English I End Term: 22 December 2024 (September 2024 term)

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions:
The young man slumps against a lamp post.
A buzzing aura of insects around his face.
Some spiral down to their deaths, scorched by the heat of the lamp. Rasping, they fall on his chest, arms and legs. He doesn’t throw them off. Or make an attempt to move away. He lies, staring at the makeshift shop in front of him.
The shop: a broken cot with a board nailed to it. Small, fat mangoes heaped in a corner. Bottles of sticky boiled sweets sitting uncertainly on the edge. From a distance, they look filled with colour. Like a palm fan, the old cot-shop woman’s thin hand, laden with bangles, flaps this way and that, trying to keep the flies away.
Peanuts heaped in a cone. He stares intently at them. A still mess of tiny worms, glistening in the lamplight. He feels a mad desire. Brush that thin waving hand out of the way. Grab the peanuts and run. But to do this, he must get up. He knows he cannot. His legs have gone to sleep. Heavy, wooden.
He looks around him. Dead insects on both sides of his body. What if his body goes stiff forever? He tries to swallow the thick gob of saliva pushing at the walls of his cheeks. It is an effort. In the end, the saliva stays stuck to the roof of his mouth. He tightens his lips into a stitch.
A massive back cuts his line of vision and hides the cot-shop. He feels relieved, even thankful. He closes his eyes.
His stomach, worn thin like a cotton rag, pulls into a spasm. His limbs feel like straw. He must find something to eat. How long can this go on? But then, get up—and do what? Maybe he should stretch out and go to sleep.
A hoarse, loud voice startles the evening, shattering its twilight calm. A song. From the film showing in the theatre outside which he lies. The hairs on his forearms rise. His body jerks into tremors. It’s a while before it dies down, accepting the blare that hits it.
(From Current Show by Perumal Murugan, translated by V. Geetha)

Based on the given passage, what does the word ‘buzzing’ imply?

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions:
The young man slumps against a lamp post.
A buzzing aura of insects around his face.
Some spiral down to their deaths, scorched by the heat of the lamp. Rasping, they fall on his chest, arms and legs. He doesn’t throw them off. Or make an attempt to move away. He lies, staring at the makeshift shop in front of him.
The shop: a broken cot with a board nailed to it. Small, fat mangoes heaped in a corner. Bottles of sticky boiled sweets sitting uncertainly on the edge. From a distance, they look filled with colour. Like a palm fan, the old cot-shop woman’s thin hand, laden with bangles, flaps this way and that, trying to keep the flies away.
Peanuts heaped in a cone. He stares intently at them. A still mess of tiny worms, glistening in the lamplight. He feels a mad desire. Brush that thin waving hand out of the way. Grab the peanuts and run. But to do this, he must get up. He knows he cannot. His legs have gone to sleep. Heavy, wooden.
He looks around him. Dead insects on both sides of his body. What if his body goes stiff forever? He tries to swallow the thick gob of saliva pushing at the walls of his cheeks. It is an effort. In the end, the saliva stays stuck to the roof of his mouth. He tightens his lips into a stitch.
A massive back cuts his line of vision and hides the cot-shop. He feels relieved, even thankful. He closes his eyes.
His stomach, worn thin like a cotton rag, pulls into a spasm. His limbs feel like straw. He must find something to eat. How long can this go on? But then, get up—and do what? Maybe he should stretch out and go to sleep.
A hoarse, loud voice startles the evening, shattering its twilight calm. A song. From the film showing in the theatre outside which he lies. The hairs on his forearms rise. His body jerks into tremors. It’s a while before it dies down, accepting the blare that hits it.
(From Current Show by Perumal Murugan, translated by V. Geetha)

‘Makeshift’ in the given passage means?

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions:
The young man slumps against a lamp post.
A buzzing aura of insects around his face.
Some spiral down to their deaths, scorched by the heat of the lamp. Rasping, they fall on his chest, arms and legs. He doesn’t throw them off. Or make an attempt to move away. He lies, staring at the makeshift shop in front of him.
The shop: a broken cot with a board nailed to it. Small, fat mangoes heaped in a corner. Bottles of sticky boiled sweets sitting uncertainly on the edge. From a distance, they look filled with colour. Like a palm fan, the old cot-shop woman’s thin hand, laden with bangles, flaps this way and that, trying to keep the flies away.
Peanuts heaped in a cone. He stares intently at them. A still mess of tiny worms, glistening in the lamplight. He feels a mad desire. Brush that thin waving hand out of the way. Grab the peanuts and run. But to do this, he must get up. He knows he cannot. His legs have gone to sleep. Heavy, wooden.
He looks around him. Dead insects on both sides of his body. What if his body goes stiff forever? He tries to swallow the thick gob of saliva pushing at the walls of his cheeks. It is an effort. In the end, the saliva stays stuck to the roof of his mouth. He tightens his lips into a stitch.
A massive back cuts his line of vision and hides the cot-shop. He feels relieved, even thankful. He closes his eyes.
His stomach, worn thin like a cotton rag, pulls into a spasm. His limbs feel like straw. He must find something to eat. How long can this go on? But then, get up—and do what? Maybe he should stretch out and go to sleep.
A hoarse, loud voice startles the evening, shattering its twilight calm. A song. From the film showing in the theatre outside which he lies. The hairs on his forearms rise. His body jerks into tremors. It’s a while before it dies down, accepting the blare that hits it.
(From Current Show by Perumal Murugan, translated by V. Geetha)

In the passage, the word ‘stiff’ means ______.

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions:
The young man slumps against a lamp post.
A buzzing aura of insects around his face.
Some spiral down to their deaths, scorched by the heat of the lamp. Rasping, they fall on his chest, arms and legs. He doesn’t throw them off. Or make an attempt to move away. He lies, staring at the makeshift shop in front of him.
The shop: a broken cot with a board nailed to it. Small, fat mangoes heaped in a corner. Bottles of sticky boiled sweets sitting uncertainly on the edge. From a distance, they look filled with colour. Like a palm fan, the old cot-shop woman’s thin hand, laden with bangles, flaps this way and that, trying to keep the flies away.
Peanuts heaped in a cone. He stares intently at them. A still mess of tiny worms, glistening in the lamplight. He feels a mad desire. Brush that thin waving hand out of the way. Grab the peanuts and run. But to do this, he must get up. He knows he cannot. His legs have gone to sleep. Heavy, wooden.
He looks around him. Dead insects on both sides of his body. What if his body goes stiff forever? He tries to swallow the thick gob of saliva pushing at the walls of his cheeks. It is an effort. In the end, the saliva stays stuck to the roof of his mouth. He tightens his lips into a stitch.
A massive back cuts his line of vision and hides the cot-shop. He feels relieved, even thankful. He closes his eyes.
His stomach, worn thin like a cotton rag, pulls into a spasm. His limbs feel like straw. He must find something to eat. How long can this go on? But then, get up—and do what? Maybe he should stretch out and go to sleep.
A hoarse, loud voice startles the evening, shattering its twilight calm. A song. From the film showing in the theatre outside which he lies. The hairs on his forearms rise. His body jerks into tremors. It’s a while before it dies down, accepting the blare that hits it.
(From Current Show by Perumal Murugan, translated by V. Geetha)

The word ‘hoarse’ in the given context means _____.

