Directions: Read the following passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.

The most logical and intelligent people seem to go berserk when talking about snakes. Recently a reputed scientist said with a wise look in his eyes that sand boas have two heads. The other day someone walked into my office and stated that in his village at least cobras mate with rat snakes. About other places he was not sure, he added modestly, but that was how it was in his village.

These stories about snakes are myths. Sand boas have only one head; vine snakes do not peck your eyes out; no snake will drink milk. But it is interesting to try and trace the origin of these untruths. The one about the sand boas two heads obviously exists because the short, stumpy tail of this snake looks remarkably like the head, an effective device to fool predators. Or take the one about vine snakes pecking at eyes. It was ‘probably started by a vine snake that had a bad aim, as snakes, when provoked, will bite the most prominent projection of the offender, which is usually the nose.

But the most interesting one is about snakes coming to the scene of killing to take revenge. It so happens that when injured or under stress, a snake exudes, a large quantity of musk. Musk is a powerful sex attractant, the snakes’ equivalent of after-shave lotion. So after a snake is killed, the ground around still has this smell and naturally a snake of the same species passing by will lick its lips and come to investigate. The killer of the snake, who is probably worried if the pooja he performed was adequate to liquidate the killing of a snake, sees the second snake and is convinced that it was not.

The Irula tribals have a good answer to the query about whether cobras have jewels in their heads; “If they did, we wouldn’t be snake catchers, we would be rajas!”

Which of the following statement is true ?

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.

Her name was Sulekha, but since her childhood everyone had been calling her Bholi, the simpleton. She was the fourth daughter of Ramlal. When she was ten months old, she had fallen off the cot on her head and perhaps it had damaged some part of her brain. That was why she remained a backward child and came to be known as Bholi, the simpleton. At birth, the child was very fair and pretty. But when she was two years old, she had an attack of smallpox. Only the eyes were saved, but the entire body was permanently disfigured by deep black pockmarks. Little Sulekha could not speak till she was five as she was a slow learner, and when at last she learnt to speak, she stammered. The other children often made fun of her and mimicked her. As a result, she talked very little. Ramlal had seven children — three sons and four daughters, and the youngest of them was Bholi. It was a prosperous farmer’s household and there was plenty to eat and drink. All the children except Bholi were healthy and strong. The sons had been sent to the city to study in schools and later in colleges. Of the daughters, Radha, the eldest, had already been married. The second daughter Mangla’s marriage had also been settled, and when that was done, Ramlal would think of the third, Champa. They were good-looking, healthy girls, and it was not difficult to find bridegrooms for them. But Ramlal was worried about Bholi. She had neither good looks nor intelligence. From her very childhood Bholi was neglected at home. She was seven years old when Mangla was married. The same year a primary school for girls was opened in their village. The Tehsildar sahib came to perform its opening ceremony. He said to Ramlal, “As a revenue official you are the representative of the government in the village and so you must set an example to the villagers. You must send your daughters to school.” That night when Ramlal consulted his wife, she cried, “Are you crazy? If girls go to school, who will marry them?” But Ramlal had not the courage to disobey the Tehsildar. At last his wife said, “I will tell you what to do. Send Bholi to school. As it is, there is little chance of her getting married, with her ugly face and lack of sense. Let the teachers at school worry about her.”

How was Ramlal expected to set an example for the villagers?

Read the following passage carefully and give the answer of following questions.

