Questions

Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives and click the button corresponding to it.

The first working steam­ powered vehicle was designed and most likely built by Ferdinand Verbies, a Flemish member of a Jesuit mission in China around 1672. It was a 65 cm long scale­ model toy for the Chinese Emperor, that was unable to carry a driver or a passenger. It is not known if Verbiest's model was ever built. Nicolas- Joseph Cugnot is widely credited with building the first full­ scale, self ­propelled mechanical vehicle or automobile in about 1769; he also created a steam­ powered tricycle. He constructed two steam tractors for the French Army, one of which is preserved in the French National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts. His inventions were however handicapped by problems of water supply and maintaining steam pressure. In 1801, Richard Trevithick built and demonstrated his Puffing Devil road locomotive, believed by many to be the first demonstration of a steam ­powered road vehicle. It was unable to maintain sufficient steam pressure for long periods. Sentiment against steam ­powered road vehicles led to the Locomotive Acts of 1865. In 1807 Nicephore Niepce and his brother Claude probably created the world's first internal combustion engine which they called Pyreolophore.

The problem with Trevithick's Puffing Devil was:

Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives and click the button corresponding to it.

Awareness means the capacity to see a coffee pot and hear the birds sing in one's own way, and not the way one was taught. It may be assumed on good grounds that seeing and hearing have a different quality for infants than for grownups and that they are more aesthetic and less intellectual in the first years of life. A little boy sees and hears birds with delight. Then the 'good father' comes along and feels he should 'share' the experience and help his son 'develop'. He says, "That's a jay and this is a sparrow." The moment the little boy is concerned with which is a jay and which is a sparrow, he can no longer see the birds or hear them sing. He has to see and hear them the way his father wants him to. Father has good reasons on his side: since few people can afford to go through life listening to the birds sing, sooner the little boy starts his 'education' the better. Maybe he will be an ornithologist when he grows up.

What would the 'good father' do?

In the following questions, one part of the sentence may have an error. Find out which part of the sentence has an error and click the button corresponding to it. If the sentence is free from error, click the "No error" option.

If you turn the corner, (A) / you will found a house (B) / built of stone. (C) / No Error (D)

The question below consists of a set of labelled sentences. These sentences, when properly sequenced form a coherent paragraph. Select the most logical order of sentences from among the options.

P: This would bring a sense of closure to an issue that has seen about two decades of wrangling.
Q: By clearing the path for 49 percent foreign investment in Air India (AI), the Centre has finally decided to push ahead on its privatisation.
R: While the parliamentary standing committee on AI privatisation is yet to express its views, a sort of political consensus appears to be close at hand.
S: There cannot be a more opportune time to push ahead with disinvestment; this, ironically, is despite the fact that the airline has improved its operational  performance.

In the following question, out of the given four alternatives, select the one which is opposite in meaning of the given word.

Sordid

In the following question, out of the four alternatives, select the word opposite in meaning to the word given.
Skeptic

The real wage will rise if the nominal wage

The country which celebrates Independence day on 15th August, apart from India, is