In the following passage there are blanks each of which has been numbered. These numbers are printed below the passage and against each four words have been suggested, one of which fits the blanks appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case.

The empty ‘Chyawanprash’ containers near the makeshift kitchen at the elephant camp say it all – that the elephants have been having a healthy, nutritious diet as (1) by the veterinary doctors.  The camp managers say that the elephants get to have the nutritious (2) twice a day – morning before bath and early evening, walk eight to 1 km on the walking track twice a day and have loads of green fodder. A few of these elephants also undergo special medication, if necessary. ‘Valli’, a female elephant from the Koodal Azhagar Perumal Koil, Madurai, and ‘Vedanayagi’ another female elephant from Bhavani, Erode, are two such elephants. Based on the veterinarians’ prescription, the managers are treating the two for foot rot disease.
 The elephants get to (3) their legs in a decoction of seven chemicals, a traditional formula, to get over the problem. The foot rot sets in when the elephants are obese, or stand on hard surface or bitumen-topped roads for long with very little movement.
 Likewise, two other elephants are also undergoing eye treatment to overcome the ‘watery eye’ problem. This occurs when the elephants’ living (4) is hot. The managers say that the ingredients of the food and the quantity given to the elephants (5) from one to another and are dependent on the age and gender.
 Based on the two, a body-mass-index of sorts is derived and that determines the food and the quantity. Right at the start of the camp, the managers have noted down the weight of each elephant.
 This will be compared to the (6) that they will record when the elephants exit the camp around the second week of January. The managers say that one important factor in the camp is giving green fodder, which the elephants (7) in plenty in the camp. For the weak elephants, the camp managers give twigs of ‘aal’, ‘arasu’ ‘athi’ trees and also ‘koondapanai’. They add that the managers are also (8) the mahouts and those accompanying the elephants on the ways to keep the animal healthy. This is (9) the mahouts are with the elephants 24x7. And also because the animal should continue to live in a (10) environment.

Choose the correct option for (7). 

You have eight brief passages with 10 questions following each passage. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives 

Time was when people looked heavenward and prayed, “Ye Gods, give us rain, keep drought away.” Today there are those who pray. “Give us rain, keep El Nino away.” 

El Nino and its atmospheric equivalent, called the Southern Oscillation, are together referred to as ENSO, and are household words today. Meteorologists recognize it as often being responsible for natural disaster worldwide. But this wisdom dawned only after countries suffered, first from the lack of knowledge, and then from the lack of coordination between policy making and the advances in scientific knowledge. 

Put simply, El Nino is a weather event restricted to certain tropical shores, especially the Peruvian coast. The event has diametrically opposite impacts on the land and sea. The Peruvian shore is a desert. But every few years, an unusually warm ocean current - El Nino - warms up the normally cold surface-waters off the Peruvian coast, causing very heavy rains in the early half of the year, 

And then, miraculously, the desert is matted green. Crops like cotton, coconuts and banana grow on the otherwise stubbornly barren land. These are the Peruvians’ anos de abundencia or years of abundance. The current had come to be termed El Nino, or the Christ Child because it usually appears as an enhancement if a mildly warm current that normally occurs here around every Christmas. 

But this boon on land is accompanied by oceanic disasters. Normally, the waters off the South American coast are among the most productive in the world because of a constant upwelling of nutrient rich cold waters from the ocean depths. During an El Nino, however waters are stirred up only from near the surface. The nutrient-crunch pushes down primary production, disrupting the food chain. Many marine species, including anchoveta (anchovies) temporarily disappear. 

This is just one damning effect of El Nino. Over the years its full impact has been studied and what the Peruvians once regarded as manna, is now seen as a major threat. 

The word which means - equal in value, power and meaning is  

You have eight brief passages with 10 questions following each passage. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives 

Time was when people looked heavenward and prayed, “Ye Gods, give us rain, keep drought away.” Today there are those who pray. “Give us rain, keep El Nino away.” 

El Nino and its atmospheric equivalent, called the Southern Oscillation, are together referred to as ENSO, and are household words today. Meteorologists recognize it as often being responsible for natural disaster worldwide. But this wisdom dawned only after countries suffered, first from the lack of knowledge, and then from the lack of coordination between policy making and the advances in scientific knowledge. 

Put simply, El Nino is a weather event restricted to certain tropical shores, especially the Peruvian coast. The event has diametrically opposite impacts on the land and sea. The Peruvian shore is a desert. But every few years, an unusually warm ocean current - El Nino - warms up the normally cold surface-waters off the Peruvian coast, causing very heavy rains in the early half of the year, 

And then, miraculously, the desert is matted green. Crops like cotton, coconuts and banana grow on the otherwise stubbornly barren land. These are the Peruvians’ anos de abundencia or years of abundance. The current had come to be termed El Nino, or the Christ Child because it usually appears as an enhancement if a mildly warm current that normally occurs here around every Christmas. 

But this boon on land is accompanied by oceanic disasters. Normally, the waters off the South American coast are among the most productive in the world because of a constant upwelling of nutrient rich cold waters from the ocean depths. During an El Nino, however waters are stirred up only from near the surface. The nutrient-crunch pushes down primary production, disrupting the food chain. Many marine species, including anchoveta (anchovies) temporarily disappear. 

This is just one damning effect of El Nino. Over the years its full impact has been studied and what the Peruvians once regarded as manna, is now seen as a major threat. 