Art both reflects and interprets the notion that produced it. Portraiture was the dominant theme of British painting up to the end of the eighteenth century because of a persistent demand for it. It would be unfair to say that human vanity and pride of possessions were the only reasons for this persistent demand, but certainly these motives played their part in shaping the course of British painting. Generally speaking, it is the artist's enthusiasm that accounts for the vitality of the picture, but it is the client who dictates its subject-matter. The history of national enthusiasms can be pretty accurately estimated by examining the subject-matter of a nation's art.
 There is one type of subject which recurs again and again in British painting of the late eighteenth century and the jart half of the nineteenth and which is hardly met with in the jart of any other country ---- the sporting picture, or rather the picture in which a love of outdoor life is directed into the channel of sport. The sporting picture is really an extension of the conversation piece. In it the emphasis is even more firmly based on the descriptive side of painting. It made severe demands on the artist and it must be-confessed that painters capable of satisfying these demands were rare. The ability to paint a reasonably convincing landscape is not often combined with the necessary knowledge of horses and dogs in movement and the power to introduce a portrait when necessary. To weld such diverse elements into a satisfactory aesthetic unity requires exceptional ability. It is not surprising, therefore, that while sporting pictures abound in England, especially in the private collections of country squires, not many of them are of real importance as works of art. What makes the sporting picture worth noting in, a history of British painting is the fact that it is as truly indigenous and as truly popular a form of art in England as was the religious ikon in Russia.

Persistent demand for portraiture could be found

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.
 Nitrogen is essential to life (1)______ Earth. It is a component of all proteins, and it can be (2)______ in all living systems. Nitrogen compounds are (3)______ in organic materials, foods, fertilisers, explosives and poisons. Nitrogen is crucial to life, (4)______ in excess it can also be (5)______ to the environment.

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

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.

Her name was Sulekha, but since her childhood everyone had been calling her Bholi, the simpleton. She was the fourth daughter of Ramlal. When she was ten months old, she had fallen off the cot on her head and perhaps it had damaged some part of her brain. That was why she remained a backward child and came to be known as Bholi, the simpleton. At birth, the child was very fair and pretty. But when she was two years old, she had an attack of smallpox. Only the eyes were saved, but the entire body was permanently disfigured by deep black pockmarks. Little Sulekha could not speak till she was five as she was a slow learner, and when at last she learnt to speak, she stammered. The other children often made fun of her and mimicked her. As a result, she talked very little. Ramlal had seven children — three sons and four daughters, and the youngest of them was Bholi. It was a prosperous farmer’s household and there was plenty to eat and drink. All the children except Bholi were healthy and strong. The sons had been sent to the city to study in schools and later in colleges. Of the daughters, Radha, the eldest, had already been married. The second daughter Mangla’s marriage had also been settled, and when that was done, Ramlal would think of the third, Champa. They were good-looking, healthy girls, and it was not difficult to find bridegrooms for them. But Ramlal was worried about Bholi. She had neither good looks nor intelligence. From her very childhood Bholi was neglected at home. She was seven years old when Mangla was married. The same year a primary school for girls was opened in their village. The Tehsildar sahib came to perform its opening ceremony. He said to Ramlal, “As a revenue official you are the representative of the government in the village and so you must set an example to the villagers. You must send your daughters to school.” That night when Ramlal consulted his wife, she cried, “Are you crazy? If girls go to school, who will marry them?” But Ramlal had not the courage to disobey the Tehsildar. At last his wife said, “I will tell you what to do. Send Bholi to school. As it is, there is little chance of her getting married, with her ugly face and lack of sense. Let the teachers at school worry about her.”

‘Backward child’ in the passage means:

Directions: In the following passage, there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. Against every five words are suggested one of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case.

The world of finance can be __(A)_, but understanding key concepts and strategies can help investors make __(B)_ decisions. One important concept is the time value of money, which refers to the fact that a dollar today is worth more than a dollar in the future. This is because money can be invested and earn _(C)__ over time, meaning that a dollar today has the potential to grow into more than a dollar in the future. Risk tolerance is another important consideration when it comes to investing. The level of risk an investor is willing to take on should be carefully __(D)_ against the potential for return. Generally, the higher the risk of an investment, the higher the potential return, but also the higher the potential for loss.

When investing in the stock market, investors have several strategies to choose from. Value investing involves looking for stocks that are trading at a lower price than their intrinsic value, while growth investing involves looking for companies that are expected to grow at a faster rate than the overall market. Regardless of the strategy chosen, it's important to __(E)_ a portfolio across different asset classes to reduce overall risk and maximize potential gains.

