4) better facilities in Health and Hygiene.
(3) To strengthen faith in democracy. 195. In the past forty five years, India’s population has
(4) To develop faith in God. grown about
Directions (191-200) : You have two brief passages (1) three and a half times. (2) one and a half times.
with 5 questions following each passage. Read the pas- (3) five times. (4) two and a half times.
sages carefully and choose the best answer to each ques- PASSAGE-II
tion out of the four alternatives. The world’s oil reserves are expected to run out by
(SSC Stenographer (Grade"C" &"D") Exam. 26.09.2010) the middle of the next century unless oil consumption is
PASSAGE - I reduced, according to a leading petroleum geologist from
Two hundred years after Malthus predicted that pop- the U.S.. Dr. Craig Bond Hatfield, who is at the Univer-
ulation growth would overtake food production by a mar- sity of Toledo, Ohio, says the 1,000 billion barrels of
gin of 256 to 9, the simple fact is that food production known global oil reserves are expected to run out by 2036
had always been ahead of the population growth. Malth- unless the current 69-million barrels per day consump-
us’ doomsday prediction simply did not come true due to tion of oil is brought down.
two major reasons: first, population did not grow geomet- Reserves may last for an extra 21 years if estimates
rically and birth rates in all Western countries fell during of an additional 550 billion barrels of oil yet to be discov-
the 20th Century, resulting in very slow population growth. ered are taken into account. But “a permanent decline in
Over the past quarter century, birth rates have been fall- global oil production is virtually certain to begin within 20
years.” Hatfield believes. “Serious planning is needed to
ing in the developing countries too. Second, modern agri-
deal with the economic consequences.”
cultural practices and better irrigation have resulted in tre-
mendous growth in food production in almost all parts of Hatfield’s comments, which appear in an article in the
the globe, with the notable exception of sub-Saharan Afri- latest issue of the weekly science journal-Nature, are likely
ca. Therefore, at the global level, the Malthusian dooms- to provoke controversy. The oil industry, while acknowl-
edging that oil reserves are finite, says Hatfield’s comments
day never befell on us.
are too alarmist. Mr. Julian Chisholm, a spokesman for
India’s population grew by about two and a half times the World Energy Council in London, a consortium of the
in the past 45 years -from 361 million in 1951 to an esti- world’s leading energy suppliers, says the oil industry is
mated 916 million in 1995. But during the same period, bullish. The general view of the industry and of energy
India’s food-grain production grew by nearly four times - experts is that there is plenty of oil, and real concern about
from 51 million tonnes in 1951 to 191 million tonnes in the level of reserves, at least until 2050 is not beyond.
1995. As a result, the per capita food grain availability in
India has gone up considerably since the independence. SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
That is, the Malthusian prediction has not come true even run out : used up/finished
in India.
virtually : almost/very nearly
SOME IMPORTANT WORDS provoke : to cause a particular reaction/have a par-
dooms day : the last day of the world ticular effect
befell : something unpleasant happened to some- controversy: public discussion and argument about
body something that many people strongly dis-
agree abo ut, di sapp rove of, or are
191. In the developing countries, the birth rate is
shocked by
(1) increasing. (2) doubling.
consortium : a group of people, countries, companies,
(3) falling. (4) static. etc. who are working to gether on a par-
192. India’s food production from 1951 to 1995 grew ticular project
nearly alarmist : causing unnecessary anxiety.
(1) five times. (2) four times. bullish : causing, or connected with, an increase
(3) three times. (4) two times. in the price of shares.
193. The food production had always been _____ of popu- 196. Unless consumption is reduced, the oil reserve will
lation growth. run out by the middle of
(1) slow (2) ahead (1) 20th century. (2) 21st century.
(3) adequate (4) stagnant (3) 23rd century. (4) 24th century.
SEE–925