Reading Comprehension Online Quiz
Following quiz provides Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) related to Reading Comprehension. You will have to read all the given answers and click over the correct answer. If you are not sure about the answer then you can check the answer using Show Answer button. You can use Next Quiz button to check new set of questions in the quiz.
Passage
There is something in internships that is all the more inescapable than the sweet fragrance of a rose flower – Learning. An adage suggests, “Learning is not preparation for life; Learning is life itself.” Learning in every point of life is cardinal in its own way. When students experience a continuous learning environment, they get an opportunity to explore diverse and unexplored territorial domains. What thus follows is a phantasmagoria of constructive and highly rewarding events. This eventually leads to new ideas. Internships are cherished by students and multiple internships are mandated in a few reputed organizations.
In this ultra-competitive world where getting a job is an achievement in itself, the perspectives of potential employers and recruiters cannot be undermined. In a survey conducted by National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), an overwhelming 95% of employers opined that ‘candidate experience’ is ‘necessary’ and ‘desirable.’ In other words, when it comes to hiring candidates, candidates who have interned with startups or corporates get an edge over other inexperienced candidates. ‘Hiring from the interns’ program has become the latest corporate fad. During their gig as interns in various corporates, interns acquaint themselves with several best practices in the industry. They get accustomed to the corporate environment. Internships improve the quality of candidates as they are delegated with a few responsibilities and monitored constantly. Thanks to the responsibilities entrusted to interns, creativity kicks in and candidates start giving their very best. Interns who have surpassed the expectations of their employers will be offered jobs.
College students clamoring for profound change should solicit advice from experienced professionals and build a rich professional network. Students should therefore create a dedicated LinkedIn profile and stay in touch with others. This helps them while searching for new jobs. Students are generally lost in the vagaries of the so-called ‘Student life’ and hence, they begin to abandon a precise and a thorough understanding of ‘Career Path’ and ‘Career Goals.’ Once students start interning with startups or corporates, they start taking matured decisions. The concepts of ‘Career Path’ and ‘Career Goals’ no longer seem abstract. In colleges, students seldom get an opportunity to implement and put into practice what they had learnt. On the contrary, interns gain a valuable hands-on experience by implementing what they had learnt. Internships thus helps interns to apply academic knowledge to solve industry problems.
John Maynard Keynes, the celebrated British economist once said, “The importance of money flows from it being a link between the present and the future.” Internship is undoubtedly a voyeuristic invasion of one’s full-fledged salaried life. In other words, students get an opportunity to take a glimpse into their full-time professional lives. As interns, students are generally paid a decent amount. As full-fledged employees, they are paid even better. Moreover, ‘Earn while you learn’ becomes an actuality rather than an abstraction. There is no gainsaying that students begin to exude the joy of life by enjoying the inherent thrills of internship. They master the ability to take calculated risks. Warren Buffet, the celebrated multi-billionaire owes his wealth to his ability of taking calculated risks. On an optimistic note, students can become the next Warren Buffet. As much clichéd as it sounds confidence matters. The fantastic learning experiences as interns will bolster the confidence levels of students. Commitment to work and dedication to job automatically follow the suit. Self-confidence and self-esteem are welcome additions.
Internships make a student’s resume impactful and impressive. They provide the necessary momentum and fillip and eventually make their resumes all the more effective. During the hiring process, companies generally ask for references. After duly taking the permission of the Line Manager and Project Manager under whom you have interned as XXX (designation), students can mention their names and contact details preferably email-ids and mobile phone numbers in the reference section of their resume. As an alternative, students can obtain reference letters one each from their Project Manager and Line Manager. Remember, there are no better testimonies other than the reference letters drafted by the officials concerned. All in all, internships serve as resume builders. College students are multi-talented and multi-faceted individuals. They are extremely versatile and brilliant. By participating in various internships that are in no way related to their majors, students get an opportunity to fine-tune their extra-curricular skills. For example, a student who may be a brilliant programmer can also be an excellent content writer. He can opt for content writing internships and draft quality content.
Q 1 - Find the word most similar in meaning to the words as used in the passage:
Voyeuristic
Answer : A
Explanation
Voyeuristic means nosy
Passage
There is something in internships that is all the more inescapable than the sweet fragrance of a rose flower – Learning. An adage suggests, “Learning is not preparation for life; Learning is life itself.” Learning in every point of life is cardinal in its own way. When students experience a continuous learning environment, they get an opportunity to explore diverse and unexplored territorial domains. What thus follows is a phantasmagoria of constructive and highly rewarding events. This eventually leads to new ideas. Internships are cherished by students and multiple internships are mandated in a few reputed organizations.
In this ultra-competitive world where getting a job is an achievement in itself, the perspectives of potential employers and recruiters cannot be undermined. In a survey conducted by National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), an overwhelming 95% of employers opined that ‘candidate experience’ is ‘necessary’ and ‘desirable.’ In other words, when it comes to hiring candidates, candidates who have interned with startups or corporates get an edge over other inexperienced candidates. ‘Hiring from the interns’ program has become the latest corporate fad. During their gig as interns in various corporates, interns acquaint themselves with several best practices in the industry. They get accustomed to the corporate environment. Internships improve the quality of candidates as they are delegated with a few responsibilities and monitored constantly. Thanks to the responsibilities entrusted to interns, creativity kicks in and candidates start giving their very best. Interns who have surpassed the expectations of their employers will be offered jobs.
