Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to the question out of the given four alternatives.

Antarctica is a mostly unpopulated continent. It is the coldest, driest and remotest place in the world. And it is the world's only continent that does not have a native population, no single country owns the Antarctic. However, a number of countries, including Argentina, Australia, Chile, New Zealand, France, and the United Kingdom, have already laid claim to the Antarctic and others will probably follow. In some areas of the continent, two countries claim the same land.

The Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959 and creates the rules for the exploration of the Antarctic. The treaty forbids military activity in the Antarctic, as well as mining. Many countries, however, think that there are valuable materials and minerals locked up under the frozen Antarctic ice. In addition, the treaty bans nuclear testing as well as dumping nuclear waste. The Antarctic Treaty was made to protect the continent and avoid further disputes. By 2048, the treaty must be renewed. New rules and regulations could be imposed by then.

Currently, almost all the 70 bases in the Antarctic are used for research and scientific activity. The snow-covered continent is perfect for tracking satellites and space research because it offers clear blue cloudless skies. Climatologists are studying the development of the ozone layer with growing concern. It was here that a hole in the layer was discovered for the first time, more than 4000 scientists operate the research stations in the Antarctic summer, while only about a thousand populate the continent during the harsh and severe winters.

Environmentalists fear that exploiting Antarctica for military and economic reasons will damage the environment. At present, there is no economic activity in Antarctica, except for cruise ships that travel around the continent. This could change, if a new treaty allows mining in the Antarctic. As mineral resources are dwindling in other areas, nations could turn to Antarctica to find and exploit valuable raw materials.

Some geologists say that there are over 200 billion barrels of oil under the Antarctic Ice. At the moment getting at these reserves would be very expensive. In addition, economic experts claim that there are large amounts of coal, nickel, and copper under the Antarctic ice.

According to the passage, the reserves of which mineral is not found under the Antarctic ice?

Read the passage carefully and answer the question given below it. Certain words/ phrases have been given in bold to help you locate them while answering the question.

The villager has customarily been very conservative in his attitude and approach. He is reluctant to change his traditional way of thinking and doing things. His attitude, in many aspects, is: 'homemade is best. For instance, most cattle farmers in the villages, prefer to feed their cows and buffaloes with a home-mix comprising local oilseeds like mustard or cottonseed, pulses, jaggery, salt etc. It takes numerous visits, hard-convincing, daily trials and experience to convince the rural cattle farmer that compound feeds, scientifically formulated, improve the yields of milk, without any incremental costs.

The age-old values and attitude towards caste, creed, woman, time and money take time to change. The villager has traditionally been a believer in the philosophy of 'karma' or fate'. He has found it more convenient to blame his economic destitution, poor living conditions and straitened social status on 'bhagya', 'karma' or 'fate'. The security that the villagers find in the 'status quo', acts as a disincentive to change and experiment, in the short run. Many of these antiquated attitudes, value systems and outlooks are changing, due to improved levels of awareness and education. However, the rate of change is sluggish. Attitudes have fossilized over the centuries, do take time to change.

When will you call a person conservative in his attitude and approach?

Read the passage carefully and answer the question given below it. Certain words/ phrases have been given in bold to help you locate them while answering the question.

The villager has customarily been very conservative in his attitude and approach. He is reluctant to change his traditional way of thinking and doing things. His attitude, in many aspects, is: 'homemade is best. For instance, most cattle farmers in the villages, prefer to feed their cows and buffaloes with a home-mix comprising local oilseeds like mustard or cottonseed, pulses, jaggery, salt etc. It takes numerous visits, hard-convincing, daily trials and experience to convince the rural cattle farmer that compound feeds, scientifically formulated, improve the yields of milk, without any incremental costs.

The age-old values and attitude towards caste, creed, woman, time and money take time to change. The villager has traditionally been a believer in the philosophy of 'karma' or fate'. He has found it more convenient to blame his economic destitution, poor living conditions and straitened social status on 'bhagya', 'karma' or 'fate'. The security that the villagers find in the 'status quo', acts as a disincentive to change and experiment, in the short run. Many of these antiquated attitudes, value systems and outlooks are changing, due to improved levels of awareness and education. However, the rate of change is sluggish. Attitudes have fossilized over the centuries, do take time to change.

What does the phrase 'home-made is best' imply?

Direction: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows the passage. Your answer should be based on the passage only.

Stuttering is a habit disorder linked with a lack of self-confidence. Basically, for a child to understand a language, there are four stages. The first is learning to understand the spoken language and the second is speaking. Both of these usually develop around the age of two. The third stage is speaking complex sentences, which develops at around 3 and the fourth is when the child recognizes the written alphabet. In 80% of children, while the third and fourth stages are at play, the first two get disturbed because something new is being incorporated into the mind. This is absolutely normal. But what over-cautious mothers do is fret a lot and the child develops a fear which later manifests itself as stuttering. In fact, most textbooks on the stuttering state in bold that, "Had there not been any over-cautious mothers, hardly anyone would have suffered from stuttering". Fluency can be incorporated in the speech of such patients through hypnosis.

Who is basically responsible for developing fear in the child's mind?

Read the passage carefully and answer the question given below it. Certain words/ phrases have been given in bold to help you locate them while answering the question.

The villager has customarily been very conservative in his attitude and approach. He is reluctant to change his traditional way of thinking and doing things. His attitude, in many aspects, is: 'homemade is best. For instance, most cattle farmers in the villages, prefer to feed their cows and buffaloes with a home-mix comprising local oilseeds like mustard or cottonseed, pulses, jaggery, salt etc. It takes numerous visits, hard-convincing, daily trials and experience to convince the rural cattle farmer that compound feeds, scientifically formulated, improve the yields of milk, without any incremental costs.

