Question : Directions: In this question, a part of the sentence is in bold. Below are given alternatives to the bold part at (1), (2), and (3) which may improve the sentence. Choose the correct alternative. In case, no improvement is needed your answer is (4).

His immediate ambition was to find a place to live in.

(1) strategy

(2) design

(3) aim

(4) No Improvement

Option 1: (1)

Option 2: (2)

Option 3: (3)

Option 4: (4)

Question : Comprehension:

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.

In the stress-ridden world, traditional pastimes that could prove therapeutic are dying for want of patronage. One such is the art of puppetry. The word “puppet” is derived from the Latin word pupa, meaning “doll” or “girl”. Puppets came into being in India in the third century A.D. Here it was honed into a theatrical art. It helped to propagate the works of saints and religious leaders, and also depict stories from epics. Later, it spread to South East Asia. The Cambodian puppeteers inspired the Thais. Java and Bali followed though it didn’t catch on in Sumatra. The Malays followed the Siamese and Japanese styles in the nineteenth century. Gradually, puppets became more sophisticated in appearance, as skilled craftsmen began to make the models. Puppeteers became trained as performers. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, puppet theatres became extremely popular in artistic circles. Writers like George Sands and Goethe organised their own well-prepared puppet shows to entertain their friends. Puppet shows have been mentioned in the literature by Shakespeare, Ben Johnson, and many others.

Basically, there are three kinds of puppets. Shadow puppets are made of translucent leather and coloured vegetable dyes. Buffalo, goat, or sheep skin is treated to become translucent. Limbs are loosely jointed so that they can be made to move separately. A stick is attached vertically in the middle. The movement of the stick causes general movements. But for special movements, single strings attached to the limbs are used. These leather puppets are projected on a screen, which is illuminated by a light source placed behind the puppets. The puppeteer manipulates the puppets to form moving shadows on the screen. He also speaks the parts, sings, or is accompanied by music. String puppets involve puppets that are manipulated by six strings. The performance is on a stage but the puppeteers are never seen. They wear anklets which produce the illusion that the puppets themselves are dancing. The main storyteller recites the storyline, while the puppets perform, and the dialogue and music are provided by the puppeteers. Rod or stick puppets are constructed around the main central rod. A short horizontal bar serves as the shoulders, from which the upper limbs dangle. The arms, made of cloth and stuffed with straw or paper, are jointed or manipulated with other thinner rods. These puppets can be the size of a human being. The puppeteer hides behind the puppet and manipulates it. The coordination of the limbs comes only through practice.

Puppetry is a good communication medium. Messages can be propagated in a realistic way. Puppet making and performing is good occupational therapy for convalescents and physically disabled people. Muscular coordination and manual dexterity improve with effort. However, the best use of this art is that it can provide delightful hours of fun to young and old alike.

Question:

Where did the art of puppetry first come into being?

Option 1: India

Option 2: Bali

Option 3: Cambodia

Option 4: Japan

Question : Directions: In the following question, two statements are given followed by two conclusions I and II. You have to consider the two statements to be true even if they seem to be at variance from commonly known facts. You have to decide which of the given conclusions, if any, follow from the given statements.
Statements:
All parrots are chicks.
All birds are chicks.
Conclusions:
I. Some birds are parrots.
II. All birds are chicks.

Option 1: Both conclusion I and conclusion II follow

Option 2: None of the two conclusions follows

Option 3: Only conclusion I follows

Option 4: Only conclusion II follows

Question : During a division, Pranjal mistakenly took as the dividend a number that was 10% more than the original dividend. He also mistakenly took as the divisor a number that was 25% more than the original divisor. If the correct quotient of the original division problem was 25 and the remainder was 0, what was the quotient that Pranjal obtained, assuming his calculations had no error?

Option 1: 21.75

Option 2: 21.25

Option 3: 28.75

Option 4: 22

Question : Directions: Based on the position in the English alphabetical order, three of the following letter clusters are alike in some manner and one is different. Select the odd letter cluster.

