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All questions of Reading Comprehension for Class 1 Exam

Direction: Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.
A golden age for Western schools in China may be coming to an end in the face of a new Government clampdown. China has been a happy hunting ground for Western schools in the recent years, as a burgeoning middle class looks to equip their children with the qualifications to get into a Western university, as well as the skills to join a global workforce.
The last five years have seen a 64% increase in the number of students enrolled in international schools in China. But from the next year, schools will have to select their students via a lottery, rather than being able to pick and choose from among the applicants. The crackdown has been prompted by fears that foreign-owned schools are poaching the brightest children. The move follows changes introduced last year requiring international schools to teach the Chinese curriculum alongside other national programs.
There is a backlash against the rapid increase in private schools in China, particularly from the big public schools where it’s perceived that they have been simply poaching off the best kids. The Chinese government was also concerned at the number of students heading abroad to study, both at school and universities. 
The international schools market has exploded in China in recent years after the authorities relaxed regulations for Chinese children attending foreign-owned schools. Until then, international schools almost entirely served the children of foreign nationals, but opening them up to Chinese children revealed a massive and previously untapped demand. For the growing Chinese middle class, the schools provided a more reliable route than Chinese national schools for getting into highly-regarded universities in the West, particularly those in the U.S. and U.K. These students, in turn, represent a lucrative source of income, for both the schools themselves and for Western universities. 
China is the largest source of international students at U.K. universities, accounting for more than one in five at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Some of the most prestigious private schools have sought to capitalize on their brand by opening branches in China in recent years. A record 14 British international schools have opened or are due to open in China this year. Despite the increased ____, there are still opportunities for international schools to open in China, given the "massive demand" among Chinese families. There is a deep desire amongst the wealthy, middle class and young Chinese parents for a Western-style of education. Parents want an international education but also want their children to retain their culture and identity as well as excellent exam results and "places at the top universities."
Q. Choose the most appropriate word which is opposite in meaning to crackdown?
  • a)
    Clampdown
  • b)
    Repress
  • c)
    Suppress
  • d)
    Abet
Correct answer is option 'D'. Can you explain this answer?

Orion Classes answered
Let's look at the meaning of the word crackdown
  • Crackdown: A series of severe measurements to restrict undesirable or illegal people. 
  • Clampdown, repress, suppress, and squash are synonyms of the word crackdown. 
  • Therefore these words cannot be the opposite of crackdown
  • Abet means to actively second and encourage, which is clearly opposite in meaning to crackdown.

Direction: Read the passage and answer the questions. Some words may be highlighted. Read carefully.
Technology. Whether you find that you embrace every new update, or struggle to keep up with the changes, its effect on our day-to-day lives is unmistakable. Recent technological developments are vastly changing the way we live, and in particular, the way we work. With the job market a competitive and ever-evolving arena, determining your career path is more than just following your passions and skills, it’s about being adaptive in this digital age and understanding what skills and jobs are in high demand, and which are facing potential extinction. It’s important to try not to feel disorientated or uncomfortable with these rapid changes, but instead, change your mindset and embrace the opportunities technology brings and focus on the right skills to increase your employability and succeed in the new tech-savvy work scene. Although technological innovation offers many new and exciting opportunities and career paths, there is also the downside of careers becoming obsolete, leaving people without a job. This is not a recent issue either, we’ve experienced years of machines replacing muscle power as the routine, autonomous tasks are taken over by technology. With the internet serving a plethora of information, jobs like the traditional travel agent have been almost wiped out entirely in favour of online websites that allow us to find the cheapest deals for flights and accommodation with just a click of a button. We are seeing an increase in ‘self-service’ with grocery store check-outs and airport check-ins opting for automation over employees. It’s these entry-level and part-time jobs where we are seeing technological systems making the greatest impact. We’ve also witnessed other societal issues emerging, such as businesses going bust with technology replacing products. Remember going down to the local video store to rent a few DVDs? Or when libraries were a place people actually went to rent a book? In order to keep up to date with the latest trends in IT, businesses are beginning to embrace technology in recruitment, operations, marketing and production. With new IT commodities like Netflix, iTunes and eBooks, products are moving from the tangible to the digital at an alarming rate, causing numerous stores to go out of business. Newspapers and magazines are struggling to sell copies, with many people preferring to use their iPhone or tablet to get the latest headlines and gossip. The music industry has also taken a hit, with the amount of illegal piracy that goes on, resulting in a dramatic decrease in compact disc sales.
However, there are conflicting opinions on this. Study of census results in England and Wales since 1871 finds the rise of machines has been a job creator rather than making working humans obsolete. In the 1800s it was the Luddites smashing weaving machines. These days retail staff worry about automatic checkouts. Sooner or later taxi drivers will be fretting over self-driving cars. The battle between man and machines goes back centuries. Are they taking our jobs? Or are they merely easing our workload? A study by economists at the consultancy Deloitte seeks to shed new light on the relationship between jobs and the rise of technology by trawling through census data for England and Wales going back to 1871. Their conclusion is unremittingly cheerful: rather than destroying jobs, technology has been a “great job-creating machine”. Findings by Deloitte such as a fourfold rise in bar staff since the 1950s or a surge in the number of hairdressers this century suggest to the authors that technology has increased spending power, therefore creating new demand and new jobs. “Machines will take on more repetitive and laborious tasks, but seem no closer to eliminating the need for human labour than at any time in the last 150 years.”- analysts at Deloitte conclude.
Q. Determine a suitable title for the passage.
  • a)
    Technology and its Effects
  • b)
    Man and his Relationship to Technology
  • c)
    Technological Innovations in the 21st Century
  • d)
    Technology- Boon or Bane?
Correct answer is option 'D'. Can you explain this answer?

Harsh mehra answered
Technology- Boon or Bane?

Overview of the Passage:
The passage discusses the impact of technology on our day-to-day lives, particularly in the context of work and career paths. It highlights the rapid changes brought about by technological innovations, the opportunities they offer, as well as the challenges they pose such as job obsolescence.

Technology as a Double-Edged Sword:
- Discusses the positive impact of technology on creating new opportunities and career paths.
- Mentions the downside of technology leading to the obsolescence of certain jobs and businesses.
- Provides examples of industries and jobs that have been affected by technological advancements.

Conflicting Opinions:
- Talks about the debate regarding whether technology is taking away jobs or simply easing human workload.
- Cites a study by Deloitte which suggests that technology has been a job creator rather than making working humans obsolete.
- Provides examples from census data to support the claim that technology has created new demand and new jobs.

Conclusion:
- States that technology has been a "great job-creating machine" according to analysts at Deloitte.
- Highlights the continuous battle between man and machines throughout history.
- Emphasizes that technology has evolved to take on repetitive and laborious tasks, but has not eliminated the need for human labor.