College students clamoring for profound change should solicit advice from experienced professionals and build a rich professional network. Students should therefore create a dedicated LinkedIn profile and stay in touch with others. This helps them while searching for new jobs. Students are generally lost in the vagaries of the so-called ‘Student life’ and hence, they begin to abandon a precise and a thorough understanding of ‘Career Path’ and ‘Career Goals.’ Once students start interning with startups or corporates, they start taking matured decisions. The concepts of ‘Career Path’ and ‘Career Goals’ no longer seem abstract. In colleges, students seldom get an opportunity to implement and put into practice what they had learnt. On the contrary, interns gain a valuable hands-on experience by implementing what they had learnt. Internships thus helps interns to apply academic knowledge to solve industry problems.
John Maynard Keynes, the celebrated British economist once said, “The importance of money flows from it being a link between the present and the future.” Internship is undoubtedly a voyeuristic invasion of one’s full-fledged salaried life. In other words, students get an opportunity to take a glimpse into their full-time professional lives. As interns, students are generally paid a decent amount. As full-fledged employees, they are paid even better. Moreover, ‘Earn while you learn’ becomes an actuality rather than an abstraction. There is no gainsaying that students begin to exude the joy of life by enjoying the inherent thrills of internship. They master the ability to take calculated risks. Warren Buffet, the celebrated multi-billionaire owes his wealth to his ability of taking calculated risks. On an optimistic note, students can become the next Warren Buffet. As much clichéd as it sounds confidence matters. The fantastic learning experiences as interns will bolster the confidence levels of students. Commitment to work and dedication to job automatically follow the suit. Self-confidence and self-esteem are welcome additions.
Internships make a student’s resume impactful and impressive. They provide the necessary momentum and fillip and eventually make their resumes all the more effective. During the hiring process, companies generally ask for references. After duly taking the permission of the Line Manager and Project Manager under whom you have interned as XXX (designation), students can mention their names and contact details preferably email-ids and mobile phone numbers in the reference section of their resume. As an alternative, students can obtain reference letters one each from their Project Manager and Line Manager. Remember, there are no better testimonies other than the reference letters drafted by the officials concerned. All in all, internships serve as resume builders. College students are multi-talented and multi-faceted individuals. They are extremely versatile and brilliant. By participating in various internships that are in no way related to their majors, students get an opportunity to fine-tune their extra-curricular skills. For example, a student who may be a brilliant programmer can also be an excellent content writer. He can opt for content writing internships and draft quality content.
Q 2 - What does the adage mean by “Learning is not preparation for life; Learning is life itself.”?
A - Learning is a phase of life.
B - Learning is the educational qualification we achieve.
C - Life teaches us new things every day and we learn from these lessons.
Answer : C
Explanation
In the passage, the 2nd line of the 1st paragraph — “An adage suggests, “Learning is not preparation for life; Learning is life itself.” supports this answer.
Passage
WhatsApp – “how did it all begin?” I remember when WhatsApp was in a corner on my Blackberry but without any notifications, I would use it for the people who did not have BBM. And now, BBM sits in a forgotten corner in my mobile. Here comes the story behind the scenes
Jan Kuom had a dream of building the perfect app that doesn’t require asking for personal information and Jan, a simple guy who lived with his mother and grandmother in a small apartment, supported himself and entered into university and met his business partner, Brian Acton. They soon developed the most-loved and most-used App today, WhatsApp. Now, this was at the time when other messaging apps required, PINS and email addresses in order to work and the easy usage and accessibility of this app soon made it too popular. Jan and Brian did not utilize any advertisements on this app, then, how did they make money, you ask? They charged subscription fees to iPhone and Android users. Well, with only the subscription fees and all that usage, nobody seemed to mind.
WhatsApp’s growth has been one to talk about. When it was launched, there were BBM, messengers, Facebook and though it started slow, the popularity increased smooth and steady. With the usability across all platforms of Android, iOS, Blackberry, this was one to be a part of. I know I had installed WhatsApp on my Blackberry device and without any notifications, had it lying there. Why? Because it wasn’t as cool as BBM and so dry. I remember when WhatsApp had no profile picture, no status updates, no music updates, and at that time, the status updates had been popularized by Facebook and BBM. Also, WhatsApp required no PIN, no email address, nothing. What? So, anybody who has your number saved on their mobile device could text you? Wow, thinking back, WhatsApp has come a long way, from being “too boring”, It saved the day by bringing in software updates, though slow, but was welcomed for providing endless possibilities which seem to keep us hooked.
Major concerns were raised with the launch of WhatsApp. One of them being, the application required uploading the user’s whole Phonebook/Contacts to access who has and who hasn’t installed the App. Now since, other apps required PINS and email addresses and you could always ‘un-sync’ your address book, WhatsApp couldn’t function without access to Phone contacts and thus, a lot of countries had privacy and data encryption issues with regards to security and even contact information and access to private conversations. The internet was shrinking and privacy of a person’s phone number no longer existed. Recent years have seen WhatsApp go through many software updates and changes that can, to an extent, hide a person’s profile visibility though the matter of message encryption still exists. I must give them some credit, I believe, WhatsApp probably started focusing on improving the app and bringing in more features rather than reacting to criticism. Of late, ability to block a person from your address book, hiding the profile visibility and availability has been introduced. Viewing, saving and downloading media sent through WhatsApp though, cannot be censured but sure can be restricted and deleted. Well, the internet comes with privacy issues and I’m pretty sure WhatsApp can handle them.
