COMPREHENSION TEST
390. What happened to the plane after the passengers were        393. ........ has been a major boost for female literacy in
       taken off?                                                       India today.
       (1) It was given a fitness certificate.                          (1) The global movement to gain equal status for wom-
       (2) It was grounded.                                                 en
       (3) It was discarded.                                            (2) The modern governmental system
       (4) It was inspected and allowed to fly.                         (3) Increase in the number of broad-minded men
                         PASSAGE - III                                  (4) Increase in the number of women in prominent
      Women’s education in India is one of the foremost con-                positions
cerns of the Government of India as well as of the society       394. Progress and improvement in education for women
at large. It is due to the fact that at the present time, the           has enabled them to
educated women play a very significant role in overall de-              (1) overthrow male hegemony.
velopment and progress of the country. Women hold a prom-
                                                                        (2) bag coveted positions for themselves.
inent position in the Indian society and all over the world.
                                                                        (3) create an impact on all aspects of life.
However, since the prehistoric times women were denied
opportunities and had to suffer for the hegemonic mascu-                (4) All of the above.
line ideology. This unjustifiable and unwarrantable oppres-      395. Find the option opposite in meaning to unjustifiable.
sion had resulted into a movement that fought to achieve                (1) compulsory             (2) progressive
the equal status of-women all over the world. Women’s ed-               (3) reasonable             (4) methodical
ucation in India is the consequence of such progress and              Directions (396-405) : You have two passages with 5
this led to the tremendous improvement of women’s condi-         questions in each passage. Read the passages carefully and
tion throughout the world. Nevertheless eradication of fe-       choose the best answer to each question out of the four
male illiteracy is considered as a major concern today.          alternatives.
      In the present era, the Indian society has established a                                          (SSC Graduate Level Tier-I
number of institutions for the educational development of                                            Exam. 21.04.2013, Ist Sitting)
women and girls. These educational institutions aim for im-                                  PASSAGE-I
mense help and are concerned with the development of                  The Bengal Renaissance refers to a social reform
women. In the modern society, women in India have come a         movement during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
long way. Indian women are at par with men in all kinds of       in the region of Bengal in Undivided India during the period
tasks like reaching the moon, conquering Mount Everest,          of British rule. The Bengal renaissance can be said to have
and participating in all fields. Ail this is possible just be-   started with Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1775-1833) and ended
cause of education and the profound impact it has had on         with Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), although there have
women.                                                           been many stalwarts thereafter embodying particular aspects
                                                                 of the unique intellectual and creative output. Nineteenth
                  SOME IMPORTANT WORDS                           century Bengal was a unique blend of religious and social
 prominent :       important/well-known                          reformers, scholars, literary giants, journalists, patriotic
 ideology       :  a set of ideas/beliefs                        orators and scientists, all merging to form the image of a
 oppression :      being treated in a cruel/unfair way           renaissance, and marked the transition from the ‘medieval’
                                                                 to the ‘modern’.
 eradication :     destroyed completely.
                                                                      During this period, Bengal witnessed an intellectual
 profound       :  very great ; felt/experienced very strongly.  awakening that is in some way similar to the European
 impact         :  the powerful effect                           Renaissance during the 16th century, although Europeans
 hegemonic :       control by one country, organization, etc.    of that age were not confronted with the challenge and
                   over other countries, etc. within a partic-   influence of alien colonialism. This movement questioned
                   ular group.                                   existing orthodoxies, particularly with respect to women,
 unjustifiable : impossible to excuse                            marriage, the dowry system, the caste system and religion.
 unwarantable or accept because there is no good rea-            One of the earliest social movements that emerged during
                   son for it. :                                 this time was the Young Bengal movement, that espoused
                                                                 rationalism and atheism as the common denominators of
391. Education for women is necessary                            civil conduct among upper caste educated Hindus.
       (1) to enable more women to conquer Mt. Everest.               The parallel socio- religious movement, the Brahmo
       (2) to usher in a modem and progressive society.          Samaj, developed during this time period and counted many
       (3) to protest against masculine supremacy.               of the leaders of the Bengal Renaissance among its followers.
       (4) to establish more educational institutions.
                                                                                   SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
392. In present times, education for women is not at par
                                                                  stalwarts      :  loyal spporters who do a lot of work for an
       with that of their male counterparts because
                                                                                    organization, officially a political party.
       (1) Indian women did not join the worldwide move-
                                                                  embodying : expressing or representing an idea or a
           ment to gain equal status for themselves.
                                                                                    quality.
       (2) female illiteracy is a major social problem.
                                                                  confronted : faced with
       (3) Indian women are traditionally more preoccupied
                                                                  alien          : different from usual.
           with their household duties.
                                                                  espoused       : gave your support to a belief, policy, etc.
       (4) ours is a male dominated society,
                                                             SEE–944