A passage is given with 5 questions following it. Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.
Henchard's wife acted for the best, but she had involved herself in difficulties. A hundred times she had been upon the point of telling her daughter Elizabeth-Jane the true story of her life, the tragical crisis of which had been the transaction at Weydon Fair, when she was not much older than the girl now beside her. But she had refrained. An innocent maiden had thus grown up in the belief that the relations between the genial sailor and her mother were the ordinary ones that they had always appeared to be. The risk of endangering a child's strong affection by disturbing ideas which had grown with her growth was to Mrs. Henchard too fearful a thing to contemplate. It had seemed, indeed folly to think of making Elizabeth-Jane wise. But Susan Henchard's fear of losing her dearly loved daughter's heart by a revelation had little to do with any sense of wrong-doing on her own part. Her simplicity--the original ground of Henchard's contempt for her--had allowed her to live on in the conviction that Newson had acquired a morally real and justifiable right to her by his purchase-- though the exact bearings and legal limits of that right were vague. It may seem strange to sophisticated minds that a sane young matron could believe in the seriousness of such a transfer; and were there not numerous other instances of the same belief the thing might scarcely be credited. But she was by no means the first or last peasant woman who had religiously adhered to her purchaser, as too many rural records show.
Read the passage given below and then answer the questions given below the passage.
The archaeological site of El Tajin, located in the present-day Mexican State of Veracruz, is remarkable for many reasons. The site boasts many buildings, temples, palaces and ball courts, but the most impressive of all is the stunning Pyramid of the Niches. This temple was obviously of great symbolic importance to the people of El Tajin: it once contained exactly 365 niches, marking its connection to the solar year. Even after the fall of El Tajin, sometime around 1200 A.D., locals kept the temple clear and it was the first part of the city discovered by Europeans.
Unlike many other great Mesoamerican temples, which were completed in stages, the Pyramid of the Niches in El Tajin seems to have been built all at once. Archaeologists speculate that the temple was built sometime between 1100 and 1150 A.D., when El Tajin was at the height of its power. It is made of a locally available sandstone. The stone for the building was quarried from a site along the Cazones River some thirty-five or forty kilometers from El Tajín and then floated there on barges.
The Pyramid of the Niches is rich in symbolism. The 365 niches clearly represent the solar year. In addition, there were once seven levels. Seven times fifty-two is three hundred and sixty four. Fifty-two was an important number for Mesoamerican civilizations: the two Maya calendars would align every fifty-two years, and there are fifty-two visible panels on each face of the Temple of Kukulcan in Chichen Itza. On the monumental stairway, there were once six platform-altars (now there are five), each of which featured three small niches: this reaches a total of eighteen special niches, representing the eighteen months of the Mesoamerican solar calendar.
Consider the following statements. Which of these are correct?
A. The two Mayan calendars would align every 365 years.
B. The temple of El Tajin was built before 1200 AD.
Read the passage and answer the following questions.
With fresh reports that the Islamic State (IS) group has bombed Baghdad to produce the “bloodiest day in months,” it’s high time to take a hard look at the Obama administration’s military effort in the Middle East. Recall that in September of 2014, President Barack Obama announced his strategy “to degrade and ultimately destroy” IS. The White House later fleshed out a “comprehensive strategy featuring nine lines of effort to counter ISIL.” ISIL is another name for the Islamic State group.
In execution of its part of this strategy, the U.S. military has not deployed large numbers of troops but rather used what it calls a “combination of factors“ in order to “enable local ground forces to push back” IS “by providing precision airstrikes, intelligence and advise-and-assist support.”
The perspective from the Middle East is not encouraging. Though information is scanty, what does exist shows that people in the Middle East have a significantly unfavorable view of the U.S. In a recent Pew Global survey, 83 percent of people in Jordan had an “unfavorable” view of the U.S. In Lebanon, it was 60 percent. In Turkey, 58 percent.
Even among Israelis, 63 percent rank Obama as the “worst” president in the last 30 years in relation to their country, despite the fact that there are no Arab armies today that are able to pose a serious threat to Israel.