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions:
The young man slumps against a lamp post.
A buzzing aura of insects around his face.
Some spiral down to their deaths, scorched by the heat of the lamp. Rasping, they fall on his chest, arms and legs. He doesn’t throw them off. Or make an attempt to move away. He lies, staring at the makeshift shop in front of him.
The shop: a broken cot with a board nailed to it. Small, fat mangoes heaped in a corner. Bottles of sticky boiled sweets sitting uncertainly on the edge. From a distance, they look filled with colour. Like a palm fan, the old cot-shop woman’s thin hand, laden with bangles, flaps this way and that, trying to keep the flies away.
Peanuts heaped in a cone. He stares intently at them. A still mess of tiny worms, glistening in the lamplight. He feels a mad desire. Brush that thin waving hand out of the way. Grab the peanuts and run. But to do this, he must get up. He knows he cannot. His legs have gone to sleep. Heavy, wooden.
He looks around him. Dead insects on both sides of his body. What if his body goes stiff forever? He tries to swallow the thick gob of saliva pushing at the walls of his cheeks. It is an effort. In the end, the saliva stays stuck to the roof of his mouth. He tightens his lips into a stitch.
A massive back cuts his line of vision and hides the cot-shop. He feels relieved, even thankful. He closes his eyes.
His stomach, worn thin like a cotton rag, pulls into a spasm. His limbs feel like straw. He must find something to eat. How long can this go on? But then, get up—and do what? Maybe he should stretch out and go to sleep.
A hoarse, loud voice startles the evening, shattering its twilight calm. A song. From the film showing in the theatre outside which he lies. The hairs on his forearms rise. His body jerks into tremors. It’s a while before it dies down, accepting the blare that hits it.
(From Current Show by Perumal Murugan, translated by V. Geetha)

‘Tremors’ here refers to ____.

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions:
The young man slumps against a lamp post.
A buzzing aura of insects around his face.
Some spiral down to their deaths, scorched by the heat of the lamp. Rasping, they fall on his chest, arms and legs. He doesn’t throw them off. Or make an attempt to move away. He lies, staring at the makeshift shop in front of him.
The shop: a broken cot with a board nailed to it. Small, fat mangoes heaped in a corner. Bottles of sticky boiled sweets sitting uncertainly on the edge. From a distance, they look filled with colour. Like a palm fan, the old cot-shop woman’s thin hand, laden with bangles, flaps this way and that, trying to keep the flies away.
Peanuts heaped in a cone. He stares intently at them. A still mess of tiny worms, glistening in the lamplight. He feels a mad desire. Brush that thin waving hand out of the way. Grab the peanuts and run. But to do this, he must get up. He knows he cannot. His legs have gone to sleep. Heavy, wooden.
He looks around him. Dead insects on both sides of his body. What if his body goes stiff forever? He tries to swallow the thick gob of saliva pushing at the walls of his cheeks. It is an effort. In the end, the saliva stays stuck to the roof of his mouth. He tightens his lips into a stitch.
A massive back cuts his line of vision and hides the cot-shop. He feels relieved, even thankful. He closes his eyes.
His stomach, worn thin like a cotton rag, pulls into a spasm. His limbs feel like straw. He must find something to eat. How long can this go on? But then, get up—and do what? Maybe he should stretch out and go to sleep.
A hoarse, loud voice startles the evening, shattering its twilight calm. A song. From the film showing in the theatre outside which he lies. The hairs on his forearms rise. His body jerks into tremors. It’s a while before it dies down, accepting the blare that hits it.
(From Current Show by Perumal Murugan, translated by V. Geetha)

The young man was startled by a song from the movie theatre.

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions:
The young man slumps against a lamp post.
A buzzing aura of insects around his face.
Some spiral down to their deaths, scorched by the heat of the lamp. Rasping, they fall on his chest, arms and legs. He doesn’t throw them off. Or make an attempt to move away. He lies, staring at the makeshift shop in front of him.
The shop: a broken cot with a board nailed to it. Small, fat mangoes heaped in a corner. Bottles of sticky boiled sweets sitting uncertainly on the edge. From a distance, they look filled with colour. Like a palm fan, the old cot-shop woman’s thin hand, laden with bangles, flaps this way and that, trying to keep the flies away.
Peanuts heaped in a cone. He stares intently at them. A still mess of tiny worms, glistening in the lamplight. He feels a mad desire. Brush that thin waving hand out of the way. Grab the peanuts and run. But to do this, he must get up. He knows he cannot. His legs have gone to sleep. Heavy, wooden.
He looks around him. Dead insects on both sides of his body. What if his body goes stiff forever? He tries to swallow the thick gob of saliva pushing at the walls of his cheeks. It is an effort. In the end, the saliva stays stuck to the roof of his mouth. He tightens his lips into a stitch.
A massive back cuts his line of vision and hides the cot-shop. He feels relieved, even thankful. He closes his eyes.
His stomach, worn thin like a cotton rag, pulls into a spasm. His limbs feel like straw. He must find something to eat. How long can this go on? But then, get up—and do what? Maybe he should stretch out and go to sleep.
A hoarse, loud voice startles the evening, shattering its twilight calm. A song. From the film showing in the theatre outside which he lies. The hairs on his forearms rise. His body jerks into tremors. It’s a while before it dies down, accepting the blare that hits it.
(From Current Show by Perumal Murugan, translated by V. Geetha)

The young man is sleeping, satisfied, after a full meal.