Direction: Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.
A golden age for Western schools in China may be coming to an end in the face of a new Government clampdown. China has been a happy hunting ground for Western schools in the recent years, as a burgeoning middle class looks to equip their children with the qualifications to get into a Western university, as well as the skills to join a global workforce.
The last five years have seen a 64% increase in the number of students enrolled in international schools in China. But from the next year, schools will have to select their students via a lottery, rather than being able to pick and choose from among the applicants. The crackdown has been prompted by fears that foreign-owned schools are poaching the brightest children. The move follows changes introduced last year requiring international schools to teach the Chinese curriculum alongside other national programs.
There is a backlash against the rapid increase in private schools in China, particularly from the big public schools where it’s perceived that they have been simply poaching off the best kids. The Chinese government was also concerned at the number of students heading abroad to study, both at school and universities. 
The international schools market has exploded in China in recent years after the authorities relaxed regulations for Chinese children attending foreign-owned schools. Until then, international schools almost entirely served the children of foreign nationals, but opening them up to Chinese children revealed a massive and previously untapped demand. For the growing Chinese middle class, the schools provided a more reliable route than Chinese national schools for getting into highly-regarded universities in the West, particularly those in the U.S. and U.K. These students, in turn, represent a lucrative source of income, for both the schools themselves and for Western universities. 
China is the largest source of international students at U.K. universities, accounting for more than one in five at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Some of the most prestigious private schools have sought to capitalize on their brand by opening branches in China in recent years. A record 14 British international schools have opened or are due to open in China this year. Despite the increased ____, there are still opportunities for international schools to open in China, given the "massive demand" among Chinese families. There is a deep desire amongst the wealthy, middle class and young Chinese parents for a Western-style of education. Parents want an international education but also want their children to retain their culture and identity as well as excellent exam results and "places at the top universities."
Q. What is the tone of the passage?
  • a)
    Argumentative
  • b)
    Authoritative
  • c)
    Biased
  • d)
    Informative
Correct answer is option 'D'. Can you explain this answer?

Rahul Desai answered
Reading the above passage we find that: 
  • There are no arguments in the passage. The author does not display any authority over what he states.
  • The passage does not support any particular education system, so not biased. 
  • The author is not concerned about the situation. 

Direction: Read the passage and answer the questions given below. Some words may be highlighted. Read carefully. 
The purpose of Artificial Intelligence(AI) is to aid human capabilities and help us make advanced decisions with far-reaching consequences. That’s the answer from a technical standpoint. From a philosophical perspective, Artificial Intelligence has the potential to help humans live more meaningful lives devoid of hard labour, and help manage the complex web of interconnected individuals, companies, states, and nations to function in a manner that’s beneficial to all of humanity.
Currently, the purpose of Artificial Intelligence is shared by all the different tools and techniques that we’ve invented over the past thousand years – to simplify human effort, and to help us make better decisions. Artificial Intelligence has also been touted as our Final Invention, a creation that would invent ground-breaking tools and services that would exponentially change how we lead our lives, by hopefully removing strife, inequality, and human suffering.
That’s all in the far future though – we’re still a long way from those kinds of outcomes. Currently, Artificial Intelligence is being used mostly by companies to improve their process efficiencies, automate resource-heavy tasks, and to make business predictions based on hard data rather than gut feelings. As all technology that has come before this, the research and development costs need to be subsidized by corporations and government agencies before it becomes accessible to everyday laymen.
The purpose of philosophy for humans is to help us understand our actions, their consequences, and how we can make better decisions. Modern intelligent systems can be built by following the different approaches of philosophy that will enable these systems to make the right decisions, mirroring the way that an ideal human being would think and behave. Philosophy would help these machines think and understand about the nature of knowledge itself. It would also help them make the connection between knowledge and action through goal-based analysis to achieve desirable outcomes.
If there is a synergy between man and machine, if they are able to work fully in tandem, this world will undergo a sea change and our everyday lives would be completely transformed. 
Q. What is the antonym of strife?
  • a)
    Dissent
  • b)
    Schism
  • c)
    Discord
  • d)
    Concurrence
Correct answer is option 'D'. Can you explain this answer?

Rahul Desai answered
Strife: angry or bitter disagreement over fundamental issues; conflict
Concurrence: agreement or consistency

Direction: Read the following passage and answer the following questions:
This is a story that explains how adversity is met differently by different people. There was a girl named Asha who lived with her mother and father in a village. One day, her father assigned her a simple task. He took three vessels filled with boiling water. He placed an egg in one vessel, a potato in the second vessel, and some tea leaves in the third vessel. He asked Asha to keep an eye on the vessels for about ten to fifteen minutes while the three ingredients in three separate vessels boiled. After some time, he asked Asha to peel the potato and egg and strain the tea leaves. Asha was left puzzled – she understood her father was trying to explain something, but she didn’t know what it was.
Her father explained, “All three items were put in the same circumstances. See how they’ve responded differently.” He said that the potato turned soft, the egg turned hard, and the tea leaves changed the colour and taste of the water. He further said, “We are all like one of these items. When adversity calls, we respond exactly the way they do. Now, are you a potato, an egg, or tea leaves? You have to decide that” Her father was a wise man and he tried to explain a lesson of life to his daughter with live demonstrations.
Q. What is the synonym of the word "Demonstrations"?
  • a)
    Confusions 
  • b)
    Presentations
  • c)
    Dramas
  • d)
    Lessons
Correct answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer?

Rahul Desai answered
  • Let us the meaning of the word 'Demonstrations'.
    • Demonstrations: acts of showing that something exists or is true by giving proof or evidence.
  • Let us look at a sentence with the word 'Demonstrations'.
    • His demonstrations of the need for computer corpora in language study are convincing.
  • Thus, 'Presentations' is the synonym of 'Demonstrations'.

Direction: Read the passage and answer the questions. Some words may be highlighted. Read carefully.
Technology. Whether you find that you embrace every new update, or struggle to keep up with the changes, its effect on our day-to-day lives is unmistakable. Recent technological developments are vastly changing the way we live, and in particular, the way we work. With the job market a competitive and ever-evolving arena, determining your career path is more than just following your passions and skills, it’s about being adaptive in this digital age and understanding what skills and jobs are in high demand, and which are facing potential extinction. It’s important to try not to feel disorientated or uncomfortable with these rapid changes, but instead, change your mindset and embrace the opportunities technology brings and focus on the right skills to increase your employability and succeed in the new tech-savvy work scene. Although technological innovation offers many new and exciting opportunities and career paths, there is also the downside of careers becoming obsolete, leaving people without a job. This is not a recent issue either, we’ve experienced years of machines replacing muscle power as the routine, autonomous tasks are taken over by technology. With the internet serving a plethora of information, jobs like the traditional travel agent have been almost wiped out entirely in favour of online websites that allow us to find the cheapest deals for flights and accommodation with just a click of a button. We are seeing an increase in ‘self-service’ with grocery store check-outs and airport check-ins opting for automation over employees. It’s these entry-level and part-time jobs where we are seeing technological systems making the greatest impact. We’ve also witnessed other societal issues emerging, such as businesses going bust with technology replacing products. Remember going down to the local video store to rent a few DVDs? Or when libraries were a place people actually went to rent a book? In order to keep up to date with the latest trends in IT, businesses are beginning to embrace technology in recruitment, operations, marketing and production. With new IT commodities like Netflix, iTunes and eBooks, products are moving from the tangible to the digital at an alarming rate, causing numerous stores to go out of business. Newspapers and magazines are struggling to sell copies, with many people preferring to use their iPhone or tablet to get the latest headlines and gossip. The music industry has also taken a hit, with the amount of illegal piracy that goes on, resulting in a dramatic decrease in compact disc sales.
However, there are conflicting opinions on this. Study of census results in England and Wales since 1871 finds the rise of machines has been a job creator rather than making working humans obsolete. In the 1800s it was the Luddites smashing weaving machines. These days retail staff worry about automatic checkouts. Sooner or later taxi drivers will be fretting over self-driving cars. The battle between man and machines goes back centuries. Are they taking our jobs? Or are they merely easing our workload? A study by economists at the consultancy Deloitte seeks to shed new light on the relationship between jobs and the rise of technology by trawling through census data for England and Wales going back to 1871. Their conclusion is unremittingly cheerful: rather than destroying jobs, technology has been a “great job-creating machine”. Findings by Deloitte such as a fourfold rise in bar staff since the 1950s or a surge in the number of hairdressers this century suggest to the authors that technology has increased spending power, therefore creating new demand and new jobs. “Machines will take on more repetitive and laborious tasks, but seem no closer to eliminating the need for human labour than at any time in the last 150 years.”- analysts at Deloitte conclude.
Q. What is the meaning of the emboldened phrase given below?
Sooner or later taxi drivers will be fretting over self-driving cars.
  • a)
    Selling the cars off
  • b)
    Feel anxious or concerned regarding someone or something
  • c)
    Brood over
  • d)
    Both 2 and 3
Correct answer is option 'D'. Can you explain this answer?