WhatsApp had its share of haters and hijackers and they deal with it regularly, from programs that let you read others’ conversations to encrypted messages that could be decoded and access was unrestricted. Recently, two Indian boys had found a method to crash any user’s WhatsApp account, by merely sending a message full of emojis and the size of the message being bigger than 2 KB, could freeze the whole application and cause for it to shut down. Solution being, to delete the whole conversation without opening the chat should fix the problem. Seems like a super cool trick to try on your friends but as long as you know how to end it, without having to hate WhatsApp for its faults. We got your back, WhatsApp!
If you’re too bothered by group messages and their constant distractions, then I know you know this feature but never use it. Well, you should, settings → Notifications → group notification off. And if you don’t want to do even this then open a group, click on the name of the group that opens up the profile page of the group and click on Mute, and select on how many ever days you want it off. This feature can be used for individual chats as well as group chats. Save a few messages and access them by “starring” them and view them on the settings page and click on starred messages and access all the starred special messages.
USE the Hide Last Seen or Hide Status or Hide Profile Picture option! You can save it to views from Everybody, My Contacts or Nobody. Especially for us ladies, you can save yourself from being viewed by strangers or people who are not saved in your Contact List. I highly recommend this. If your gallery is filled with WhatsApp media and if everything gets stored in your phone memory then you can change settings to Auto Media Download → Save incoming media → OFF so that you can view the media on the app, and if you need to save it then open the picture/video and click Save. Simple! Read messages without having people viewing the 2 blue ticks. Switch on the airplane mode and read the messages, then when you switch it back off, the blue ticks will appear when you next open the App.
You can also mark the last messaged on a conversation as Unread by swiping right on the chat list page and Mark as Unread.
Archive a chat and by swiping left on the conversation and the whole chat window disappears from the chat list and you can view the chat by rolling down on the chat list page and on the top of the page, will you find all your archived chats. In a conversation, you can view who all have viewed your message by swiping left on your message in a chat and here appears the “Read by”, “Delivered to” page. Helps with group messages! Now, I am not too fond of this one but you can crash a person’s WhatsApp by sending a message filled with emojis and if this message size is more than 2KB, then when the receiver opens this mysterious message, their whole app crashes. Solution, delete the whole conversation on the chat list next time you open the app and prevent the crash.
WhatsApp made news all around the world when it was acquired by Facebook in 2014 for a whopping $19 Billion. Nearing at a billion users, speculations flew if WhatsApp would be working on the module for advertisements after the giant’s acquisition. But they dismissed all rumors and still exist to function without any advertisements, promotions. The latest big update on WhatsApp was the call feature and chances are that, in future they might add WhatsApp video calling and though it’s too early to say anything for sure, but this feature would be widely welcomed and even though there are alternatives for WhatsApp, this one still can embezzle the show due to its popularity.
Q 3 - Find the word most similar in meaning to the words as used in the passage:
Criticism
Answer : B
Explanation
Criticism means analysis
Passage
WhatsApp – “how did it all begin?” I remember when WhatsApp was in a corner on my Blackberry but without any notifications, I would use it for the people who did not have BBM. And now, BBM sits in a forgotten corner in my mobile. Here comes the story behind the scenes
Jan Kuom had a dream of building the perfect app that doesn’t require asking for personal information and Jan, a simple guy who lived with his mother and grandmother in a small apartment, supported himself and entered into university and met his business partner, Brian Acton. They soon developed the most-loved and most-used App today, WhatsApp. Now, this was at the time when other messaging apps required, PINS and email addresses in order to work and the easy usage and accessibility of this app soon made it too popular. Jan and Brian did not utilize any advertisements on this app, then, how did they make money, you ask? They charged subscription fees to iPhone and Android users. Well, with only the subscription fees and all that usage, nobody seemed to mind.
WhatsApp’s growth has been one to talk about. When it was launched, there were BBM, messengers, Facebook and though it started slow, the popularity increased smooth and steady. With the usability across all platforms of Android, iOS, Blackberry, this was one to be a part of. I know I had installed WhatsApp on my Blackberry device and without any notifications, had it lying there. Why? Because it wasn’t as cool as BBM and so dry. I remember when WhatsApp had no profile picture, no status updates, no music updates, and at that time, the status updates had been popularized by Facebook and BBM. Also, WhatsApp required no PIN, no email address, nothing. What? So, anybody who has your number saved on their mobile device could text you? Wow, thinking back, WhatsApp has come a long way, from being “too boring”, It saved the day by bringing in software updates, though slow, but was welcomed for providing endless possibilities which seem to keep us hooked.