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions:
The young man slumps against a lamp post.
A buzzing aura of insects around his face.
Some spiral down to their deaths, scorched by the heat of the lamp. Rasping, they fall on his chest, arms and legs. He doesn’t throw them off. Or make an attempt to move away. He lies, staring at the makeshift shop in front of him.
The shop: a broken cot with a board nailed to it. Small, fat mangoes heaped in a corner. Bottles of sticky boiled sweets sitting uncertainly on the edge. From a distance, they look filled with colour. Like a palm fan, the old cot-shop woman’s thin hand, laden with bangles, flaps this way and that, trying to keep the flies away.
Peanuts heaped in a cone. He stares intently at them. A still mess of tiny worms, glistening in the lamplight. He feels a mad desire. Brush that thin waving hand out of the way. Grab the peanuts and run. But to do this, he must get up. He knows he cannot. His legs have gone to sleep. Heavy, wooden.
He looks around him. Dead insects on both sides of his body. What if his body goes stiff forever? He tries to swallow the thick gob of saliva pushing at the walls of his cheeks. It is an effort. In the end, the saliva stays stuck to the roof of his mouth. He tightens his lips into a stitch.
A massive back cuts his line of vision and hides the cot-shop. He feels relieved, even thankful. He closes his eyes.
His stomach, worn thin like a cotton rag, pulls into a spasm. His limbs feel like straw. He must find something to eat. How long can this go on? But then, get up—and do what? Maybe he should stretch out and go to sleep.
A hoarse, loud voice startles the evening, shattering its twilight calm. A song. From the film showing in the theatre outside which he lies. The hairs on his forearms rise. His body jerks into tremors. It’s a while before it dies down, accepting the blare that hits it.
(From Current Show by Perumal Murugan, translated by V. Geetha)

Why did the young man want to run away with the peanuts?

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions:
The young man slumps against a lamp post.
A buzzing aura of insects around his face.
Some spiral down to their deaths, scorched by the heat of the lamp. Rasping, they fall on his chest, arms and legs. He doesn’t throw them off. Or make an attempt to move away. He lies, staring at the makeshift shop in front of him.
The shop: a broken cot with a board nailed to it. Small, fat mangoes heaped in a corner. Bottles of sticky boiled sweets sitting uncertainly on the edge. From a distance, they look filled with colour. Like a palm fan, the old cot-shop woman’s thin hand, laden with bangles, flaps this way and that, trying to keep the flies away.
Peanuts heaped in a cone. He stares intently at them. A still mess of tiny worms, glistening in the lamplight. He feels a mad desire. Brush that thin waving hand out of the way. Grab the peanuts and run. But to do this, he must get up. He knows he cannot. His legs have gone to sleep. Heavy, wooden.
He looks around him. Dead insects on both sides of his body. What if his body goes stiff forever? He tries to swallow the thick gob of saliva pushing at the walls of his cheeks. It is an effort. In the end, the saliva stays stuck to the roof of his mouth. He tightens his lips into a stitch.
A massive back cuts his line of vision and hides the cot-shop. He feels relieved, even thankful. He closes his eyes.
His stomach, worn thin like a cotton rag, pulls into a spasm. His limbs feel like straw. He must find something to eat. How long can this go on? But then, get up—and do what? Maybe he should stretch out and go to sleep.
A hoarse, loud voice startles the evening, shattering its twilight calm. A song. From the film showing in the theatre outside which he lies. The hairs on his forearms rise. His body jerks into tremors. It’s a while before it dies down, accepting the blare that hits it.
(From Current Show by Perumal Murugan, translated by V. Geetha)

What stopped the young man from running away with the peanuts?

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions:
The young man slumps against a lamp post.
A buzzing aura of insects around his face.
Some spiral down to their deaths, scorched by the heat of the lamp. Rasping, they fall on his chest, arms and legs. He doesn’t throw them off. Or make an attempt to move away. He lies, staring at the makeshift shop in front of him.
The shop: a broken cot with a board nailed to it. Small, fat mangoes heaped in a corner. Bottles of sticky boiled sweets sitting uncertainly on the edge. From a distance, they look filled with colour. Like a palm fan, the old cot-shop woman’s thin hand, laden with bangles, flaps this way and that, trying to keep the flies away.
Peanuts heaped in a cone. He stares intently at them. A still mess of tiny worms, glistening in the lamplight. He feels a mad desire. Brush that thin waving hand out of the way. Grab the peanuts and run. But to do this, he must get up. He knows he cannot. His legs have gone to sleep. Heavy, wooden.
He looks around him. Dead insects on both sides of his body. What if his body goes stiff forever? He tries to swallow the thick gob of saliva pushing at the walls of his cheeks. It is an effort. In the end, the saliva stays stuck to the roof of his mouth. He tightens his lips into a stitch.
A massive back cuts his line of vision and hides the cot-shop. He feels relieved, even thankful. He closes his eyes.
His stomach, worn thin like a cotton rag, pulls into a spasm. His limbs feel like straw. He must find something to eat. How long can this go on? But then, get up—and do what? Maybe he should stretch out and go to sleep.
A hoarse, loud voice startles the evening, shattering its twilight calm. A song. From the film showing in the theatre outside which he lies. The hairs on his forearms rise. His body jerks into tremors. It’s a while before it dies down, accepting the blare that hits it.
(From Current Show by Perumal Murugan, translated by V. Geetha)

Fill in the blank with the correct answer:
His stomach, worn thin like a cotton rag, pulls into a spasm. His limbs feel like straw. He must find _______________ .

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions:
The young man slumps against a lamp post.
A buzzing aura of insects around his face.
Some spiral down to their deaths, scorched by the heat of the lamp. Rasping, they fall on his chest, arms and legs. He doesn’t throw them off. Or make an attempt to move away. He lies, staring at the makeshift shop in front of him.
The shop: a broken cot with a board nailed to it. Small, fat mangoes heaped in a corner. Bottles of sticky boiled sweets sitting uncertainly on the edge. From a distance, they look filled with colour. Like a palm fan, the old cot-shop woman’s thin hand, laden with bangles, flaps this way and that, trying to keep the flies away.
Peanuts heaped in a cone. He stares intently at them. A still mess of tiny worms, glistening in the lamplight. He feels a mad desire. Brush that thin waving hand out of the way. Grab the peanuts and run. But to do this, he must get up. He knows he cannot. His legs have gone to sleep. Heavy, wooden.
He looks around him. Dead insects on both sides of his body. What if his body goes stiff forever? He tries to swallow the thick gob of saliva pushing at the walls of his cheeks. It is an effort. In the end, the saliva stays stuck to the roof of his mouth. He tightens his lips into a stitch.
A massive back cuts his line of vision and hides the cot-shop. He feels relieved, even thankful. He closes his eyes.
His stomach, worn thin like a cotton rag, pulls into a spasm. His limbs feel like straw. He must find something to eat. How long can this go on? But then, get up—and do what? Maybe he should stretch out and go to sleep.
A hoarse, loud voice startles the evening, shattering its twilight calm. A song. From the film showing in the theatre outside which he lies. The hairs on his forearms rise. His body jerks into tremors. It’s a while before it dies down, accepting the blare that hits it.
(From Current Show by Perumal Murugan, translated by V. Geetha)

Match the items in List A to those in List B on the basis of your reading of the passage. Make sure that your choices match the usages in the passage.

