COMPREHENSION TEST
hadn’t paid his house rent, is condemned as extravagant.              (4) she remains composed and confident as she knows
Carefulness with money to the point of meanness is ap-                    that she can handle the milkman.
plauded as a virtue. Nothing in his life is considered more    850. In the opinion of the writer, a successful business-
worthy than paying his bills. The ideal wife for such a man           man
separates her housekeeping money into joyless little piles,           (1) is more popular if he appears to be doing nothing
and she is able to face the milkman with equanimity and               (2) should not bother about his popularity.
never knows the guilt of buying something she can’t really
                                                                      (3) must be extravagant before achieving success.
afford.
                                                                      (4) is expected to have expensive taste.
                SOME IMPORTANT WORDS                                  Directions (851 – 855) : Read the following passage
   (1) despised (V.) : to dislike and have no respect for      carefully and choose the best answer to each question out
       somebody/something                                      of the four alternatives.
   (2) lavish (Adj.) : large in amount, or impressive, and                  (SSC CGL Tier-II Exam, 25.10.2015, TF No. 2148789)
       usually costing a lot of money ; extravagant ; luxu-           Nobody can argue that the acquisition of knowledge
       rious                                                   is more fun and easier with computers. The mere activity
   (3) hospitality (N.) : friendly and generous behaviour      of touching and exploring this device constitutes an enjoy-
       towards guests                                          able task for a child. This, accompanied by the relaxing
   (4) reputation (N.) : the opinion that people have about    attitude and software interactivity, usually contributes to a
       what somebody/something is like, based on what          better grasping of new knowledge. At a higher educational
       has happened in the past                                level the availability of digital books, simulators and other
   (5) consequence (N.) : a result of something that has       academic materials provide the student with an ever ac-
       happened                                                cessible source of information, that otherwise would not be
   (6) paradox (N.) : a person, thing/situation that has       at hand. But, besides the increasing complexity and be-
       two opposite features and therefore seems strange       haviour of intelligent software, which is usually embedded
   (7) condemned (V.) : to express very strong disapproval     in the academic digital material, the need for human inter-
       of somebody/something usually for moral reasons         action in the learning process will always be present, at
   (8) meanness (N.) : unkind behaviour                        least in the foreseeable future. There is the necessity for a
                                                               human being to be able to determine what the specific needs
   (9) applauded (V.) : to express praise for somebody/
                                                               of each individual are. A computer, no matter how sophis-
       something because you approve of them/it.
                                                               ticated its software is, can hardly mimic the expertise of a
 (10) virtue (N.) : behaviour/attitudes that show high         teacher in how to explain and adapt complex concepts to
       moral standards
                                                               different individuals.
 (11) equanimity (N.) : a calm state of mind which means
       that you do not become angry/upset, especially in                        SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
       difficult situations.                                      (1) acquisition (N.) : the act of getting something (knowl-
                                                                       edge, skill, etc.)
846. The phrase lavish with his hospitality here means :
                                                                  (2) accessible (Adj.) : that can be reached, entered,
      (1) miserliness in dealing with his friends.
                                                                       used, seen, etc.
      (2) considerateness in spending on guests and
                                                                  (3) at hand (Adv.) : within reach
          strangers.
      (3) extravagance in entertaining guests.                    (4) embedded (V.) : to cause to be an integral part of
                                                                       something
      (4) Indifference in treating his friends and relatives.
847. We understand from the passage that                          (5) foreseeable (Adj.) : that you can predict will hap-
      (1) all mean people are wealthy.                                 pen
      (2) wealthy people are invariably successful                (6) sophisticated (Adj.) : clever and complicated in
      (3) carefulness generally leads to failure.                      the way that it works/is presented
      (4) being thrifty may lead to success.                      (7) mimic (V.) : to copy ; to imitate
848. How does the housewife, according to the writer, feel        (8) expertise (N.) : expert knowledge/skill in a partic-
      when she saves money?                                            ular subject, activity/job
      (1) She feels she needs to be thrifty                       (9) adapt (V.) : adjust
      (2) Wishes life is less burdensome
                                                               851. According to this essay, what new developments in
      (3) She is troubled by a sense of guilt                         the world of computers have helped students gain
      (4) Wishes she could sometimes be extravagant                   more access to information ?
849. The statement ‘she is able to face the milkman with
                                                                      (1) Availability of digital books.
      equanimity’ implies that
                                                                      (2) Availability of world processing applications.
      (1) she is not upset as she has been paying the milk-
          man his dues regularly.                                     (3) Availability of printing facilities.
      (2) she loses her nerve at the sight of the milkman             (4) Availability of general knowledge software.
          who always demands his dues.                         852. According to the author, human intervention will al-
      (3) she manages to keep cool when she confronts the             ways be required in order to
          milkman                                                     (1) build bigger machines.
                                                           SEE–988