Major concerns were raised with the launch of WhatsApp. One of them being, the application required uploading the user’s whole Phonebook/Contacts to access who has and who hasn’t installed the App. Now since, other apps required PINS and email addresses and you could always ‘un-sync’ your address book, WhatsApp couldn’t function without access to Phone contacts and thus, a lot of countries had privacy and data encryption issues with regards to security and even contact information and access to private conversations. The internet was shrinking and privacy of a person’s phone number no longer existed. Recent years have seen WhatsApp go through many software updates and changes that can, to an extent, hide a person’s profile visibility though the matter of message encryption still exists. I must give them some credit, I believe, WhatsApp probably started focusing on improving the app and bringing in more features rather than reacting to criticism. Of late, ability to block a person from your address book, hiding the profile visibility and availability has been introduced. Viewing, saving and downloading media sent through WhatsApp though, cannot be censured but sure can be restricted and deleted. Well, the internet comes with privacy issues and I’m pretty sure WhatsApp can handle them.
WhatsApp had its share of haters and hijackers and they deal with it regularly, from programs that let you read others’ conversations to encrypted messages that could be decoded and access was unrestricted. Recently, two Indian boys had found a method to crash any user’s WhatsApp account, by merely sending a message full of emojis and the size of the message being bigger than 2 KB, could freeze the whole application and cause for it to shut down. Solution being, to delete the whole conversation without opening the chat should fix the problem. Seems like a super cool trick to try on your friends but as long as you know how to end it, without having to hate WhatsApp for its faults. We got your back, WhatsApp!
If you’re too bothered by group messages and their constant distractions, then I know you know this feature but never use it. Well, you should, settings → Notifications → group notification off. And if you don’t want to do even this then open a group, click on the name of the group that opens up the profile page of the group and click on Mute, and select on how many ever days you want it off. This feature can be used for individual chats as well as group chats. Save a few messages and access them by “starring” them and view them on the settings page and click on starred messages and access all the starred special messages.
USE the Hide Last Seen or Hide Status or Hide Profile Picture option! You can save it to views from Everybody, My Contacts or Nobody. Especially for us ladies, you can save yourself from being viewed by strangers or people who are not saved in your Contact List. I highly recommend this. If your gallery is filled with WhatsApp media and if everything gets stored in your phone memory then you can change settings to Auto Media Download → Save incoming media → OFF so that you can view the media on the app, and if you need to save it then open the picture/video and click Save. Simple! Read messages without having people viewing the 2 blue ticks. Switch on the airplane mode and read the messages, then when you switch it back off, the blue ticks will appear when you next open the App.
You can also mark the last messaged on a conversation as Unread by swiping right on the chat list page and Mark as Unread.
Archive a chat and by swiping left on the conversation and the whole chat window disappears from the chat list and you can view the chat by rolling down on the chat list page and on the top of the page, will you find all your archived chats. In a conversation, you can view who all have viewed your message by swiping left on your message in a chat and here appears the “Read by”, “Delivered to” page. Helps with group messages! Now, I am not too fond of this one but you can crash a person’s WhatsApp by sending a message filled with emojis and if this message size is more than 2KB, then when the receiver opens this mysterious message, their whole app crashes. Solution, delete the whole conversation on the chat list next time you open the app and prevent the crash.
WhatsApp made news all around the world when it was acquired by Facebook in 2014 for a whopping $19 Billion. Nearing at a billion users, speculations flew if WhatsApp would be working on the module for advertisements after the giant’s acquisition. But they dismissed all rumors and still exist to function without any advertisements, promotions. The latest big update on WhatsApp was the call feature and chances are that, in future they might add WhatsApp video calling and though it’s too early to say anything for sure, but this feature would be widely welcomed and even though there are alternatives for WhatsApp, this one still can embezzle the show due to its popularity.
Q 4 - Find the word most dissimilar in meaning to the words as used in the passage:
Uploading
Answer : B
Explanation
Uploading means to transfer data to a server and download means to transfer data from a server to disk.
Passage
Assignments, projects, homework, exams, in my day, I don’t remember having a wizard or a complete encyclopedia that could give me all answers and suggestions in a second, or even correct my mistakes for me. How has technology changed education today? This has me wondering if I can still enroll in a college and study all over again just to get the feel of how easy it is today. Although I do realize how it isn’t easy per se, but I don’t find the kids today, determined by only what is taught in schools and books, alternative methods of teaching and learning have widened the scope of what is available to learn and what to believe.
Before they ask, they text. If the teacher isn’t available that second, someone else always is. Reaching out to a teacher is much easier than we had ever perceived it to be. Today, the teachers are online on various platforms. A true teacher is always available. Whereas, I would remember being terrified of even raising my hand in class to ask a question. When I was asked to give a presentation, my teacher was my only audience. Today, when a project or assignment is completed, it is easily shared with the world. Social platforms, file-sharing websites, blogs, tutorials are all accessible for today’s audience. Students today, wish to share their work and help others. The difference of opinion and approach also enables anybody to learn and form their own, without any restrictions of age, location and thought. Platforms such as blogs or “Glogster” enable students to share and upload their understanding of a certain topic and also learn from others as well. A plausible move, I must say.
I think, it’s safe to ask the question — what would we do without Google? Every fact, knowledge, definition, spelling is a favor of the mighty internet Gods of Google. And how many parents are guilty of asking their children, encourage rather, of using this search engine and as sad as it is today, Google has made our work easier, and nobody seems to mind it. Children today, know very well how to use Google and make their homework easier. Now-a-day’s school teachers are asking students to use Google search for preparing small school projects and surprisingly, students are excelling in the art of gathering content using online search. What I mean by this is, education is no more limited to a single class for that matter. There is distance education, communities that extend beyond schools, colleges and classrooms that don’t require physical presence inside lecture halls to be able to learn a topic. Students from around the world can contribute to a topic and add their understanding, write feedback and this is possible everywhere today. Distance education includes short-term courses, summer programs, and MOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses that students from any college and location can avail and these are mostly recognized worldwide, and look good on the resume. Plus, there is no age-limit for this either.
