Reading - 1

Topics Covered
Techniques:
 Speed Reading  Regression, VARC
 Skimming  Scanning
CEX-V-0251/23

Number of questions : 26

Comfort-zone Speed and Sense of Urgency The Evelyn Wood Story

Comfort-zone-speed is the speed at which people Evelyn Wood began her career as a counsellor for
read any text as if they are in no hurry and claim girls at a high school in Salt Lake City. As it
that they achieve their highest level of comprehension happened, none of the youngsters she was trying to
at this speed. Imagine finishing a thin book like ‘The help could read well, and good reading seemed the
Animal Farm’ in a month! Now the question is, would key to getting them back on track in their studies.
reading at a low, comfort-zone speed ensure So Ev elyn established a remedial reading
success in the Reading Comprehension section? programme.
The answer is a definite no. If one has a very slow
speed then one would manage to finish only a portion That programme was quite successful, but she
of the Reading Comprehension section. While when wanted to do more. She was especially interested
reading during examinations, what matters is a in finding ways that students could read beyond what
combination of comprehension and speed. many experts then regarded as the outer limit of
reading speed, 1000 words per minute. But first
Have you noticed that while reading a topic of our she needed some proof that high-speed-reading really
interest, we cruise smoothly through the given text was possible. The evidence came unexpectedly from
and are also able to understand the gist of the one of her professors, Dr C. L. Lowell Lees, the
passage? This is the ideal situation that we can create chairman of the speech department at the University
for reading. However, the challenge is whether we of Utah.
can break out of the comfort-zone-speed in which
we have nested ourselves for years. Please keep in Evelyn turned in an eighty-page term paper to
mind the learnings imbibed from the Eclectic Reading Dr Lees, expecting him to read it at home and return
exercise. it to her later, as most professors did. Instead, he
took the paper from Evelyn and began reading it right
Passage - I there.

Directions for questions 1 to 4: Read the following He went through the entire paper in under ten
passage carefully and answer the questions that minutes, graded it and handed it back to her as she
follow. sat watching in total amazement.
Start time:
Furthermore, he had really read the material. She
found in their ensuing conversation that he was
completely familiar with the content, the arguments
and the flaws in her work.

Reading - 1 Page 1
How fast had Dr Lees read the paper? By Evelyn’s One fall day in 1958, she sat by the side of a brook,
calculations, he had moved through it at about 2,500 reading Green Mansions, by W. H. Hudson. She
words per minute. was reading fairly, quickly, but at nothing near the
speeds of the best readers she had observed and
Evelyn now had living proof that the printed word could read about.
be read at high speeds, well beyond the generally
assumed 1000 words per minute. But how did Dr Finally, in utter frustration, she threw the book across
Lees do it? She couldn’t figure out his technique, if the water and just sat there, thoroughly annoyed
he had one, even after observing him closely and and stymied. A short time later, realizing that this
questioning him. mood wasn’t getting her anywhere, she waded
through the water, retrieved the book and headed
As she delved further into this subject, however, she back toward the cabin where she was spending her
became even more convinced that this extraordinary holiday.
reading rate could be learned and taught. She That evening, she picked up Green Mansions again
discovered accounts of Teddy Roosevelt, for example, and was able to enter the mood of the story more
who was said to read up to three books a day during easily. Some dirt remained on the pages from the
his presidency. The 19th century British utilitarian rough treatment she had given the volume earlier,
philosopher John Stuart Mill was reported to have and as she read she started brushing the dirt away
been able to read as fast as he could turn the pages with the side of her hand.
of a book.
Suddenly, she was moving through the pages at
According to one report, Mill had begun reading high speed, as her eyes followed her hand’s natural,
extensively as a preschooler. Through his formative relaxed brushing movements. Before she knew it,
years, his father, a college professor, would give him she had read more than 50,000 words in less than
a book and tell him to go into another room for a ten minutes or a rate of nearly 5,000 words per
short time and read it. Mr Mill would then call John minute!
back to discuss what he had read.
From this experience was born the basic Evelyn
Obviously, there was tremendous pressure on young Wood method of reading at high-speeds by using
John to concentrate and move quickly through the the hand as a pacer. Over the next two years, Evelyn
assigned material. By this ‘on-the-job training’, he fine-tuned her technique in a speech and reading
soon developed into a highly skilled, extremely fast course she taught at the University of Utah.In 1959
reader. she established the first Evelyn Wood Reading
Dynamics Institute of Washington, D.C., and the
But even after investigating these and other reputed rest is history.
speed-readers, Evelyn still couldn’t come up with a
Obviously, what I call Mental Soaring has been
technique that could be taught to slow readers. Was
around for a long time. Also small numbers of people
high speed and learning an unteachable skill that
in recent generations have discovered the high-
only a few naturally adept individuals could master?
speed approach on their own. But it was only in
Next, Evelyn Wood launched a search for the faster
1959 that the techniques became available to the
readers alive. She eventually found 53 people who
public through the Wood courses, and now we’re
could read from 1,500 to 6,000 words per minute.
taking the next step: bringing all the specifics of
But even after interviewing them and observing them
that programme to you through this book.
closely, she couldn’t identify a common technique.
To be sure, all their eyes moved quickly, and they End time:
travelled in one dominant direction, vertically down
the page. “But how?” she asked, increasingly Reading speed: 877 / (End time - Start time)
frustrated. = _______ words per minute