Understanding the Phrase
The emboldened phrase “Sooner or later taxi drivers will be fretting over self-driving cars” implies a sense of concern or anxiety regarding the impact of technological advancement on their profession.
Meaning of "Fretting"
- The term "fretting" generally means:
- To feel anxious or worried about something.
- To brood or think deeply about an issue, often in a negative or concerned manner.
Analysis of the Options
- Option A: Selling the cars off
- This option does not capture the essence of "fretting." It suggests a financial transaction rather than an emotional response.
- Option B: Feel anxious or concerned regarding someone or something
- This accurately describes "fretting." Taxi drivers are likely to feel uneasy about the potential loss of their jobs due to self-driving technology.
- Option C: Brood
- While brooding can imply deep thought, it often carries a negative connotation similar to fretting. Thus, it is relevant but not as comprehensive as option B.
Correct Answer Explanation
- Both 2 and 3
- This option is the most fitting as it encompasses both the emotional anxiety described in option B and the contemplative nature of option C.
- Therefore, "both 2 and 3" highlights the dual aspects of concern and deep thought that taxi drivers may experience regarding the rise of self-driving cars.
In conclusion, the correct interpretation of "fretting" combines feelings of anxiety and contemplation about the future of their job security in the face of technological advancement.

Directions: Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.
 Every Monday, on his way back from work, Bipin Chowdhury would drop in at New Market to buy books. He had to buy at least five at a time to last him through the week. He lived alone, was not a good mixer, had few friends, and didn’t like spending time in idle chat. Those who called in the evening got through their business quickly and left. Those who didn’t show signs of leaving would be told around eight o’clock by Bipin Babu that he was under doctor’s orders to have dinner at eight-thirty. After dinner, he would rest for half an hour and then turn in with a book. This was a routine that had persisted unbroken for years. Today, Bipin Babu had the feeling that someone was observing him from close quarters. He turned around and found himself looking at a round-faced, meek-looking man who now broke into a smile.‘I don’t suppose you recognize me.’ Bipin Babu felt ill at ease. It didn’t seem that he had ever encountered this man before. The face seemed quite unfamiliar. ‘Have we met before?’ asked Bipin Babu. The man looked greatly surprised. ‘We met every day for a whole week. I arranged for a car to take you to the Hudroo falls. My name is Parimal Ghose.’‘Ranchi?’Now Bipin Babu realized this man was making a mistake. Bipin Babu had never been to Ranchi. He smiled and said, ‘Do you know who I am?’ The man raised his eyebrows, and said, ‘Who doesn’t know Bipin Chowdhury?’Bipin Babu turned towards the bookshelves and said, ‘You’re making a mistake. I’ve never been to Ranchi.’ The man now laughed aloud. What are you saying, Mr. Chowdhury? You had a fall in Hudroo and cut your right knee. I brought you iodine. I had fixed up a car for you to go to Netarhat the next day, but you couldn’t because of the pain in the knee. Can’t you recall anything? Someone else you know was also in Ranchi at that time. Mr. Dinesh Mukherjee. You stayed in a bungalow. You said you didn’t like hotel food. I’ll tell you more: you always carried a bag with your books in it on your sightseeing trips. Am I right or not?’Bipin Babu spoke quietly, his eyes still on the books.‘Which month in Nineteen fifty- eight are you talking about?’ The man said, ‘October.’‘No, sir,’ said Bipin Babu. ‘I spent October Nineteen fifty- eight with a friend in Kanpur. You’re making a mistake. Good day.’ But the man didn’t go, nor did he stop talking.‘Very strange. One evening I had tea with you on the veranda of your bungalow. You spoke about your family. You said you had no children, and that you had lost your wife a decade ago. When Bipin Babu had paid for the books and was leaving the shop, the man was still looking at him in utter disbelief. Bipin Babu’s car was safely parked in Bertram Street. He told the driver as he got into the car, ‘Just drive by the Ganga, will you, Sitaram.’ Driving up the Strand Road, Bipin Babu regretted having paid so much attention to the intruder. He had never been to Ranchi. He had an excellent memory. Unless he was losing his mind!
Q. Which of these is opposite in meaning to 'meek'?
  • a)
    Modest
  • b)
    Demure
  • c)
    Assertive
  • d)
    Docile
Correct answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer?



Explanation:

Meek vs. Assertive

- Meek means quiet, gentle, and easily imposed on, while assertive means confident, self-assured, and firm in expressing oneself.
- Meek individuals tend to be submissive and avoid confrontation, whereas assertive individuals stand up for themselves and express their opinions clearly.
- Meek people may lack confidence and struggle to assert themselves in various situations, while assertive people are able to communicate their needs and boundaries effectively.
- Meekness is often associated with timidity and passivity, while assertiveness is linked to strength and self-assurance.
- Therefore, the opposite of meek would be assertive, as assertive individuals are not meek or submissive in nature.

