Read the passage given below.
1. That large animals require luxuriant vegetation has been a general assumption which has passed from one work to another, but I do not hesitate to say that it is completely false, and that it has vitiated the reasoning of geologists on some points of great interest in the ancient history of the world. The prejudice has probably been derived from India, and the Indian islands, where troops of elements, noble forest, and impenetrable jungles, are associated together in every one’s mind. If, however, we refer to any work of travels through the southern parts of Africa, we shall find allusions in almost every page either to the desert character of the country, or to the numbers of large animals inhabiting it. The same thing is rendered evident by the many engravings which have been published of various parts of the interior.
2. Dr. Andrew Smith, who has lately succeeded in passing the Tropic of Capricorn, informs me that, taking into consideration the whole of the southern part of Africa, there can be no doubt of its being a sterile country. On the southern coasts there are some fine forests, but with these exceptions, the traveler may pass for days together through open plains, covered by a poor and scanty vegetation. Now, if we look to the animals inhabitants these wide plains, we shall find their numbers extraordinarily great, and their bulk immense.
3. It may be supposed that although the species are numbers, the individuals of each kind are few. By the kindness of Dr. Smith, I am enabled to show that the case is very different. He informs me, that in last 24 hours in one day’s march with the bullock-wagons, he saw, without wandering to any great distance on either side, between one hundred and fifty rhinoceroses, the same day he saw several herds of giraffes, amounting together to nearly a hundred.
4. At the distance of a little more than one hour’s march from their place of encampment on the previous night, his party actually killed at one spot eight hippopotamuses, and saw many more. In this same river there were likewise crocodiles. Of course it was a case quite extraordinary, to see so many great animals crowded together, but it evidently proves that they must exist in great numbers. Dr. Smith describes the country he passes through that day, as ‘being thinly covered with grass, and bushes about four feet high, and still more thinly with mimosa-trees.’
5. Besides these large animals, anyone the least acquainted with the natural history of the Cape has read of the herbs of antelopes, which can be compared only with the flocks of migratory birds. The numbers indeed of the lion, panther, and hyena, and the multitude of birds of prey, plainly speak of the abundance of the smaller quadrupeds: one evening seven lions were counted at the same time prowling round Dr. Smith’s encampment. As this able naturalist remarked to me, the carnage each day in Southern Africa must indeed be terrific! I confess it is truly surprising how such a number of animals can find support in a country producing so little food.
6. The larger quadrupeds no doubt roam over wide tracts in search of it; and their food chiefly consists of underwood, which probably contains much nutrient in a small bulk. Dr. Smith also informs me that the vegetation has a rapid growth; no sooner is a part consumed than its place is supplied by a fresh stock. There can be no doubt, however, that our ideas respecting the apparent amount of food necessary for the support of large quadrupeds are much exaggerated. The belief that where large quadrupeds exist, the vegetation must necessarily be luxuriant, is the more remarkable, because the converse is far from true.
7. Mr. Burchell observed to me that when entering Brazil, nothing struck him more forcibly than the splendour of the South American vegetation contrasted with that of South Africa, together with the absence of all large quadrupeds. In his Travels, he has suggested that the comparison of the respective weights (if there were sufficient data) of an equal number of the largest herbivorous quadrupeds of each country would be extremely curious. If we take on the one side, the elements hippopotamus, giraffe, bos caffer, elan, five species of rhinoceros; and on the American side, two tapirs, the guanaco, three deer, the vicuna, peccari, capybara and then place these two groups alongside each other, it is no easy to conceive ranks more disproportionate in size.
8. After the above facts, we are compelled to conclude, against anterior probability that among the mammalia there exists no close relation between the bulk of the species, and the quantity of the vegetation, in the countries which they inhabit.
Adapted from: Voyage of the Beagle, Charles Darwin (1890)
On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, answer ANY TEN of the questions given below:
Question. The author is primarily concerned with ...............
(a) discussing the relationship between the size of mammals and the nature of vegetation in their habitats
(b) contrasting ecological conditions in India and Africa
(c) proving that large animals do not require much food
(d) describing the size of animals in various parts of the world
Answer: A
Question. According to the author, the ‘prejudice’ (Para 1) has led to ....................
(a) errors in the reasoning of biologists
(b) false ideas about animals in Africa
(c) incorrect assumptions on the part of geologists
(d) doubt in the mind of the author
Answer: A
Question. The flocks of migratory birds (Para 5) are mentioned to ....................
(a) describe an aspect of the fauna of South Africa
(b) illustrate a possible source of food for large carnivores
(c) contrast with the habits of the antelope
(d) suggest the size of antelope herds
Answer: D
Question. Darwin quotes Burchell’s observations in order to ....................
(a) counter a popular misconception
(b) describe a region of great splendour
(c) prove a hypothesis
(d) illustrate a well-known phenomenon
Answer: A
Question. The author is surprised at ....................
(a) the findings of Dr. Smith
(b) a large variety of animals
(c) the rapid growth of vegetation
(d) the scanty growth of grass and bushes
Answer: B
Question. Which of these is not true about luxuriant vegetation:
(a) supports larger quadrupeds
(b) rich in nutrient
(c) no replacement of consumed parts
(d) a rapid growth
Answer: C
Question. What prejudice has vitiated the reasoning of geologists?
Answer: In the opinion of geologists the large animals require luxuriant vegetation. This prejudice has vitiated their reasoning.
Question. Why does Dr. Smith refer to Africa as a sterile country?
Answer: The traveller may pass through the open plains of Africa for days. They are covered with a thin and scanty vegetation. Therefore, Dr. Smith refers Africa as a sterile barren country.
Question. What is the ‘carnage’ referred to by Dr. Smith?
