COMPREHENSION TEST
                         PASSAGE–V
                                                                               SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
       The Stone Age was a period of history which began in
                                                                bizarre           : very strange or unusual behaviour.
approximately 2 million B.C. and lasted until 3000 B.C. Its
name was derived from the stone tools and weapons that          lithography       : the process of printing from a smooth
modern scientists discovered. This period was divided into                           surface, for eg. a metal plate, that has
the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic Ages. During the                           been specially prepared so that ink
first period (2 million to 8000 B.C.) the fist hatchet and the                       may only stick to the design to be
use of fire for heating and cooking were developed. As a                             printed.
result of the Ice Age, which evolved about one million years    etchings          : pictures that are printed from an
in the Paleolithic Age, people were fored to seek shelter in                         etched (cut lines into) piece of glass,
caves, wear clothing and develop new tools. During the                               metal, etc. in order to make words or
Mesolithic Age (8000 to 6000 B.C.) people made crude pot-                            a picture)
tery and the first fish hooks, took dogs for hunting and        pewter            : a grey metal made by mixing tin with
developed a bow and arrow, which was used until the four-                            lead, used especially in the past for
teenth century A.D. The Neolithic Age (6000 to 3000 B.C.)                            making cups, dishes, etc.
saw human kind domesticating sheep, goats, pigs and cattle,     Daguerreotype : a photograph taken using an early pro-
becoming less nomadic than in the previous eras, estab-                              cess that used a silver plate and mer-
lishing permanent settlements and creating Governments.                              cury gas.
311. The Stone Age was divided into                             portraiture       : the art of making portraits.
       (1) 5 periods            (2) 3 periods
                                                                vogue             : a fashion for something.
       (3) 4 periods            (4) 6 periods
312. Which of the following was first developed in Pale-       316. The term bizarre most commonly means
       olithic period ?                                              (1) humorous              (2) strange
       (1) The bow and arrow (2) Pottery                             (3) popular               (4) obvious
       (3) The first hatchet    (4) The fish hook              317. When was the concept of photography born ?
313. How many years did Mesolithic Age exist ?                       (1) When an imaginary story called Giphantie was born.
       (1) 2000                 (2) 3000                             (2) When mirror images of scenes were captured on
       (3) 5000                 (4) 4000                                 a canvas.
314. Which period lasted longest?                                    (3) When Roche made a prediction.
       (1) Paleolithic          (2) Ice Age                          (4) When Nicephore conducted some experiments.
       (3) Mesolithic           (4) Neolithic                  318. What does lithography deal with?
315. When did the people create Governments ?                        (1) A print making technique.
       (1) 8000 to 6000 B.C. (2) 2 millions to 8000 B.C.
                                                                     (2) Copying of etchings.
       (3) 6000 to 3000 B.C. (4) 2 millions to 1 million B.C.
                                                                     (3) Usage of chemicals to make etchings.
                         PASSAGE–VI
                                                                     (4) Usage of light in printing.
       In 1760, a man named Tiphaigne de la Roche made a
                                                               319. What was the contribution of Daguerre ?
bizarre prediction. In an imaginary story called Giphantie,
mirror images of scenes from nature could be captured                (1) He improvised upon the work of Roche.
permanently on a canvas covered with a sticky material.              (2) He introduced the method of photography.
After the material dried in darkness, the image would re-            (3) He started the print making technique.
main on the canvas forever. At the time, the idea was un-            (4) He could print images on canvas.
heard of. It was not until the following century that the
                                                               320. Why did the portrait artists go out of business ?
concept of photography was born, starting with some ex-
periments by Nicephore Niepce. Nicephore Niepce, who was             (1) Because Daguerrotypes were not expensive at all.
a French inventor, was interested in lithography, which is           (2) Because etchings had become popular.
a printmaking technique. He was experimenting with li-               (3) Because the photography method did not involve
thography when he found a way of copying etchings onto                   much money and was suitable for making portraits.
glass and pewter plates using a chemical that changes when           (4) Because they demanded a lot of money which
it is exposed to light. He learned to burn images onto the               people found burdensome.
plates and then print the images on paper. He shared his
                                                                     Directions (321–330) : You have a passage with 10
findings with Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre, who improved
                                                               questions following the passage. Read the passage careful-
the process and announced it to the French Academy of
                                                               ly and choose the best answer to each question out of the
Sciences in 1839. The Daguerreotype, the photography
method named after Daguerre, met with great success. It        four alternatives.
was so successful, in fact, that French newspapers said                                          (SSC Graduate Level Tier-I
the French public had an illness called Daguerreot-ypoma-                                   Exam. 11.11.2012 (1st Sitting)
nia! Daguerreotypes were inexpensive and were suitable                Jazz had its beginnings in song. Its roots lie deep in
for portraiture. People called the Daguerreotype a “mirror     the tradition of Negro folk singing that once flourished
with a memory”. Some portrait artists went out of business     throughout the rural Southland of the United States before
when Daguerreotypes came into vogue. Others became Da-         the Civil War. The Negro, in those days, owned only a few
guerreotypists, now known as photographers.                    crude musical instruments which he made for himself from
                                                          SEE–937