Direction: Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the given five alternatives.
The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Wednesday left policy rates unchanged at record low levels as it was still unsure about the sustainability of economic recovery due to the second wave of Covid-19 infections.
The central bank, however, announced a bond-buying calendar that will ensure that borrowers reap the benefits of a low-interest rate regime.
The repo rate, the main policy rate (it is the rate at which the RBI lends money to commercial banks), has been retained at 4 percent because the MPC wants to ensure that “the prospects of sustained recovery are well secured”. “The renewed jump in Covid-19 infections in certain parts of the country and the associated localized lockdowns could dampen the demand for contact-intensive services, restrain growth impulses, and prolong the return to normalcy. In such an environment, continued policy support remains necessary,” the MPC stated. India recently became the second country after the US to report daily fresh infections of over 100,000.
In Wednesday’s statement, the MPC retained its assessment of FY22 GDP growth of 10.5 percent. It also raised its projection for consumer price inflation a bit to 5.2 percent for the first half of the current fiscal year.
The RBI announced a government securities acquisition programme (GSAP), essentially a calendar of its bond-buying programme, starting with Rs 1 lakh crore of securities purchases in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
This new GSAP programme will run along with the RBI’s regular open market operations and other liquidity management facilities, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das reiterated in a post-policy announcement interaction. Earlier, the central bank had committed that it would purchase not less than Rs 3 lakh crore of bond purchases in FY22.
Meanwhile, the rupee lost 1.5 percent Wednesday, its biggest single-day fall in 20 months, as the RBI laid out plans for the government bond-buying programme.
Government bond yields have been rising sharply since the Centre announced a big borrowing programme for the current fiscal. That, along with the rise in sovereign bond yields in the rest of the world, and inflation fears, meant that the yield on the 10-year benchmark government bond, an average of 5.93 percent between April 2020 and January 2021, had risen to a high of 6.25 percent in March.
Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions — when there is demand for bonds such as due to extra buying from RBI, bond prices go up while yields come down.
Government security yields represent the risk-free rate in the economy and act as a base for all other interest rates. Thus, between February and March-end, yields on AAA corporate bonds (the highest rated) increased by as much as 31 basis points, despite the RBI not increasing rates or withdrawing liquidity.
Corporate bond issuance in February at Rs 45,685 crore moderated from its peak of Rs 88,130 crore recorded in December 2020. In effect, the rising bond yields weakened the central bank’s easy monetary stance and it had to do something about it.
The RBI’s bond purchase calendar will give confidence to bond market participants that a huge supply of government borrowings will not drive up yields too much. It also supports the easy monetary policy stance at a time when the second wave adds to uncertainty about economic growth and inflation.
“The evolving CPI inflation trajectory is likely to be subjected to both upside and downside pressures,” said the MPC. It said that the bumper food grain production and imports should keep a lid on food prices but warned about high international commodity prices, increased logistics costs, and heightened inflation expectations of households as risk factors.
The central bank also extended measures to improve credit flow to the economy, some of which were introduced last year to fight the pandemic. It extended its long-term repo operations (lending money to banks), extended refinance facilities for NABARD and SIDBI to help MSMEs, and made it easier for banks to continue lending to sectors such as agriculture and MSMEs via NBFCs.
Q. Choose the antonym of the word 'Uncertainty'.
  • a)
    Predictability
  • b)
    Indecision
  • c)
    Wavering
  • d)
    Transformation
Correct answer is option 'A'. Can you explain this answer?

Rahul Desai answered
  • The meaning of 'Uncertainty' is 'the condition or state of being uncertain'.
  • The meaning of 'Predictability' is 'the capacity or ability to be predicted'.
  • Hence, the word 'Predictability' is the antonym of the word 'Uncertainty'.
  • Therefore, option (A) is the answer.

Direction: Read the passage carefully and answer the questions which follow. Some words may be highlighted for you.
An American explorer has found plastic waste on the seafloor while breaking the record for the deepest ever dive. Victor Vescovo descended nearly 11km (seven miles) to the deepest place in the ocean - the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench. He spent four hours exploring the bottom of the trench in his submersible, built to withstand the immense pressure of the deep. He found sea creatures, but also found a plastic bag and sweet wrappers. It is the third time humans have reached the ocean's extreme depth. The first dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench took place in 1960 by US Navy lieutenant Don Walsh and Swiss engineer Jacques Piccard in a vessel called the bathyscaphe Trieste. Movie director James Cameron then made a solo plunge half a century later in 2012 in his bright green sub. 
The latest descent, which reached 10,927m (35,849ft) beneath the waves, is now the deepest by 11m - making Victor Vescovo the new record holder. As well as the Mariana Trench in the Pacific, in the last six months dives have also taken place in the Puerto Rico Trench in the Atlantic Ocean (8,376m/27,480ft down), the South Sandwich Trench in the Southern Ocean (7,433m/24,388ft) and the Java Trench in the Indian Ocean (7,192m/23,596ft). The final challenge will be to reach the bottom of the Molloy Deep in the Arctic Ocean, which is currently scheduled for August 2019. The 4.6m-long, 3.7m-high submersible - called the DSV Limiting Factor - was built by the US-based company Triton Submarines, with the aim of having a vessel that could make repeated dives to any part of the ocean. 
After the Five Deeps Expedition is complete later this year, the plan is to pass the submersible onto science institutions so researchers can continue to use it. The challenges of exploring the deep ocean - even with robotic vehicles - has made the ocean trenches one of the last frontiers on the planet. Once thought to be remote, desolate areas, the deep sea teems with life. There is also growing evidence that they are carbon sinks, playing a role in regulating the Earth's chemistry and climate.
Q.What is the synonym of the word 'immense'?
  • a)
    Meagre
  • b)
    Methodical
  • c)
    Tiny
  • d)
    Extensive
Correct answer is option 'D'. Can you explain this answer?

Rahul Desai answered
  • Let us look at the meaning of the word "Immense":
    • Immense: extremely large or great, especially in scale or degree.
  • Let us look at the meaning of "Extensive":
    • Extensive: covering or affecting a large area.
  • Hence, "Extensive" is the correct synonym of "Immense".

Direction: Read the passage and answer the questions that follow:
Mosquitoes can transmit pathogens that cause many human diseases, such as malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, chikungunya, and Zika fever. Many of these diseases can be physically devastating and even fatal. For example, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are over 200 million new cases of malaria per year worldwide, resulting in over 400,000 deaths, most of them children under the age of 5. Zika fever is caused by a virus transmitted to humans primarily by the bite of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Symptoms in infected human adults are typically mild, but if the virus infects a pregnant woman it can be transmitted to the developing fetus and affect brain development, causing a condition called microcephaly. To reduce the number of A. aegypti mosquitoes that may carry Zika virus, researchers at a biotechnology company called Oxitec have produced genetically modified (GM) A. aegypti mosquitoes that when released into the wild, mate with wild mosquitoes, and any offspring produced die before becoming adults.
The fluorescence gene is used to_________ GM mosquitoes. The lethality gene, which is more accurately called tetracycline transcriptional activator variant (or tTAV), encodes a protein that blocks transcription of several other genes that are essential to mosquito development. GM mosquito larvae that produce the tTAV protein die before reaching maturity. However, the tTAV protein cannot prevent the transcription of other genes when it is bound to the antibiotic tetracycline. Therefore, tetracycline acts as a repressor of the lethality gene, or, in other words, its antidote. In the lab, the GM mosquito larvae are reared in water containing tetracycline and develop normally into adult mosquitoes. When adult GM mosquitoes are released into the wild and breed with wild, non-GM mosquitoes, their offspring inherit the lethality gene. Without tetracycline in the environment to protect them, the offspring die. 
In one study, Oxitec scientists released GM mosquitoes into a neighborhood in Brazil. Sustained release over the course of a year led to a reduction of the local Aedes aegypti population by 80% to 95% according to different measures (Carvalho et al., 2015). The scientists chose densely populated neighborhoods for their study because mosquito-borne diseases can spread most easily in areas where lots of humans and mosquitoes are present. They hypothesized that if they could reduce both the population size of the A. aegypti mosquitoes and the mosquito population density, they would reduce the probability that a person becomes infected with a pathogen spread by these mosquitoes. (An activity that shows how scientists measure mosquito density, based on data from Oxitec scientists, is available on the BioInteractive website as “Tracking Genetically Modified Mosquitoes.”) 
Q. Which is the synonym of the word diseases?
  • a)
    Fitness
  • b)
    Malady
  • c)
    Heartiness
  • d)
    Robustness
Correct answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer?

