What, one wonders, is the lowest common denominator of Indian culture today? The attractive Hema Malini ? The songs of Vinidh Barati? The attractive Hema Malini? The sons of Vinidh Barati?
Or the mouth-watering Masala Dosa? Delectable as these may be, each yield pride of place to that false (?) symbol of a new era-the synthetic fibre. In less than twenty years the nylon sari and the terylene shirt have swept the countryside, penetrated to the farthest corners of the land and persuaded every common man, woman and child that the key to success in the present day world lie in artificial fibers: glass nylon, crepe nylon, tery mixes, polyesters and what have you. More than the bicycles, the wristwatch or the transistor radio, synthetic clothes have come to represent the first step away form the village square. The village lass treasures the flashy nylon sari in her trousseau most delay; the village youth gets a great kick out of his cheap terrycot shirt and trousers, the nearest he can approximate to the expensive synthetic sported by his wealthy citybred contemporaries. And the Neo-rich craze for ‘phoren’ is nowhere more apparent than in the price that people will pay for smuggled, stolen, begged borrowed second hand or thrown away synthetics. Alas, even the uniformity of nylon.

The synthetic fibre has –

Direction: In the following question, out of the four alternatives, choose the one which can be substituted for the given sentence.

An area controlled by a foreign ruler 

There are three main groups of oils-animal, vegetable and mineral. Great quantities of animal oil come from whales, creatures of the sea, which are the largest of the animals remaining in the world. To protect the whales from the cold of the Artic seas, nature has provided them with a thick covering of fat, called blubber. When the whale is killed, the blubber is stripped off and boiled down. It produces a great quantity of oil which can be made into food for human consumption. A few other creatures yield oil, but none so much as the whale. The livers of the cod and halibut, two kinds of fish, yield nourishing oil. Both cod liver oil and halibut oil are given to sick children and other invalids who need certain vitamins. 
Vegetable oil has been known from very old times. No household can get on without it, for it is used in cooking. Perfumes may be made from the oils of certain flowers. Soaps are made from eatable and animal products and the oils of certain flowers. 

The…….of fish yields nourishing oil.

Directions : In these questions , a part of the sentence is given in bold . Below are given alternatives to the bold part at (A) , (B) and (C) which may improve the sentence . Choose the correct alternative . In case no improvement is needed you answer is (D ) .

Man has a strong desire to collect wealth. 

Direction : Rearrange the following five sentence (A) , (B), (C), (D) and (E) in the proper sequence to form a paragraph; then answer the question given below them.
(A) A small wooden nest box is all it has taken to rekindle all the romance of bringing sparrows and other birds back into our cities and halt them from fading into the past like a forgotten folktale.
(B) There is something wrong with a city that remains unperturbed even as its birds desert it.
(C) Thankfully, the situation is not as hopeless as it seems.
(D) Much as we try to defend the seemingly irreversible modern life of these cities, we can’t stop  our hearts from crying when we realize that our rapidly degenerating urban eco-system isn’t generous enough to let these delicate winged creatures build tiny little nests in its nooks and crannies, sit in solitude, and rear offspring.
(E) And this desertion seems to be true with most metros in India where house sparrows have almost become a thing of the past.
Which of the following should be the FIFTH sentence after rearrangement ?

Directions (39): In the following passage, some of the words have been left out. First read the passage over and try to understand what it is about. The fill in the blanks with the help of the alternatives given.
There is nothing which a man of strong will cannot achieve. Will power is the sure hypnotism that….(31)….all obstacles that…. (32)….our progress. A man of strong will is always ….(33)…., while one who is weak in will has to….(34)….many failures. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained”….(35)….be an excellent rule of conduct, but no strong will, no….(36)….is the greatest….(37)….of life. All difficulties melt away before a….(38)….mind. Very often we attribute our….(39)….to chance, fate or stars. We blame our luck, but….(40)….do we examine our minds, the weakness of which is really responsible for our failures. (Mark your answer 39 )

In the following questions, the first and the last part of the sentence are numbered 1 and 6. The rest of the sentence is split into four parts and named P Q R and S. These four parts are not given in their proper order. Read the parts and find out which of the four combinations is correct. Then find the correct answer and indicate the correct response.

(1) The traveler said, " Can you tell me the way to the nearest inn? "
(P) " Do you want one in which you can spend the night? "
(Q) " Yes”, said the peasant.
(R) " Go right down the road and turn to the left. "
(S) " Yes “, replied the traveler.
(6) " Thank a lot. "

Direction: In the following question, out of the four alternatives, choose the one which can be substituted for the given sentence.

A gentle song sung to put a child to sleep.