Spiral/Dies

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions:
The young man slumps against a lamp post.
A buzzing aura of insects around his face.
Some spiral down to their deaths, scorched by the heat of the lamp. Rasping, they fall on his chest, arms and legs. He doesn’t throw them off. Or make an attempt to move away. He lies, staring at the makeshift shop in front of him.
The shop: a broken cot with a board nailed to it. Small, fat mangoes heaped in a corner. Bottles of sticky boiled sweets sitting uncertainly on the edge. From a distance, they look filled with colour. Like a palm fan, the old cot-shop woman’s thin hand, laden with bangles, flaps this way and that, trying to keep the flies away.
Peanuts heaped in a cone. He stares intently at them. A still mess of tiny worms, glistening in the lamplight. He feels a mad desire. Brush that thin waving hand out of the way. Grab the peanuts and run. But to do this, he must get up. He knows he cannot. His legs have gone to sleep. Heavy, wooden.
He looks around him. Dead insects on both sides of his body. What if his body goes stiff forever? He tries to swallow the thick gob of saliva pushing at the walls of his cheeks. It is an effort. In the end, the saliva stays stuck to the roof of his mouth. He tightens his lips into a stitch.
A massive back cuts his line of vision and hides the cot-shop. He feels relieved, even thankful. He closes his eyes.
His stomach, worn thin like a cotton rag, pulls into a spasm. His limbs feel like straw. He must find something to eat. How long can this go on? But then, get up—and do what? Maybe he should stretch out and go to sleep.
A hoarse, loud voice startles the evening, shattering its twilight calm. A song. From the film showing in the theatre outside which he lies. The hairs on his forearms rise. His body jerks into tremors. It’s a while before it dies down, accepting the blare that hits it.
(From Current Show by Perumal Murugan, translated by V. Geetha)

Match the items in List A to those in List B on the basis of your reading of the passage. Make sure that your choices match the usages in the passage.

Looks

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions:
The young man slumps against a lamp post.
A buzzing aura of insects around his face.
Some spiral down to their deaths, scorched by the heat of the lamp. Rasping, they fall on his chest, arms and legs. He doesn’t throw them off. Or make an attempt to move away. He lies, staring at the makeshift shop in front of him.
The shop: a broken cot with a board nailed to it. Small, fat mangoes heaped in a corner. Bottles of sticky boiled sweets sitting uncertainly on the edge. From a distance, they look filled with colour. Like a palm fan, the old cot-shop woman’s thin hand, laden with bangles, flaps this way and that, trying to keep the flies away.
Peanuts heaped in a cone. He stares intently at them. A still mess of tiny worms, glistening in the lamplight. He feels a mad desire. Brush that thin waving hand out of the way. Grab the peanuts and run. But to do this, he must get up. He knows he cannot. His legs have gone to sleep. Heavy, wooden.
He looks around him. Dead insects on both sides of his body. What if his body goes stiff forever? He tries to swallow the thick gob of saliva pushing at the walls of his cheeks. It is an effort. In the end, the saliva stays stuck to the roof of his mouth. He tightens his lips into a stitch.
A massive back cuts his line of vision and hides the cot-shop. He feels relieved, even thankful. He closes his eyes.
His stomach, worn thin like a cotton rag, pulls into a spasm. His limbs feel like straw. He must find something to eat. How long can this go on? But then, get up—and do what? Maybe he should stretch out and go to sleep.
A hoarse, loud voice startles the evening, shattering its twilight calm. A song. From the film showing in the theatre outside which he lies. The hairs on his forearms rise. His body jerks into tremors. It’s a while before it dies down, accepting the blare that hits it.
(From Current Show by Perumal Murugan, translated by V. Geetha)

Match the items in List A to those in List B on the basis of your reading of the passage. Make sure that your choices match the usages in the passage.

Slumps

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions:
The young man slumps against a lamp post.
A buzzing aura of insects around his face.
Some spiral down to their deaths, scorched by the heat of the lamp. Rasping, they fall on his chest, arms and legs. He doesn’t throw them off. Or make an attempt to move away. He lies, staring at the makeshift shop in front of him.
The shop: a broken cot with a board nailed to it. Small, fat mangoes heaped in a corner. Bottles of sticky boiled sweets sitting uncertainly on the edge. From a distance, they look filled with colour. Like a palm fan, the old cot-shop woman’s thin hand, laden with bangles, flaps this way and that, trying to keep the flies away.
Peanuts heaped in a cone. He stares intently at them. A still mess of tiny worms, glistening in the lamplight. He feels a mad desire. Brush that thin waving hand out of the way. Grab the peanuts and run. But to do this, he must get up. He knows he cannot. His legs have gone to sleep. Heavy, wooden.
He looks around him. Dead insects on both sides of his body. What if his body goes stiff forever? He tries to swallow the thick gob of saliva pushing at the walls of his cheeks. It is an effort. In the end, the saliva stays stuck to the roof of his mouth. He tightens his lips into a stitch.
A massive back cuts his line of vision and hides the cot-shop. He feels relieved, even thankful. He closes his eyes.
His stomach, worn thin like a cotton rag, pulls into a spasm. His limbs feel like straw. He must find something to eat. How long can this go on? But then, get up—and do what? Maybe he should stretch out and go to sleep.
A hoarse, loud voice startles the evening, shattering its twilight calm. A song. From the film showing in the theatre outside which he lies. The hairs on his forearms rise. His body jerks into tremors. It’s a while before it dies down, accepting the blare that hits it.
(From Current Show by Perumal Murugan, translated by V. Geetha)

Match the items in List A to those in List B on the basis of your reading of the passage. Make sure that your choices match the usages in the passage.