Page 2 Reading - 1
1. Dr Lowell Lees The best ways to overcome regression are to develop
(1) was a very slow reader. good reading habits and build a vast arsenal of words.
(2) did an Evelyn Wood’s course. You must pause after any text that you read (even in
(3) was chairman of the speech department newspapers, magazines and books) and recollect
at the University of Utah. all the information you remember and focus on the
(4) taught speed-reading at the University key points. You may at times want to go back to the
of Utah. text and check on the points you did not understand
(5) was Evelyn wood's colleague at the correctly, this is permissible as long as it doesn’t
University of Utah become a habit.

2. The passage is about Passage - II

(1) speed-reading.
(2) how to read faster. Directions for questions 5 to 9: Read the passage
(3) Dan Warner. and answer all the questions that follow in not more
(4) Evelyn Wood’s method of study. than 5 minutes.
(5) research on reading
Start time:
3. According to the passage
(1) Evelyn Wood was a natural fast reader. “I am Sam. Sam I am.” The first nine words of “Green
(2) Evelyn Wood learnt to read faster from Eggs and Ham,” indisputably the finest American
Dr Lees. children’s book, are in the nature of an anthem,
(3) Evelyn Wood found fifty-three people uttered at the outset of a tale so consequential that
who taught her to read faster. it must be seen as a formative text in the making
(4) Evelyn Wood was a literature student. of modern American citizens. One may say of Sam-
(5) Evelyn Wood found a way to read faster I-am—the adamant purveyor of those strangely
accidentally. colored foods that make up the title of Dr. Seuss’s
lovely little book—that he embodies the American
4. John Stuart Mill was Way. So much so that I call him, with no great
(1) a 20th century philosopher. inaccuracy, Uncle-Sam-I-am.
(2) able to read up to three books a day.
(3) a British utilitarian philosopher. There are two ways to interpret “Green Eggs and
(4) the President of US. Ham.” The first—to which I do not subscribe—was
(5) Evelyn Wood's professor suggested to me by a colleague with small children.
It is as a terrifying torture-and-kidnap story: It begins,
Regression famously, with a question, “Do you like green eggs
and ham?”—and a proffered platter. In spite of its
The tendency to go back to the parts of the passage unorthodox greenness, the ham looks rather
or re-read the text is called regression. Regression succulent. Yet the off er is ref used. The
unnecessarily slows you down and also affects your Protagonist—a typical Seussian creature with
comprehension as a result of frequent jumps in your furry exterior and rumpled top-hat—then retreats
understanding while reading. You need to be aware grumpily to his house, where Sam-I-am harasses
of the reasons for regression and with discipline and him, confronting him first with a rodent, and then
practise try to overcome it. Regression arises out of with a smug-faced fox.
many reasons:-
a. Poor vocabulary The Protagonist flees, Sam-I-am pursues him in a
b. Poor concentration car, and then brings on a very forward goat, posing
c. Low retention the question that has always amused the schoolboy
in me: “Could you, would you, with a goat?” He then

