COMPREHENSION TEST
       Directions (1278-1282) : A passage is given with 5           and get information on how to prevent its spread. But this
questions following it. Read the passage carefully and choose       can only be achieved through international help programs
the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.      in which leaders of the world’s richest countries donate
                                             (SSC CGL Tier-I (CBE)  medicine and also send doctors and nurses to treat and
                                   Exam. 11.09.2016 (IIIrd sitting) educate those in need. Moreover, most of the poor countries
       To know language is to be able to speak it. even a           rely on selling agricultural products and raw materials fo
child who does not yet attend school can speak his or her           rich nations and buying industrialized products from them,
language. In order to speak a language it is important to           resulting in a huge financial deficit. Consequently, they
listen to it and to read a few pages in it everyday. A child        borrow a significant amount of money from the World Bank
picks up language and learns to talk just as (s) he learns to       to try and improve their broken economies, but sometimes
walk. Walking and talking comes naturally to a child as it          the money disappears with no significant changes and they
grows. In our country, a child may grow up speaking more            cannot even pay the interest to the bank. Regarding this
than one language, if these languages are spoken in the             issue, last year the G8, which is comprised of leaders of
home and in the neighbourhood. We call this multilingualism.        the eight richest nations, decided to forgive billions of dollars
A child speaks a language or languages much before (s)he            worth of debt owed by the world’s poorest nations. In
starts going to school. To know a language then is first of         addition, they developed adequate loan programs to
all to be able to speak it as easily and naturally as a tree        financially assist those countries.
year old child does. Later on the child will learn to read and      1283. According to the author, one of the ways of helping
write in that language. In order to read and write in a                     the infected people in Africa to fight AIDS is by :
language, one has to speak it. But it is possible to speak a                (1) providing free clothes
language but not able to read or write in it. A baby does not               (2) providing free food
speak until it is nine months old but it understands a few                  (3) providing free drugs
words at six months of age. It has been listening ever since
                                                                            (4) providing free contraceptives
it was born, and even a little before that. So the first strategy
in speaking a language is to listen.                                1284. As the author describes the condition in Africa, her
                                                                            tone is :
1278. One of the activities of a child before it is even born
                                                                            (1) sad                    (2) angry
        is ______ .
                                                                            (3) bitter                 (4) hopeful
        (1) seeing                  (2) listening
                                                                    1285. In the context of this essay, the phrase ‘sub-human’
        (3) understanding           (4) talking
                                                                            means:
1279. It is necessary for one to _______ the language before
                                                                            (1) people of a smaller race
        (s)he writes in that language.
                                                                            (2) people living below accepted standard of living
        (1) sing                    (2) spell
                                                                            (3) people living below the rule of a headman
        (3) speak                   (4) None of the above
                                                                            (4) people segregated into groups according to
1280. Multi-lingualism means                                                their possession
        (1) speaking more than one language                         1286. What was the most significant step taken by the G8
        (2) speaking only one language                                      towards assisting the poor countries in dealing with
        (3) speaking any language                                           their need ?
        (4) speech                                                          (1) Sending doctors and nurses
1281. A child has been __________ ever since it was born.                   (2) Setting up an international programme
        (1) speaking                (2) reading                             (3) Forgiving debts owed by them
        (3) walking                 (4) listening                           (4) Building relief camps
1282. To know a language one must be able to                        1287. What has led to the poor countries accumulating more
        (1) Speak it as easily and naturally as a three year                debts?
        old child.                                                          (1) Their buying of industrialized products
        (2) Read it well all the time.                                      (2) Their lack of education
        (3) Write it quickly                                                (3) The devastating consequences of the AIDS epidemic
        (4) Sing in the language                                            (4) Their lack of knowledge in the use of money
       Directions (1283-1287) : A passage is given with 5                  Directions (1288-1292) : A passage is given with five
questions following it. Read the passage carefully and choose       questions following it. Read the passage carefully and choose
the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.      the best answer to each out of the four alternatives.
                                                                                                              (SSC CGL Tier-I (CBE)
                                             (SSC CGL Tier-I (CBE)
                                    Exam. 27.10.2016 (Ist sitting)                                    Exam. 27.10.2016 (IInd sitting)
       Most of the African countries live in sub-human                     Newspapers sell because of news and editorial
conditions because of extreme poverty, upheaval, hunger,            coverage but it gets more revenue from advertisements.
disease, unemployment, lack of education and both                   News costs money, while advertisements fetch money. The
inexperienced and corrupt administrations. The devastating          economics of modern newspapers is such that it cannot
consequences of the AIDS epidemic in those countries could          run by just selling news. It has to depend on advertisements.
improve if the infected population were to receive free drugs       The economics of newspaper publishing requires both
to control the disease, have access to health professionals         subscribers who can afford to buy newspapers and
                                                              SEE–1030