The phrase, damning effect means  

Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow it. Each question has 4 options. Choose the correct option/answer for each question:

I worked for a brief while in a college in Delhi, and among my more uncomfortable memories is a language exercise, I gave a group of eight undergraduates: I asked them to imagine that they had already graduated and wanted them to write an application for a suitable job. Seven of the eight students wrote applications for the jobs of clerks. Even in one of the good universities, and in a college that had a reputation for its academic standards, the system has snuffed out all youthful ambition.

Choose the correct option from the given passage:
 What exercise did the author give the students?
 He gave them___________

Read the following passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the five given alternatives.

Almost everybody allows himself or herself or herself some entirely unjustifiable generalizations on the subject of women. Married men, when they generalize on that subject, judge by their wives; women judge by themselves. It would be amusing to write a history of the views of men on women.

In antiquity, when male supremacy was unquestioned and Christian ethics were still unknown, women were harmless, rather silly, and a man who took them seriously was somewhat despised.

Plato’s great objection to the drama was that the playwright had to imitate women in creating his female roles. With the coming of Christianity, the woman took on a new part, that of the temptress; but at the same time, she was also found capable of being a saint.

Some unjustifiable generalizations are made on

Read the passage carefully and give the answer of following questions.

The public sector banks are witnessing in India a period of transition and are at crossroads, where they without giving up social responsibility, should also remain healthy. They need to undertake risky experiments, yet perform it innovatively in a way it does not fail. They should make forays into new areas which are rarely tread by them and lose no emerging opportunities. It should be understood that absence of any bad advance is no sign of efficient banking system. It only indicates immense conservatism. However this is no guarantee for profit. There should be a balance between liquidity and risk. Past sins should be forgotten. Novel and pragmatic techniques should be adopted without which banks would be in danger.

In addition to being socially responsible, what does the author want the banks to be?

Directions :Read the given passage carefully and answer the following questions. Certain parts have been highlighted to help answer the questions.
  Every year, around one million people die of mosquitoborne diseases according to the World Health Organization (WHO). This is why mosquitoes are considered one of the deadliest living creatures on the planet — not because they are lethal themselves, but because many of the viruses and parasites they transmit are
 In the absence of an effective vaccine for dengue fever, Zika fever, chikungunya and other mosquito-borne diseases, researchers have developed genetic strategies to reduce mosquito populations. One such strategy involves the release into the wild of genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes that express a lethal gene — a strategy believed to have little impact on the overall DNA of wild populations of mosquitoes
 The transfer of new genes from GM organisms to wild or domesticated non-GM populations is a key criticism of GM crops like soybean and corn. There are concerns that the introduction of GM genes into non-target species could have negative consequences for both human and environmental health.
 Oxitec, a company that spun out of research at Oxford University in the early 2000s, developed and trademarked GM Friendly™ mosquitoes (also known as strain OX513A of Aedes aegypti). These male GM mosquitoes have what the company describes as a “self-limiting” gene, which means that when these so-called friendly mosquitoes’ mate, their offspring inherit the self-limiting gene which is supposed to prevent them surviving into adulthood.
 In theory, when these mosquitoes are released in high numbers, a dramatic reduction in the mosquito population should follow. According to research published by Oxitec researchers in 2015, field trials involving recurring releases of Friendly™ mosquitoes demonstrated a reduction of nearly 95 per cent of target populations in Brazil. In these field trials, experiments were not performed to assess whether GM mosquitoes might persist in the wild.
 A recent study from the Powell lab at Yale University has since confirmed that some of the offspring of the GM mosquitoes didn’t succumb to the self-limiting lethal gene and survived to adulthood. They were able to breed with native mosquitoes and thereby introduce some of their genes into the wild population
 Meanwhile, the impact of mosquitoes carrying these new genes remains largely unknown. One significant worry is that a new breed of mosquito might emerge that is more difficult to control. These new genes could also potentially alter evolutionary pressures on viruses carried by mosquitoes, like dengue fever, in unpredictable ways. This includes potentially increasing their virulence or changing their host-insect interactions. These are hypothetical risks that have been raised by scientists, and reflect the need for further study.

What can be the potential side effect(s) of genetically modified mosquito offspring?

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words are given in bold to help you to locate them while answering some of the questions.
Recent advances in science and technology have made it possible for geneticists to find out abnormalities in the unborn foetus and take remedial action to rectify some defects which would otherwise prove to be fatal to the child. Though genetic engineering is still at its infancy, scientists can now predict with greater accuracy a genetic disorder. It is not yet an exact science since they are not in a position to predict when exactly a genetic disorder will set in. While they have not yet been able to change the genetic order of the gene in germs, they are optimistic and are holding out that in the near future they might be successful in achieving this feat. They have, however, acquired the ability in manipulating tissue cells. However, genetic misinformation can sometimes be damaging for it may adversely affect people psychologically. Genetic information may lead to a tendency to brand some people as inferiors. Genetic information can therefore be abused and its application in deciding the sex of the foetus and its subsequent abortion is now hotly debated on ethical lines. But on this issue geneticists cannot be squarely blamed though this charge has often been levelled at them. It is mainly a societal problem. At present genetic engineering is a costly process of detecting disorders but scientists hope to reduce the costs when technology becomes more advanced. This is why much progress in this area has been possible in scientifically advanced and rich countries like the USA, UK and Japan. It remains to be seen if in the future this science will lead to the development of a race of supermen or will be able to obliterate disease from this world.

Which of the following is the same in meaning as the word ‘squarely’ as used in the passage?