Reading - 1 Page 3
runs the car off the road, dumping the Protagonist mind, or a deposit of fuel for the imagination, in the
(along with a bevy of innocent train passengers) into form of a character, or a twist in the tale, or a rhyme
the sea. At this point, in self-defense, the victim adopts that, like a good tune, insinuates itself into a child’s
the worldview of his assailant and, Patty Hearst-like, brain. “Green Eggs and Ham” has all of these.
becomes a propagandist for Sam-I-am’s cause.
It is also fine, and often part of the fun, that the child
The second way to interpret the book is as a be disconcerted by what has just been read to him.
celebration, albeit a mischievous one, of two So darkness in a tale is no bad thing. Here,
particularly American traits: salesmanship and open- however—and especially where being disconcerted
mindedness. Sam-I-am is the consummate shades into being disturbed—it is important that the
entrepreneur, although, clearly, he does not believe book end well, and on a comforting note, with a
in soft-sell. He is convinced of his product’s restoration of the natural order.
attractiveness, and the evangelism of his pitch is
End Time
evident. He wants the Protagonist to “see the light.”
However annoying one might be tempted to find Sam-
I-am, he retains our sympathy for as long as his 5. Why does the author consider ‘Green Eggs
interlocutor refuses to try his product. How could and Ham’ to be a book that is a great building
he know that he doesn’t like green eggs and ham? block for children?
Has he tried them? Why won’t he try them? What if (1) It teaches patriotic values to American
we all refused to do things simply because we haven’t children.
done them before? (2) It has an enduring universal appeal that
is relevant even when children become
These are questions all children might, and do, ask adults.
themselves, as Sam-I-am goes about his business. (3) It engages even pre-literate children and
therefore has an enduring effect on them.
“Green Eggs and Ham” is a book written to be read (4) It is written in a style that is easy to follow
aloud to preliterate children. And new research— and teaches them basic educational
by economists such as James Heckman, and skills.
others—now reveals that a child’s intellectual and (5) It provokes a desire to return to book.
civic development is often made (or marred) by the
stimuli he receives well before he learns to read. So 6. What is the author’s tone while talking about
a book that electrifies a child when read aloud is not how good children’s literature should not be
merely a source of pleasure, but a building block for a snooze?
his future. (1) Analytical (2) Scientific
(3) Cautious (4) Jocular
“Green Eggs and Ham” is a very American book, of (5) Philosophical
course, but good children’s literature has certain
universal characteristics. Plainly, a book must be 7. It can be inferred that the author believes that
fun. It cannot be a snooze (although sleep by the good pictures in children’s books
end of it is a parent’s delight). So the language is (1) aid the process of understanding and
paramount: If it is alluring, a child’s imagination is imbuing the meanings.
captured; if it is all flat, the audience is lost. The (2) exaggerates the humor and fun elements.
pictures can be as important as the language, (3) serves to excite the pre-literate child only.
although great art can never rescue a flaccid text. (4) is good but is not an insurance against a
A good children’s book, moreover, must provoke a boring book.
desire to return, to be read to from the same pages (5) motivates the child to find out more about
again and again. For this, it must have an “aftertaste”. the contents of the book.
This may either be a lesson that is left in the young

Page 4 Reading - 1
8. W hat does the author think about the Passage - III
inclusion of dark elements in children’s
books? Directions for questions 10 to 15: Read the
(1) It is unnecessary and should be avoided. following passage carefully and answer the questions
(2) It is good as it prepares them for the that follow.
challenges of adulthood.
Start time:
(3) It engages them, but it should be resolved
by the end.
(4) It can cause fear to set in permanently in Physical anthropologists are concerned primarily with
child’s mind. the biology of human groups. They study the
(5) None of the above differences between the members of the past and
present human societies and are particularly
9. It can be inferred that the reason Sam-I-am interested in the geographical distribution of human
gets our sympathy in the book is because physical characteristics. Understanding mummy
(1) his persistence and faith are appreciable. preservation is an important part of physical
(2) he is a sorry figure for whom all of us feel anthropology. Concentration is placed on areas of
pity. osteology including skeletal analysis and structure.
(3) he is struggling against enormous odds Skin, hair, and tissue are commonly examined to
like the hero of an epic. comprehend exterior composition. Physical
(4) he is a character the children can relate anthropologists can acquire knowledge of past
to. peoples, which aids in the study of today’s peoples.
(5) he faces a lot of hardships in the story. New technologies are providing scientists with the
key to unlock new doors. There are many contributing
Entrance tests not only test one’s knowledge but factors that surround the study of mummies, leading
also one’s test strategy. It is important to read and scientists into new fields of territory. The origin of a
comprehend faster to gain that required edge. In this mummy is determined by a variety of different
unit you will be introduced to the various tools and situations. After a person or animal dies, the body
techniques that will help you read more efficiently. decomposes from bacteria. This process attacks
the flesh, leaving only skeletal remains. This type of
Vocalization and Sub-Vocalization situation is the most common occurring, but there
is another alternative called mummification. This is
Vocalization / sub-vocalization is pronouncing the where the fleshy parts of a body are preserved due
words while you read, either audibly or inaudibly. to nature or by the preparation of other humans.
This habit is a problem because it invariably slows Bacteria need moisture, warmth, or oxygen to cause
down your speed for a simple reason – your speed decay. Many different types of environmental
is now a function of how fast you read out the words, conditions and humanistic rituals contribute to the
which will not exceed 200 words per minute; an type of mummy that’s presented. The most common
average reading speed. The required reading speed characteristic between all types of mummies is the
to be on the safer side for CAT & other exams is prevention of bacteria rotting the body. It’s amazing
300-350+ words per minute. You must read with your how scientists are finding the preserved remains of
eyes and let the brain do the processing of past peoples.
information instead of reading the text aloud. Keep
in mind that while reading RCs, it is important to
grasp the ideas and not focus on each and every
word.

