Read the following passage and answer the questions given after it.

We sit in the last row, bumped about but free of stares. The bus rolls out of the dull crossroads of the city, and we are soon in the open countryside, with fields of sunflowers as far as the eye can see, their heads all facing us. Where there is no water, the land reverts to the desert. While still on level ground, we see in the distance the tall range of the Mount Bogda, abrupt like a shining prism laid horizontally on the desert surface. It is over 5,000 metres high, and the peaks are under permanent snow, in powerful contrast to the flat desert all around. Heaven lake lies part of the way up this range, about 2,000 metres above sea level, at the foot of one of the highest snow-peaks. As the bus climbs, the sky, brilliant before, grows overcast. I have brought nothing warm to wear. It is all down at the hotel in Urumqi. Rain begins to fall. The man behind me is eating overpoweringly smelly goat’s cheese. The bus window leaks inhospitably but reveals a beautiful view. We have passed quickly from the desert through arable land to pasture and the ground is now green with grass, the slopes dark with pine. A few cattle drink at a clear stream flowing past moss-covered stones; it is a Constable landscape. The stream changes into a white torrent, and as we climb higher I wish more and more that I had brought with me something warmer than the pair of shorts that have served me so well in the desert. The stream (which, we are told, rises in Heaven Lake) disappears, and we continue our slow ascent. About noon, we arrive at Heaven Lake, and look for a place to stay at the foot, which is the resort area. We get a room in a small cottage, and I am happy to note that there are thick quilts on the bed. Standing outside the cottage, we survey our surroundings. Heaven Lake is long, sardine- shaped and fed by snowmelt from a stream at its head. The lake is an intense blue, surrounded on all sides by green mountain walls, dotted with distant sheep. At the head of thelake, beyond the delta of the inflowing stream, is a massive snow-capped peak which dominates the vista; it is part of a series of peaks that culminate, a little out of view, in MountBogda itself. For those who live in the resort, there is a small mess-hall by the shore. We eat here sometimes, and sometimes buy food from the vendors outside, who sell kabab and naan until the last buses leave. The kababs, cooked on skewers over charcoal braziers, are particularly good; highly spiced and well-done. Horse’s milk is available too from the local Kazakh herdsmen, but I decline this. I am so affected by the cold that Mr. Cao, the relaxed young manwho runs the mess, lends me a spare pair of trousers, several sizes too large but more than comfortable. Once I am warm again, I feel a pre-dinner spurt of energy—dinner will be long in coming—and I ask him whether the lake is good for swimming in.

Select the most appropriate ANTONYM of the word ‘accept’ from the passage.

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.

My grandmother, like everybody’s grandmother, was an old woman. She had been old and wrinkled for the twenty years that I had known her. People said that she once had been young and pretty and had even had a husband, but that was hard to believe. My grandfather’s portrait hung above the mantelpiece in the drawing room. He wore a big turban and loose fitting clothes. His long, white beard covered the best part of his chest and he looked at least a hundred years old. He did not look the sort of person who would have a wife or children. He looked as if he could only have lots and lots of grandchildren. As my grandmother being young and pretty, the thought was almost revolting. She often told us of the games she used to play as a child. That seemed quite absurd and undignified on her part and we treated it like the fables of the Prophets she used to tell us.

Select an appropriate title for the given passage.

Select the most appropriate synonym of the given word.

Renounce

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.

Chanhudaro was a tiny settlement (less than 7 hectares) as compared to Mohenjodaro (125 hectares), almost exclusively devoted to craft production, including bead-making, shellcutting, metal-working, seal-making and weight-making. The variety of materials used to make beads is remarkable: stones like carnelian (of a beautiful red colour), jasper, crystal, quartz and steatite; metals like copper, bronze and gold; and shell, faience and terracotta or burnt clay. Some beads were made of two or more stones, cemented together, some of stone with gold caps. The shapes were numerous – disc shaped, cylindrical, spherical, barrel-shaped, segmented. Some were decorated by incising or painting, and some had designs etched onto them.

Techniques for making beads differed according to the material. Steatite, a very soft stone, was easily worked. Some beads were moulded out of a paste made with steatite powder. This permitted making a variety of shapes, unlike the geometrical forms made out of harder stones. How the steatite micro bead was made remains a puzzle for archaeologists studying ancient technology. Archaeologists’ experiments have revealed that the red colour of carnelian was obtained by firing the yellowish raw material and beads at various stages of production. Nodules were chipped into rough shapes, and then finely flaked into the final form. Grinding, polishing and finally drilling completed the process. Specialised drills have been found at Chanhudaro, Lothal and more recently at Dholavira. Nageshwar and Balakot, both settlements are near the coast. These were specialised centres for making shell objects – including bangles, ladles and inlay – which were taken to other settlements. Similarly, it is likely that finished products (such as beads) from Chanhudaro and Lothal were taken to the large urban centres such as Mohenjodaro and Harappa.

Shell objects were mostly made at Nageshwar and Balakot because:

Comprehension: In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.
 Novelists when they write novels tend to take an almost god-like attitude (1) ___________ their subject, pretending to a total comprehension of the story, a man's life, (2) __________ they can therefore recount as God Himself might, nothing standing between them and the naked truth, the entire story meaningful in (3) ___________ detail. I am as little able to do this as the novelist is, even though my story is more important to me than any novelist's is to him – for this is my story; it is the story of a man, not of an invented, or possible, or idealised or otherwise (4) __________ figure, but of a unique (5) ___________ of flesh and blood.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 3.

Comprehension: In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Fill in the blanks with the help of the options given. Select the most appropriate option for each blank.
 In terms of education, children must receive proper care, (1)______ and schooling. By (2)______ child marriage, the best possible future of children can be (3)______. When there is an economic crisis, many programmes must be held so that they can (4)______ how to fight for themselves (5)______ and efficiently.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank No.3.

Select the correct indirect form of the given sentence.
 She said to me, “The charlatan will be breaking into the safe.”

Comprehension: In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. The Romans had developed a (1)____ for chariot racing. The (2)_____ of the game are so excited that sometimes it may (3)____ into chaos, confusion and riots. The (4)_____ in which racing took place was called a circus. The (5)____ one was the Circus Maximus in Rome, that could hold up to 3,85,000 spectators, which shows the popularity of the sport

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank no. 5.