You have eight brief passages with 10 questions following each passage. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives 

A farmer accompanied by his young son was driving his ass to the market in the hope of selling the ass for a good price. On the road, they met a bevy of girls who laughed and exclaimed, “See this pair of fools ? They are trudging along the dusty road, when they can be riding !” The man thought that there was sense in what they were saying. So he mounted his son on the ass and he walked at the side. Presently, they met some of his old friends, who greeted him and said, “You’ll spoil your son, by letting him ride while you toil along on foot! Make him walk. It’ll be good for him.” The farmer followed their advice and took his son’s place on the back of the ass while the boy trudged along behind. They would not have gone far, they were seen by women and children. The farmer heard them say, “What a selfish old man ! He rides in comfort, but lets his poor little fellow walk the distance.” So he asked his son to get up behind him. Further along the road, they met some travellers. They asked the farmer whether the ass was his property or was it hired for the purpose. The farmer told them that he was taking his ass to the market to sell it. The travellers said, “Good Heavens ! With the load like this, the poor beast will look exhausted and no one would like to purchase him. Why don’t you carry him.” Immediately, the farmer got off the ass, tied its legs with the rope and slung him on a pole and carried him in between them. This was such an absurd sight that people laughed at it. They called the farmer and his son lunatics. They had then reached a bridge over a river. Frightened by the noise around, the ass struggled, kicked, broke the pole, fell into the river and died. The farmer returned home vexed and ashamed. In trying to please all, he in fact, had pleased none and he had lost the ass in the transaction. 

On seeing the boy walk beside the ass, the women and children  

Select the option that can be used as a one-word substitute for the given group of words.

The science and art of growing vegetables, fruits and flowers

Select the most appropriate ANTONYM of the given word.

Raze

Select the option that can be used as a one-word substitute for the underlined group of words.

The newspaper dedicated a report giving the news of the death and details about the life of the deceased.

Improve the bracketed part of the sentence.

"I am the only man in the world who (can) paint a picture so true to life," he said.

Select the option that will improve the underlined par t of the given sentence.
 One’s family plays a very major role to continue the trends and age-old traditions.

 Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank.
 We should ______ his outfit as he has put on weight.

Given below are four jumbled sentences. Pick the option that gives their correct order.

A: The farmer climbed down from his seat and stood beside the wagon.

B: A farmer was driving his wagon along a muddy country road after a heavy rain.

C: At last it came to a standstill when one of the wheels sank to the hub in a rut.

D: The horses could hardly drag the load through the deep mud.