COMPREHENSION TEST
when the youths, wearing full-mask helmets that cov-                  The close shave has again forced the glare on the air-
ered their faces, snatched the chain from behind and            port already under the scanner for obstacles in its landing
sped away.                                                      approach path. The Airbus A320, carrying 89 passengers
                                                                and six crew members, had started taxiing when the birds,
      “I was walking back towards the Keshtopur foot-
                                                                possibly attracted by the waste pile-up near the airport,
bridge, talking with a friend, when I felt a tug at my
                                                                crashed into the plane on the left around 8.05 am.
neck. Within moments, my chain was in the hands of the
pillion rider. We ran for a distance chasing them but they            The pilot hit the brakes, bringing the plane to a screech-
soon took a sharp turn and we lost them”, Dey said.             ing halt seconds before take-off. Sources said the plane
                                                                would have been running at a speed of about 40 nautical
      She said she couldn’t take down the bike’s registration
                                                                miles (74 kmph) at the time.
number. “I can only recall that it was orange,” she said.
                                                                      Flight 6E 385 was scheduled to take off at 8.10 am for
      Dey dialled 100, the police helpline, from her cellphone.
                                                                Delhi and onward to Hyderabad, Bangalore and Visakhap-
She was directed to lodge a complaint with Bidhannagar
                                                                atnam.
East police station.
                                                                      “The left-hand side engine of the aircraft got damaged
      On Tuesday morning, two bike-borne youths had
                                                                after it was hit by the birds. There were no casualties for-
snatched a chain from Papiya Roy Chowdhury near her
                                                                tunately and all passengers were taken out of the aircraft
home in AE block.
                                                                immediately after the pilot took it to the parking bay. The
      The back-to-back snatchings have prompted township        aircraft has been grounded and it will operate only after
residents to demand stricter policing. “Salt Lake is becom-     the safety engineers of IndiGo give a fit-to-fly certificate,”
ing unsafe. Criminals are robbing residents at will. The        an IndiGo source at Patna airport said.
police should take strict measures,” said Sreemoyee Sen, a
                                                                      All passengers were accommodated on other IndiGo
resident of AB block.
                                                                flight:, the source added.
                  SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
                                                                                  SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
 sped away      :   to move away quickly
                                                                 fly into       :  hit against something
 tug            :   a sudden hard pull
                                                                 take off       :  ready to fly
 pillion        :   a seat for a passenger behind the driver
                                                                 slammed        :  push with a lot of force
                    of a bike
                                                                 close-shave :     narrow escape
 divected       :   given order
 lodge          :   to make a formal statement about some-       glare          :  a long, angry look
                    thing to an authority                        scanner        :  a devise for examining something
 at will        :   whenever/wherever you like                   obstacles      :  hindrance
                                                                 screeching :      a loud, high, unpleasant sound
381. “Home maker” is a synonym of
       (1) construction worker. (2) servant.                     halt           :  stop
       (3) housekeeper.             (4) housewife.               scheduled      :  fixed (according to the time-table)
382. The Homemaker stayed in                                     casualities :     victims
       (1) United States of America.                             bay            :  a marked section of ground, inside/out-
       (2) Bangalore.                                                              side a building (for parking/storing things)
       (3) Salt Lake.                                            grounded       :  to prevent an aircraft from taking off
       (4) Keshtopur.
383. The thieves were chased by                                 386. Close shave means
       (1) Papiya Roy Chowdhury.                                       (1) emergency              (2) danger
       (2) Sujata Dey and her friend.                                  (3) a narrow escape       (4) to shave carefully
       (3) Sujata Dey alone.                                    387. Why did the birds fly into the plane?
       (4) The Police.                                                 (1) As the birds were attracted to the plane.
384. Why could Sujata Dey not identify the thieves ?                   (2) As it was taking off slowly.
       (1) Because they wore full mask helmets.                        (3) As the captain slammed the brakes.
       (2) Because they sped away fast.                                (4) As the birds were attracted to the waste pile-up
                                                                       near the airport.
       (3) Because they were on a bike.
                                                                388. The passengers were allowed to get off the plane
       (4) Because they took a sharp turn.
                                                                       (1) after the plane was taken to the parking bay.
385. Who told Sujata Dey to lodge a police complaint?
                                                                       (2) immediately.
       (1) Local residents.         (2) The police.
                                                                       (3) after many hours.
       (3) Her friend.              (4) Papiya Roy Chowdhury.
                                                                       (4) the next day.
                           PASSAGE-II
                                                                389. The Airbus is a
      A flock of birds flew into an IndiGo Airbus about to take
off at Patna this morning and damaged the plane’s engine               (1) a large bus            (2) small plane
before the captain slammed the emergency brakes.                       (3) large plane            (4) a small bus
                                                            SEE–943