Reading - 1 Page 5
It unlocks many secrets about how certain people type of supernatural force in which nature purposely
lived. I close my eyes and try to visualize that moment preserves the body so those scientists of today have
of discovery. Science aside, I think it’s a creepy field something to study. It’s nature’s twisted way of
to work in. While most discoveries are triumphant helping us understand past and future life.
times, there are also disgusting times. Personally, I
wouldn’t be caught anywhere near a mummy. I don’t No. of words: 681 End time:
have the stomach to be around the dead. Movies are
a different story, but in real life, no.
10. In the passage, ‘creepy fields to work in’
means
Nature plays a strong role in preserving a mummy
(1) a field permeating enthusiasm.
and helping scientists to make interpretations about
(2) difficult to work.
past cultures. Freezing temperatures can prevent a
(3) disturbing environment.
body from decomposing. One of the oldest well-
(4) slow to work in that environment.
preserved mummies in the world is known as ‘the
(5) morbid fields
Ice Man’. A group of hikers travelling through the
European Alps stumbled upon this mummy preserved
11. What factors help preserve the mummy?
safely in a glacier. Scientists were able to determine
(1) Freezing
that the mummy was roughly 5,300-year-old by
(2) Bacteria
studying the tools and clothing that rested beside
(3) Moisture
him. That makes me wonder if the people of today
(4) Torrid temperatures
could be discovered 5,300 years into the future. As
(5) Temperate temperatures
scientists uncover tools of the past, I imagine what
life was like so long ago. It makes me appreciate the
12. Which of the following statements is true?
provisions that are made available in today’s society.
(1) The author empathizes with the people
Why did it take humans this long to get to where we
thrown in the bog.
are now? I often think about the idea of something
(2) The author prognosticates the mummies
like electricity being invented 3,000 years before it
would evoke a new thinking for the future
actually happened. Where would today’s technology
generations.
be? What kind of tools would Scientists have access
(3) The mummies force the author to
to? It’s a mind scrambler that continues to question
introspect about a myriad things.
me. A bog is another example of nature preserving a
(4) The author loathes the concept of
body. These marshy wet areas lack oxygen due to
mummies.
peat moss, which makes it difficult for bacteria to
(5) The author likes working with mummies.
grow. This type of preservation environment creates
a different variation in the appearance of these
13. What aspects does the author analyse from
mummies. Most of them have a leathery stretched
the mummies?
semblance. These mummies are typically found in
1. The influence of nature on a particular
Europe. I realized that a group of bog mummies found
society.
in Denmark show some aspects of past cultural
2. Is it possible for the future people to
behaviours. Scientists determined that one particular
know about the contemporary people?
mummy was strangled with a rope and thrown into
3. Does nature enforce certain activities.
the bog. I think these people were killed as a result
of human sacrifice or perhaps a form of punishment.
(1) 1, 2, 3
Scientists believe that bog mummies were a result
(2) 2 only
of human beings thrown into a bog and nature did
(3) 2, 3
the rest. What if nature acted as a silent influence
(4) 1 only
on that particular culture, persuading the group to
(5) 3 Only
place these people in the bogs? There may be some

Page 6 Reading - 1
14. Osteology is the study of all benefit from faster speeds. Even in your class,
(1) human fossils. there are those who read faster and chances are
(2) ancient civilization. that they also possess higher comprehension skills.
(3) structure of bones. The reason for the myth is that the first few times
(4) glaciers you try to read at a higher speed than your comfort
(5) None of the above level, you are sure to experience a slight dip in the
comprehension level, but the solution is NOT to revert
15. What can be inferred from the author's use of to your comfort speed. Instead, you should practice
the phrase ‘nature's twisted way’. reading at a higher speed, until your comprehension
(1) The author considers nature to be levels improve.
mysterious.
(2) The author considers nature to be Speed reading is essentially a method of reading
perplexing. rapidly by taking in several words or phrases at a
(3) The author considers nature to be glance or by skimming. Speed reading increases
ironical. the reading rate and furthers comprehension of the
(4) The author considers nature to be text.
tortuous.
(5) None of the above. Speed Reading Techniques

Hand Motions 1. The underlining hand motion:

Using the hand to control or direct eye pacing
Remember the time when as children you were while reading text. For hand motions, you use
learning to ride a bicycle, you used balancers to your writing hand to move down a page of
balance the machine. One fine day after a lot of text, forcing your eyes to follow the motion.
pedalling you gave up the support of balancers and Reading speeds can be improved with hand
were happily on your own. The hand-motions motions, especially in the beginning of
illustrated in this exercise are like balancers which learning to read faster. Using the hand and
you need to train your eyes for sailing smoothly over fingers as a pacer will force the eyes to move
the given text. Keep reading and practising and one down a page of text in a smooth rhythm. Hand
day you will be able to read fast without any external motions are helpful in improving both speed
aid. Let’s understand these hand motions and and comprehension, mainly because they help
practise with them. av ert such reading distractions as
regressions.
To be able to read fast is an important skill in today’s Hand motions are effective as a pacer until
world. As students and also as professionals, we your eyes can continue the same motion
read large amounts of material on a daily basis. Thus, efficiently with the same precision on their
improving our speed-reading technique is something own, allowing you to read even faster.
each and every one of us should not only do, but
also maintain. You must practice these techniques 2. The vertical hand motion:
until an acceptable reading rate becomes second Once you have reached a higher reading
nature to you. speed, almost 400 – 450 words per minute,
One of the biggest myths believed by students is you should switch to this method to further
that reading f aster may cause a loss in boost your speed.
comprehension. Studies hav e shown that
comprehension, concentration, recall and retention