Get

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions:
The young man slumps against a lamp post.
A buzzing aura of insects around his face.
Some spiral down to their deaths, scorched by the heat of the lamp. Rasping, they fall on his chest, arms and legs. He doesn’t throw them off. Or make an attempt to move away. He lies, staring at the makeshift shop in front of him.
The shop: a broken cot with a board nailed to it. Small, fat mangoes heaped in a corner. Bottles of sticky boiled sweets sitting uncertainly on the edge. From a distance, they look filled with colour. Like a palm fan, the old cot-shop woman’s thin hand, laden with bangles, flaps this way and that, trying to keep the flies away.
Peanuts heaped in a cone. He stares intently at them. A still mess of tiny worms, glistening in the lamplight. He feels a mad desire. Brush that thin waving hand out of the way. Grab the peanuts and run. But to do this, he must get up. He knows he cannot. His legs have gone to sleep. Heavy, wooden.
He looks around him. Dead insects on both sides of his body. What if his body goes stiff forever? He tries to swallow the thick gob of saliva pushing at the walls of his cheeks. It is an effort. In the end, the saliva stays stuck to the roof of his mouth. He tightens his lips into a stitch.
A massive back cuts his line of vision and hides the cot-shop. He feels relieved, even thankful. He closes his eyes.
His stomach, worn thin like a cotton rag, pulls into a spasm. His limbs feel like straw. He must find something to eat. How long can this go on? But then, get up—and do what? Maybe he should stretch out and go to sleep.
A hoarse, loud voice startles the evening, shattering its twilight calm. A song. From the film showing in the theatre outside which he lies. The hairs on his forearms rise. His body jerks into tremors. It’s a while before it dies down, accepting the blare that hits it.
(From Current Show by Perumal Murugan, translated by V. Geetha)

Match the items in List A to those in List B on the basis of your reading of the passage. Make sure that your choices match the usages in the passage.

Jerks/Pulls

Read the following article and answer the given subquestions.
Indigenous People May Have Created the Amazon’s ‘Dark Earth’ on Purpose
Indigenous people in the Amazon may have been deliberately creating fertile soil for farming for thousands of years. At archaeological sites across the Amazon River basin, mysterious patches of unusually fertile soil dot the landscape. Scientists have long debated the origin of this “dark earth,” which is darker in color than surrounding soils and richer in carbon. Now, researchers have shown that the indigenous Kuikuro people in southeastern Brazil intentionally create similar soil around their villages. [Edit i] The finding, presented December 16 at the American Geophysical Union meeting, adds evidence to the idea that the Amazonians deliberately manufactured such soil long-ago. [Edit ii] In doing so, these early inhabitants may have inadvertently stored massive quantities of carbon in the soil, says study presenter Taylor Perron, an earth scientist at MIT. [Edit iii] The technique, he says, could provide a blueprint for developing methods of sustainably locking atmospheric carbon in tropical soils, helping fight climate change.
The Western world has long viewed the Amazon as a vast wilderness that was relatively untouched before the Europeans showed up. At the center of this argument is the idea that the Amazon’s soil, which is poor in nutrients, precluded its inhabitants from developing agriculture at a scale required to support complex societies. But a slew of archeological finds in recent decades — including the discovery of ancient urban centers in Amazonian areas of modern-day Bolivia — has revealed that people were actively shaping the Amazon for thousands of years before the arrival of the Europeans. Perron and his colleagues reviewed interviews of the Kuikuro people conducted by a Kuikuro filmmaker in 2018. Those conversations revealed that the Kuikuro villagers actively make dark earth — eegepe in Kuikuro — using ash, food scraps and controlled burns. “When you plant where there is no eegepe, the soil is weak,” explained the elder Kanu Kuikuro in one of the interviews. “That is why we throw the ash, manioc peelings and manioc pulp.” [Edit iv] The team found “striking similarities” between dark earth samples from ancient and modern sites, says Perron. Both were far less acidic than surrounding soils — probably thanks to the neutralizing effect of ash — and contained higher levels of plant-friendly nutrients.
These analyses also revealed that dark earth holds twice the amount of carbon as surrounding soils on average. The technique highlights how the ancient people were able to thrive in the Amazon by developing sustainable farming that doubled as a carbon-sequestration technique. With more and more greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere, making dark earth — or something like it — could be a method of mitigating climate change while supporting agriculture in the tropics. “People in the ancient past figured out a way to store lots of carbon for hundreds or even thousands of years,” Perron says. “Maybe we can learn something from that.” Adapted from: Kreier, Freda. “Indigenous People May Have Created the Amazon’s ‘Dark Earth’ on Purpose.” Science News, 05 Jan, 2023, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/indigenous-people-created- amazon-dark-earth.

Proofread the sentence marked in bold as [Edit i] to improve the article.
[Edit i] The finding, presented December 16 at the American Geophysical Union meeting, adds evidence to the idea that the Amazonians deliberately manufactured such soil long-ago.

Read the following article and answer the given subquestions.
Indigenous People May Have Created the Amazon’s ‘Dark Earth’ on Purpose
Indigenous people in the Amazon may have been deliberately creating fertile soil for farming for thousands of years. At archaeological sites across the Amazon River basin, mysterious patches of unusually fertile soil dot the landscape. Scientists have long debated the origin of this “dark earth,” which is darker in color than surrounding soils and richer in carbon. Now, researchers have shown that the indigenous Kuikuro people in southeastern Brazil intentionally create similar soil around their villages. [Edit i] The finding, presented December 16 at the American Geophysical Union meeting, adds evidence to the idea that the Amazonians deliberately manufactured such soil long-ago. [Edit ii] In doing so, these early inhabitants may have inadvertently stored massive quantities of carbon in the soil, says study presenter Taylor Perron, an earth scientist at MIT. [Edit iii] The technique, he says, could provide a blueprint for developing methods of sustainably locking atmospheric carbon in tropical soils, helping fight climate change.
The Western world has long viewed the Amazon as a vast wilderness that was relatively untouched before the Europeans showed up. At the center of this argument is the idea that the Amazon’s soil, which is poor in nutrients, precluded its inhabitants from developing agriculture at a scale required to support complex societies. But a slew of archeological finds in recent decades — including the discovery of ancient urban centers in Amazonian areas of modern-day Bolivia — has revealed that people were actively shaping the Amazon for thousands of years before the arrival of the Europeans. Perron and his colleagues reviewed interviews of the Kuikuro people conducted by a Kuikuro filmmaker in 2018. Those conversations revealed that the Kuikuro villagers actively make dark earth — eegepe in Kuikuro — using ash, food scraps and controlled burns. “When you plant where there is no eegepe, the soil is weak,” explained the elder Kanu Kuikuro in one of the interviews. “That is why we throw the ash, manioc peelings and manioc pulp.” [Edit iv] The team found “striking similarities” between dark earth samples from ancient and modern sites, says Perron. Both were far less acidic than surrounding soils — probably thanks to the neutralizing effect of ash — and contained higher levels of plant-friendly nutrients.
These analyses also revealed that dark earth holds twice the amount of carbon as surrounding soils on average. The technique highlights how the ancient people were able to thrive in the Amazon by developing sustainable farming that doubled as a carbon-sequestration technique. With more and more greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere, making dark earth — or something like it — could be a method of mitigating climate change while supporting agriculture in the tropics. “People in the ancient past figured out a way to store lots of carbon for hundreds or even thousands of years,” Perron says. “Maybe we can learn something from that.” Adapted from: Kreier, Freda. “Indigenous People May Have Created the Amazon’s ‘Dark Earth’ on Purpose.” Science News, 05 Jan, 2023, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/indigenous-people-created- amazon-dark-earth.