Top Ivy League Schools are in the process of developing Google Apps and programs and other schools and colleges are bound to follow suit and this is encouraged since early education days. Laptops and tablets are a common sight in the modern classroom and interactive tools help in accumulating knowledge as opposed to just lectures. Edutainment is an actual practice and our minds work in various ways today and multi-tasking is more or less, effortless. Primary and pre-primary schools are all equipped with the latest technologies and programs, software that help them keep tabs on student evaluation and this helps give individual attention to each learner. Students with special needs and special learning can all cope easily with tailored program and apps that aid to their requirements, and at their own pace. There is no race and competition to it all today. I realize some countries need to catch on to this trend but we’ll get there.
Today’s education has become subjective. What I mean by this is, education through internet medium does not necessarily look into your profile, background when you Google about a certain topic. Same goes for sharing information online, feedback is also easier and unbiased with it. You set up a blog on physics and a professor could well be reading through your wisdom and might even share some insight and again, add more information. Online courses preserve anonymity at the time of evaluation, therefore, honest feedback. Tailored programs and courses are all a reality. I could be fluent in one field and may know nothing about another, I now know I have the liberty to customize what I need/want to learn and what our future generation will learn about. Homeschool is not a stigma anymore, nor is it an impossible task. It even incorporates practicality and information round the clock, also, when required. Everything can be attained online without a classroom bell. Lectures can all be played back and saved, not to forget what a great job tutorials do. Convenience and availability is the key. A 10-year-old child could well be aware of rocket science and there’s nothing wrong with that today.
Okay okay, I do hear my grandfather complaint about how everything was spoon-fed and how we are only becoming lazy and the mobile device has paralyzed our thought process. True Grandpa, I’ll give you that. Any time a topic is mentioned, naturally we pull out our smartphones and Google the answer. In some way, there is no joy in racking our brains to really think and force our brain to work harder. We don’t bother on finding, remembering anything. Same goes with research, accumulating information and forming our own opinion. We have none of those. As much as we deny it, we are following someone else’s opinion. Not that it’s always the case or that it’s wrong but the internet does not hold back on sentiments and thoughts of others and we are so accustomed to seeing both (or all sides) of matters that we end up “following a trend”. Yesterday, education was only imparted by the educated and the wise, today, there is more learning from a 20-something nerdy genius. Although our brain is trained to assimilate and embrace technology but it will still amaze me how a toddler, who hardly speaks can maneuver their tiny thumbs and fingers on a tablet or mobile device with such precision, choose a program of their choice and complete tasks including switching off the whole damn thing. I wasn’t even allowed near a giant computer because I might do something wrong. So much for opposable thumbs that help us “grasp” a pen, whereas, here we are tapping away on a device with that same thumb and right next to my tablet and mobile device is a pen and paper that I still go to because the action of writing something down etches it in my brain faster than tapping on a screen. Well, we might just to harmonize the two together. Here’s to more learning and endless knowledge!
Q 5 - Find the word most similar in meaning to the words as used in the passage:
Anonymity
Answer : C
Explanation
Anonymity means obscurity.
Passage
Assignments, projects, homework, exams, in my day, I don’t remember having a wizard or a complete encyclopedia that could give me all answers and suggestions in a second, or even correct my mistakes for me. How has technology changed education today? This has me wondering if I can still enroll in a college and study all over again just to get the feel of how easy it is today. Although I do realize how it isn’t easy per se, but I don’t find the kids today, determined by only what is taught in schools and books, alternative methods of teaching and learning have widened the scope of what is available to learn and what to believe.
Before they ask, they text. If the teacher isn’t available that second, someone else always is. Reaching out to a teacher is much easier than we had ever perceived it to be. Today, the teachers are online on various platforms. A true teacher is always available. Whereas, I would remember being terrified of even raising my hand in class to ask a question. When I was asked to give a presentation, my teacher was my only audience. Today, when a project or assignment is completed, it is easily shared with the world. Social platforms, file-sharing websites, blogs, tutorials are all accessible for today’s audience. Students today, wish to share their work and help others. The difference of opinion and approach also enables anybody to learn and form their own, without any restrictions of age, location and thought. Platforms such as blogs or “Glogster” enable students to share and upload their understanding of a certain topic and also learn from others as well. A plausible move, I must say.
I think, it’s safe to ask the question — what would we do without Google? Every fact, knowledge, definition, spelling is a favor of the mighty internet Gods of Google. And how many parents are guilty of asking their children, encourage rather, of using this search engine and as sad as it is today, Google has made our work easier, and nobody seems to mind it. Children today, know very well how to use Google and make their homework easier. Now-a-day’s school teachers are asking students to use Google search for preparing small school projects and surprisingly, students are excelling in the art of gathering content using online search. What I mean by this is, education is no more limited to a single class for that matter. There is distance education, communities that extend beyond schools, colleges and classrooms that don’t require physical presence inside lecture halls to be able to learn a topic. Students from around the world can contribute to a topic and add their understanding, write feedback and this is possible everywhere today. Distance education includes short-term courses, summer programs, and MOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses that students from any college and location can avail and these are mostly recognized worldwide, and look good on the resume. Plus, there is no age-limit for this either.