Reading - 1 Page 7
You should do the following in order to follow the Here is the plagiary:
technique of vertical hand motion:
 Keep both your hands on either side of the JE: “Beerbohm was primarily and always an ironist,
page. a comedian, an amused observer standing on the
 Move your hands vertically, with one or two of sidelines with a smile and a glass of wine in his
your fingers moving down left and right of each hand. G.K. Chesterton said of him that ‘he does not
sentence. Initially, during practice period you indulge in the base idolatry of believing in himself.’”
should move your hands down at a pace you P (Tasteful Plagiarist): “Beerbohm was primarily and
are comfortable with and increase the speed always an ironist, a comedian, an amused observer
of hand motion gradually thereafter. standing on the sidelines with a smile and a glass
 As your hands move from both sides, you are of wine in his hand. G.K. Chesterton rightly observed
completely involved; moreover, you need not of him that ‘he does not indulge in the base idolatry
have the fear of skipping sentences. of believing in himself.’”
 In this method, your hands do not mar the
view of the visual field of sentences; In 30 years of teaching university students I never
concentration is more on the printed matter encountered a case of plagiarism, or even one that
than on your hand motion. I suspected. Teachers I’ve known who have caught
students in this sad act report that the capture gives
Passage - IV one an odd sense of power. The power derives from
the authority that resides behind the word “gotcha”.
Directions for questions 16 to 18: Read the following This is followed by that awful moment—a veritable
passage carefully and answer the questions that sadist’s Mardi Gras—when one calls the student
follow. into one’s office and points out the odd coincidence
Start time: that he seems to have written about existentialism
in precisely the same words Jean-Paul Sartre used
52 years earlier.
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, what is
plagiarism? The least sincere form? A genuine crime? In recent years, of course, plagiarisms have been
Or merely the work of someone with less-than- claimed of a number of authors themselves famous
complete mastery of quotation marks who is in too enough to be plagiarized from. The historians
great a hurry to come up with words and ideas of his Stephen Ambrose and Doris Kearns Goodwin were
own? both caught in the act. The Harvard law professor
Laurence Tribe has been accused of the crime. The
Over many decades of scribbling, I have on a few novelist Jerzy Kosinski, a man who in some ways
occasions been told that some writer, even less specialized in deceit, deposited chunks of writing
original than I, had lifted a phrase or an idea of mine from Polish sources into his books without
without attribution. I generally took this as a mild attribution. Some years ago there was talk of
compliment. Now, though, at long last, someone has plagiarism in Martin Luther King Jr.’s doctoral
plagiarized me, straight out and without doubt. The dissertation. Schadenfreudians are usually much
theft is from an article of mine about Max Beerbohm, pleased by the exposure of plagiarism in relatively
the English comic writer, written in the pages of the high places; to discover that the mighty have not
august journal you are now reading. fallen so much as cheated on their way up excites
many who have never attempted the climb.
The man did it from a great distance—from India, in
fact, in a publication calling itself “India’s Number I have myself always been terrified of plagiarism—of
One English Hindi news source”; the name of the being accused of it, that is. Every writer is a thief,
plagiarist is being withheld to protect the guilty. I though some of us are more clever than others at
learned about it from an email sent to me by a disguising our robberies. The reason writers are such
generous reader.