Punctuate the sentence marked in bold as [Edit ii] correctly to improve the article.
[Edit ii] In doing so, these early inhabitants may have inadvertently stored massive quantities of carbon in the soil, says study presenter Taylor Perron, an earth scientist at MIT.

Read the following article and answer the given subquestions.
Indigenous People May Have Created the Amazon’s ‘Dark Earth’ on Purpose
Indigenous people in the Amazon may have been deliberately creating fertile soil for farming for thousands of years. At archaeological sites across the Amazon River basin, mysterious patches of unusually fertile soil dot the landscape. Scientists have long debated the origin of this “dark earth,” which is darker in color than surrounding soils and richer in carbon. Now, researchers have shown that the indigenous Kuikuro people in southeastern Brazil intentionally create similar soil around their villages. [Edit i] The finding, presented December 16 at the American Geophysical Union meeting, adds evidence to the idea that the Amazonians deliberately manufactured such soil long-ago. [Edit ii] In doing so, these early inhabitants may have inadvertently stored massive quantities of carbon in the soil, says study presenter Taylor Perron, an earth scientist at MIT. [Edit iii] The technique, he says, could provide a blueprint for developing methods of sustainably locking atmospheric carbon in tropical soils, helping fight climate change.
The Western world has long viewed the Amazon as a vast wilderness that was relatively untouched before the Europeans showed up. At the center of this argument is the idea that the Amazon’s soil, which is poor in nutrients, precluded its inhabitants from developing agriculture at a scale required to support complex societies. But a slew of archeological finds in recent decades — including the discovery of ancient urban centers in Amazonian areas of modern-day Bolivia — has revealed that people were actively shaping the Amazon for thousands of years before the arrival of the Europeans. Perron and his colleagues reviewed interviews of the Kuikuro people conducted by a Kuikuro filmmaker in 2018. Those conversations revealed that the Kuikuro villagers actively make dark earth — eegepe in Kuikuro — using ash, food scraps and controlled burns. “When you plant where there is no eegepe, the soil is weak,” explained the elder Kanu Kuikuro in one of the interviews. “That is why we throw the ash, manioc peelings and manioc pulp.” [Edit iv] The team found “striking similarities” between dark earth samples from ancient and modern sites, says Perron. Both were far less acidic than surrounding soils — probably thanks to the neutralizing effect of ash — and contained higher levels of plant-friendly nutrients.
These analyses also revealed that dark earth holds twice the amount of carbon as surrounding soils on average. The technique highlights how the ancient people were able to thrive in the Amazon by developing sustainable farming that doubled as a carbon-sequestration technique. With more and more greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere, making dark earth — or something like it — could be a method of mitigating climate change while supporting agriculture in the tropics. “People in the ancient past figured out a way to store lots of carbon for hundreds or even thousands of years,” Perron says. “Maybe we can learn something from that.” Adapted from: Kreier, Freda. “Indigenous People May Have Created the Amazon’s ‘Dark Earth’ on Purpose.” Science News, 05 Jan, 2023, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/indigenous-people-created- amazon-dark-earth.

Punctuate the sentence marked in bold as [Edit iii] correctly to improve the article.
[Edit iii] The technique, he says, could provide a blueprint for developing methods of sustainably locking atmospheric carbon in tropical soils, helping fight climate change.

Read the following article and answer the given subquestions.
Indigenous People May Have Created the Amazon’s ‘Dark Earth’ on Purpose
Indigenous people in the Amazon may have been deliberately creating fertile soil for farming for thousands of years. At archaeological sites across the Amazon River basin, mysterious patches of unusually fertile soil dot the landscape. Scientists have long debated the origin of this “dark earth,” which is darker in color than surrounding soils and richer in carbon. Now, researchers have shown that the indigenous Kuikuro people in southeastern Brazil intentionally create similar soil around their villages. [Edit i] The finding, presented December 16 at the American Geophysical Union meeting, adds evidence to the idea that the Amazonians deliberately manufactured such soil long-ago. [Edit ii] In doing so, these early inhabitants may have inadvertently stored massive quantities of carbon in the soil, says study presenter Taylor Perron, an earth scientist at MIT. [Edit iii] The technique, he says, could provide a blueprint for developing methods of sustainably locking atmospheric carbon in tropical soils, helping fight climate change.
The Western world has long viewed the Amazon as a vast wilderness that was relatively untouched before the Europeans showed up. At the center of this argument is the idea that the Amazon’s soil, which is poor in nutrients, precluded its inhabitants from developing agriculture at a scale required to support complex societies. But a slew of archeological finds in recent decades — including the discovery of ancient urban centers in Amazonian areas of modern-day Bolivia — has revealed that people were actively shaping the Amazon for thousands of years before the arrival of the Europeans. Perron and his colleagues reviewed interviews of the Kuikuro people conducted by a Kuikuro filmmaker in 2018. Those conversations revealed that the Kuikuro villagers actively make dark earth — eegepe in Kuikuro — using ash, food scraps and controlled burns. “When you plant where there is no eegepe, the soil is weak,” explained the elder Kanu Kuikuro in one of the interviews. “That is why we throw the ash, manioc peelings and manioc pulp.” [Edit iv] The team found “striking similarities” between dark earth samples from ancient and modern sites, says Perron. Both were far less acidic than surrounding soils — probably thanks to the neutralizing effect of ash — and contained higher levels of plant-friendly nutrients.
These analyses also revealed that dark earth holds twice the amount of carbon as surrounding soils on average. The technique highlights how the ancient people were able to thrive in the Amazon by developing sustainable farming that doubled as a carbon-sequestration technique. With more and more greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere, making dark earth — or something like it — could be a method of mitigating climate change while supporting agriculture in the tropics. “People in the ancient past figured out a way to store lots of carbon for hundreds or even thousands of years,” Perron says. “Maybe we can learn something from that.” Adapted from: Kreier, Freda. “Indigenous People May Have Created the Amazon’s ‘Dark Earth’ on Purpose.” Science News, 05 Jan, 2023, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/indigenous-people-created- amazon-dark-earth.

