COMPREHENSION TEST
     Marie was born in 1867 in Warsaw, Poland, where her                     MEANINGS OF WORDS/PHRASES
father was a Professor of Physics. At an early age, she
                                                                  (1) pestilence (N.) : any infectious disease that spreads
displayed a brilliant mind and a casual personality. Her
                                                                      quickly and kills a lot of people
great exuberance for learning prompted her to continue
with her studies after high school. She became disgruntled,       (2) menace (N.) : a threat
however, when she learned that the university in Warsaw           (3) accessible (Adj.) : capable of being reached
was closed to women. Determined to receive a higher               (4) convulsions (N.) : disturbances
education, she defiantly left Poland in 1891 entered the          (5) formidable (Adj.) : inspiring fear
Sorbonne, a French University, where she earned her               (6) subdued (Adj.) : brought under control
master"s degree and Doctorate in Physics.
                                                               1143. In ancient times, Man had an apprehension of
              MEANINGS OF WORDS/PHRASES                                (1) epidemics.               (2) severe droughts.
   (1) accomplished (Adj.) : highly skilled                            (3) floods.                  (4) All of these
   (2) amicable (Adj.) : friendly                              1144. Modern medicine has helped man
   (3) exuberance (N.) : joyful enthusiasm                             (1) to live longer everywhere in the world.
   (4) disgruntled (V.) : put into a bad mood; annoyed                 (2) to live a healthy life in hygienic conditions.
   (5) defiantly (Adv.) : in a rebellious manner                       (3) to live in thickly populated areas without fear of
                                                                           epidemics.
1138. What kind of collaboration helped Curie’s to unlock              (4) to balance population with available resources.
        the secrets of the atom?                               1145. The modern transport system is a blessing as it
        (1) friendly              (2) competitive                      (1) has helped decrease the distance between towns
        (3) courteous             (4) industrious                          and villages.
1139. What will best describe Marie Curie’s personality?               (2) has brought comfort to both towns and villages.
        (1) strong                (2) lighthearted                     (3) has made all the commodities available to every-
        (3) humorous              (4) envious                              one.
1140. When she learned that she could not attend the                   (4) has encouraged people to travel for pleasure.
        university in Warsaw, Marie felt___.                   1146. Which of the following statement best reflects the
        (1) hopeless              (2) annoyed                          underlying conviction of the passage?
                                                                       (1) Man can do wonders.
        (3) happy                 (4) perversely excited
                                                                       (2) Man’s knowledge has no end.
1141. Marie _____ left Poland and travelled to France to
        enter the Sorbonne.                                            (3) Man has been able to control Nature to a great
                                                                           extent.
        (1) boldly                (2) showed intelligence
                                                                       (4) Man has been able to control Nature completely.
        (3) behaved               (4) was distressed
                                                               1147. Man has not yet succeeded in controlling the furies
1142. Marie Curie"s doctorate was in which academic                    of
        discipline?                                                    (1) earthquakes.             (2) floods.
        (1) Medicine              (2) Cancer studies                   (3) hurricanes.              (4) All of these
        (3) Radiation Chemistry (4) Physics                                                Passage-II
       Directions (1143–1172) : In the following questions,           Akbar had quarreled with Birbal over something
there are six passages. Read each passage carefully and        important and had asked him not to come to the palace
choose the best answer to the given questions out of the       again. Akbar started missing Birbal and wanted him back
four alternatives.                                             but could not find out where he was. Akbar hit upon a
                                     (SSC CAPFs SI, ASI Online plan. He sent a message to all the villages that wells had
                                            Exam. 18.12.2016)  been selected to wed the royal well and so they had to
                           Passage-I                           bring the bride to the capital immediately.
       In the past, man’s worst enemy was Nature. He lived            The headmen of the various villages were alarmed at
under the continual threat of famine and pestilence, a wet     the impossible task and came rushing to the capital to
summer could bring death to the whole Nation and every         apologise for their inability to move their wells. One man,
winter was a menace. Mountains stood like a barrier between    Khaji, however, came to discuss the details of the wedding.
people and sea was less a highway than an impassable           Khaji wanted to know whether the marriage ceremony would
division. Today Nature, though still an enemy, is an enemy     be conducted in the traditional manner. Akbar assured him
almost completely conquered. Modern agriculture assures        that all the formalities would be observed. Khaji was happy
us of an ample food supply. Modern transportation has          and assured Akbar that he would bring the bride to the
made the resources of the entire planet accessible to all its  gates of the city. Khaji added that according to the tradition,
inhabitants. Modern medicine and sanitation allow dense        the bridegroom was to meet the bride at the village gates and
populations to cover the ground without risk of pretence.      take her into the city. He also asked Akbar when was the
True, we are still at the mercy of the more violent natural    commitment date from the bridegroom so that they could set
convulsions. Against earthquake, flood and hurricane man       out with the bridal party.
has, as yet, devised no adequate protection. At most times,           Akbar was happy to hear all this. He realized that
Nature is no longer formidable, she has been subdued.          such an intelligent idea could be thought out only by the
                                                         SEE–1018