Page 8 Reading - 1
slow readers is that we are ceaselessly searching 17. It can be inferred that the reason for
for things we can steal and then pass off as our schadenfreudians to feel pleased at the
own: a natty bit of syntax, a seamless transition, a discovery of plagiarism in high places is rooted
metaphor that jumps to its target like an arrow shot in
from an aluminum crossbow. (1) getting an opportunity f or one-
upmanship and to call their bluff.
In my own case, I have written a few books built to a (2) the realization that respected people
great extent on other writers’ books. Where the blurry indulge in cheating too.
line between a paraphrase and a lift is drawn—not (3) the opportunity to facilitate their fall.
always so clear when composing such books—has (4) the chance to rejoice at realizing that
always been worrisome to me. True, I’ve never said the might are just like us.
directly that man is a political animal, or that those (5) their insecurity and inferiority complex.
who cannot remember the past are condemned to
repeat it. Still, I worry that I may somewhere have 18. When the author comments “Gunga Din, I’m
crossed that blurry line. a better man than you”, why does he not want
to attribute it to Kipling?
In the realm of plagiarism, my view is, better a lender (1) because he does not like Kipling.
than a borrower be. (You can quote me on that.) The (2) because he believes that even Kipling
man who reported the plagiarism to me noted that plagiarized.
he wrote to the plagiarist about it but had no (3) because he is writing on plagiarism and
response. At first I thought I might write to him myself, he would like to keep the spirit of
remarking that I much enjoyed his piece on Max plagiarism intact.
Beerbohm and wondering where he found that (4) because he realizes that the unnamed
perfectly apposite G.K. Chesterton quotation. Or I plagiarist would understand this
could directly accuse him, in my best high moral language.
dudgeon, of stealing my words and then close by (5) because he is not sure whether Rudyard
writing—no attribution here to Rudyard Kipling, of Kipling wrote it.
course—“Gunga Din, I’m a better man than you.” Or
I could turn the case over, on a contingency basis, Anticipation in Reading
to a hungry young Indian lawyer, and watch him fight
it out in the courts of Bombay or Calcutta, which is Anticipation in reading entails determining the
likely to produce a story that would make Bleak author’s approach in reading materials and is
House look like Goodnight Moon. important for ‘Active Reading’. Anticipation allows
readers an opportunity to become acquainted with
End time:
the topic, which aids in both concentration and
comprehension. Previewing is a major factor in
Reading speed : 820/ (End time – Start time ) anticipation; the process involves selecting, skipping,
= _____ words per minute skimming and scanning. Efficient readers are
sensitive to the ideas and tone of the author, which
16. According to the passage, what emotion best raises their ability for anticipation (of the author’s
describes the occasion of finding a plagiarist? direction), for active reading and thinking, and for
(1) The thrill of finding a compatriot. improved comprehension of the subject matter.
(2) The disgust at finding someone who
commits this heinous act.
(3) The joy of catching someone in an
act s/he is trying to hide.
(4) The contempt for a plagiarist.
(5) The fury of having been cheated.

Reading - 1 Page 9
 Passage - V 19. (1) All of it is what makes Olympics what
they are and this enduring legacy of the
Directions: Given below is a passage with four Greek sporting festival is close to the
blanks. Read the passage carefully and anticipate highs of the human condition.
which among the five given options would best fit in (2) But the Winter Games are about a few
the corresponding blank. other things as well: elitism, exclusion
and the triumph of the world’s sporting
Never mind the usual puffery about what this month’s haves over its have nots.
Winter Olympics are all about. Sure, there’s the (3) But sports is not the main theme that
beauty of sports, the spirit of friendly competition, is driving the popularity of the Winter
the dedication of great athletes and all that. ——— Olympics unlike the Summer Olympics
———————————19—————————— (4) Winter Olympics are also about the
What the Winter Games are not is a truly international beauty of the season that most consider
sporting competition that brings the best of the world to be depressing and excuse to stay
together to compete, as the promotional blather would indoors.
have you believe. Unlike the widely attended Summer (5) Also the large amount of commercial
Olympics, the winter version is almost exclusively activity associated with the event
the preserve of a narrow, generally wealthy, increases its significance.
predominantly Caucasian collection of athletes and
nations. In fact, I’d suggest that the name of the 20. (1) Throughout most of the Winter Olympics’
Winter Games, which start on Friday, be changed. history, the parade of participating
They could be more accurately branded “The nations has been a short one.
European and North American Expensive Sports (2) Europe itself has been a region that has
Festival.” not shown much enthusiasm towards
————————-20————————————— sports.
———————————————Until as recently (3) Branding is what sports is increasingly
as 1994, fewer than a third of the planet’s countries turning out to be; the business behind
took part. This year, in Turin, Italy, the International the games.
Olympic Committee (IOC) expects delegations from (4) The response has been encouraging and
about 85 countries, an all-time high, but still barely increasingly more and more countries
43 percent of the world’s total. Even that exaggerates have been participating.
the extent of participation. ______ (5) The money spent could have gone into
______________21__________________________ addressing the poverty issues of the
__________________________________________ African continent.
Ethiopia, a nation of 73 million, will send its first “team”
to a Winter Olympics this year — a single skier. 21. (1) But, the spirit of the games is infectious
___________________________________________ and even the few who participate do it
_________________22________________________ with full enthusiasm.
_________ In the history of the winter competition, (2) Many of the nations in the Opening
dating from its inception in 1924, competitors from Ceremonies will be represented by
only six countries — the Soviet Union/Russia, tokens, some consisting entirely of
Germany (East, West and combined), Norway, the sports bureaucrats, not athletes.
United States, Austria and Finland, in that order — (3) Even the developed world is now
have won almost two-thirds of all the medals awarded. embracing the games with open arms.
Only 17 countries have ever amassed more than 10 (4) The usual doping allegations, hallmark
medals during the past 19 winter Olympiads. Only of the Summer Olympics are absent in
38 countries have won only one medal each. its cousin.
(5) The participants are mostly allies of the
wealthy nations.
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22. (1) But in spite of the gesture from the now it is clear he was shedding crocodile tears. “The
African continent, their chances of Blood Runs Like a River Through My Dreams”
dominance are few and far in between. became a finalist for the PEN Award for best first
(2) That is ironic for a country where skiing nonfiction. I hailed it as a masterpiece.
is a luxury that few have access to.
(3) It would have been much better off had “Nasdijj,” who said he was from the Southwest, was
it spent that money on Summer living at that time in Chapel Hill. He was sick, he
Olympics. said, from years of poverty and struggle and had
(4) There is massive support for the African moved to the Triangle for our world-class medical
continent riding on the back of the latest facilities.
political happenings.
(5) As always, the biggest delegations, and I was excited to have this talent in our midst. That
the big winners, will come from a familiar he was a poor, traveled Native American, didn’t hurt
pool. his cause either.

