COMPREHENSION TEST
(2) body of a woman and tail of a spaniel (3) The house is at the end of the street
(3) body of a woman and tail of a fish (4) The house is behind the curb
(4) body of spaniel and tail of a fish 534. How do the houses appear ?
530. The stage play Peter Pan was performed in : (1) To be close to one another
(1) 1902 (2) 1911 (2) To be apart from one another
(3) 1904 (4) 1912 (3) To be next to one another
Directions (531–535) : In the following questions you (4) To be clones of one another
have a brief passage with five questions. Read the passage 535. How is the house described ?
carefully and choose the best answer to each question out (1) As old and sophisticated
of the four alternatives. (2) As new and sophisticated
(SSC Multi-Tasking Staff (Patna) Exam. 16.02.2014) (3) As old and dilapidated
The Baxter house is located at the end of the street. (4) As old and dull
This house sits farther back from the curb than the other
Directions (536-540) : In the following questions, you
houses. It is almost difficult to see from the road without
have a brief passage with 5 questions. Read the passage
peering behind the deformed oak tree that has obscured
carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of
it for years. Even so, the Baxter house stands out from
the four alternatives.
the other houses on the street.
(SSC Multi-Tasking (Non-Tech.) Staff
It is tall and white. However, this white is no longer
Exam. 23.02.2014, IInd Sitting)
pristinely white, but a dingy greyish cream colour. Long
Once upon a time, a businessman named Ray Kroc
vines hang from the tattered roof. The Baxter house is
discovered a restaurant owned by two brothers. The
two storeys tall and has a large yard in the back that has
restaurant served just four things: hamburgers, French
never been mowed. The other houses on the street are a
fries, milk shakes and coca cola. But it was clean and
mere one storey and have been painted a variety of colours.
inexpensive, and the service was quick. Mr. Kroc liked it
The newer, single storey properties all appear to have
so much that he paid the brothers so that he could use
been built around the same time; the yards mostly being
their idea and their name: McDonald’s.
of the same size, and the houses appearing to be clones of
Beef, big business and fast service were the ingredients
one another. Aside from the Baxter house at the end, this
when Mr. Kroc opened his first McDonald’s in 1955. Four
street is a perfect slice of middle America. The inhabitants
years later, there were 100 of them. Kroc knew Americans
of the other houses wonder who lives in the ancient,
liked success. So he put signs saying how many millions of
dilapidated house at the end of the street.
McDonald’s hamburgers people had bought. In just four
SOME IMPORTANT WORDS years, the number was one hundred million. Now, there
(1) curb (N.) : the edge of the raised path at the side of are more than 13,000 McDonald’s restaurants from Dallas
a road, usually made of long pieces of stone to Paris and from Moscow to Beijing.
(2) peering (V.) : looking closely/carefully at something, Anyone who wants to open a McDonald’s must first
especially when you cannot see it clearly work in one for a week. Then, they do a nine-month training
(3) obscured (V.) : to make it difficult to see, hear/ programme, in the restaurants and at “McDonald’s
understand something University” in Chicago. There they learn the McDonald’s
philosophy: quality control, service, cleanliness and cheap
(4) stand out (Phr. V.) : to be easily seen ; to be
prices. McDonald’s has strict rules, Hamburgers must be
noticeable
served before they are ten minutes old, and French fries,
(5) pristinely (Adv.) : fresh and clean, as if new seven.
(6) dingy (Adj.) : dark and dirty McDonald’s has never stopped looking for new methods
(7) mowed (V.) : to cut grass, etc. using a machine/tool to attract customers, from drive-in windows to birthday
with a special blade/blades parties. Chicken, fish, salad and, in some places, pizza are
(8) clones (N.) : a person/thing that seems to be an now on the menu. McDonald’s in Holland even sells a
exact copy of another vegetarian burger. Their international popularity shows they
(9) aside from (Prep.) : apart from have found the recipe for success.
(10) dilapidated (Adj.) : old and in very bad condition 536. How did putting up signs of his success in America
help Mr. Kroc?
531. What colour is the house ? (1) People could work in the outlets for a week
(1) A pristine white (2) A greyish cream (2) People could apply for jobs
(3) A dingy white (4) A greyish white (3) Children would visit the outlets more
532. Based on the context of the passage, choose the (4) Americans would encourage him and buy more
meaning of the word mowed. hamburgers
(1) Watered (2) Grown 537. What made the restaurant popular?
(3) Trimmed (4) Seeded (1) The servers were kind
533. Why is it difficult to see the house from the road ? (2) The ingredients used were genuine
(1) An oak tree obstructs the view (3) It was owned by two brothers
(2) Other houses obstruct the view (4) It was clean and inexpensive
SEE–957