Rahul Desai answered
Malady - this is the correct synonym.
Malady - a disease or disorder of the animal body.
Fitness - the quality or state of being fit.
Robustness - having or exhibiting strength or vigorous health.
Heartiness - giving unqualified support.

Direction: Read the passage and answer the questions. Some words may be highlighted. Read carefully.
Technology. Whether you find that you embrace every new update, or struggle to keep up with the changes, its effect on our day-to-day lives is unmistakable. Recent technological developments are vastly changing the way we live, and in particular, the way we work. With the job market a competitive and ever-evolving arena, determining your career path is more than just following your passions and skills, it’s about being adaptive in this digital age and understanding what skills and jobs are in high demand, and which are facing potential extinction. It’s important to try not to feel disorientated or uncomfortable with these rapid changes, but instead, change your mindset and embrace the opportunities technology brings and focus on the right skills to increase your employability and succeed in the new tech-savvy work scene. Although technological innovation offers many new and exciting opportunities and career paths, there is also the downside of careers becoming obsolete, leaving people without a job. This is not a recent issue either, we’ve experienced years of machines replacing muscle power as the routine, autonomous tasks are taken over by technology. With the internet serving a plethora of information, jobs like the traditional travel agent have been almost wiped out entirely in favour of online websites that allow us to find the cheapest deals for flights and accommodation with just a click of a button. We are seeing an increase in ‘self-service’ with grocery store check-outs and airport check-ins opting for automation over employees. It’s these entry-level and part-time jobs where we are seeing technological systems making the greatest impact. We’ve also witnessed other societal issues emerging, such as businesses going bust with technology replacing products. Remember going down to the local video store to rent a few DVDs? Or when libraries were a place people actually went to rent a book? In order to keep up to date with the latest trends in IT, businesses are beginning to embrace technology in recruitment, operations, marketing and production. With new IT commodities like Netflix, iTunes and eBooks, products are moving from the tangible to the digital at an alarming rate, causing numerous stores to go out of business. Newspapers and magazines are struggling to sell copies, with many people preferring to use their iPhone or tablet to get the latest headlines and gossip. The music industry has also taken a hit, with the amount of illegal piracy that goes on, resulting in a dramatic decrease in compact disc sales.
However, there are conflicting opinions on this. Study of census results in England and Wales since 1871 finds the rise of machines has been a job creator rather than making working humans obsolete. In the 1800s it was the Luddites smashing weaving machines. These days retail staff worry about automatic checkouts. Sooner or later taxi drivers will be fretting over self-driving cars. The battle between man and machines goes back centuries. Are they taking our jobs? Or are they merely easing our workload? A study by economists at the consultancy Deloitte seeks to shed new light on the relationship between jobs and the rise of technology by trawling through census data for England and Wales going back to 1871. Their conclusion is unremittingly cheerful: rather than destroying jobs, technology has been a “great job-creating machine”. Findings by Deloitte such as a fourfold rise in bar staff since the 1950s or a surge in the number of hairdressers this century suggest to the authors that technology has increased spending power, therefore creating new demand and new jobs. “Machines will take on more repetitive and laborious tasks, but seem no closer to eliminating the need for human labour than at any time in the last 150 years.”- analysts at Deloitte conclude.
Q. What is the overall tone of the passage?
  • a)
    Optimistic
  • b)
    Analytical
  • c)
    Acerbic
  • d)
    Lampooning
Correct answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer?

Rahul Desai answered
  • Optimistic: The tendency to expect the best and see the best in all things. There's a lot of bad stuff going on in the world today. Yet there is also a belief that the world can and will be a better place one day if we're willing to work for it. This would be an example of an optimistic tone.
  • Analytical: The characteristic of an analytical tone is the presence of reasons or logic/ justifications to support something. In such passages, the author tries to analyze an issue, presenting the pros and cons, or compares two or more things and tells you why he feels something is better etc.
  • Acerbic: The author reveals his disagreement with a particular theory or may express his disdain towards a person in an acerbic tone.
  • Lampooning: When a writer or an artist makes fun of someone or something, by imitating the same thing in a funny way, it is called “lampooning.”
  • Descriptive: The descriptive passages just explain a particular situation in detail. The author does not present his own views and does not go into the how and why things.
Since the passage analyses both pros and cons of 'technology', the tone of the passage is 'analytical'.

Direction: Read the passage carefully and answer the questions which follow. Some words may be highlighted for you.
An American explorer has found plastic waste on the seafloor while breaking the record for the deepest ever dive. Victor Vescovo descended nearly 11km (seven miles) to the deepest place in the ocean - the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench. He spent four hours exploring the bottom of the trench in his submersible, built to withstand the immense pressure of the deep. He found sea creatures, but also found a plastic bag and sweet wrappers. It is the third time humans have reached the ocean's extreme depth. The first dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench took place in 1960 by US Navy lieutenant Don Walsh and Swiss engineer Jacques Piccard in a vessel called the bathyscaphe Trieste. Movie director James Cameron then made a solo plunge half a century later in 2012 in his bright green sub. 
The latest descent, which reached 10,927m (35,849ft) beneath the waves, is now the deepest by 11m - making Victor Vescovo the new record holder. As well as the Mariana Trench in the Pacific, in the last six months dives have also taken place in the Puerto Rico Trench in the Atlantic Ocean (8,376m/27,480ft down), the South Sandwich Trench in the Southern Ocean (7,433m/24,388ft) and the Java Trench in the Indian Ocean (7,192m/23,596ft). The final challenge will be to reach the bottom of the Molloy Deep in the Arctic Ocean, which is currently scheduled for August 2019. The 4.6m-long, 3.7m-high submersible - called the DSV Limiting Factor - was built by the US-based company Triton Submarines, with the aim of having a vessel that could make repeated dives to any part of the ocean. 
After the Five Deeps Expedition is complete later this year, the plan is to pass the submersible onto science institutions so researchers can continue to use it. The challenges of exploring the deep ocean - even with robotic vehicles - has made the ocean trenches one of the last frontiers on the planet. Once thought to be remote, desolate areas, the deep sea teems with life. There is also growing evidence that they are carbon sinks, playing a role in regulating the Earth's chemistry and climate.
Q. Which among the following is opposite in meaning to the word 'beneath'?
  • a)
    Adrift
  • b)
    Aloft
  • c)
    Assemble
  • d)
    Attach
Correct answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer?

Rahul Desai answered
  • Let us look at the meaning of the word "Beneath":
    • Beneath: extending or directly underneath.
  • Let us look at the meaning of the word "Aloft":
    • Aloft: up in or into the air; overhead.
  • Hence, "Aloft" is opposite in meaning to the word "Beneath".

