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.

Which of these statements is NOT true?

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.

Santiniketan embodies Rabindranath Tagore’s vision of a place of learning that is unfettered by religious and regional barriers. Established in 1863 with the aim of helping education go beyond the confines of the classroom, Santiniketan grew into the Visva Bharati University in 1921, attracting some of the most creative minds in the country.

He developed a curriculum that was a unique blend of art, human values and cultural interchange. Even today, in every step, in every brick and in every tree at Santiniketan, one can still feel his presence, his passion, his dedication and his pride in the institution. In 1862, Maharishi Debendranath Tagore, father of Rabindranath, was taking a boat ride through Birbhum, the westernmost corner of Bengal, when he came across a landscape that struck him as the perfect place for meditation. He bought the large tract of land and built a small house and planted some saplings around it. Debendranath Tagore decided to call the place Santiniketan, or the ‘abode of peace’, because of the serenity it brought to his soul. In 1863, he turned it into a spiritual centre where people from all religions, castes and creeds came and participated in meditation.

In the years that followed, Debendranath’s son Rabindranath went on to become one of the most formidable literary forces India has ever produced. He wrote in all literary genres but he was first and foremost a poet. As one of the earliest educators to think in terms of the global village, he envisioned an education that was deeply rooted in one’s immediate surroundings but connected to the cultures of the wider world.

Located in the heart of nature, the school aimed to combine education with a sense of obligation towards the larger civic community. Blending the best of western and traditional eastern systems of education, the curriculum revolved organically around nature with classes being held in the open air. Tagore wanted his students to feel free despite being in the formal learning environment of a school, because he himself had dropped out of school when he found himself unable to think and felt claustrophobic within the four walls of a classroom. Nature walks and excursions were a part of the curriculum, special attention was paid to natural phenomena and students were encouraged to follow the life cycles of insects, birds and plants.

The rural paradise of Santiniketan, Tagore’s erstwhile home, has become a thriving centre of art, education and internationalism over the years.

With what aim was Santiniketan established?

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 Ministry of Defence has (1) ______ the formal Government Sanction Letter (2) ______ grant of permanent commission (PC) to women officers in the Army. “In anticipation, the Army Headquarters had (3) ______ in motion a series of preparatory actions for conduct of the Permanent Commission Selection Board for affected women officers. The Selection Board will be scheduled as (4) ______ as all affected Short Service Commissioned (SSC) women officers exercise their option and complete (5) ______ documentation,” the Army said in a statement.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 2.

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

The Celts who lived in Britain before the Roman invasion of 43 AD could be said to have created the first towns. Celts in southern England lived in hill forts, which were quite large settlements. (Some probably had thousands of inhabitants). They were places of trade, where people bought and sold goods and also places where craftsmen worked. The Romans called them oppida.

However, the Romans created the first settlements that were undoubtedly towns. Roman towns were usually laid out in a grid pattern. In the centre was the forum or market place. It was lined with public buildings. Life in Roman towns was highly civilized with public baths and temples.

From the 5th century Angles, Saxons and Jutes invaded England. At first, the invaders avoided living in towns. However, as trade grew some towns grew up. London revived by the 7th century (although the Saxon town was, at first, outside the walls of the old Roman town). Southampton was founded at the end of the 7th century. Hereford was founded in the 8th century. Furthermore, Ipswich grew up in the 8th century and York revived. However, towns were rare in Saxon England until the late 9th century. At that time, Alfred the Great created a network of fortified settlements across his kingdom called ‘burhs’. In the event of a Danish attack, men could gather in the local burh. However, burhs were more than forts. They were also market towns. Some burhs were started from scratch but many were created out of the ruins of old Roman towns. Places like Winchester rose, phoenix-like, from the ashes of history.

The thing that would strike us most about medieval towns would be their small size. Winchester, the capital of England, probably had about 8,000 people. At that time a 'large' town, like Lincoln or Dublin had about 4,000 or 5,000 inhabitants and a 'medium sized' town, like Colchester had about 2,500 people. Many towns were much smaller. However, during the 12th and 13th centuries most towns grew much larger. Furthermore, many new towns were created across Britain. Trade and commerce were increasing and there was a need for new towns. Some were created from existing villages but some were created from scratch. In those days you could create a town simply by starting a market. There were few shops so if you wished to buy or sell anything you had to go to a market. Once one was up and running, craftsmen and merchants would come to live in the area and a town would grow.

Who were the first creators of towns in England?

Select the most appropriate synonym of the given word.

ACTIVE

Select the option that can be used as a one-word substitute for the given group of words.
 An outlook that is influenced by people from all over the world

In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Fill in the blanks with the help of the alternatives given. Select the most appropriate option for each blank.

The first human beings to control fire gradually learned (1)______ many uses. Not only did they (2)______ fire to keep warm and cook their food; they (3)______ learned to use it in hunting or warfare, to kill insects, to (4)______ berries, and to clear forests of underbrush so that game (5)______ be better seen and hunted. Eventually they learned that the burning of brush produced better grasslands and therefore more game.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 1.

Select the most appropriate indirect form of the given sentence.

I said to you, “ He should be trusted.”