Top Ivy League Schools are in the process of developing Google Apps and programs and other schools and colleges are bound to follow suit and this is encouraged since early education days. Laptops and tablets are a common sight in the modern classroom and interactive tools help in accumulating knowledge as opposed to just lectures. Edutainment is an actual practice and our minds work in various ways today and multi-tasking is more or less, effortless. Primary and pre-primary schools are all equipped with the latest technologies and programs, software that help them keep tabs on student evaluation and this helps give individual attention to each learner. Students with special needs and special learning can all cope easily with tailored program and apps that aid to their requirements, and at their own pace. There is no race and competition to it all today. I realize some countries need to catch on to this trend but we’ll get there.
Today’s education has become subjective. What I mean by this is, education through internet medium does not necessarily look into your profile, background when you Google about a certain topic. Same goes for sharing information online, feedback is also easier and unbiased with it. You set up a blog on physics and a professor could well be reading through your wisdom and might even share some insight and again, add more information. Online courses preserve anonymity at the time of evaluation, therefore, honest feedback. Tailored programs and courses are all a reality. I could be fluent in one field and may know nothing about another, I now know I have the liberty to customize what I need/want to learn and what our future generation will learn about. Homeschool is not a stigma anymore, nor is it an impossible task. It even incorporates practicality and information round the clock, also, when required. Everything can be attained online without a classroom bell. Lectures can all be played back and saved, not to forget what a great job tutorials do. Convenience and availability is the key. A 10-year-old child could well be aware of rocket science and there’s nothing wrong with that today.
Okay okay, I do hear my grandfather complaint about how everything was spoon-fed and how we are only becoming lazy and the mobile device has paralyzed our thought process. True Grandpa, I’ll give you that. Any time a topic is mentioned, naturally we pull out our smartphones and Google the answer. In some way, there is no joy in racking our brains to really think and force our brain to work harder. We don’t bother on finding, remembering anything. Same goes with research, accumulating information and forming our own opinion. We have none of those. As much as we deny it, we are following someone else’s opinion. Not that it’s always the case or that it’s wrong but the internet does not hold back on sentiments and thoughts of others and we are so accustomed to seeing both (or all sides) of matters that we end up “following a trend”. Yesterday, education was only imparted by the educated and the wise, today, there is more learning from a 20-something nerdy genius. Although our brain is trained to assimilate and embrace technology but it will still amaze me how a toddler, who hardly speaks can maneuver their tiny thumbs and fingers on a tablet or mobile device with such precision, choose a program of their choice and complete tasks including switching off the whole damn thing. I wasn’t even allowed near a giant computer because I might do something wrong. So much for opposable thumbs that help us “grasp” a pen, whereas, here we are tapping away on a device with that same thumb and right next to my tablet and mobile device is a pen and paper that I still go to because the action of writing something down etches it in my brain faster than tapping on a screen. Well, we might just to harmonize the two together. Here’s to more learning and endless knowledge!
Q 6 - Find the word most dissimilar in meaning to the words as used in the passage:
Etches
Answer : B
Explanation
Etches means to carve whereas, confuse means not sure about something.
Passage
Human brain is one of the most interesting, yet a complex part present in the human body that exists in the universe. The brain does all the functioning and operates other parts of human body, but there’s still so much that we don’t know about it. All of us have always been fascinated by the brains of some genius people who can easily figure out things and take less time to learn things. We call them “born intelligent” and secretly envy them, but we also have wondered many times how they do all that. Human brain produces the amount of electricity that can easily light a small bulb. Of course, this doesn’t mean you try producing light from your brain. Let’s put it this way — without electricity you wouldn’t be reading this article for two reasons. One, you would need electricity to run your device and second, you need your brain to generate the electricity you need.
In Physics, we were taught that human body is a collection of huge masses of atoms that produce electricity which makes our bodies function. Now, when we talk about our brain sending signals to or receiving signals from- the brain as in the cases of closing the door, or opening a book, it’s simply the electricity produced in our brain that carries messages from one point to another. The difference is here we don’t have cables and electric wires, but nerves and neurons do the job. Did you know that our brain weighs half as much as our skin does? Next time someone calls you chubby, take it as a compliment because it means you have a larger brain too. Human brain is considered the fattest organ in the human body. A normal human brain weighs 3lbs, out of which 60% is nothing but fat.
One more interesting fact about our brain is that it utilizes one-fifth of a calorie per minute even when we are resting. If we diet too strictly and eat too meagerly, we could force our brain to eat itself due to starvation. This will come as good news to foodies, who get a license to eat freely — at least, eating freely is much better than starving your brain and making it eat itself, right? Yes, it’s good for your brain to forget things because when you forget something, it means that your brain is deleting some unnecessary information. This is a good thing for your nervous system as it helps to retain its plasticity. Next time you forget something, remember it’s not your fault- your brain who thought it as some unnecessary information.