Direction: Read the passage and answer the questions that follow:
Mosquitoes can transmit pathogens that cause many human diseases, such as malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, chikungunya, and Zika fever. Many of these diseases can be physically devastating and even fatal. For example, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are over 200 million new cases of malaria per year worldwide, resulting in over 400,000 deaths, most of them children under the age of 5. Zika fever is caused by a virus transmitted to humans primarily by the bite of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Symptoms in infected human adults are typically mild, but if the virus infects a pregnant woman it can be transmitted to the developing fetus and affect brain development, causing a condition called microcephaly. To reduce the number of A. aegypti mosquitoes that may carry Zika virus, researchers at a biotechnology company called Oxitec have produced genetically modified (GM) A. aegypti mosquitoes that when released into the wild, mate with wild mosquitoes, and any offspring produced die before becoming adults.
The fluorescence gene is used to_________ GM mosquitoes. The lethality gene, which is more accurately called tetracycline transcriptional activator variant (or tTAV), encodes a protein that blocks transcription of several other genes that are essential to mosquito development. GM mosquito larvae that produce the tTAV protein die before reaching maturity. However, the tTAV protein cannot prevent the transcription of other genes when it is bound to the antibiotic tetracycline. Therefore, tetracycline acts as a repressor of the lethality gene, or, in other words, its antidote. In the lab, the GM mosquito larvae are reared in water containing tetracycline and develop normally into adult mosquitoes. When adult GM mosquitoes are released into the wild and breed with wild, non-GM mosquitoes, their offspring inherit the lethality gene. Without tetracycline in the environment to protect them, the offspring die. 
In one study, Oxitec scientists released GM mosquitoes into a neighborhood in Brazil. Sustained release over the course of a year led to a reduction of the local Aedes aegypti population by 80% to 95% according to different measures (Carvalho et al., 2015). The scientists chose densely populated neighborhoods for their study because mosquito-borne diseases can spread most easily in areas where lots of humans and mosquitoes are present. They hypothesized that if they could reduce both the population size of the A. aegypti mosquitoes and the mosquito population density, they would reduce the probability that a person becomes infected with a pathogen spread by these mosquitoes. (An activity that shows how scientists measure mosquito density, based on data from Oxitec scientists, is available on the BioInteractive website as “Tracking Genetically Modified Mosquitoes.”) 
Q. Which of these is antonym to the the word 'sustained' given in the passage?
  • a)
    nourished 
  • b)
    sporadic
  • c)
    back
  • d)
    relieved
Correct answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer?

Rahul Desai answered
Sporadic - this is the most appropriate option.
Sustained means maintained at length without interruption or weakening: LASTING, PROLONGED, meaning of the rest of the words are given below.
nourished: to promote the growth of.
Sporadic: occurring occasionally, singly, or in irregular or random instances.
relieved: experiencing or showing relief especially from anxiety or pent-up emotions.
Sporadic is the most appropriate option.

Direction: Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the given five alternatives.
The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Wednesday left policy rates unchanged at record low levels as it was still unsure about the sustainability of economic recovery due to the second wave of Covid-19 infections.
The central bank, however, announced a bond-buying calendar that will ensure that borrowers reap the benefits of a low-interest rate regime.
The repo rate, the main policy rate (it is the rate at which the RBI lends money to commercial banks), has been retained at 4 percent because the MPC wants to ensure that “the prospects of sustained recovery are well secured”. “The renewed jump in Covid-19 infections in certain parts of the country and the associated localized lockdowns could dampen the demand for contact-intensive services, restrain growth impulses, and prolong the return to normalcy. In such an environment, continued policy support remains necessary,” the MPC stated. India recently became the second country after the US to report daily fresh infections of over 100,000.
In Wednesday’s statement, the MPC retained its assessment of FY22 GDP growth of 10.5 percent. It also raised its projection for consumer price inflation a bit to 5.2 percent for the first half of the current fiscal year.
The RBI announced a government securities acquisition programme (GSAP), essentially a calendar of its bond-buying programme, starting with Rs 1 lakh crore of securities purchases in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
This new GSAP programme will run along with the RBI’s regular open market operations and other liquidity management facilities, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das reiterated in a post-policy announcement interaction. Earlier, the central bank had committed that it would purchase not less than Rs 3 lakh crore of bond purchases in FY22.
Meanwhile, the rupee lost 1.5 percent Wednesday, its biggest single-day fall in 20 months, as the RBI laid out plans for the government bond-buying programme.
Government bond yields have been rising sharply since the Centre announced a big borrowing programme for the current fiscal. That, along with the rise in sovereign bond yields in the rest of the world, and inflation fears, meant that the yield on the 10-year benchmark government bond, an average of 5.93 percent between April 2020 and January 2021, had risen to a high of 6.25 percent in March.
Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions — when there is demand for bonds such as due to extra buying from RBI, bond prices go up while yields come down.
Government security yields represent the risk-free rate in the economy and act as a base for all other interest rates. Thus, between February and March-end, yields on AAA corporate bonds (the highest rated) increased by as much as 31 basis points, despite the RBI not increasing rates or withdrawing liquidity.
Corporate bond issuance in February at Rs 45,685 crore moderated from its peak of Rs 88,130 crore recorded in December 2020. In effect, the rising bond yields weakened the central bank’s easy monetary stance and it had to do something about it.
The RBI’s bond purchase calendar will give confidence to bond market participants that a huge supply of government borrowings will not drive up yields too much. It also supports the easy monetary policy stance at a time when the second wave adds to uncertainty about economic growth and inflation.
“The evolving CPI inflation trajectory is likely to be subjected to both upside and downside pressures,” said the MPC. It said that the bumper food grain production and imports should keep a lid on food prices but warned about high international commodity prices, increased logistics costs, and heightened inflation expectations of households as risk factors.
The central bank also extended measures to improve credit flow to the economy, some of which were introduced last year to fight the pandemic. It extended its long-term repo operations (lending money to banks), extended refinance facilities for NABARD and SIDBI to help MSMEs, and made it easier for banks to continue lending to sectors such as agriculture and MSMEs via NBFCs.
Q. Choose the synonym of the word 'Restrain'.
  • a)
    Compel
  • b)
    Utter
  • c)
    Constant
  • d)
    Impede
Correct answer is option 'D'. Can you explain this answer?

Rahul Desai answered
  • The meaning of 'Restrain' is 'prevent or stop'.
  • The meaning of the word 'Impede' is 'prevent or delay'.
  • Hence, the word 'Impede' is the synonym of the word 'Restrain'.
  • Therefore, option (D) is the answer.

