COMPREHENSION TEST
        (3) So that Kalu could pass on information about local     and northernmost state in the United States, ending at a
            drug dealers                                           remote icefree seaport village nearly 800 miles from where
        (4) Because Kalu kept getting caught                       it begins. It is massive in size and extremely complicated to
      Directions (1063–1067) : A passage is given with 5           operate. The steel pipe crosses windswept plains and
questions following it. Read the passage carefully and choose      endless miles of delicate tundra that tops the frozen ground.
the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.     It weaves through croo ked canyo ns, climbs sheer
      The first working steam–powered vehicle was designed         mountains, plunges over rocky crags, makes its way through
and most likely built by Ferdinand Verbies, a Flemish member       thick forests, and passes over or under hundreds of rivers
of a Jesuit mission in China around 1672. It was a 65 cm           and streams. The pipe is 4 feet in diameter, and up to 2
long scale–model toy for the Chinese Emperor, that was             million barrels (or 84 million gallons) of crude oil can be
unable to carry a driver or a passenger. It is not known if        pumped through it daily. Resting on H–shaped steel racks
Verbiest’s model was ever built. Nicolas Joseph Cugnot is          called “bents”, long sections of the pipeline follow a zigzag
widely credited with building the first full scale, self propelled course high above the frozen earth. Other long sections
mechanical vehicle or automobile in about 1769; he also            drop out of sight beneath spongy or rocky ground and return
created a steam–powered tricycle. He constructed two steam         to the surface later on. The pattern of the pipeline’s up and
tractors for the French Army, one of which is preserved in         down route is determined by the often harsh demands of
the French National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts. His           the arctic and subarctic climate, the tortuous lay of the
inventions were however handicapped by problems of water           land, and the varied compositions of soil, rock, or permafrost
supply and maintaining steam pressure. In 1801, Richard            (permanently frozen ground). A little more than half of the
Trevithick built and demonstrated his Puffing Devil road           pipeline is elevated above the ground. The remainder is
locomotive, believed by many to be the first demonstration         buried anywhere from 3 to 12 feet, depending largely upon
of a steam–powered road vehicle. It was unable to maintain         the type of terrain and the properties of the soil. One of the
sufficient steam pressure for long periods. Sentiment against      largest in the world, the pipeline cost approximately $8
steampowered road vehicles led to the Locomotive Acts of           billion and is by far the biggest and most expensive
1865. In 1807 Nicephore Niepce and his brother Claude              construction project ever undertaken by private industry.
probably created the world’s first internal combustion engine      In fact, no single business could raise that much money, so
which they called Pyreolophore.                                    8 major oil companies formed a consortium in order to share
                                                                   the costs. Each company controlled oil rights to particular
                                   (SSC CHSL (10+2) Tier-I (CBE)
                                    Exam. 08.09.2016 (Ist sitting) shares of land in the oil fields and paid into the pipeline
                                                                   construction fund according to the size of its holdings. Today,
1063. The first full-scale, working steam- powered tricycle
        was built by                                               despite enormous problems of climate, supply shortage,
                                                                   equipment breakdowns, labour disagreements, treacherous
        (1) Verbiest                (2) Cugnot
                                                                   terrain, a certain amount of mismanagement, and even theft,
        (3) Trevithick              (4) Niepce                     the Alaska pipeline has been completed and is operating.
1064. Cugnot built steam tractors for                              1068. The Alaskan pipeline ends
        (1) The Chinese Emperor                                            (1) north of Alaska.
        (2) The French Army                                                (2) at a seaport village.
        (3) The Jesuit mission                                             (3) after passing through canyons and rivers.
        (4) The French Conservatory                                        (4) at a tundra covered village.
1065. The problem with Trevithick’s Puffing Devil was              1069. What is the capacity of the Alaskan pipeline?
        (1) its incapability to carry a driver or a passenger              (1) 2 million gallons of crude oil.
        (2) with the water supply                                          (2) 4 million barrels of crude oil.
        (3) its inability to maintain steam pressure                       (3) 84 million gallons of crude oil.
        (4) its combustion engine                                          (4) 84 billion barrels of crude oil.
1066. What is meant by Sentiment in the context of the             1070. What are “bents”?
        given paragraph?
                                                                           (1) Zigzag shape of pipeline.
        (1) depression              (2) fascination
                                                                           (2) Pipeline’s up and down route.
        (3) celebration             (4) resentment
                                                                           (3) The section of the pipeline that drops out of sight.
1067. The Pyreolophore was
                                                                           (4) The H–shaped steel racks.
        (1) a self–propelled mechanical vehicle
                                                                   1071. Ho w was the fund for pipel ine construction
        (2) a steam–powered tricycle                                       generated?
        (3) a steam tractor                                                (1) 8 major oil companies joined hands to share the
        (4) The name of the world’s first internal combustion                  cost.
        engine                                                             (2) 8 major oil companies borrowed $8 billion.
      Directions (1068–1072) : A passage is given with 5                   (3) A single private company raised $8 billion.
questions following it. Read the passage carefully and choose
                                                                           (4) Oil rights were sold to 8 major oil companies.
the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.
                                                                   1072. Which of the following were not problems faced while
              (SSC CGL Tier-I (CBE) Exam. 09.09.2016 (Ist sitting)
                                                                           constructing the pipeline?
      The Alaska pipeline starts at the frozen edge of the
                                                                           (1) Supply shortages
Arctic Ocean. It stretches southward across the largest
                                                             SEE–1010