Punctuate the sentence marked in bold as [Edit iv] correctly to improve the article.
[Edit iv] The team found “striking similarities” between dark earth samples from ancient and modern sites, says Perron.

Read the following article and answer the given subquestions.
Indigenous People May Have Created the Amazon’s ‘Dark Earth’ on Purpose
Indigenous people in the Amazon may have been deliberately creating fertile soil for farming for thousands of years. At archaeological sites across the Amazon River basin, mysterious patches of unusually fertile soil dot the landscape. Scientists have long debated the origin of this “dark earth,” which is darker in color than surrounding soils and richer in carbon. Now, researchers have shown that the indigenous Kuikuro people in southeastern Brazil intentionally create similar soil around their villages. [Edit i] The finding, presented December 16 at the American Geophysical Union meeting, adds evidence to the idea that the Amazonians deliberately manufactured such soil long-ago. [Edit ii] In doing so, these early inhabitants may have inadvertently stored massive quantities of carbon in the soil, says study presenter Taylor Perron, an earth scientist at MIT. [Edit iii] The technique, he says, could provide a blueprint for developing methods of sustainably locking atmospheric carbon in tropical soils, helping fight climate change.
The Western world has long viewed the Amazon as a vast wilderness that was relatively untouched before the Europeans showed up. At the center of this argument is the idea that the Amazon’s soil, which is poor in nutrients, precluded its inhabitants from developing agriculture at a scale required to support complex societies. But a slew of archeological finds in recent decades — including the discovery of ancient urban centers in Amazonian areas of modern-day Bolivia — has revealed that people were actively shaping the Amazon for thousands of years before the arrival of the Europeans. Perron and his colleagues reviewed interviews of the Kuikuro people conducted by a Kuikuro filmmaker in 2018. Those conversations revealed that the Kuikuro villagers actively make dark earth — eegepe in Kuikuro — using ash, food scraps and controlled burns. “When you plant where there is no eegepe, the soil is weak,” explained the elder Kanu Kuikuro in one of the interviews. “That is why we throw the ash, manioc peelings and manioc pulp.” [Edit iv] The team found “striking similarities” between dark earth samples from ancient and modern sites, says Perron. Both were far less acidic than surrounding soils — probably thanks to the neutralizing effect of ash — and contained higher levels of plant-friendly nutrients.
These analyses also revealed that dark earth holds twice the amount of carbon as surrounding soils on average. The technique highlights how the ancient people were able to thrive in the Amazon by developing sustainable farming that doubled as a carbon-sequestration technique. With more and more greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere, making dark earth — or something like it — could be a method of mitigating climate change while supporting agriculture in the tropics. “People in the ancient past figured out a way to store lots of carbon for hundreds or even thousands of years,” Perron says. “Maybe we can learn something from that.” Adapted from: Kreier, Freda. “Indigenous People May Have Created the Amazon’s ‘Dark Earth’ on Purpose.” Science News, 05 Jan, 2023, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/indigenous-people-created- amazon-dark-earth.

Which of the following can be considered an example of technical vocabulary used in the article?

Read the following article and answer the given subquestions.
Indigenous People May Have Created the Amazon’s ‘Dark Earth’ on Purpose
Indigenous people in the Amazon may have been deliberately creating fertile soil for farming for thousands of years. At archaeological sites across the Amazon River basin, mysterious patches of unusually fertile soil dot the landscape. Scientists have long debated the origin of this “dark earth,” which is darker in color than surrounding soils and richer in carbon. Now, researchers have shown that the indigenous Kuikuro people in southeastern Brazil intentionally create similar soil around their villages. [Edit i] The finding, presented December 16 at the American Geophysical Union meeting, adds evidence to the idea that the Amazonians deliberately manufactured such soil long-ago. [Edit ii] In doing so, these early inhabitants may have inadvertently stored massive quantities of carbon in the soil, says study presenter Taylor Perron, an earth scientist at MIT. [Edit iii] The technique, he says, could provide a blueprint for developing methods of sustainably locking atmospheric carbon in tropical soils, helping fight climate change.
The Western world has long viewed the Amazon as a vast wilderness that was relatively untouched before the Europeans showed up. At the center of this argument is the idea that the Amazon’s soil, which is poor in nutrients, precluded its inhabitants from developing agriculture at a scale required to support complex societies. But a slew of archeological finds in recent decades — including the discovery of ancient urban centers in Amazonian areas of modern-day Bolivia — has revealed that people were actively shaping the Amazon for thousands of years before the arrival of the Europeans. Perron and his colleagues reviewed interviews of the Kuikuro people conducted by a Kuikuro filmmaker in 2018. Those conversations revealed that the Kuikuro villagers actively make dark earth — eegepe in Kuikuro — using ash, food scraps and controlled burns. “When you plant where there is no eegepe, the soil is weak,” explained the elder Kanu Kuikuro in one of the interviews. “That is why we throw the ash, manioc peelings and manioc pulp.” [Edit iv] The team found “striking similarities” between dark earth samples from ancient and modern sites, says Perron. Both were far less acidic than surrounding soils — probably thanks to the neutralizing effect of ash — and contained higher levels of plant-friendly nutrients.
These analyses also revealed that dark earth holds twice the amount of carbon as surrounding soils on average. The technique highlights how the ancient people were able to thrive in the Amazon by developing sustainable farming that doubled as a carbon-sequestration technique. With more and more greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere, making dark earth — or something like it — could be a method of mitigating climate change while supporting agriculture in the tropics. “People in the ancient past figured out a way to store lots of carbon for hundreds or even thousands of years,” Perron says. “Maybe we can learn something from that.” Adapted from: Kreier, Freda. “Indigenous People May Have Created the Amazon’s ‘Dark Earth’ on Purpose.” Science News, 05 Jan, 2023, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/indigenous-people-created- amazon-dark-earth.

State true or false.
The below-given is an example of an effective concluding sentence that gives a suggestion without making a prediction.
“People in the ancient past figured out a way to store lots of carbon for hundreds or even thousands of years,” Perron says. “Maybe we can learn something from that.”