The age-old values and attitude towards caste, creed, woman, time and money take time to change. The villager has traditionally been a believer in the philosophy of 'karma' or fate'. He has found it more convenient to blame his economic destitution, poor living conditions and straitened social status on 'bhagya', 'karma' or 'fate'. The security that the villagers find in the 'status quo', acts as a disincentive to change and experiment, in the short run. Many of these antiquated attitudes, value systems and outlooks are changing, due to improved levels of awareness and education. However, the rate of change is sluggish. Attitudes have fossilized over the centuries, do take time to change.

 What is the best method to convince the average villager about the superiority of a new cattle feed?

Direction: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows the passage. Your answer to this item should be based on the passage only.

Speech is a great blessing, but it can also be a great curse, for a while it helps us to make our intentions and desires known to our fellows, it can also if we use it carelessly, make our attitude completely misunderstood. A slip of the tongue, the use of an unusual word, or an ambiguous word, and so on, may create an enemy where we had hoped to win a friend. Again, different classes of people use different vocabularies, and the ordinary speech of an educated may strike an uneducated listener as pompous. Unwittingly, we may use a word which bears a different meaning to our listener from what it does to men of our own class. Thus, speech is not a gift to use lightly without thought, but one which demands careful handling. Only a fool will express himself alike to all kinds and conditions to men.

A ‘slip of the tongue’ means something said _____.

Read the following paragraph, comprehend, and answer the question given below:

The first important traveller to India was a Greek named Megasthenes. He lived here for a number of years and wrote about our country and people in his book Indica. This is not available now, but some little pieces are still there. With their help, it is possible to make a picture of India as it was at that time.
About 2400 years ago, Seleucus, a general of Alexander the Great, tried to recapture the territories once held by his master but afterward conquered by Chandragupta Maurya. Chandragupta defeated him in 305 B.C. The defeated Seleucus sent Megasthenes as his ambassador to the court of Chandragupta.
Megasthenes observed our two largest rivers, the Ganges and the Sindhu. These rivers were used for journeys, only during the rainy season they could not be used because they were flooded. Roads were also used, and the best-known road ran from the northwest to Patliputra. It had shady trees, signposts, rest houses, and wells along with it and maybe called a forerunner of the present Grand Trunk Road.
The numerous trees that grew in India also attracted his attention. The banyan tree whose branches grew downwards and took root particularly charmed him.
About the people of India, Megasthenes says that Indians were generally tall and slim. Most People wore a white cotton dress, which contrasted with their dark complexion. The rich, however, wore gaily coloured linen clothes. They wore ivory carvings and gold ornaments.
Megasthenes undoubtedly admired the Indian character. He says that the Indians behaved in an orderly manner. They just followed their customs and traditions. They did not care for written contracts. In business deals, they took a man at his word.

According to the author, the Ganges and the Sindhu could not be used in the rainy season because:

Read the following paragraph, comprehend, and answer the question given below:

The first important traveller to India was a Greek named Megasthenes. He lived here for a number of years and wrote about our country and people in his book Indica. This is not available now, but some little pieces are still there. With their help, it is possible to make a picture of India as it was at that time.
About 2400 years ago, Seleucus, a general of Alexander the Great, tried to recapture the territories once held by his master but afterwards conquered by Chandragupta Maurya. Chandragupta defeated him in 305 B.C. The defeated Seleucus sent Megasthenes as his ambassador to the court of Chandragupta.
Megasthenes observed our two largest rivers, the Ganges and the Sindhu. These rivers were used for journeys, only during the rainy season they could not be used because they were flooded. Roads were also used, and the best-known road ran from the northwest to Patliputra. It had shady trees, signposts, rest houses, and wells along with it and maybe called a forerunner of the present Grand Trunk Road.
The numerous trees that grew in India also attracted his attention. The banyan tree whose branches grew downwards and took root particularly charmed him.
About the people of India, Megasthenes says that Indians were generally tall and slim. Most People wore a white cotton dress, which contrasted with their dark complexion. The rich, however, wore gaily coloured linen clothes. They wore ivory carvings and gold ornaments.
Megasthenes undoubtedly admired the Indian character. He says that the Indians behaved in an orderly manner. They just followed their customs and traditions. They did not care for written contracts. In business deals, they took a man at his word.

Many people wore a cotton dress because

Direction: Read the following passage carefully and answer the question given below it. 

Another marvel on the far side of the lake was a little farm that felt like a secret in the city. Some of the gaunt Karnataka labourers even looked away when children came to dig and eat. But the greatest pleasure, this side of the lake, was the jamun tree. A few months back, Kalu and Sunil had a feast in the branches, shaking down a few berries for Mirchi. That's when they came to know the second-coolest thing about the jamun tree: There were parrots nesting in it. Since then, some other road boys had been capturing the parrots one by one to sell at the Marol Market, but Sunil had brought Kalu around to the belief that the birds should be left as they were. Sunil listened for their squawks each morning, to make sure they hadn't been abducted in the night.
Kalu's expertise was in the recycling bins inside airline catering compounds. Private waste collectors emptied these dumpsters on a regular basis, but Kalu had mastered the trash truck's schedules. The night before pickup, Kalu would climb over the barbed-wire fences and raid the overflowing bins.
Kalu's routine had become known by the local police, however. He kept getting caught until some constables proposed a different arrangement. Kalu could keep his metal scrap if he'd pass on information he picked up on the road about local drug dealers.  

What did Sunil think of parrots?