The human brain takes 6 minutes to react to alcohol, so when a person is under the influence of alcohol and experiences a “blackout”, it’s not as if person remembers nothing but his brain temporarily loses the ability to capture memories. The brain feels no pain at all. That’s because the sensory nerve fibers that make us feel the pain called “nociceptors”- found in all parts of the human body- are not present in the brain, making it unaffected by any kind of pain. Now this explain us how neurosurgeons easily operate on a patient’s brain when they are awake. Now the question arises if the brain feels no pain then why we get headaches. Actually, this is completely a different story- there are layers of tissue between the brain and skull called “dura” and “pia”, that act as a protective coating to the brain. These layers of tissues have nociceptors in them so when we are stressed out, or when there is too much pressure on our brain, our blood vessels release some chemicals near these tissue layers which in turn, activate the nociceptors and cause headaches. Sometimes we get a strong “gut feeling” of whether an action/person is correct or something is going to happen, even without having any facts or proof to justify our feelings. Actually these feelings, also known as “intuition”, are triggered by an electric simulation caused in some specific parts of our brain that are linked to analyzing risks. Let’s think of brain as a prediction machine. The brain stores memories it receives from the outer world, and combines them with past experiences to sum up the possible outcomes of certain situation. Our brain is designed to not just see and hear, but also predict what we should be hearing or seeing next moment to moment. This is the basis of the “Sixth Sense” concept. Human brain uses 20% of the total oxygen and blood in our body. Our brain can normally survive up to 4 to 6 minutes without oxygen, after which, it slowly begins to die. Lack of oxygen supply to the brain for more than 10 minutes- caused due to choking, carbon monoxide poisoning, non-functioning of heart, injuries sustained at birth, or drowning, etc. – may result in permanent brain damage. When our brain is deprived of oxygen for a very long time, it shuts down resulting in a medical condition where a person doesn’t react to any kind of stimuli like pain, touch, noise, etc. often referred to as “comatose” or simply, coma. In this condition, a person cannot perform any voluntary actions and even if there are possibilities that the person may recover from coma if oxygen supply is regained, there is a permanent damage in the brain. Sounds surprising, doesn’t it? Human brain also has taste receptors. We know taste buds in tongue are responsible for the kind of taste we get but these sensors present in our mouth are just initials. The most important part of the taste journey is how does the brain interprets it. Yes, the brain is responsible for translating what kind of taste we experienced. There are parts in our brain which are dedicated for different tastes.
It’s no more just a fictional movie plot. Scientists have discovered that there are many brain parasites which can actually make the “Zombie Apocalypse” real. It must sound surrealistic that a tiny creature can govern such a large human body, but these parasites do actually control their hosts so zombies can be made through these parasites. A recent study has found that “Toxoplasma Gondii”, a parasite known for infecting rodents and cats and is making its way to humans as well. Scientists are now linking schizophrenia, the medical condition where a patient can no more separate reality from fiction, also with a parasite. This research is an ongoing process but it’s still creepy to know that there is no cure available for the condition. The structure of human brain starts changing from the time of birth and it keeps doing so throughout lifetime. There is a change every time we learn something new. The structure of our brain also changes without the usage of any drugs or life-changing situations. Now the question is- how does it change? The change can occur even by simply doing something again or again. When we do something different too, it brings a change in the structure of your brain. This explain us why sometimes psychotherapy works great when drugs fail. This is because it changes the way our brain thinks presently and gives us a different way of perceiving things. This leads to changes in the structure and biochemical of our brain. When we talk about brain it’s hard to avoid the matter of depression. Doctors no longer dismiss depression as an imaginary concept; it’s a real illness that impacts the brain. It is caused because of chemical changes in the brain. Any person of any age can suffer from it. There is a change in structure of brain when depression occurs. Several parts of brain slow down and some parts get hyperactive. This explains why depressed people feel lethargic and exhausted. The equilibrium of the brain is upset. It is mainly caused due to biological factors, rejection, and failure. A recent study shows that violent households and rough child-raising can have the same effect on a child’s mental state as the soldier’s mental condition. We have discussed some very interesting and mindboggling facts about human brain. Did you know that our brain gets almost 70,000 thoughts in a day yet we never acknowledge it? In short, we underestimate the power of our brain. There is nothing like a “dumb person”; if we can optimize the way we utilize our brain, we could all be smart. The trick is in not expecting everyone to be smart in one field, as everybody’s brain is not developed to be interested in one particular field.
Q 7 - Find the word most similar in meaning to the words as used in the passage:
Equilibrium
Answer : D
Explanation
Equilibrium means balance.
Passage
Human brain is one of the most interesting, yet a complex part present in the human body that exists in the universe. The brain does all the functioning and operates other parts of human body, but there’s still so much that we don’t know about it. All of us have always been fascinated by the brains of some genius people who can easily figure out things and take less time to learn things. We call them “born intelligent” and secretly envy them, but we also have wondered many times how they do all that. Human brain produces the amount of electricity that can easily light a small bulb. Of course, this doesn’t mean you try producing light from your brain. Let’s put it this way — without electricity you wouldn’t be reading this article for two reasons. One, you would need electricity to run your device and second, you need your brain to generate the electricity you need.
In Physics, we were taught that human body is a collection of huge masses of atoms that produce electricity which makes our bodies function. Now, when we talk about our brain sending signals to or receiving signals from- the brain as in the cases of closing the door, or opening a book, it’s simply the electricity produced in our brain that carries messages from one point to another. The difference is here we don’t have cables and electric wires, but nerves and neurons do the job. Did you know that our brain weighs half as much as our skin does? Next time someone calls you chubby, take it as a compliment because it means you have a larger brain too. Human brain is considered the fattest organ in the human body. A normal human brain weighs 3lbs, out of which 60% is nothing but fat.
