COMPREHENSION TEST
       Gradually men began to travel greater distances. The      339. What does the word stormy in the expression the
explorers who sailed unknown seas found new lands. And                 stormy Cape of Good Hope mean ?
in these lands they found new food and spices and took                 (1) Volcanic           (2) Strong
them back home.                                                        (3) Hopeless           (4) Rough
       The Portuguese who sailed around the stormy Cape          340. Which of the following titles best expresses the main
of Good Hope to reach China took back “Chinese apples”,               idea of the passage ?
the fruit we call oranges today. Later, Portuguese colonists           (1) Eat Healthy Food
carried orange seeds to Brazil. From Brazil oranges were               (2) The Search for Food
brought to California, the first place to grow oranges in the          (3) The Foods We Eat
United States. Peaches and melons also came from China.                (4) Great Food Regions of the World
So did a new drink, tea.                                               Directions (341 – 350) : Read the following passage
 331. What did men eat if there was shortage of food ?         carefully and choose the best answer to each question out
       (1) Rotten whales.         (2) The bark of trees.       of the four alternatives.
       (3) The root of trees.     (4) A bird’s nest with eggs.                                (SSC Delhi Police Sub-Inspector
 332. If men tamed animals, they made the animals _____                                                (SI) Exam. 19.08.2012)
       for them.                                                       The most logical and intelligent people seem to go
       (1) race                   (2) search                   berserk when talking about snakes. Recently a reputed
                                                               scientist said with a wise look in his eyes that sand boas
       (3) work                   (4) hunt
                                                               have two heads. The other day someone walked into my
 333. Where did oranges come from?
                                                               office and stated that in his village at least cobras mate
       (1) Brazil                 (2) China                    with rat snakes. About other places he was not sure, he
       (3) U.S.A.                 (4) Portugal                 added modestly, but that was how it was in his village.
 334. What difference did weapons make in the kinds of                 These stories about snakes are myths. Sand boas
      food men ate ?                                           have only one head; vine snakes do not peck your eyes
       (1) With weapons, they could kill animals.              out; no snake will drink milk. But it is interesting to try and
       (2) With weapons, they could kill both birds and an-    trace the origin of these untruths. The one about the sand
           imals for meat.                                     boas two heads obviously exists because the short, stumpy
                                                               tail of this snake looks remarkably like the head, an effec-
       (3) With weapon, they could kill all kinds of animals
                                                               tive device to fool predators. Or take the one about vine
           for meat.
                                                               snakes pecking at eyes. It was ‘probably started by a vine
       (4) With weapons, they could kill larger animals for    snake that had a bad aim, as snakes, when provoked, will
           meat.                                               bite the most prominent projection of the offender, which
 335. Which of the following statements is not true ?          is usually the nose.
       (1) The Portuguese colonists carried orange seeds to            But the most interesting one is about snakes coming
           Brazil.                                             to the scene of killing to take revenge. It so happens that
       (2) Oranges grow in California, in the United States.   when injured or under stress, a snake exudes, a large quan-
       (3) Explorers took back home new food and spices.       tity of musk. Musk is a powerful sex attractant, the snakes’
                                                               equivalent of after-shave lotion. So after a snake is killed,
       (4) Peaches, melons, oranges, tea and spices came
                                                               the ground around still has this smell and naturally a snake
           from China.                                         of the same species passing by will lick its lips and come to
 336. The phrase live on in the passage means                  investigate. The killer of the snake, who is probably wor-
       (1) to eat a certain kind of food in order to survive   ried if the pooja he performed was adequate to liquidate the
       (2) to eat greedily                                     killing of a snake, sees the second snake and is convinced
       (3) to eat everything that you are given to eat         that it was not.
       (4) to depend on plants and foods for a livelihood              The Irula tribals have a good answer to the query
                                                               about whether cobras have jewels in their heads; “If they
 337. At first men wandered from place to place to find
                                                               did, we wouldn’t be snake catchers, we would be rajas!”
      their food. Then some of them began to stay in one
      place. Why?                                                                SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
       (1) Because they began to grow plants, and ate what      berserk        :  very angry : very excited
           they could grow.                                     predators      :  animals that kill other animals.
       (2) Because they tamed animals and birds, and killed     excudes        :  comes out
           them for meat.                                       attractant     :  a substance that attracts something, es-
       (3) Because they trained wild animals and killed them                      pecially an animal.
           for meat.                                            liquidate      : to pay a debt/loan.
       (4) Because they began to grow plants and fruits,
                                                                 341. Which of the following statement is true ?
           and ate what they could grow.
                                                                       (1) The sand boas have two heads.
 338. Which word in the passage means the main axis of                 (2) The sand boas have one head but no tail.
      a plant that bears buds and shoots ?                             (3) The sand boas have a head and a stumpy tail.
       (1) Roots              (2) Stems                                (4) The sand boas have only a stumpy tail but no
       (3) Bark               (4) Leaves                                    head.
                                                          SEE–939