Passage - VI I invited him to lunch. He was a slight man with a

quiet voice who seemed as weathered as the
Directions: Given below is a passage with four character he played in his books. ———————
blanks. Read the passage carefully and anticipate ———————24————————————, but I
which among the five given options would best fit in attributed this to his white father. He was gracious
the corresponding blank. and — it seemed — extremely forthcoming about
his life and work.
How does it feel to be hustled, scammed, duped?
Did you ever suspect he might be a fraud? What are As he picked at his food, he repeated many of the
you going to do about it? stories he had told the News & Observer reporter
who had profiled him a year earlier. ———————
Such questions have filled my days these past few ——————————————————25———
weeks. The best way to answer them is to go back ——————————————————— But I
to the beginning, to the fall of 2000. That’s when I did. I saw no reason not to. Neither, it seemed, did
first encountered the man I knew as the Navajo writer anyone else.
“Nasdijj” — and whom I now understand to be a con
man from Lansing, Mich., named Timothy Patrick The N&O and publications across the country gave
Barrus. warm reviews to his two subsequent memoirs. His
second book, “The Boy and the Dog Are Sleeping,”
Houghton Mifflin was publishing his debut “memoir,” won a prestigious PEN/Beyond Margins Award in
a collection of poetic essays detailing the writer’s 2004.
struggles as the son of a drunken Navajo woman
and an abusive white cowboy. Its centerpiece, a I was delighted when this emerging star agreed to
heartbreaking account of his adopted Indian son who review books and write essays for the paper.
had died of fetal alcohol syndrome, had been Between March 18, 2001, and July 18, 2004, I ran
published in the June 1999 issue of Esquire and 10 pieces by him, almost all of which referenced his
named a finalist for a National Magazine Award. Native American heritage. I received some praise
and no complaints about them. I deeply regret
His prose style, a graceful staccato that packed an publishing them.
aphoristic punch, was vivid and fresh. But — and it
hurts to say this now — ———————————— Besides our lunch, we met one other time, at a
—23————————————— “Nasdijj” went to bookstore, where he read an essay he had written
very dark places before bleeding on the page, though for an N&O series that became the book “Remarkable

Reading - 1 Page 11
Reads” (W.W. Norton). Otherwise, our interactions 25. (1) In retrospect, I wish I hadn’t trusted him,
occurred mostly through e-mail. This is not unusual; or his claims in my column as fact.
most of my communications with reviewers are (2) I wish had not struck a deep friendship
electronic. with him.
——————————————————————— (3) In retrospect, I wish I hadn’t offered to
———26—————————————————— become his literary agent.
————— Instead it was a confluence of factors. (4) I wish I had not praised him to critics
His work had always required major editing — 1,000- and magazine publishers.
word assignments invariably came in at 2,500 — but (5) I wish I had not introduced him to my
the results justified the effort. However, this process influential friends.
became more difficult sometime in 2003. Always
elusive — he was no fan of the telephone — “Nasdijj” 26. (1) His popularity played no part in my
became harder to reach. E-mails went unanswered decision to stop asking him to write for
for long stretches because, he said, he was visiting us.
remote locations for his work. (2) But his incompetence with the computer
was astounding.
23. (1) It was the book’s searing honesty that (3) Surprisingly, his competence on the
set it apart. computer was highly questionable.
(2) The length of the book made it a labored (4) Suspicion played no part in my decision
read. to stop asking him to write for us.
(3) The author was drunk throughout the (5) This had nothing to do with our falling
writing of the book. apart.
(4) The book was a brilliantly crafted work
of art.
(5) I loved it for its originality.

24. (1) He didn’t bring any gifts along.

(2) He was quiet and reclusive.
(3) He was fascinated by my collection of
maps.
(4) He didn’t look like a Native American.
(5) He had a strong accent.

Visit “Test Gym” for taking Topic Tests / Section Tests on a regular basis.

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 VARC : Solutions CEX-V-0251/23

Reading - 1

1 3 2 4 3 5 4 3 5 3 6 4 7 4 8 3 9 1 10 3
11 1 12 3 13 1 14 3 15 1 16 3 17 2 18 3 19 2 20 1
21 2 22 5 23 1 24 4 25 1 26 4

1. 3 Refer to the second paragraph. 12. 3 Refer to the line, “there are many contributing factors
that surround the study of mummies, leading scientists
2. 4 Option (4) can be clearly inferred from the title. into new fields of territory,” in the first paragraph.

