COMPREHENSION TEST
patterns to improve the fit and efficiency to new garments                                PASSAGE–I
as well as how to update existing ones.                                 A crucial element that defines the soap opera is the
     Teachers of home economics traditionally made home         open ended nature of the narrative, with stories spanning
sewing a critical part of their curriculum, emphasizing self-   several episodes. One of the defining features that makes
sufficiency and resource fulness for young women.               a television program a soap opera, according to Albert Moran
However, with the increasing availability of mass-produced      is “that form of television that works with a continuous
clothing in catalogues and department stores, more and          open narrative. Each episode ends with a promise that the
more women preferred buying garments to making them.            storyline is to be continued in another episode.”
As a result, home economists shifted their attention to                 In 2012, Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times wrote
consumer education.                                             of daily dramas, “Although melodramatically eventful, soap
     Through field study’s analysis and research, they          operas such as this also have a luxury of space that makes
became experts on the purchase and preservation of ready-       them seem more naturalistic, indeed, the economics of the
to-wear clothing for the family, offering budgeting instruction form demand long scenes, and conversations that a 22-
targeted at adolescent girls. Modern home sewing made it        episodes-per-season weekly series might dispense with in
possible for American women to transcend their economic         half a dozen lines of dialogue may be drawn out, as here,
differences and geographic locations with clothing that was     for pages. You spend more time even with the minor
increasingly standardized. The democratization of fashion       characters, the apparent villains grow less apparently
continued through the twentieth century as the ready-to-        villainous.”
wear market expanded and home sewing became more of a                   Soap opera storylines run concurrently, intersect and
pastime than a necessity.                                       lead into further developments. An individual episode of a
                                                                soap opera will generally switch between several different
                 SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
                                                                concurrent narrative threads that may at times interconnect
  (1) outreach (N.) : the activity of an organization that      and effect one another or may run entirely independent of
      provides a service/advice to people in the community,     each other. Evening soap operas and serials that run for
      especially those who cannot/are unlikely to come to       only a part of the year tend to bring things to a dramatic
      an office, a hospital, etc. for help                      end of season cliffhanger.
  (2) curriculum (N.) : the subjects that are included in a
      course of study/taught in a school, college, etc.                           SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
  (3) transcend (V.) : to be/go beyond the usual limits of         (1) spanning (V.) : to last all through a period of time or
      something                                                        to cover the whole of it
                                                                   (2) defining (Adj.) : decisive ; critically important
 616. What were the skills that were emphasized for young
                                                                   (3) melodramatically (Adv.) : in a way that is full of
       women ?
                                                                       exciting and exteme emotions or events
       (1) Self confidence and self-esteem
                                                                   (4) apparent (Adj.) : that seems to be real/true but
       (2) Self-sufficiency and resourcefulness                        may not be
       (3) Resourcefulness and self-confidence                     (5) concurrently (Adv.) : at the same time
       (4) Prudence and resourcefulness                            (6) cliff hanger (N.) : a situation in a story, film/movie,
 617. Who became experts on the purchase and preservation              competition, etc. that is very exciting because you
       of ready-to-wear clothing for the family ?                      cannot guess what will happen next, or you do not
       (1) Owners of department stores                                 find out immediately what happens next
       (2) Field-study analysts
                                                                 621. A soap opera has the space for it to be more
       (3) Young women
                                                                        (1) artistic                (2) naturalistic
       (4) Teachers of home economics
                                                                        (3) dramatic                (4) tragic
618. Who was the target group ?
                                                                 622. The economics of a soap opera form demands for it
       (1) Young women            (2) Young girls
                                                                        to have
       (3) Adolescent girls       (4) Working women
                                                                        (1) long scenes             (2) luxurious space
619. How did home sewing help American women ?
                                                                        (3) melodramatic events (4) promising storylines
       (1) They became field analysts and researchers.
                                                                 623. An individual episode of a soap opera generally
       (2) They went beyond economic boundaries.                        switches between
       (3) They found good jobs.                                        (1) more time spent with minor charaters.
       (4) They became excellent teachers.                              (2) apparent vi llains that grow less app arent
 620. What improved the fit and efficiency of new garments?                 villainous.
       (1) Sewing machines        (2) Economists                        (3) successive intersections of events.
       (3) Mass production        (4) Paper patterns                    (4) different concurrent narrative threads.
     Directions (621-630) : In the following questions, you     624. Soap operas that run for a part of the year usually
have two brief passages with 5 questions following each                 end in
passage. Read the passages carefully and choose the best                (1) a cliff                 (2) an episode
answer to each question out of the four alternatives.
                                                                        (3) a cliffhanger           (4) a sequence
                               (SSC GL Tier-I Exam. 26.10.2014)
                                                           SEE–965