Direction: You have brief passages with 5-10 questions following each passage. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.
PASSAGE
The environment comprises all the physical, social and cultural factors and conditions influencing the existence or the development of an organism. Due to indiscriminate industrialization, man has created a state of decadence. He has continuously tampered “with nature which has resulted in the threat to the sustenance of mankind. Although, attempts have been made to restore nature to its previous state of purity and serenity, the efforts have not been wholehearted. Earth is the home we all share and would pass on to our future generations as their legacy. But if they inherit the present state of the world, they would be unable to sustain themselves. Man has steadily improved the technologies and other means necessary for higher production of wealth and for the availability of devices that could give more physical and mental pleasures. The industrial revolution led to a drastic escalation of earth’s surface temperature. Man exploited nature for his benefits, without any foresight as to what the implications of his actions would be.Indiscriminate industrialization resulted in urban migration as the rural poor settled in cities in search of opportunities. Cities, already facing a population crisis could not accommodate the migrants and this led to the development of slums. This has resulted in increased pressure on the available resources and further degradation of the environment.
SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
decadence : behaviour, attributes, etc. which show a fall in standards, especially moral ones, and an interest in pleasure and enjoyment rather than more serious things.
sustenance : the food and drink that people, animals and plants need to live and stay healthy.
serenity : calmness and peacefulness

Direction: You have brief passages with 5-10 questions following each passage. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.
PASSAGE
An old shepherd was playing on a flute on the marshlands outside Rome. He played so sweetly that a lovely fairy came and listened to him. “Will you marry me, and play to me in my castle ?” she said. “Yes, yes, lovely lady !” said the shepherd. The fairy put a ring on his finger. At once he became a handsome young man dressed in princely robes. “But 1 must first go to Rome and bid farewell to my friends”, he said. The fairy gave him a golden coach with twelve white horses. As he rode in State to Rome, he met the young Queen of Italy, who invited him to her palace. The shepherd saw that he had won the Queen’s heart. He resolved to marry her and become the King of Italy and let the fairy go. So when he and the Queen were alone together he knelt down and took her hand, saying : “Marry me, dearest and I will help you to govern Italy.” But as soon as he spoke he turned into an old and rugged shepherd. “What is this horrible beggar doing here ?” cried the Queen. “Whip him out of the palace.”