COMPREHENSION TEST
224. Why did Mr. Albert West knock at the speaker’s                                          PASSAGE–II
      house?                                                              A farmer accompanied by his young son was driving
      (1) To go out walking with the speaker.                      his ass to the market in the hope of selling the ass for a
      (2) To make him a partner in the printing press.             good price. On the road, they met a bevy of girls who laughed
      (3) To avoid contact with friends.                           and exclaimed, “See this pair of fools ? They are trudging
      (4) Because he was worried that something had hap-           along the dusty road, when they can be riding !” The man
                                                                   thought that there was sense in what they were saying. So
          pened to the speaker.
                                                                   he mounted his son on the ass and he walked at the side.
225. Why was Mr. West uneasy?                                      Presently, they met some of his old friends, who greeted
      (1) Because he could not find the speaker in the             him and said, “You’ll spoil your son, by letting him ride
          restaurant.                                              while you toil along on foot! Make him walk. It’ll be good for
      (2) He was concerned about the printing press.               him.” The farmer followed their advice and took his son’s
      (3) He had eaten something in the restaurant.                place on the back of the ass while the boy trudged along
      (4) He was avoiding his friends.                             behind. They would not have gone far, they were seen by
                                                                   women and children. The farmer heard them say, “What a
      Directions (226 – 240) : You have two brief passag-
                                                                   selfish old man ! He rides in comfort, but lets his poor little
es with questions following each passage. Read the pas-
                                                                   fellow walk the distance.” So he asked his son to get up
sages carefully and choose the best answer to each ques-
                                                                   behind him. Further along the road, they met some travel-
tion out of the four alternatives.
                                                                   lers. They asked the farmer whether the ass was his prop-
       (SSC Stenographer Grade "C" & "D" Exam. 16.10.2011)         erty or was it hired for the purpose. The farmer told them
                            PASSAGE-I                              that he was taking his ass to the market to sell it. The
     John had never thought much about the origin of wealth        travellers said, “Good Heavens ! With the load like this, the
or inequalities in life. It was his firm belief that if this world poor beast will look exhausted and no one would like to
was not good, the next would be good, and this faith sus-          purchase him. Why don’t you carry him.” Immediately, the
tained him. He was not like some others whom he knew,              farmer got off the ass, tied its legs with the rope and slung
who would sell their souls to the devil. He always thought of      him on a pole and carried him in between them. This was
God before doing anything. He lived the life of an honest          such an absurd sight that people laughed at it. They called
man. He had not married but did not desire another man’s           the farmer and his son lunatics. They had then reached a
wife. He believed that women weakened men as was de-               bridge over a river. Frightened by the noise around, the
scribed in the story of Samson and Delilah.                        ass struggled, kicked, broke the pole, fell into the river
226. To sell one’s soul to the devil means                         and died. The farmer returned home vexed and ashamed.
                                                                   In trying to please all, he in fact, had pleased none and he
      (1) suppressing one’s conscience.
                                                                   had lost the ass in the transaction.
      (2) giving up goodness in exchange for evil.
      (3) giving up one’s honesty for the sake of monetary                           SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
           benefits.                                                bevy           :  young women
      (4) to sell oneself to earn livelihood.                       trudging       :  walking slowly or with heavy steps, be-
227. John thought that women weakened men because                                     cause you are tired or carrying something
                                                                                      heavy.
      (1) he thought that women were evil.
                                                                    toil           : to move slowly and with difficulty : slog.
      (2) he believed that a woman was a fancy devil.
                                                                    absurd         : not logical and sensible; ridiculous.
      (3) he thought that a woman would spoil his life.
                                                                    lunatics       : persons doing crazy things that are often
      (4) he was convinced that what the story of Samson
                                                                                      dangerous.
          and Delilah illustrates is correct.
                                                                    vexed          : annoyed/worried
228. It was John’s belief that
      (1) one can be happy only by remaining a bachelor.            231. The ass kicked because
      (2) the world is a happy place.                                     (1) it wanted to be let off.
      (3) there is no other world.                                        (2) it was frightened by some noise.
                                                                          (3) it wanted to stretch its legs.
      (4) one must lead an honest life.
                                                                          (4) it had the habit of kicking.
229. By not desiring another man’s wife John showed that
                                                                    232. The farmer was taking the ass to the market to
      (1) he wanted to get married.
                                                                          (1) buy food for the family.
      (2) he was a man of principles.
                                                                          (2) carry the farmer to the market.
      (3) he felt sorry for other men.
                                                                          (3) sell the ass at the market.
      (4) he had no desire for another’s wealth.                          (4) buy food for the ass.
230.From the above passage we understand that John was              233. The farmer made his son mount the ass because
      (1) not highly educated.                                            (1) the son could not walk the distance.
      (2) a man of simple faith.                                          (2) the son was adamant about riding the ass.
      (3) a deeply pessimistic man.                                       (3) a group of girls laughed at the farmer’s folly.
      (4) a scholar of scriptures.                                        (4) the road was dusty.
                                                              SEE–929