Direction: You have two brief passages with five questions following each passage. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.
PASSAGE
In an effort to produce the largest, fastest and most luxurious ship afloat, the British built the S.S. Titanic. It was so superior to anything else on the seas that it was dubbed ‘unsinkable’. So sure of this were the owners that they provided only twenty life boats and rafts, less than one-half the number needed for the 2,227 passengers on board. Many passengers were aboard the night it rammed an iceberg only two days at sea and more than halfway between England and its New-York destination. Because the luxury liner was travelling so fast, it was impossible to avoid the ghostly looking iceberg. An unextinguished fire also contributed to the ship’s submersion. Panic increased the number of casualties as people jumped into the icy water or fought to be among the few to board the life boats. Four hours after the mishap, another ship, the ‘Carpathia’, rescued 705 survivors. The infamous S. S. Titanic had enjoyed only two days of sailing glory on its maiden voyage in 1912 before plunging into 12,000 feet of water near the coast of Newfoundland where it lies today.
SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
infamous : well-known for being bad or evil.
plunging :moving or making somebody/something more suddenly forwards and/or down wards.
afluat : floating on water
rammed : to drive into/hit another vehicle, ship, etc.
with force (vehicle, ship, etc.) destination : a place to which somebody/something is going/being sent
submersion : the state of being under water/liquid
panic :a feeling of great fear
casualities : persons killed/injured in a war/an accident
mishap :a small accident
rescued : to save somebody/something from a dangerous situation
maiden : being the first of its kind
voyage :a long journey (sea, space)