COMPREHENSION TEST
717. The wide variety of fruits and vegetables from all over           (3) his destination was a little village eight miles away.
       the world throughout the year, according to Dr. Strand,         (4) there was no one to meet him.
       (1) is a sacrifice of all the nutrients                   722. I left all signs of habitation behind me. This means
       (2) is good                                                     that he
       (3) shows green harvesting at its worst                         (1) came to a place where there were very few houses.
       (4) shows green harvesting at its best                          (2) was in front of a large collection of cottages.
718. Shipping food over long distances requires                        (3) had come very far from places where people lived.
       (1) constant processing                                         (4) had just passed a remote village.
       (2) cold storage and other preservation methods           723. It became darker than the writer expected because
       (3) special transportation and storage techniques               (1) the nights are shorter in autumn than in summer.
       (4) picking fruits and vegetables before they mature            (2) the nights are longer in October than mid sum-
719. In the context of the passage enriched bread indi-                     mer.
       cates putting                                                   (3) the train arrived later than usual.
       (1) magnesium back into the bread                               (4) he had walked unduly slowly.
       (2) about eight of the important nutrients back into      724. The writer found it difficult to keep to the path be-
           the bread                                                   cause of
       (3) flour back into the bread                                   (1) the darkness and narrowness of the path.
       (4) vital nutrients back into the bread                         (2) poor visibility and grassy track.
720. By saying food are made available at a sacrifice the              (3) the darkness and his slow pace.
       author exposes
                                                                       (4) poor visibility and dew on grass.
       (1) the depletion of vital nutrients in our food
                                                                 725. When he settled himself on the fork of the tree the
       (2) the price of cold storage and other preservation            writer____
           methods
                                                                       (1) had a sound sleep.
       (3) the lack of nutritional value in our food
                                                                       (2) was disturbed by noises of animals.
       (4) All of the above
                                                                       (3) was too afraid to sleep.
       Directions (721-730) : In the following questions, you
                                                                       (4) tried to sleep but without much success.
have two brief passages with 5 questions following each
passage. Read the passages carefully and choose the best                                 PASSAGE - II
answer to each question out of the four alternatives.                It is sad that in country after country, progress should
              (SSC CGL Tier-I Exam. 19.10.2014 TF No. 022 MH 3) become synonymous with an assault on nature. We who
                           PASSAGE - I                          are a part of nature and dependent on her for every need,
                                                                speak constantly about ‘exploiting’ nature. When the high-
      As I stepped out of the train I felt unusually solitary
                                                                est mountain in the world was climbed in 1953, Jawaharlal
since I was the only passenger to alight. I was accustomed
                                                                Nehru objected to the phrase ‘conquest of Everest’ which
to arriving in the summer, when holiday - makers throng
                                                                he thought was arrogant. Is it surprising that this lack of
coastal resorts and this was my first visit when the season
was over.My destination was a little village which was eight    consideration and the constant need to prove one’s superi-
miles by road. It took only a few minutes for me to come to     ority should be projected on to our treatment of our fellow-
the foot of the cliff path, When I reached the top I had left   men ? I remember Edward Thompson, a British writer and
all signs of habitation behind me. I was surprised to notice    a good friend of India, once telling Mr. Gandhi that wildlife
that the sky was already aflame with the sunset. It seemed      was fast disappearing. Remarked Mr. Gandhi : ‘It is de-
to be getting dark amazingly quickly. I was at a loss to        creasing in the jungles but it is increasing in the towns !’
account for the exceptionally early end of daylight since I          On the one hand the rich look askance at our continu-
did not think I had walked unduly slowly. Then I recollect-     ing poverty; on the other they warn us against their own
ed that on previous visits I had walked in high summer and      methods. We do not wish to impoverish the environment
now it was October.                                             any further and yet we cannot forget the grim poverty of
      All at once it was night. The track was grassy and even   large numbers of people. Area not poverty and need the
in daylight showed up hardly at all. I was terrified of hurt-   great polluters ? For instance, unless we are in a position
ing over the edge of the cliff to the rocks below. I felt my    to provide employment and purchasing power for the daily
feet squelching and sticking in something soggy. Then I         necessities of the tribal people and those who live in and
bumped into a little clump of trees that loomed up in front     around our jungles, we cannot prevent them from combing
of me. I climbed up the nearest trunk and managed to find       the forest for food and livelihood, from poaching and from
a tolerably comfortable fork to sit on. The waiting was spent   despoiling the vegetation.
by my attempts to identify the little stirrings and noises of    726. At the beginning of the passage, the writer express-
animal life that I could hear. I grew colder and colder and            es her opinion that in many countries progress is
managed to sleep only in uneasy fitful starts. At last when            synonymous with
the moon came up I was on my again.                                    (1) development.
 721. The writer felt unusually solitary because                       (2) utmost care for nature.
        (1) he was feeling very lonely without his family.             (3) a balanced treatment to nature.
        (2) he was missing the company of other holiday -              (4) utmost cruelty to nature.
            makers.
                                                           SEE–974