COMPREHENSION TEST
 674. Often the cryptozoologists get a lot of leads from _____                   SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
        (1) native people.                                          (1) fronds (N.) : a long leaf of some plants/trees ®
        (2) the animal’s size and habitat.                              palms, ferns
        (3) myths.                                                  (2) imminent (Adj.) : likely to happen very soon
        (4) legends.                                                (3) resplendent (Adj.) : brightly coloured in an
 675. The dream of the cryptozoologist is to find ______.               impressive way
        (1) Species of sea or land animals hitherto completely      (4) enthroned (V.) : to seat on a throne
            unknown.                                                (5) iridescent (Adj.) : producing a display of lustrous,
        (2) All of the given options.                                   rainbow like colours
        (3) Living examples of animals thought to have died         (6) shield (N.) : a thing used for protecting oneself
            out ages ago.                                           (7) cape (N.) : a loose outer piece of clothing that has no
        (4) Hidden, supposedly extinct animals.                         sleeves, fastens the neck and hangs from the
 676. Herds of a species of peccary supposedly extinct since            shoulders, like a cloak, but shorter
        the last ice age were discovered in                         (8) optimize (V.) : to make something as good as it can
        (1) 1936                    (2) 1973                            be
        (3) 1912                    (4) 1975                      681. The most resplendent specimen means
 677. An unusual feather in a local’s hat sparked the dis-              (1) bright and colourful (2) beautiful and gentle
        covery of a showy African peacock in _____                      (3) appalling and ugly       (4) extravagant and gaudy
        (1) 1936                    (2) 1973                      682. The bird performs for
        (3) 1975                    (4) 1912                            (1) no one                   (2) the author
 678. Giant lizards on the Indonesian island of Komodo were             (3) sheer enjoyment          (4) female birds
        discovered in ______
                                                                  683. An iridescent–green breast shield means
        (1) 1975                     (2) 1936
                                                                        (1) a shield worn by the bird to protect itself.
        (3) 1912                     (4) 1973
                                                                        (2) the bright, colourful feathers of the bird.
 679. It is the ______ of the cryptozoologists that keep their
                                                                        (3) a description of the surroundings.
        dream alive.
                                                                        (4) a piece of twig used by the bird in its perfor-
        (1) spirit                   (2) finding
                                                                            mance.
        (3) love for adventure       (4) curiosity
                                                                  684. The cicinnurus magnificus is:
 680. Often ____ responsible for an animal having been over-
                                                                        (1) the magnificient bird of paradise.
        looked
                                                                        (2) a patch of cleared earth in the rainforest.
        (1) the uniqueness of the animals themselves is
                                                                        (3) a place where his hut is located.
        (2) the resigning nature of the scientists themselves is
                                                                        (4) the stage in the rainforest.
        (3) size and habitat are
                                                                  685. The synonym for optimise is
        (4) unexplored areas remain
                                                                        (1) to make best use of (2) to improve vision
      Directions (681–685) : In the following questions, you
                                                                        (3) to see clearly          (4) to enlarge
have two brief passages with questions in each passage.
Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to              Directions (686–690) : In the following questions, read
each question out of the four alternatives.                       the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each
                                                                  question out of the four alternatives.
                               (SSC CGL Tier-II Exam. 12.04.2015)
                                                                                              (SSC CGL Tier-II Exam. 12.04.2015)
      My lodge is nothing but a dark, tiny hut made of palm
fronds, with a bunch of damp branches and a swarm of                   One conspicuous question in the modern journals is :
flies through a hole in the wall of leaves. I see a patch of      How can I develop personality ? Ursula Bloom gives this
cleared earth in the rainforest: the stage of Cicinnurus          noteworthy advice to young people : Please do not do as I
magnificus, the magnificient bird of paradise. The bird’s         did, at your age, and waste years copying other people. Of
loud call, ‘Kyeng, Kyeng’ has been ringing since dawn, an-        old, to the same question asked by Greek youth, Socrates
nouncing the male’s imminent performance. But his feath-          replied: Know yourself! That was excellent advice; but it
ered female spectators have not shown yet. Perhaps they           did not satisfy, because it did not go far enough.
are out window-shopping, taking a good look around until               When Roman youth questioned Marcus Aurelius, he
they find the most resplendent specimen.                          said: Be yourself! To the youth of our atomic age, the psy-
      I hear a fluttering and look up. A magnificus is ‘en-       chologist says : Develop yourself! That is the answer to the
throned on a branch about 2m above the stage: an irides-          question; what is personality ? Pesonality is the develop-
cent-green breast shield, bright orange-red wings and a           ment of oneself.
lemon-yellow cape with a furry brown collar. The feet and         686. The development of oneself ____ the question on, what
hill are a sparkling sky-blue, which also covers the eyelids            is personality ?
and extends down to the neck. He plucks off a few leaves                (1) gives an unsatisfactory answer to
to let in more light and optimize eye-contact with his audi-            (2) does not give a satisfactory answer to
ence. Finally, he drags the freshly fallen leaves away from             (3) satisfactorily answers
catwalk.                                                                (4) partly answers
                                                             SEE–971