Madras University All Questions

Question : Comprehension:
Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.
It is not an exaggeration to say that the question of where and when the Black Death, the deadliest pandemic ever, originated is one of the biggest mysteries in human history. After all, the Black Death was the first wave of the second plague pandemic of the 14th to early 19th centuries. It killed some 50-60% of the population in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa and an unaccountable number of people in Central Asia. Different proposals, based on competing theories, have been put forward. But in 2017, I came across some records describing an intriguing medieval cemetery in Kara-Djigach, Chüy Valley, northern Kyrgyzstan, which I suspected may hold the key. As part of a multidisciplinary team co-led by Maria Spyrou at the University of Tubingen, we have now investigated several specimens from individuals buried at that site – and come up with an answer. The idea that the Black Death originated in the east – territories overlapping, roughly speaking, Central Asia, Mongolia and China – dates back to the contemporaries of the pandemic in Europe and the Islamic world. The modern, academic Chinese origin theory dates back to at least 1756-8 and a publication about the history of Central Asia by French scholar Joseph de Guignes.
How does the passage describe the Black Death?

Option 1: The first wave of the second plague pandemic

Option 2: The worst specimen of human created tragedy

Option 3: The specimen of human evolution and its evidence

Option 4: The initiator of all the future pandemics

Question : Comprehension:
Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.
It is not an exaggeration to say that the question of where and when the Black Death, the deadliest pandemic ever, originated is one of the biggest mysteries in human history. After all, the Black Death was the first wave of the second plague pandemic of the 14th to early 19th centuries. It killed some 50-60% of the population in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa and an unaccountable number of people in Central Asia. Different proposals, based on competing theories, have been put forward. But in 2017, I came across some records describing an intriguing medieval cemetery in Kara-Djigach, Chüy Valley, northern Kyrgyzstan, which I suspected may hold the key. As part of a multidisciplinary team co-led by Maria Spyrou at the University of Tubingen, we have now investigated several specimens from individuals buried at that site – and come up with an answer. The idea that the Black Death originated in the east – territories overlapping, roughly speaking, Central Asia, Mongolia and China – dates back to the contemporaries of the pandemic in Europe and the Islamic world. The modern, academic Chinese origin theory dates back to at least 1756-8 and a publication about the history of Central Asia by French scholar Joseph de Guignes.
What is the theme of the passage?

Option 1: Pitfall of Black Death

Option 2: Impact of Black Death

Option 3: Origin of Black Death

Option 4: History of Black Death

Question : Comprehension:
Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.
It is not an exaggeration to say that the question of where and when the Black Death, the deadliest pandemic ever, originated is one of the biggest mysteries in human history. After all, the Black Death was the first wave of the second plague pandemic of the 14th to early 19th centuries. It killed some 50–60% of the population in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, and an unaccountable number of people in Central Asia. Different proposals, based on competing theories, have been put forward. But in 2017, I came across some records describing an intriguing medieval cemetery in Kara-Djigach, Chüy Valley, northern Kyrgyzstan, which I suspected may hold the key. As part of a multidisciplinary team co-led by Maria Spyrou at the University of Tubingen, we have now investigated several specimens from individuals buried at that site and come up with an answer. The idea that the Black Death originated in the east—territories overlapping, roughly speaking, Central Asia, Mongolia, and China—dates back to the contemporaries of the pandemic in Europe and the Islamic world. The modern, academic Chinese origin theory dates back at least to 1756–8, and a publication about the history of Central Asia by French scholar Joseph de Guignes.

Which of the following may be the probable origin of the Black Death, according to the passage?

Option 1: Kyrgyzstan

Option 2: India

Option 3: Mongolia

Option 4: China

Question : Comprehension:

Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.

Indian mathematician Nikhil Srivastava, working at the University of California in Berkeley, is among the winners of the Prestigious 2021 Michael and Sheila Held Prize, announced last week by the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Adam W. Marcus, EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne), and Daniel Alan Spielman, Yale University, are the other two winners.

"Marcus, Spielman, and Srivastava solved longstanding questions on the Kadison-Singer problem and on Ramanujan graphs, and in the process, they uncovered a deep new connection between linear algebra, the geometry of polynomials, and graph theory that has inspired the next generation of theoretical computer scientists," the NAS said in a statement.

An Indian national, Nikhil was born in New Delhi in November 1983 and has attended educational institutions across the world—Syria, the UK, Saudi Arabia, and the US—as his father was an Indian Foreign Services officer, who has served as the Indian ambassador to Uganda and Denmark. At present, Nikhil is an associate professor of mathematics at UC Berkeley. The Michael and Sheila Held Prize is presented annually to honour outstanding, innovative, creative, and influential research in the area of combinatorial mathematics.

Question:
The Michael and Sheila Held Prize is presented:

Option 1: every two years to honour the best researchers in mathematics

Option 2: twice every year to honour young and influential researchers in mathematics

Option 3: every year to honour new thinking and research in a specific area of mathematics

Option 4: every year to honour those who solve longstanding problems in graph theory and linear algebra