COMPREHENSION TEST
                             PASSAGE                             462. Which factory was situated near the village Ulapur ?
        The postmaster first took up his duties in the village          (1) Rubber                   (2) Clothes
of Ulapur. Though the village was a small one, there was an             (3) Dyes                     (4) Chemical
indigo factory nearby and the proprietor, an Englishman,         463. What does the idiom fish out of water suggest?
had managed to get a post office established.                           (1) Can die any moment
        Our postmaster belonged to Calcutta. He felt like a             (2) Grasping for breath
fish out of water in this remote village. His office and living-
                                                                        (3) Amphibious creature
room were in a dark thatched shed, not far from a green,
slimy pond, surrounded on all sides by a dense growth.                  (4) Uncomfortable in unfamiliar surroundings
        The men employed in the indigo factory had no leisure,   464. Find a word in the passage which is the opposite of
moreover they were hardly desirable companions for decent               near,
folk. Nor is a Calcutta boy an adept in the art of associating          (1) Unknown                  (2) Close
with others. Among strangers he appears either proud or                 (3) Remote                   (4) Convenient
ill at ease. At any rate the postmaster had but little company,  465. Find a word in the passage which means the owner
nor had he much to do.                                                  of a business.
        At times he tried his hand at writing a verse or two.           (1) Entrepreneur             (2) Businessman
That the movement of the leaves and clouds of the sky                   (3) Proprietor               (4) Constructor
were enough to fill life with joy — such were the sentiments           Directions (466-475) : You have two passages with 5
to which he sought to give expression. But God knows that        questions in each passage. Read the passages carefully
the poor fellow would have felt it as the gift of a new life, if and choose the best answer to each question out of the
some genie of the Arabian Nights had in one night swept          four alternatives.
away the trees, leaves and all, and replaced them with a                             (SSC CAPFs SI & CISF ASI Exam. 23.06.2013)
macadamised road, hiding the clouds from view with rows
                                                                                            PASSAGE -I
of tall houses.
                                                                        It is not luck but labour that makes good luck, says
                   SOME IMPORTANT WORDS                          an American author, is ever waiting for something to turn
 a fish out of                                                   up; labour with keen eyes and strong will power turns up
 water               :   a person who feels uncomfortable        something. Luck lies in bed and wishes the postman would
                         because he/she is in unfamiliar sur-    bring him news of a legacy, labour turns out at six and with
                         roundings.                              busy pen and ringing hammer lays the foundation of
                                                                 competence. Luck whines, labour watches, luck relies upon
 slimy               :   covered with unpleasant thick liquid
                                                                 chance, labour upon character. Luck slips downwards to
                         substance.
                                                                 self-indulgence ; labour strides upwards and aspires to
 adept               :   skilful
                                                                 independence . The conviction, therefore, is extending that
 verse               :   poetry                                  diligence is the mother of good luck. In other words, a
 macadamised         :   to lay a path with broken stone, of-    man’s success in life will be proportionate to his efforts, to
                         ten with asphalt or coal tar.           his industry, to his attention to small things.
456. The adjective used for describing the postmaster’s                            SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
        living-room is                                            legacy              : inheritance (related to money, property,
        (1) dark                    (2) light                                           etc.) given when someone dies.
        (3) deep                    (4) bright                    competence          : the ability to do something well.
457. What does the phrase ill at ease in the passage mean?        strides             : improves; develops
        (1) Disease                 (2) Comfortable               relies              : depends
        (3) Uneasy                  (4) Forward                   self-indulgence : involving too much in any work.
458. What does the phrase little company in the passage           conviction          : a strong opinion or belief.
        mean ?                                                    diligence           : careful and thorough work or effort
        (1) Hardly any friends      (2) Small business
        (3) Business-like           (4) Bad friendship           466. Which one of the following words in the passage
                                                                        indicates that the writer does not ultimately reject the
459. At times the postmaster wrote
                                                                        element of luck ?
        (1) novels                  (2) short stories
                                                                        (1) Luck whines
        (3) dramas                  (4) poems                           (2) Diligence is the mother of good luck
460. The postmaster wrote on the                                        (3) Luck.....wishes the postman would bring him
        (1) beauty of himself.                                              news.
        (2) beauty of the weather.                                      (4) Luck......is ever waiting.
        (3) beauty of the village.                               467. Which pair of words means the same thing ?
        (4) beauty of nature.                                           (1) Labour and industry (2) Industry and legacy
461. The word genie,means                                               (3) Diligence and legacy (4) Legacy and labour
        (1) spirit                  (2) ghost                    468. Which one of the following statements sums up the
        (3) soul                    (4) monster                         meaning of the passage ?
                                                             SEE–951