Which of the following words most appropriately fits the blank labelled (E)?

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.

The most logical and intelligent people seem to go berserk when talking about snakes. Recently a reputed scientist said with a wise look in his eyes that sand boas have two heads. The other day someone walked into my office and stated that in his village at least cobras mate with rat snakes. About other places he was not sure, he added modestly, but that was how it was in his village.

These stories about snakes are myths. Sand boas have only one head; vine snakes do not peck your eyes out; no snake will drink milk. But it is interesting to try and trace the origin of these untruths. The one about the sand boas two heads obviously exists because the short, stumpy tail of this snake looks remarkably like the head, an effective device to fool predators. Or take the one about vine snakes pecking at eyes. It was ‘probably started by a vine snake that had a bad aim, as snakes, when provoked, will bite the most prominent projection of the offender, which is usually the nose.

But the most interesting one is about snakes coming to the scene of killing to take revenge. It so happens that when injured or under stress, a snake exudes, a large quantity of musk. Musk is a powerful sex attractant, the snakes’ equivalent of after-shave lotion. So after a snake is killed, the ground around still has this smell and naturally a snake of the same species passing by will lick its lips and come to investigate. The killer of the snake, who is probably worried if the pooja he performed was adequate to liquidate the killing of a snake, sees the second snake and is convinced that it was not.

The Irula tribals have a good answer to the query about whether cobras have jewels in their heads; “If they did, we wouldn’t be snake catchers, we would be rajas!”

According to the passage, the vine snakes

Directions :Read the given passage carefully and answer the following questions. Certain parts have been highlighted to help answer the questions.
  Every year, around one million people die of mosquitoborne diseases according to the World Health Organization (WHO). This is why mosquitoes are considered one of the deadliest living creatures on the planet — not because they are lethal themselves, but because many of the viruses and parasites they transmit are
 In the absence of an effective vaccine for dengue fever, Zika fever, chikungunya and other mosquito-borne diseases, researchers have developed genetic strategies to reduce mosquito populations. One such strategy involves the release into the wild of genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes that express a lethal gene — a strategy believed to have little impact on the overall DNA of wild populations of mosquitoes
 The transfer of new genes from GM organisms to wild or domesticated non-GM populations is a key criticism of GM crops like soybean and corn. There are concerns that the introduction of GM genes into non-target species could have negative consequences for both human and environmental health.
 Oxitec, a company that spun out of research at Oxford University in the early 2000s, developed and trademarked GM Friendly™ mosquitoes (also known as strain OX513A of Aedes aegypti). These male GM mosquitoes have what the company describes as a “self-limiting” gene, which means that when these so-called friendly mosquitoes’ mate, their offspring inherit the self-limiting gene which is supposed to prevent them surviving into adulthood.
 In theory, when these mosquitoes are released in high numbers, a dramatic reduction in the mosquito population should follow. According to research published by Oxitec researchers in 2015, field trials involving recurring releases of Friendly™ mosquitoes demonstrated a reduction of nearly 95 per cent of target populations in Brazil. In these field trials, experiments were not performed to assess whether GM mosquitoes might persist in the wild.
 A recent study from the Powell lab at Yale University has since confirmed that some of the offspring of the GM mosquitoes didn’t succumb to the self-limiting lethal gene and survived to adulthood. They were able to breed with native mosquitoes and thereby introduce some of their genes into the wild population
 Meanwhile, the impact of mosquitoes carrying these new genes remains largely unknown. One significant worry is that a new breed of mosquito might emerge that is more difficult to control. These new genes could also potentially alter evolutionary pressures on viruses carried by mosquitoes, like dengue fever, in unpredictable ways. This includes potentially increasing their virulence or changing their host-insect interactions. These are hypothetical risks that have been raised by scientists, and reflect the need for further study.

What can be the potential side effect(s) of genetically modified mosquito offspring?