In the following question, out of the given four alternatives, select the alternative which best expresses the meaning of the Idiom/Phrase.

Whoop it up

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

Doing an internship at the University of Lille in France, I almost always found myself stuck whenever I had to speak to non-Indians about India or on anything 'Indian'. This was more because of the subtle differences in the way the French understood India in comparison to what I thought was 'Indian'. For instance, when I, or any Indian for that matter, say 'Hindi' is an Indian language, what it means is that it is one of the languages widely spoken in India. This need not be similar to the understanding that the French would have when they hear of 'Hindi' as an Indian language. Because for them Hindi then becomes the only language spoken in India. This is a natural inference that the French, Germans, Italians and many other European nationals would tend to make, because that is generally how it is in their own respective countries. The risk of such inappropriate generalisations made about 'Indian' is not restricted to language alone but also for India's landscape, cuisine, movies, music, climate, economic development and even political ideologies. The magnitude of diversity of one European country can be easily compared to that of one of the Indian State, isn't it? Can they imagine that India is one country whose diversity can be equated to that of the entire European continent? The onus is upon us to go ahead and clarify the nuances in 'Indianness' while we converse. But why should one do so? How does it even matter to clarify?

According to the writer the responsibility of explaining the facts about India to Europeans rests with?

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words have been printed in bold to help you locate them, while answering some of the questions.
Among those suffering from the global recession are millions of workers who are not even included in the official statistics : urban recyclers – the trash pickers, sorters, traders and reprocesses who extricate paper, cardboard and plastics from garbage heaps and prepare them for reuse. Their work is both unrecorded and largely unrecognized, even though in some parts of the World they handle as much as 20% of all waste.
The World’s 15 million informal recyclers clean up cities, prevent some trash from ending in landfills and thus, reduce climate change by saving energy on waste disposal techniques like incineration. In the developed countries they are the preferred ones since they recycle waste much more cheaply and efficiently than governments or private corporations can. In the developing World, on the other hand, they provide the only recycling services except for a few big cities. But as recession hits the markets Worldwide, the price of scrap metal, paper and plastic has also fallen. Recyclers throughout the World are experiencing a sharp drop in income. Trash pickers and scrap dealers saw a decline of as much as 80% in the price of scrap from October 2007 to October 2009. In some countries scrap dealers have shuttered so quickly that researchers at the Solid Waste Management Association didn’t have a chance to record their losses. In Delhi, some 80% of families in the informal recycling business surveyed by an organization said they had cut back on “luxury foods,” which they defined as fruit, milk and meat. About 41% had stopped buying milk for their children. By this summer, most of those children, already malnourished, hadn’t had a glass of milk in nine months. Many of these children have also cut down on hours spent in school to work alongside their parents. Families have liquidated their most valuable assets – primarily copper from electrical wires – and have stopped sending remittances back to their rural villages. Many have also sold their emergency stores of grain. Their misery is not as familiar as that of the laid-off workers of big name but imploding, service sector corporation, but it is often more tragic. Few countries have adopted emergency measures to help trash pickers. Brazil, for one, is  providing recyclers, or “catadores,” with cheaper food, both through arrangements with local farmers and by offering food subsidies. Other countries, with the support of non-governmental organizations  and donor agencies are following Brazil’s example. Unfortunately, most trash pickers operate outside official notice and end up falling through the cracks of programmes like these. In the long run,  though, these invisible workers will remain especially vulnerable to economic slowdowns unless they are integrated into the formal business sector, where they can have insurance and reliable wages. This is not hard to accomplish. Informal junk shops should have to apply for licences, and governments should create or expand doorstep waste collection programmes to employ trash pickers. Instead of sorting through haphazard trash heaps and landfills, the pickers would have access to the cleaner scrap that comes from households.

The need of the hour, however, is a more immediate solution. An efficient but temporary solution would be for governments where they’d have to pay a small subsidy to waste dealers so they could purchase scrap from trash pickers at about 20% above the current price. This increase, if well advertised and broadky utilized, would bring recyclers a higher price and eventually bring them back from the brink. Trash pickers make our cities healthier and more liveable. We all stand to gain by making sure that the work of recycling remains sustainable for years to come.

What measures does the author suggest to help the informal recyclers in the times to come?