Perhaps most frustrating is a State Department poll that shows that about 40 percent of Iraqis believe the U.S. is “working to destabilize Iraq and control its natural resources and nearly a third believe that America supports terrorism in general or IS specifically.” Some Iraqis even believe that they were better off under Saddam Hussein.
Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
I. USA has failed to bring about much change in the political conditions in the Middle east.
II. USA had the aim of ending terrorism in the Middle east but has not earned much support there.
III. The strategies adopted by Obama were ineffective and did not play out well.
Read the passage given below and then answer the questions given below the passage.
A European Union (EU) agreement with Britain on relations after Brexit could serve as a model for ties with other countries that want to be as close as possible to the bloc but are not yet ready to join, such as Ukraine and Turkey, Germany’s Foreign Minister said. Britain secured the go-ahead from Brussels to start talks on its future relationship with the EU earlier this month, with London saying it aspires to a closer relationship as a former member than that of any other third country. In an interview with the Funke newspaper group published on Tuesday, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said such a deal could offer a solution to the puzzle of how the bloc of 27 can manage its ties with two other large non-members. “I can’t imagine Turkey or Ukraine becoming EU members in the next few years,” he said. “If we get a smart agreement with Britain regulating relations with Europe after Brexit, that could be a model for other countries, Ukraine and also Turkey.” Turkey, a candidate for EU membership for decades, already has a customs union with the EU which allows the trade of most goods without tariffs. One possibility would be to offer Ankara; "a new, closer form of the customs union”, Mr. Gabriel said, although he also said such a project would have to wait for changes in Turkey’s political environment. Thousands of people, including German citizens, have been detained in Turkey as part of a government crackdown since a failed coup in 2016. An agreement between the EU and Ukraine on a “deep and comprehensive free trade area” formally came into force in September. It aimed at allowing free trade of goods, services and capital, and visa-free travel for people for short stays. Ukraine’s desire for closer ties with the EU was one of the driving forces behind a popular revolt that toppled a pro-Russian President in 2014, leading Moscow to seize Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula and back pro-Russian separatists in a still-unresolved conflict in the east of the country. Mr. Gabriel’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) is preparing for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives on governing together for another four years. On the other hand leading professor Robert Tombs has warned that European Union officials are out to give Britain a bad Brexit deal in order to deter other nations from leaving. Cambridge history professor Robert Tombs said EU chiefs including the likes of Guy Verhofstadt, Jean-Claude Juncker and French President Emmanuel Macron want to make Brexit talks as tough as possible to stop other member states from leaving the bloc. Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, Mr Tombs said: “It could be that this is a bit of play-acting. It could be that they are not very sure what they want. Or both. “But certainly senior people in Europe have said, as I say, they at least want it to look hard-going for us. “If we sat down all smiles and negotiated a trade deal that would be a bit too tempting for other countries. So I think they’ve got to make it look tough.” Mr Tombs said there is a general consensus among EU citizens that Britain “shouldn’t be given an easy ride”. He said: “They are not very happy with us. They feel we have kind of let them down. We’ve rejected them.” The leading professor said Britain’s decision to make a “clean break” from the EU and escape the crumbling bloc could result in other member states following the same path. Mr Tombs said the EU is attempting to turn itself into a state and make the EU “less and less democratic”. He said Britain was right to “make a clean break” and “face up to the fact” that the EU was turning into something the British did not like.
Read the passage given below and then answer the questions given below the passage. Some words may be highlighted for your attention. Read carefully.
One day a man stopped Birbal in the street and began narrating his woes to him. "I am extremely broke and have walked twenty miles to see you," he told Birbal finally, "and all along the way people kept saying you were the most generous man in the country." Birbal knew what the man was seeking. "Are you going back the same way?" he asked. "Yes," said the man. "Will you do me a favor?" "Certainly," said the man. "What do you want me to do?" "Please deny the rumor of my generosity," said Birbal, walking away, praising himself that he can't be fooled so easily. He had noticed the jewels in the man's pocket and knew that he was a thug.