3. 5 Refer to the third last paragraph. 13. 1 All of 1, 2, 3 are given in the second paragraph.

4. 3 Refer to the eighth paragraph. 14. 3 Osteology is the study of the structure and function of
bones
5. 3 The author makes the comment about the building block
potential of the book in the fifth paragraph. Here he 15. 1 The lines "What if nature acted… have something to
talks about how the book really is aimed at the pre- study" clearly points to the fact that the author
literate children and that psychologists highlight the considers nature to be mysterious.
importance of any work of literature that engages
children. The book falls in this category. This makes 16. 3 The author mentions the feeling of finding a plagiarist
option (3) correct. in the sixth paragraph using the word “gotcha” to
describe the power of the revelation. This is best
6. 4 The author makes this comment in the sixth paragraph captured by option (3).
and after saying this mentions that parents do wish
that these books make children go off to sleep. The 17. 2 The author mentions the schadenfreduians in the
light irony of this makes option (4) the correct answer. seventh paragraph towards the end and mentions the
idea of the might having cheated rather than having
7. 4 The author expresses his opinions about the use of fallen. The trick lies in realizing that the mighty are
pictures in children’s literature in the sixth paragraph indulging in something that is contemptuous and their
and mentions “The pictures can be as important as the mightiness might be a result of similar “achievements”.
language, although great art can never rescue a flaccid The realization that ‘mighty’ or respected people have
text.” This makes option (4) correct. cheated their way to becoming mighty is the reason
for schadenfreduians to feel pleased.
8. 3 The author talks about this in the last paragraph of the This makes option (2) correct.
passage and mentions that, “So darkness in a tale is
no bad thing. Here, however—and especially where 18. 3 The author mentions this in the last paragraph and in
being disconcerted shades into being disturbed—it is the spirit of the topic – plagiarism he takes a famous
important that the book end well…”, making option (3) line from Kipling, uses it and does not want to attribute
correct. it. This makes option (3) correct.

9. 1 The author makes this comment in the fourth 19. 2 The author mentions the positive qualities of the Winter
paragraph and mentions “…he retains our sympathy Olympics in the first paragraph. The second paragraph
for as long as his interlocutor refuses to try his reveals the negative side of the sporting event that
product.” This makes option (1) correct. the author is highlighting. This indicates a contrasting
statement as being the one that ends the first
10. 3 ‘Creepy’ means disturbing to work in that area. paragraph. Out of the options provided, option (2)
best suits this and is therefore the correct choice.
11. 1 Refer to the third paragraph - “Freezing temperature
can...from decomposing.”

Reading - 1 Page 1
20.1 The author mentions the fact of the low participation in 24. 4 The author mentions his meeting with Nasdijj and talks
the Winter Olympics as indicated by “barely” etc. This about how there was a characteristic that he attributed
means that he doubts the pull of the Winter Olympics to his white father. We have been told till now that
even in Europe. Option (1) best fits as the starting line Nasdijj talked about being a Native American and hence
for this paragraph. Option (2) is limited to Europe the “white father” comment. Als o, the previous
whereas the next statement talks about “a third of the statement describes his look “wheathered” which has
planet’s countries.” got nothing to do with “gifts” option (1), behaviour
(option 2), his fascination for “maps” (option 3) or his
21. 2 The author talks about the participation which is “accent” (option 4). Therefore, option (4) is the best
considerably lower for the W inter Olympics and option, which the author can attribute to the “white
mentions the nominal nature of it. The last line, which father”.
mentions Ethiopia, displays the token participation and
therefore option (2) fits in best. 25. 1 The author talks about his experience with Nasdijj and
he ends the paragraph talking about an oversight that
22. 5 In the fourth paragraph, the author talks about the he and others made as well. This narrows down the
lopsided nature of the Winter Olympic winners which choice because it hints the oversight was committed
does not have much to do with the previous comment by many and this makes option (1) correct.
about Africa. Option (5) best introduces this idea and
is therefore the correct choice. 26. 4 The author talks about the problems with Nasdijj’s work.
The initial line of this paragraph would introduce this
23. 1 The author begins the passage mentioning the writer issue and option (4) seems the best option.
as being a con man and the second and third
paragraphs mention the background to Nasdijj’s
success. In the fourth paragraph, he mentions the
good things about the book. The second line starts
with a “but”, and this indicates a contrast. Options (4)
and (5) are clearly incorrect as they are positive bits
about the writer. Options (2) and (3) are clearly
negative but it doesn’t fit in with the “it hurts to say this
now”. On the other hand, option (1) fits in well, here
because it makes the situation ironic where a conman
wrote a book that appeared honest.

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