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the questions by selecting the correct/most appropriate options:
 Increased time constraints and the need for convenience in raising children appear to offset parents' concerns about the future when it comes to their carbon footprints, according to new research by University of Wyoming economists and a colleague in Sweden.
UW's Jason Shogren and Linda Thunstrom, along with Jonas Nordstrom of the Lund University School of Economics and Management, have documented that two-adult households with children emit over 25 percent more carbon dioxide than two-adult households without children. Their research appears April 15 in PLOS One, a journal published by the Public Library of Science.
"While having children makes people focus more on the future and, presumably, care more about the environment, our study suggests that parenthood does not cause people to become 'greener,'" Shogren and Thunstrom say. "In fact, the difference in CO2 emissions between parents and non-parents is substantial, and that's primarily because of increased transportation and food consumption changes." The study involved an analysis of expenditures on goods and services by households in Sweden. The researchers found that parents with children at home consume goods and services that emit CO2 in the areas of food, such as meat, and transportation, such as gasoline, at higher rates than childless households.
The economists note that time constraints become more binding, and convenience may become more important when people have children." Parents may need to be in more places in one day," resulting in people driving themselves instead of using public transportation or bicycling, the researchers wrote. "They also need to feed more people. Eating more pre-prepared, red meat carbon-intensive meals may add convenience and save time."The disparity in the carbon footprints of Swedish households with and without children is particularly striking, as concerns about climate change are more pronounced in Sweden than most other developed countries. Most Swedes believe climate change is real and have accepted sizable CO2 taxes, and households with children are subsidized, which helps to alleviate some of the time crunches for parents. Sweden has generous parental leave and subsidized daycare, and parents have a legal right to reduced work hours.
"If we're finding these results in Sweden, it's pretty safe to assume that the disparity in carbon footprints between parents and nonparents is even bigger in most other Western countries," Thunstrom says -- though she notes that Sweden also has one of the world's highest female labour participation rates, which may add to the time constraints of household with children. "Becoming a parent can transform a person -- he or she thinks more about the future and worries about future risks imposed on their children and progeny," Shogren says. "But, while having children might be transformational, our results suggest that parents' concerns about climate change do not cause them to be 'greener' than non-parent adults."
Q. Choose the word which is most nearly the OPPOSITE in meaning to the word 'Alleviate' as highlighted in the passage. 
  • a)
    Allay
  • b)
    Intensify
  • c)
    Appease
  • d)
    Lucid
Correct answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer?

Rahul Desai answered
  • Let's see the meanings of the given words-
    • Alleviate→ make less severe.
    • Allay→ Diminish or end.
    • Intensify→ make or become more intense.
    • Appease→ placate (to pacify)
    • Lucid→ Clear and easy to understand.
    • Torrent→ A strong and fast-moving stream of water or other liquid.
Hence, according to the meanings of the given words, the correct opposite is 'Intensify.'

Direction: Read the passage and answer the questions. Some words may be highlighted. Read carefully.
Technology. Whether you find that you embrace every new update, or struggle to keep up with the changes, its effect on our day-to-day lives is unmistakable. Recent technological developments are vastly changing the way we live, and in particular, the way we work. With the job market a competitive and ever-evolving arena, determining your career path is more than just following your passions and skills, it’s about being adaptive in this digital age and understanding what skills and jobs are in high demand, and which are facing potential extinction. It’s important to try not to feel disorientated or uncomfortable with these rapid changes, but instead, change your mindset and embrace the opportunities technology brings and focus on the right skills to increase your employability and succeed in the new tech-savvy work scene. Although technological innovation offers many new and exciting opportunities and career paths, there is also the downside of careers becoming obsolete, leaving people without a job. This is not a recent issue either, we’ve experienced years of machines replacing muscle power as the routine, autonomous tasks are taken over by technology. With the internet serving a plethora of information, jobs like the traditional travel agent have been almost wiped out entirely in favour of online websites that allow us to find the cheapest deals for flights and accommodation with just a click of a button. We are seeing an increase in ‘self-service’ with grocery store check-outs and airport check-ins opting for automation over employees. It’s these entry-level and part-time jobs where we are seeing technological systems making the greatest impact. We’ve also witnessed other societal issues emerging, such as businesses going bust with technology replacing products. Remember going down to the local video store to rent a few DVDs? Or when libraries were a place people actually went to rent a book? In order to keep up to date with the latest trends in IT, businesses are beginning to embrace technology in recruitment, operations, marketing and production. With new IT commodities like Netflix, iTunes and eBooks, products are moving from the tangible to the digital at an alarming rate, causing numerous stores to go out of business. Newspapers and magazines are struggling to sell copies, with many people preferring to use their iPhone or tablet to get the latest headlines and gossip. The music industry has also taken a hit, with the amount of illegal piracy that goes on, resulting in a dramatic decrease in compact disc sales.
However, there are conflicting opinions on this. Study of census results in England and Wales since 1871 finds the rise of machines has been a job creator rather than making working humans obsolete. In the 1800s it was the Luddites smashing weaving machines. These days retail staff worry about automatic checkouts. Sooner or later taxi drivers will be fretting over self-driving cars. The battle between man and machines goes back centuries. Are they taking our jobs? Or are they merely easing our workload? A study by economists at the consultancy Deloitte seeks to shed new light on the relationship between jobs and the rise of technology by trawling through census data for England and Wales going back to 1871. Their conclusion is unremittingly cheerful: rather than destroying jobs, technology has been a “great job-creating machine”. Findings by Deloitte such as a fourfold rise in bar staff since the 1950s or a surge in the number of hairdressers this century suggest to the authors that technology has increased spending power, therefore creating new demand and new jobs. “Machines will take on more repetitive and laborious tasks, but seem no closer to eliminating the need for human labour than at any time in the last 150 years.”- analysts at Deloitte conclude.
Q. What is the synonym of 'plethora'?
  • a)
    Dearth
  • b)
    Growth
  • c)
    Myriad
  • d)
    Destruction
Correct answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer?

Rahul Desai answered
  • Let's look at the meanings of the given word and marked option:
    • Plethora- a large or excessive amount of something; excess, abundance
    • Myriad- a very large number of something; countless, Infinite
    • Hence from the given meanings, we find that Plethora and Myriad are Synonyms of each other
  • Let's look at the meanings of the other given options: 
    • Dearth- a scarcity or lack of something.
    • Growth- the act or process, or a manner of growing; development; gradual increase
    • Destruction- the action or process of causing so much damage to something that it no longer exists or cannot be repaired.
    • Fruition- the realization or fulfilment of a plan or project.

Direction: Read the passage carefully and answer the questions which follow. Some words may be highlighted for you.
An American explorer has found plastic waste on the seafloor while breaking the record for the deepest ever dive. Victor Vescovo descended nearly 11km (seven miles) to the deepest place in the ocean - the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench. He spent four hours exploring the bottom of the trench in his submersible, built to withstand the immense pressure of the deep. He found sea creatures, but also found a plastic bag and sweet wrappers. It is the third time humans have reached the ocean's extreme depth. The first dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench took place in 1960 by US Navy lieutenant Don Walsh and Swiss engineer Jacques Piccard in a vessel called the bathyscaphe Trieste. Movie director James Cameron then made a solo plunge half a century later in 2012 in his bright green sub. 
The latest descent, which reached 10,927m (35,849ft) beneath the waves, is now the deepest by 11m - making Victor Vescovo the new record holder. As well as the Mariana Trench in the Pacific, in the last six months dives have also taken place in the Puerto Rico Trench in the Atlantic Ocean (8,376m/27,480ft down), the South Sandwich Trench in the Southern Ocean (7,433m/24,388ft) and the Java Trench in the Indian Ocean (7,192m/23,596ft). The final challenge will be to reach the bottom of the Molloy Deep in the Arctic Ocean, which is currently scheduled for August 2019. The 4.6m-long, 3.7m-high submersible - called the DSV Limiting Factor - was built by the US-based company Triton Submarines, with the aim of having a vessel that could make repeated dives to any part of the ocean. 
After the Five Deeps Expedition is complete later this year, the plan is to pass the submersible onto science institutions so researchers can continue to use it. The challenges of exploring the deep ocean - even with robotic vehicles - has made the ocean trenches one of the last frontiers on the planet. Once thought to be remote, desolate areas, the deep sea teems with life. There is also growing evidence that they are carbon sinks, playing a role in regulating the Earth's chemistry and climate.
Q. What is the antonym of the word 'desolate'?
  • a)
    Dilapidated
  • b)
    Populous
  • c)
    Decapitated
  • d)
    Prone
Correct answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer?