All the dialogues in a drama contain the thoughts and feelings of

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

The most logical and intelligent people seem to go berserk when talking about snakes. Recently a reputed scientist said with a wise look in his eyes that sand boas have two heads. The other day someone walked into my office and stated that in his village at least cobras mate with rat snakes. About other places he was not sure, he added modestly, but that was how it was in his village.

These stories about snakes are myths. Sand boas have only one head; vine snakes do not peck your eyes out; no snake will drink milk. But it is interesting to try and trace the origin of these untruths. The one about the sand boas two heads obviously exists because the short, stumpy tail of this snake looks remarkably like the head, an effective device to fool predators. Or take the one about vine snakes pecking at eyes. It was ‘probably started by a vine snake that had a bad aim, as snakes, when provoked, will bite the most prominent projection of the offender, which is usually the nose.

But the most interesting one is about snakes coming to the scene of killing to take revenge. It so happens that when injured or under stress, a snake exudes, a large quantity of musk. Musk is a powerful sex attractant, the snakes’ equivalent of after-shave lotion. So after a snake is killed, the ground around still has this smell and naturally a snake of the same species passing by will lick its lips and come to investigate. The killer of the snake, who is probably worried if the pooja he performed was adequate to liquidate the killing of a snake, sees the second snake and is convinced that it was not.

The Irula tribals have a good answer to the query about whether cobras have jewels in their heads; “If they did, we wouldn’t be snake catchers, we would be rajas!”

In the context of the passage, exude means

Fill in the blanks by choosing an appropriate alternative. 

I bought the radio…………………………. two hundred rupees. 

Study the following passage and given answer the questions.

Modern living has programmed our lives to a hectic, monotonous schedule that we have forgotten the gentle smile that once fleeted the human face. Smile has she power dissolve all worries. It has the all-pervasive ability us from abysmal depth of gloominess. We should not be cowed down by work pressure that constant frown imprisons our face.
 In built confidence and positive attitude help a smile to blossom. A face bereft of smile makes us unarmed for it is the smile is a pleasant weapon which resists all hurdles and problems that depress us. If we learn to smile in a crisis it shows that we have the forbearance and courage to face the crisis. A smile, after all helps us preserve our perfect present unmindful of our past or future.

Which of the following statements is not true in the context of the passage?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the following questions. Some words are highlighted to help you answer some of the questions.

A golden age for Western schools in China may be coming to an end in the face of a new government clampdown. China has been a happy hunting ground for Western schools in recent years, as a burgeoning middle class looks to equip their children with the qualifications to get into a Western university, as well as the skills to join a global workforce. The last five years has seen a 64% increase in the number of students enrolled in international schools in China, which now account for 372,000 children in 857 schools.

But from next year, schools will have to select their students via a lottery, rather than being able to pick and choose from among the applicants. The crackdown has been prompted by fears that foreign-owned schools are poaching the brightest children, according to Richard Gaskell, director of international education analysts ISC Research. The move follows changes introduced last year’s requiring   international schools to teach the Chinese curriculum alongside other national programs.

There is a backlash against the rapid increase in international schools in China, where it’s perceived that they have been simply creaming off the best students. International schools should put expansion plans on hold until the full effect of the changes becomes apparent next spring, he told the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference of leading fee-paying schools in the U.K.

The international schools market has exploded in China in recent years, after the authorities relaxed regulations Chinese children attending foreign-owned schools. Until then, international schools almost entirely served the children of foreign nationals, but opening them up to Chinese children revealed a massive and previously untapped demand.

For the growing Chinese middle class, the schools provided a more reliable route that Chinese national schools for getting into highly-regarded universities in the West, particularly those in the U.S. and U.K. These students, in turn, represent a lucrative source of income, for both the schools themselves and for Western universities. The annual fee for a leading international school is around 280,000 yuan, or $39,000.

China is the largest source of international students at U.K. universities, _________________ for more than one in five at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Some of the most prestigious private schools have sought to capitalise on their brand by opening branches in China in recent years. A record 14 British international schools have opened or are due to open in China this year, including outposts of the King’s School, Canterbury, and Shrewsbury School, which counts Charles Darwin among its alumni.

But despite the increased scrutiny, there are still opportunities for international schools to open in China, given the "massive demand" among Chinese families. There is a deep desire amongst the wealthy, middle class and young Chinese parents for a Western style of education. Parents want an international education but also want their children to retain their culture and identity, he added, as well as excellent exam results and "places at the top universities."

Which of the following words can fit in “____________”, as given in the passage?