Answer: The predators kill a good number of prey animals. Dr. Smith has called this incident a ‘carnage’.
Question. What does Darwin’s remark, ‘if there were sufficient data’, indicate?
Answer: Darvin’s remark, ‘if there were sufficient data’ means that the comparison of the weight of herbivores is a matter of concern for all.
Question. What does the author conclude from Dr. Smith and Burchell’s observations?
Answer: The author concludes that in the country the bulk of species and vegetation has no close relation. The country has scanty vegetation.
Question. Find the word in para 1 which mean the same as ‘dense’.
Answer: Impenetrable
Read the passage given below.
1. Delhi skies were just clear enough last Sunday to let sky-watchers have a ringside view of a close encounter in space: a half-a-mile-wide asteroid buzzing the earth at a distance a little farther than the moon. It was a rare opportunity to watch a close-up of one of these visitors from the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter who often drop in without notice and cause the world’s pulse to quicken. A two-mile wide tumbling rock from space suddenly became the cynosure of all telescopes last month as astronomers proclaimed it the most earth-threatening object’ ever detected. Preliminary calculations even suggested it might hit the earth in 2019. That it proved to be a false alarm is another matter. What’s important is that such celestial brushes may form part of a countdown to Armageddon.
2. For every asteroid spotted, several whiz by unnoticed, with some actually passing closer to us than the moon. The number of these Near Earth Objects, or NEOs, far exceeds the known list—a catalogue that needs to be completed before it’s too late. Space agencies have projects to push potential earthgrazers off course. But there’s yet to be a comprehensive global space watch programme. Most NEOs slip through unnoticed because of limitations to telescope time, technology and funding. So, it’s important for governments not to grudge asteroid hunters the resources they badly need to keep a close watch. A global asteroid monitoring system of sorts already exists in the form of an assorted group of government and private agencies, along with amateur and professional asteroid researchers. But it has no mechanism to assess the risk factors of NEOs or to determine what, and how much, information should be passed on to the public. As a result, the discoveries of more NEOs do not necessarily lead to a corresponding increase in public awareness of the threat they pose. Newspapers, television and movies aren’t of much help either, and a confused public is often left wondering what’s fact and what’s fiction.
3. In fact, a kind of ‘cry-wolf syndrome’ sets in after every sighting, lowering the threat perception in the public mind. If or, more likely, when—there’s an asteroid strike, events like Hiroshima and September 11 would pale in comparison. In the cosmic shooting gallery, bruisers larger than a mile across probably have a chance of walloping the earth every 100,000 to 300,000 years, while those 330 feet or larger could score a hit every 1,000 to 2,000 years. The biggies cause the most concern. If a hunk of stone and metal, the size of a 20-storey building hits the earth and sets off a million megaton blast, it’d be like a million city-busting bombs going off simultaneously. Deaths could be counted in millions and most of the flora and fauna would vanish.
4. Didn’t the dinosaurs once think the planet would forever be one big Jurassic Park? The poor beasts never had a space programme and became a smorgasbord for a nasty asteroid. The moral then is to have a space watch programme which includes professional and amateur atronomers maintaining a nightly vigil around the globe. A powerful telescope could be placed outside the earth’s orbit to monitor the blind spot created by the sun and rule out unexpected impacts. In the northern hemisphere, scores of professional astronomers constantly scan the dark skies for tiny points of light and their tell-tale tracks. But the southern hemisphere is yet to have such sky sentinels whose computers could crunch foot-long numbers to find out if the ultimate destination of any of these shadow mountains in space is Planet Earth.
— Prakash Chandra
On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, answer ANY TEN of the questions given below:
Question. The warning given by the astronomers .................
(a) proved to be a false alarm
(b) was right
(c) did not frighten the people
(d) proved to be true
Answer: A
Question. What nature of media in expressed in the passage?
(a) Uselessness
(b) Misleading the masses
(c) Enlightening the masses
(d) Being insensitive
Answer: B
Question. What causes the most concern?
(a) Biggies
(b) Human beings
(c) Scientists
(d) None of the options
Answer: A
Question. The northern hemisphere has successfully received the attention of ....................
(a) geographers
(b) professional astronomers
(c) scientists
(d) none of the options
Answer: B
Question. The orbits of Mars and Jupiter are known for....................
(a) the asteroid
(b) buzzing sounds
(c) the moon
(d) the sun
Answer: A
Question. A bruiser with 330 feet or larger can hit the earth every:
(a) 10,000 to 30,000 years
(b) 1,000 to 2,000 years
(c) 5,000 to 6,000 years
(d) None of the options
Answer: B
Question. What preliminary calculations were made about the asteroid?
Answer: The astronomers had hoped that the asteroid might hit the earth in 2019. They had also declared that it was the most earth-threatening object. Previously no such objects were detected.
Question. What are demerits of the global asteroid monitoring system?
Answer: The global asteroid monitoring system suffers from a serious demerit. It has no mechanism to assess the risk factors. So the sufficient information in this matter is difficult.
Question. Why is the author worried about the devastation caused by the big asteroid?
Answer: The devastation caused by the big asteroid may be beyond our imagination. It is like a million megaton blast a million city-busting bombs going off together. Death may be counted in millions and most of the flora and fauna would be wiped out.
Question. How will the space programme benefit human beings?
Answer: The space watch programme will provides a mighty vigil around the globe. With the help of powerful telescopes, one can monitor the blind spot made by the sun and avoid any unexpected impacts of the asteroids.
Question. Why, do you think, the author mentions dinosaurs?
Answer: The dinosaurs were wiped out by an asteroid strike.
Question. Find the a word in para 1 which means the same as ‘centre of attraction’.
Answer: Cynosure
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