Option 1: IDAY

Option 2: SNJH

Option 3: QLHF

Option 4: VQMK

Question : Comprehension:

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.

You go up a dark, rickety stairwell of a building on a crowded street in Calcutta. You enter a small room. The centre of the room is empty but the corners are stacked with bedrolls, utensils and water bottles. Musical instruments, drums, cymbals and gongs are piled in a corner. Today, the room is filled with the laughter of men and women in colourful attire. Among the happy chorus of congratulations and laughter, the bride Chumki Pal and the groom Sandeep can be seen smiling. They are both blind, as are most of the people surrounding them. Pal is wearing a bright turquoise blue sari. “I know it’s blue because people have told me but I can’t imagine how it looks. But believe me, when I dream, I dream only in colours,” she says. Their romance blossomed when they met as members of Blind Opera, the only one of its kind in the country as well as in Asia.

The 36 spirited members of Blind Opera demonstrate that physical disability is not an obstacle. They enact plays by Rabindranath Tagore, considered challenging even by veteran theatre groups. Blind Opera was launched in 1996 by four theatre aficionados, who took it as a challenge to get together the talents of these visually impaired people. The challenge to present the cast on stage is immense since space management is a problem. To solve this, the directors use ropes to separate the stage and the wings. When the actors step on the rope they know that it is the entrance to the stage. The members cannot see, but they can smell, hear and touch – three elements inherent to any theatre. At Blind Opera, they “believe that the blind can see. That is, they see in their own way, if not in our way, with the help of these abilities.”

For the visually impaired, theatre is the medium for the expression of their creative urges. They respond instinctively; they cannot copy anyone else because they cannot see. Their body language tells the story and hence it is very spontaneous. The members have earned kudos from Calcutta audiences. For the members of the troupe, discovering the language of the body is in a way also a journey of the persona. Coming from diverse backgrounds but bound together by the same disability, they have found an outlet for their creativity through the plays. They do not feel isolated anymore because they can relate to their fellow performers. There is also a greater purpose behind it: to use theatre to build a community and mainstream the huge number of disabled living in isolation. Together they can be a force to demand better facilities in public life. Blind children should enter the mainstream from the beginning. The big dream of the group is to establish a drama school following the ideal of Tagore’s Shantiniketan, offering a platform for creative expression to all those who are economically and socially forced to stay in the periphery. Like Chumki Pal, they all dream in colour.

Question:

How do the actors of Blind Opera ascertain they are on stage?

Option 1: By the cheering of the audience

Option 2: By their sense of smell and touch

Option 3: By their familiarity with the stage

Option 4: By the ropes used to demarcate the area

Question : The following sentence has been split into four segments. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error.

The more harder / you work, / the better / it will be.

Option 1: The more harder

Option 2: you work

Option 3: it will be

Option 4: the better

Question : Comprehension:

In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.

A hummingbird’s brilliant throat colour is not caused by feather (1) ________, but rather by iridescence in the arrangement of the feathers. Light level, moisture, angle of viewing, wear and tear and other factors all (2) ______ just how bright and colourful the throat may appear. Hummingbirds cannot walk or hop, though their feet can be used to (3) _____ sideways while they are perched. These birds have evolved smaller feet to be lighter for more (4) ______ flying. They will use their feet for itching and (5) _______, however.

Question

Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank number 5.

Option 1: preening

Option 2: devouring

Option 3: flouncing

Option 4: scintillating

Question : Rearrange the parts of the sentence in the correct order.

Mediaeval people undertook

P. purify themselves of sin to transform
Q. pilgrimages individually, travelling to
R. themselves through a trial of faith.
S. distant shrines as a penance to

Option 1: PSRQ

Option 2: QPRS

Option 3: SPQR

Option 4: QSPR

Question : Which of the following devices can be used to detect radiant heat?

Option 1: Liquid thermometer

Option 2: Six's maximum and minimum thermometer

Option 3: Constant volume air thermometer

Option 4: Thermopile