COMPREHENSION TEST
584. A libretto is                                                the knowledge nor the means to do much in this direction.
       (1) the main character who is the liberator at the cli-    Whatever little they knew, they tried to put into practice.
            max of the scene.                                     They dug canals to drain water from perennial rivers. This
       (2) the words of the opera.                                was heavy and expensive work and practicable over only a
       (3) a musical composition which is played in a slow        small area. Large tanks were excavated and small dams
            leisurely manner.                                     built to hold back floods. But it was not possible to do
                                                                  anything on a countrywide scale.
       (4) the sequence of well controlled, graceful move-
            ments performed as a display of skill.                                   SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
585. The word conveyed also means                                    (1) drought (N.) : a long period of time when there is
       (1) transmit               (2) tote                               little/no rain
       (3) keep                   (4) dissuade                       (2) perennial (Adj.) : happening again and again
       These days we hear a lot about science, but scien-            (3) excavated (V.) : to dig
tists, the men and women who do the work and make the
discoveries, seem distant and strange to us. Science often        591. The term perennial means
appears to be very difficult and sometimes even magical. It              (1) rivers flowing into canals
is difficult of course, but we are wrong if we believe that              (2) flowing once a year
we cannot understand it. The chief thing about the scien-                (3) flowing throughout the year
tific method is that we get the answers to questions by
                                                                         (4) flowing during the monsoon
making tests. The man, to take an example, who finds his
bicycle tyre is flat will pump some air into it. Suppose one      592. How has our country suffered since olden times ?
hour later the tyre is flat again, if the man is wise, he will           (1) It has suffered due to the zamindari
first test the valve in water. If he finds air is escaping from          (2) It has suffered from heavy rains or severe
it he will put in a new piece of valve-rubber and then pump                   droughts
up the tyre. All should then be well again. This man is                  (3) It has suffered under the British Rule
using a simple form of scientific method.                                (4) It has suffered due to the caste system
       If the man was very ‘unscientific’ he might say to him-    593. Why were the people unable to solve the problem ?
self that an evil spirit had caused the tyre to go flat.                 (1) Absence of will power
586. What do people talk a lot about these days ?                        (2) They were indifferent to the problem
       (1) Science                (2) Magic                              (3) They lacked knowledge and the means to solve
       (3) Men and women          (4) Work                                    the problem
587. What is the common man’s attitude towards scien-                    (4) Inadequate finance
       tists ?                                                    594. Excavated means
       (1) They are wrong.
                                                                         (1) to fill                (2) to make caves
       (2) They seem distant and strange.
                                                                         (3) to dig                 (4) to flood
       (3) They are wise.
                                                                  595. India’s economy is chiefly
       (4) They are difficult.
                                                                         (1) socialistic            (2) industrial
588. If we use the scientific method how do we get an-
                                                                         (3) mixed                  (4) agricultural
       swers to questions ?
       (1) By believing           (2) By example                                             Passage II
       (3) By making tests        (4) By methods                         Stop reading this passage for a few seconds and look
                                                                  around the room you’re in. Without any perceived effort at
589. If a man does not use the scientific approach, what
                                                                  all on your part, your brain will register everything within
       will he attribute the flat tyre to ?
                                                                  the scope of your vision. But where does all that informa-
       (1) An evil spirit         (2) The rubber valve
                                                                  tion — known as sensory memory — go ? Well, pretty quick-
       (3) The bicycle            (4) Magic                       ly, it vanishes.
590. The antonym of believe is                                           So what if you want to hold on to these fleeting memo-
       (1) reveal                 (2) disbelieve                  ries for longer ? The answer is obvious : you need to pay
       (3) agree                  (4) deny                        conscious attention to the sensory input we are receiving.
      Directions (591-600) : In the following questions, you      By focusing on it, you can take the information to the next
have two passages with 5 questions in each passage. Read          memory level, and turn it into working — or short-term —
the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each         memory. This enables you, say, to remember the words
question out of the four alternatives.                            you’ve just read so that what follows makes overall sense.
        (SSC CGL Tier-I Re-Exam. (2013) 20.07.2014, IInd Sitting)        True to its name, short-term memory lasts for only a
                            Passage I                             few seconds to a few minutes, but it plays a vital role in our
       India is chiefly an agricultural land. The cultivation of  daily lives, allowing us to write down doctor’s appointment,
crops depends on a proper supply of water throughtout             make everyday decisions or have a conversation (think about
the year. Since olden times, large parts of our country have      it : you have to recall what someone said to you five sec-
suffered from occasional periods of too much rain and those       onds ago in order to respond). Of course, there is some
of drought. People have known that if surplus flood water         information you need to keep for days, months or even
could be stored away for use during the dry season, these         years. What you need here is long-term memory. With this,
problems will be solved. Unfortunately, they had neither          the potential is there to remember something forever.
                                                             SEE–962