Final Class Test: Reading Comprehension

The main thesis of the author is

• The importance of the mother tongue in enabling healthy

  mental development of young minds.

• The dangers of a switchover at mid childhood to a medium

  not acquired naturally earlier

• Linguistics provides a good base for understanding

  development paradigms of young children

• The importance of the lexical opening up of a child's mind for

  all later development.

• Linguistic approaches and cognitive pathways

Answer explanation

From the lines ‘If they are forced to switch over at mid-childhood to formal instruction in a medium not acquired early in a natural setting, then children do badly, especially if the first language disappears from their mental life’, it is clear that main idea is option 2

The tone of the passage can be best described as

• Narrative, in explaining the role of linguistics in child

  development.

• Conjectural, in discussing the role of the mother tongue as

  an educational medium.

• Authoritative, in explaining some concepts of linguistics

  related to mental development of children

• Pedantic, in elucidating difficulties faced by linguists in

  designing pedagogy.

• Journalistic, in documenting effects of language on the

  cognitive process.

Answer explanation

The jargon used by author and author’s hold over the topic clearly show that tone is authoritative

The new notion of the universe portrays it

• In an orderly way

• In a disconnected way

• In quite a complex manner

• In a wave-like fashion

Answer explanation

From the lines ‘The old view of the universe as clockwork mechanism slavishly unfolding along a predetermined pathway, embedded in an absolute space-time framework, has been swept away. In its place is a collection of images, each reflecting one aspect of commonsense experience, but failing to connect together in an orderly way’, it is clear that answer is option 2

Which of the following would qualify to be called a good example of reductionism?

• Talking of the matter as consisting of molecular, atoms, neutrons-protons-electrons and quarks – in this order down to the most basic element.

• Conceptualizing the human body as being a

  collection of organs – tissues – cells – cell parts – molecular etc. in the decreasing order.

• Neither 1 nor 2

• Both 1 and 2

Answer explanation

After reading the lines ‘The idea that everything can be understood by reducing it to its constituent parts has exercised a powerful influence on scientific thinking for several centuries.

Newton realized that the complexities of motion could be understood by considering simple, small bodies acted upon with forces produced by other simple, small bodies’, it is clear that

The idea of scientific reductionism

• Has led to many useful discoveries and inventions.

• Has made science look a lifeless, dry entity devoid of any life.

• Has been accepted in full measure by all scientists

• Was given by Newton.

Answer explanation

From the lines ‘the attempt to reduce all living things to nothing but moving mounds of atoms evolving according to blind chance has, more than anything, created the impression of science as a soulless and dehumanizing pursuit. It is clear that answer is option 2

It can be genuinely inferred from the passage that

• Abnormal experiences are a part of this world.

• Certain things appear abnormal probably because we have never seen them before.

• The new physics postulates nothing new, in fact.

• Behind the outwardly rational world of experience lies a murky and paradoxical world

  of shadows and changing perspectives.

Answer explanation

From the lines ‘The weird effects of quantum physics and relativity on our traditional ideas of space and time imbue the world with a vagueness and subjectivity that belies its everyday normality.

Normality is a consequence of the exceedingly limited range of experience with which we are familiar and the lines ‘Timewarps and quantum weirdness open up rich possibilities for the belief that there is more to the world than meets the eye’ it is clear that option 2 can be inferred.

Which of the following is true in the context of the passage?

• People are disenchanted with science as it is reductionistic.

• Reductionism has not found much

  acceptance in scientific circles

• People earlier did not think of the universe as being a well-ordered system.

• The idea of a rational world of experience is a

  genuine one.

Answer explanation

From the lines ‘the attempt to reduce all living things to nothing but moving mounds of atoms evolving according to blind chance has, more than anything, created the impression of science as a soulless and dehumanizing pursuit’, it is clear that answer is option 1