One more interesting fact about our brain is that it utilizes one-fifth of a calorie per minute even when we are resting. If we diet too strictly and eat too meagerly, we could force our brain to eat itself due to starvation. This will come as good news to foodies, who get a license to eat freely — at least, eating freely is much better than starving your brain and making it eat itself, right? Yes, it’s good for your brain to forget things because when you forget something, it means that your brain is deleting some unnecessary information. This is a good thing for your nervous system as it helps to retain its plasticity. Next time you forget something, remember it’s not your fault- your brain who thought it as some unnecessary information.
The human brain takes 6 minutes to react to alcohol, so when a person is under the influence of alcohol and experiences a “blackout”, it’s not as if person remembers nothing but his brain temporarily loses the ability to capture memories. The brain feels no pain at all. That’s because the sensory nerve fibers that make us feel the pain called “nociceptors”- found in all parts of the human body- are not present in the brain, making it unaffected by any kind of pain. Now this explain us how neurosurgeons easily operate on a patient’s brain when they are awake. Now the question arises if the brain feels no pain then why we get headaches. Actually, this is completely a different story- there are layers of tissue between the brain and skull called “dura” and “pia”, that act as a protective coating to the brain. These layers of tissues have nociceptors in them so when we are stressed out, or when there is too much pressure on our brain, our blood vessels release some chemicals near these tissue layers which in turn, activate the nociceptors and cause headaches. Sometimes we get a strong “gut feeling” of whether an action/person is correct or something is going to happen, even without having any facts or proof to justify our feelings. Actually these feelings, also known as “intuition”, are triggered by an electric simulation caused in some specific parts of our brain that are linked to analyzing risks. Let’s think of brain as a prediction machine. The brain stores memories it receives from the outer world, and combines them with past experiences to sum up the possible outcomes of certain situation. Our brain is designed to not just see and hear, but also predict what we should be hearing or seeing next moment to moment. This is the basis of the “Sixth Sense” concept. Human brain uses 20% of the total oxygen and blood in our body. Our brain can normally survive up to 4 to 6 minutes without oxygen, after which, it slowly begins to die. Lack of oxygen supply to the brain for more than 10 minutes- caused due to choking, carbon monoxide poisoning, non-functioning of heart, injuries sustained at birth, or drowning, etc. – may result in permanent brain damage. When our brain is deprived of oxygen for a very long time, it shuts down resulting in a medical condition where a person doesn’t react to any kind of stimuli like pain, touch, noise, etc. often referred to as “comatose” or simply, coma. In this condition, a person cannot perform any voluntary actions and even if there are possibilities that the person may recover from coma if oxygen supply is regained, there is a permanent damage in the brain. Sounds surprising, doesn’t it? Human brain also has taste receptors. We know taste buds in tongue are responsible for the kind of taste we get but these sensors present in our mouth are just initials. The most important part of the taste journey is how does the brain interprets it. Yes, the brain is responsible for translating what kind of taste we experienced. There are parts in our brain which are dedicated for different tastes.
It’s no more just a fictional movie plot. Scientists have discovered that there are many brain parasites which can actually make the “Zombie Apocalypse” real. It must sound surrealistic that a tiny creature can govern such a large human body, but these parasites do actually control their hosts so zombies can be made through these parasites. A recent study has found that “Toxoplasma Gondii”, a parasite known for infecting rodents and cats and is making its way to humans as well. Scientists are now linking schizophrenia, the medical condition where a patient can no more separate reality from fiction, also with a parasite. This research is an ongoing process but it’s still creepy to know that there is no cure available for the condition. The structure of human brain starts changing from the time of birth and it keeps doing so throughout lifetime. There is a change every time we learn something new. The structure of our brain also changes without the usage of any drugs or life-changing situations. Now the question is- how does it change? The change can occur even by simply doing something again or again. When we do something different too, it brings a change in the structure of your brain. This explain us why sometimes psychotherapy works great when drugs fail. This is because it changes the way our brain thinks presently and gives us a different way of perceiving things. This leads to changes in the structure and biochemical of our brain. When we talk about brain it’s hard to avoid the matter of depression. Doctors no longer dismiss depression as an imaginary concept; it’s a real illness that impacts the brain. It is caused because of chemical changes in the brain. Any person of any age can suffer from it. There is a change in structure of brain when depression occurs. Several parts of brain slow down and some parts get hyperactive. This explains why depressed people feel lethargic and exhausted. The equilibrium of the brain is upset. It is mainly caused due to biological factors, rejection, and failure. A recent study shows that violent households and rough child-raising can have the same effect on a child’s mental state as the soldier’s mental condition. We have discussed some very interesting and mindboggling facts about human brain. Did you know that our brain gets almost 70,000 thoughts in a day yet we never acknowledge it? In short, we underestimate the power of our brain. There is nothing like a “dumb person”; if we can optimize the way we utilize our brain, we could all be smart. The trick is in not expecting everyone to be smart in one field, as everybody’s brain is not developed to be interested in one particular field.
Q 8 - Find the word most dissimilar in meaning to the words as used in the passage:
Surrealistic