Questions

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

In mid-2012 I completed my first massive online open course, or MOOC, the kind widely offered by Coursera, EdX, Udacity and so on in partnership with different educational institutions. It was on clinical trials and ethical practices, offered by Johns Hopkins, on Coursera. This was shortly before the MOOC sensation hit India, and when Coursera, which was founded by two Stanford professors, itself was just a few months old. The MOOC bug had bit me. The course I’d completed was mainly designed for health care professionals who would be involved in actual clinical trials, not college students who had no prior knowledge of that area. I decided to enroll in the course because it was the only biology related course open at the time. However, I did see hope in that sometime in the future I’d be able to get a glimpse of what classes are like in the hallowed halls of major educational institutions around the world. By early 2013, Coursera and EdX had partnered with so many educational institutions and expanded their course offerings to include everything from food and nutrition to Greek mythology to business, that I was spoilt for choice. I spent hours going through course catalogues and poring over course descriptions, almost delirious with excitement at the fact that I was actually going to be able to take classes offered by universities I had only dreamt of attending.

What aspect of MOOC excited the author?

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

There's more than the 101-seater dining table at the Falaknuma Palace that is awe inspiring. The library done in rosewood and mahogany is a place that will force anyone to pause, if only to admire the fine original polish, the furniture and the walnut carved high roof. The last is supposedly an imitation of the one at Windsor Castle.

The library is almost the size of a large banquet hall and acts as the passage to other parts of the palace including the dining area. For years the palace had no librarian because they couldn't find the right person to do justice to the treasure trove of books collected by the Nizam's family over several decades. That is until they found Asif Husain Arastu who belongs to the family that owned the famous A A Husain book store in Abids. So when his friend and historian Anuradha Naik pointed out the palace's requirement at the library, Husain was delighted. On his very first day as the librarian at the magnificent Taj Falaknuma palace, Asif Husain found a reference book on 'How to paint grass' by Alfred East.

Which part of the palace is an imitation of the Windsor Palace?

Examine these two statements carefully and select the correct answer using the code given below.

Statement I :The Pahi-kashta peasants were non-resident cultivators cultivating lands on a contractual basis.

Statement II :The Pahi-kashta peasants worked under the temptation of favourable terms of revenue or the compulsion of economic distress.

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

Manja, or the glass-coated string used for flying kites, not only poses threat to humans, animals and birds but also to trees. A study by the country's oldest botanical garden has revealed that it poses a great threat to trees. But how can a snapped string struck in a tree kill the tree? Apparently, it does so by allying with the creepers in the garden.

A research paper by three scientists of the Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden, located in West Bengal's Howrah district, illustrates in detail how the manja, in collusion with climbers, does the damage. "The abandoned, torn kite strings act as an excellent primary supporting platform for the tender climbers, giving easy passage to reach the top of the trees. Lateral branches from the top of the climber and other accessory branches from the ground reaches the top taking support of the first climber, completely covers the treetop, thus inhibiting the penetration of sunlight," says the research paper.

Abandoned, torn kite strings stuck in trees benefits whom?

Improve the bracketed part of the sentence.

By the end of this decade, doctors surely (must have discover) a cure for cancer.

Choose the correctly spelt word

The din caused by the children howling is enough to the dead.

Which of the following statements is/are INCORRECT?

A. The value of G on the moon is equal to that on the earth.

B. 26.68 x 10-11 N is the force of gravitation between two point masses of 2 kg and 2kg kept 1 m apart.

C. Newton's law of gravitation is valid in the laboratory only.

D. Force is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between two bodies.

Which of the following about the role of Indian Coast Guard is/are correct?

1. Indian Coast Guard has been entrusted with the offshore security coordination authority

2. Lead intelligence agency for coastal and sea border

3. Coastal security in territorial waters

Select the correct answer using the code given below.