Rahul Desai answered
  • Let us look at the meaning of the word "Desolate":
    • Desolate: (of a place) uninhabited and giving an impression of bleak emptiness.
  • Let us look at the meaning of the word "Populous":
    • Populous: having a large population; densely populated.
  • Hence, "Populous" is the correct antonym of "Desolate".

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the questions by selecting the correct/most appropriate options:
Increased time constraints and the need for convenience in raising children appear to offset parents' concerns about the future when it comes to their carbon footprints, according to new research by University of Wyoming economists and a colleague in Sweden.
UW's Jason Shogren and Linda Thunstrom, along with Jonas Nordstrom of the Lund University School of Economics and Management, have documented that two-adult households with children emit over 25 percent more carbon dioxide than two-adult households without children. Their research appears April 15 in PLOS One, a journal published by the Public Library of Science.
"While having children makes people focus more on the future and, presumably, care more about the environment, our study suggests that parenthood does not cause people to become 'greener,'" Shogren and Thunstrom say. "In fact, the difference in CO2 emissions between parents and non-parents is substantial, and that's primarily because of increased transportation and food consumption changes." The study involved an analysis of expenditures on goods and services by households in Sweden. The researchers found that parents with children at home consume goods and services that emit CO2 in the areas of food, such as meat, and transportation, such as gasoline, at higher rates than childless households.
The economists note that time constraints become more binding, and convenience may become more important when people have children." Parents may need to be in more places in one day," resulting in people driving themselves instead of using public transportation or bicycling, the researchers wrote. "They also need to feed more people. Eating more pre-prepared, red meat carbon-intensive meals may add convenience and save time."The disparity in the carbon footprints of Swedish households with and without children is particularly striking, as concerns about climate change are more pronounced in Sweden than most other developed countries. Most Swedes believe climate change is real and have accepted sizable CO2 taxes, and households with children are subsidized, which helps to alleviate some of the time crunches for parents. Sweden has generous parental leave and subsidized daycare, and parents have a legal right to reduced work hours.
"If we're finding these results in Sweden, it's pretty safe to assume that the disparity in carbon footprints between parents and nonparents is even bigger in most other Western countries," Thunstrom says -- though she notes that Sweden also has one of the world's highest female labour participation rates, which may add to the time constraints of household with children. "Becoming a parent can transform a person -- he or she thinks more about the future and worries about future risks imposed on their children and progeny," Shogren says. "But, while having children might be transformational, our results suggest that parents' concerns about climate change do not cause them to be 'greener' than non-parent adults."
Q. Choose the word which is most nearly the SIMILAR in meaning to the word 'Striking' as highlighted in the passage. 
  • a)
    Catchy
  • b)
    Dull
  • c)
    Punishment
  • d)
    Shining
Correct answer is option 'A'. Can you explain this answer?

Rahul Desai answered
Let's see the meanings of the given words-
  • Striking (adjective.)→ Noticeable or very unusual or easily noticed, and therefore attracting a lot of attention 
    • For e.g.- The contrast is striking, and it is not difficult to understand. 
  • Catchy (adjective)→ likely to attract interest or attention: a catchy title for a movie. 
    • For e.g.- The songs were both catchy and original.
  • ​Thus according to the above-mentioend meaning of both words, the option is correct and therefore the answer.

Direction: Read the passage carefully and answer the questions which follow. Some words may be highlighted for you.
An American explorer has found plastic waste on the seafloor while breaking the record for the deepest ever dive. Victor Vescovo descended nearly 11km (seven miles) to the deepest place in the ocean - the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench. He spent four hours exploring the bottom of the trench in his submersible, built to withstand the immense pressure of the deep. He found sea creatures, but also found a plastic bag and sweet wrappers. It is the third time humans have reached the ocean's extreme depth. The first dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench took place in 1960 by US Navy lieutenant Don Walsh and Swiss engineer Jacques Piccard in a vessel called the bathyscaphe Trieste. Movie director James Cameron then made a solo plunge half a century later in 2012 in his bright green sub. 
The latest descent, which reached 10,927m (35,849ft) beneath the waves, is now the deepest by 11m - making Victor Vescovo the new record holder. As well as the Mariana Trench in the Pacific, in the last six months dives have also taken place in the Puerto Rico Trench in the Atlantic Ocean (8,376m/27,480ft down), the South Sandwich Trench in the Southern Ocean (7,433m/24,388ft) and the Java Trench in the Indian Ocean (7,192m/23,596ft). The final challenge will be to reach the bottom of the Molloy Deep in the Arctic Ocean, which is currently scheduled for August 2019. The 4.6m-long, 3.7m-high submersible - called the DSV Limiting Factor - was built by the US-based company Triton Submarines, with the aim of having a vessel that could make repeated dives to any part of the ocean. 
After the Five Deeps Expedition is complete later this year, the plan is to pass the submersible onto science institutions so researchers can continue to use it. The challenges of exploring the deep ocean - even with robotic vehicles - has made the ocean trenches one of the last frontiers on the planet. Once thought to be remote, desolate areas, the deep sea teems with life. There is also growing evidence that they are carbon sinks, playing a role in regulating the Earth's chemistry and climate.
Q. What is the tone of the passage?
  • a)
    Descriptive
  • b)
    Analytical
  • c)
    Sarcastic
  • d)
    Impassioned
Correct answer is option 'A'. Can you explain this answer?

Rahul Desai answered
  • Let's have a look at the few lines of the first paragraph:
    • " He found sea creatures, but also found a plastic bag and sweet wrappers. It is the third time humans have reached the ocean's extreme depth. The first dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench took place in 1960 by US Navy lieutenant Don Walsh and Swiss engineer Jacques Piccard in a vessel called the bathyscaphe Trieste."
  • Let's have a look at the few lines of the second paragraph:
    • "The latest descent, which reached 10,927m (35,849ft) beneath the waves, is now the deepest by 11m - making Victor Vescovo the new record holder. As well as the Mariana Trench in the Pacific, in the last six months dives have also taken place in the Puerto Rico Trench in the Atlantic Ocean (8,376m/27,480ft down), the South Sandwich Trench in the Southern Ocean (7,433m/24,388ft) and the Java Trench in the Indian Ocean (7,192m/23,596ft).​"
  • Let's have a look at the few lines of the third paragraph:
    • "After the Five Deeps Expedition is complete later this year, the plan is to pass the submersible onto science institutions so researchers can continue to use it. The challenges of exploring the deep ocean - even with robotic vehicles - has made the ocean trenches one of the last frontiers on the planet."
  • ​After a complete analysis of the above statements, it can be concluded that the tone of the passage is "descriptive" as everything in the passage is explained in a descriptive way.
  • Therefore, "Descriptive" is the correct option here.

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