COMPREHENSION TEST
PASSAGE-I (2) a form of Creole which is furthest from the
Pidgins are languages that are not, acquired as mother standard language.
tongues and that are used for a restricted set of (3) a form of creole which has an extended vocabulary.
communicative functions. They are formed from a mixture (4) a form of creole which is very close to the standard
of languages and have a limited vocabulary and a simplified language.
grammar. Pidgins serve as a means of communication 430. Find out a word in the passage which is opposite in
between speakers of mutually unintelligible languages and meaning to the word - Simplified
may become essential, in multilingual areas. A Creole (1) Complex (2) Expansion
develops from a pidgin when the pidgin becomes the mother
(3) Restricted (4) Consequent
tongue of the community. To cope with the consequent
expansion of communicative functions the vocabulary is PASSAGE-II
increased and the grammar becomes more complex. Where There were four of us – George, and William Samuel
a Creole and the standard variety of English coexist, as in Harris, and myself, and Montmorency. We were sitting in
the Carribbean, there is a continuum from the most extreme my room, smoking and talking about “how bad we were -
form of Creole to the form that is closest to the standard bad from a medical point of view I mean, of course.
language. Linguists mark off the relative positions on the We were all feeling seedy, and we were getting quite
Creole continuum as the ‘basilect’ (the furthest from the nervous about it. Harris said he felt such extraordinary fits
standard language), the ‘mesolect’, and the ‘acrolet’. In such of giddiness come over him at times, that he hardly knew
situations, most Creole speakers can vary their speech along what he was doing; and then George said that he had fits
the continuum and many are also competent in the standard of giddiness too, and hardly knew what he was doing. With
English of their country. me, it was my liver that was out of order. I knew it was my
liver that was out of order, because I had just been reading
SOME IMPORTANT WORDS a patent liver-pill circular, in which were detailed the various
pidgins : simple form of languages, especially en- symptoms by which a man could tell when his liver was out
glish, Portuguese or Dutch, with a limit- of order. I had them all.
ed number of words, that are used to- It is a most extraordinary thing, but I never read a
gether with words from a local language. patent medicine advertisement without being impelled to
It is used when people who do not speak the conclusion that I am suffering from the particular disease
the same language need to talk to one therein dealt with in its most virulent form. The diagnosis
another. seems in every case to correspond exactly with all the
continuum : a series of similar items is which each is sensations that I have ever felt.
almost the same as the one next to it but
the last is very different from the first. SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
feeling seedy : feeling dirty and unpleasant because of
426. A pidgin develops in a situation when immoral or illegal activities.
(1) different and mutually unintelligible languages exist impelled : forced.
side by side. virulent : extremely dangerous or harmful; show-
(2) a Creole becomes the mother tongue of a linguistic ing strong negative and bitter feelings
community. vertigo : the feeling of dizziness and fear, and
(3) a language with restricted vocabulary undergoes of losing your balance.
an expansion in grammar and vocabulary.
garrulity : talkativeness : ckrwuhiu
(4) two similar languages are mixed to create a new
tribulation : great trouble or suffering.
language.
427. According to the given passage a pidgin becomes a frailty : weakness and poor health
Creole when 431. The four felt down and out because
(1) it ceases to be a means of communication (1) the room was too smoky
(2) it becomes the mother tongue for a new generation
(2) they coul d never read a patent medi cine
of speakers
advertisement.
(3) its vocabulary undergoes some kind of change
(3) they thought they were ill.
(4) two or more languages are mixed with an existing
(4) they had experienced a most extraordinary thing.
pidgin
432. Whenever the speaker read a liver pill circular
428. According to the passage, a Creole continuum is
(1) a linguistic term for the mixture of more than two (1) he suffered from an extraordinary surge of
languages. giddiness.
(2) a scale which measures the linguistic competence (2) he felt sure that he had a liver disorder.
of the speaker. (3) he felt the urge to smoke.
(3) a scale in which the proximity of the Creole to the (4) All of the above.
standard language is measured. 433. The author of the above passage seems to be suffering
(4) a record of the continuous history of a Creole. from
429. According to the passage basilect means (1) fits of morbid depression without real cause.
(1) an impure form of a Creole. (2) an abnormal anxiety about his health.
SEE–948