Directions: Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:

Over the years, there have been many cases of news breaking about plastic toys and their containment of toxins. In addition to the harmful ingredients that can be found in plastic, we also have to take into account the effect on the environment that plastic usage has.

The internet is flooding with ways to reduce plastic usage and people are more aware of the need to cut down on this. Still, it’s difficult to change behaviors and somehow parents easily end up with a great number of plastic toys at home. This happens partly because you receive gifts from friends and family, and to some extent because kids prefer bright-colored plastic toys more than bland, wooden ones.

Not all toys contain toxins, but they can be found in some cases. Toys that have toxins in them are hazardous to children mainly because of their tendency to swallow and chew on the toys, which can result in the toxins being absorbed by the body. When it comes to young children, even the smallest amounts of toxins can affect their health.

The toxins can either be found in the plastic itself or they can be included in the pigments used to color toys and make them more attractive to children.

Although there are EU regulations for which toxins may or may not be included in toys, there are products that can slip through the cracks. Plastic toys may, for example, be made of, or contain, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which contains lead and cadmium — both toxins that are harmful to children.

The CE mark is supposed to be a sign of quality. The toys have gone through and followed the rigorous EU standards for toys. The EU notes, though, that this marking should only be seen as an indication, as it has been misused due to counterfeiting.

As goes for all plastic, plastic toys are made using fossil fuels, and therefore the production of them contributes to the environmental crisis at hand. Therefore, it would be a good idea to minimize the buying of new plastic toys.

Environmentalists have raised awareness around the fact that plastic toys are a big part of the plastic that ends up in landfills and oceans, which adds to the ongoing issue of plastic pollution. According to a survey done by the British Heart Foundation, 1 in 3 parents admits to having thrown away toys in working conditions. Considering that 90 percent of toys are in some way made of plastic, that quickly adds up to a lot of plastic waste.

In conclusion, yes plastic toys are damaging to the environment. Even though they have a longer life cycle than single-use plastic, they will at some point end up in a landfill — or worse in the sea as non-recyclable waste. But how can we stop this issue?

Buy sustainable and non-plastic toys if you do want to buy new toys, try to aim for toys made from more sustainable materials. There are plenty of retailers that focus on environmentally-friendly toys. For example, smaller e-commerce sites like Frida & Fritiof focus on providing non-toxic and eco-labeled toys. If you do want to buy plastic toys, try to minimize the environmental impact by buying them second-hand. There are plenty of charity shops where you can buy toys, but if that is not for you, you can use a site like eBay or any other online marketplace to find second-hand toys. Be aware, though, when buying second-hand toys that security standards might have been updated since they were produced, so double-check that they are up to today’s standards.

Which of the following statements is incorrect?

Groups of four words are given. In each group one word is correctly spelt. Find the correctly spelt word and mark it in your Answer-Sheet. 

Select the correct active form of the given sentence.

The light was switched off by her before sleeping.

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.

Chanhudaro was a tiny settlement (less than 7 hectares) as compared to Mohenjodaro (125 hectares), almost exclusively devoted to craft production, including bead-making, shellcutting, metal-working, seal-making and weight-making. The variety of materials used to make beads is remarkable: stones like carnelian (of a beautiful red colour), jasper, crystal, quartz and steatite; metals like copper, bronze and gold; and shell, faience and terracotta or burnt clay. Some beads were made of two or more stones, cemented together, some of stone with gold caps. The shapes were numerous – disc shaped, cylindrical, spherical, barrel-shaped, segmented. Some were decorated by incising or painting, and some had designs etched onto them.

Techniques for making beads differed according to the material. Steatite, a very soft stone, was easily worked. Some beads were moulded out of a paste made with steatite powder. This permitted making a variety of shapes, unlike the geometrical forms made out of harder stones. How the steatite micro bead was made remains a puzzle for archaeologists studying ancient technology. Archaeologists’ experiments have revealed that the red colour of carnelian was obtained by firing the yellowish raw material and beads at various stages of production. Nodules were chipped into rough shapes, and then finely flaked into the final form. Grinding, polishing and finally drilling completed the process. Specialised drills have been found at Chanhudaro, Lothal and more recently at Dholavira. Nageshwar and Balakot, both settlements are near the coast. These were specialised centres for making shell objects – including bangles, ladles and inlay – which were taken to other settlements. Similarly, it is likely that finished products (such as beads) from Chanhudaro and Lothal were taken to the large urban centres such as Mohenjodaro and Harappa.

Shell objects were mostly made at Nageshwar and Balakot because:

Comprehension: In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.
 Yoga is a personal journey for everyone as now most people are turning to it, not for fitness (1) ________, but for the union of both, body and soul. Yoga is an ancient practice that (2) _________ in India. It involves movement, meditation and breathing (3) _________ to promote mental and physical well-being. There are many styles of yoga. A person should (4) __________ a style based on their goals and fitness level. If yoga and pranayam are complemented with other forms of spiritual practice to purify the mental body and other bodies, then a person can achieve rapid spiritual progress in his lifetime. Thus a person can make progress to achieve the purpose of life which is to (5) __________ with God.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 3.

Comprehension: In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. The Romans had developed a (1)____ for chariot racing. The (2)_____ of the game are so excited that sometimes it may (3)____ into chaos, confusion and riots. The (4)_____ in which racing took place was called a circus. The (5)____ one was the Circus Maximus in Rome, that could hold up to 3,85,000 spectators, which shows the popularity of the sport

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank no. 5.

Direction: Which of the following phrases (I), (II), and (III) given below each sentence should replace the phrase printed in bold letters to make the sentence grammatically correct? Choose the best option among the five given alternatives that reflect the correct use of phrase in the context of the grammatically correct sentence. If the sentence is correct as it is, mark (e) i.e., "No correction required" as the answer.

The success of Mithali’s squad has generated fresh interest in the women’s game in India, and as various goodies have been dangled many are calling for a female equivalent of the IPL.

(I) besides various goodies being dangled
(II) various goodies are being dangled
(III) apart from various goodies being dangled

Select the option that can be used as a one-word substitute for the given group of words.
 A person exhibiting excessive worry about one’s health