Read the following article and answer the given subquestions.
Indigenous People May Have Created the Amazon’s ‘Dark Earth’ on Purpose
Indigenous people in the Amazon may have been deliberately creating fertile soil for farming for thousands of years. At archaeological sites across the Amazon River basin, mysterious patches of unusually fertile soil dot the landscape. Scientists have long debated the origin of this “dark earth,” which is darker in color than surrounding soils and richer in carbon. Now, researchers have shown that the indigenous Kuikuro people in southeastern Brazil intentionally create similar soil around their villages. [Edit i] The finding, presented December 16 at the American Geophysical Union meeting, adds evidence to the idea that the Amazonians deliberately manufactured such soil long-ago. [Edit ii] In doing so, these early inhabitants may have inadvertently stored massive quantities of carbon in the soil, says study presenter Taylor Perron, an earth scientist at MIT. [Edit iii] The technique, he says, could provide a blueprint for developing methods of sustainably locking atmospheric carbon in tropical soils, helping fight climate change.
The Western world has long viewed the Amazon as a vast wilderness that was relatively untouched before the Europeans showed up. At the center of this argument is the idea that the Amazon’s soil, which is poor in nutrients, precluded its inhabitants from developing agriculture at a scale required to support complex societies. But a slew of archeological finds in recent decades — including the discovery of ancient urban centers in Amazonian areas of modern-day Bolivia — has revealed that people were actively shaping the Amazon for thousands of years before the arrival of the Europeans. Perron and his colleagues reviewed interviews of the Kuikuro people conducted by a Kuikuro filmmaker in 2018. Those conversations revealed that the Kuikuro villagers actively make dark earth — eegepe in Kuikuro — using ash, food scraps and controlled burns. “When you plant where there is no eegepe, the soil is weak,” explained the elder Kanu Kuikuro in one of the interviews. “That is why we throw the ash, manioc peelings and manioc pulp.” [Edit iv] The team found “striking similarities” between dark earth samples from ancient and modern sites, says Perron. Both were far less acidic than surrounding soils — probably thanks to the neutralizing effect of ash — and contained higher levels of plant-friendly nutrients.
These analyses also revealed that dark earth holds twice the amount of carbon as surrounding soils on average. The technique highlights how the ancient people were able to thrive in the Amazon by developing sustainable farming that doubled as a carbon-sequestration technique. With more and more greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere, making dark earth — or something like it — could be a method of mitigating climate change while supporting agriculture in the tropics. “People in the ancient past figured out a way to store lots of carbon for hundreds or even thousands of years,” Perron says. “Maybe we can learn something from that.” Adapted from: Kreier, Freda. “Indigenous People May Have Created the Amazon’s ‘Dark Earth’ on Purpose.” Science News, 05 Jan, 2023, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/indigenous-people-created- amazon-dark-earth.

Which of the following does the article NOT attempt to do?

Read the following article and answer the given subquestions.
Indigenous People May Have Created the Amazon’s ‘Dark Earth’ on Purpose
Indigenous people in the Amazon may have been deliberately creating fertile soil for farming for thousands of years. At archaeological sites across the Amazon River basin, mysterious patches of unusually fertile soil dot the landscape. Scientists have long debated the origin of this “dark earth,” which is darker in color than surrounding soils and richer in carbon. Now, researchers have shown that the indigenous Kuikuro people in southeastern Brazil intentionally create similar soil around their villages. [Edit i] The finding, presented December 16 at the American Geophysical Union meeting, adds evidence to the idea that the Amazonians deliberately manufactured such soil long-ago. [Edit ii] In doing so, these early inhabitants may have inadvertently stored massive quantities of carbon in the soil, says study presenter Taylor Perron, an earth scientist at MIT. [Edit iii] The technique, he says, could provide a blueprint for developing methods of sustainably locking atmospheric carbon in tropical soils, helping fight climate change.
The Western world has long viewed the Amazon as a vast wilderness that was relatively untouched before the Europeans showed up. At the center of this argument is the idea that the Amazon’s soil, which is poor in nutrients, precluded its inhabitants from developing agriculture at a scale required to support complex societies. But a slew of archeological finds in recent decades — including the discovery of ancient urban centers in Amazonian areas of modern-day Bolivia — has revealed that people were actively shaping the Amazon for thousands of years before the arrival of the Europeans. Perron and his colleagues reviewed interviews of the Kuikuro people conducted by a Kuikuro filmmaker in 2018. Those conversations revealed that the Kuikuro villagers actively make dark earth — eegepe in Kuikuro — using ash, food scraps and controlled burns. “When you plant where there is no eegepe, the soil is weak,” explained the elder Kanu Kuikuro in one of the interviews. “That is why we throw the ash, manioc peelings and manioc pulp.” [Edit iv] The team found “striking similarities” between dark earth samples from ancient and modern sites, says Perron. Both were far less acidic than surrounding soils — probably thanks to the neutralizing effect of ash — and contained higher levels of plant-friendly nutrients.
These analyses also revealed that dark earth holds twice the amount of carbon as surrounding soils on average. The technique highlights how the ancient people were able to thrive in the Amazon by developing sustainable farming that doubled as a carbon-sequestration technique. With more and more greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere, making dark earth — or something like it — could be a method of mitigating climate change while supporting agriculture in the tropics. “People in the ancient past figured out a way to store lots of carbon for hundreds or even thousands of years,” Perron says. “Maybe we can learn something from that.” Adapted from: Kreier, Freda. “Indigenous People May Have Created the Amazon’s ‘Dark Earth’ on Purpose.” Science News, 05 Jan, 2023, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/indigenous-people-created- amazon-dark-earth.

State true or false.
A working knowledge of the Kuikuro language is a prerequisite to understand this article.

Read the following article and answer the given subquestions.
Indigenous People May Have Created the Amazon’s ‘Dark Earth’ on Purpose
Indigenous people in the Amazon may have been deliberately creating fertile soil for farming for thousands of years. At archaeological sites across the Amazon River basin, mysterious patches of unusually fertile soil dot the landscape. Scientists have long debated the origin of this “dark earth,” which is darker in color than surrounding soils and richer in carbon. Now, researchers have shown that the indigenous Kuikuro people in southeastern Brazil intentionally create similar soil around their villages. [Edit i] The finding, presented December 16 at the American Geophysical Union meeting, adds evidence to the idea that the Amazonians deliberately manufactured such soil long-ago. [Edit ii] In doing so, these early inhabitants may have inadvertently stored massive quantities of carbon in the soil, says study presenter Taylor Perron, an earth scientist at MIT. [Edit iii] The technique, he says, could provide a blueprint for developing methods of sustainably locking atmospheric carbon in tropical soils, helping fight climate change.
The Western world has long viewed the Amazon as a vast wilderness that was relatively untouched before the Europeans showed up. At the center of this argument is the idea that the Amazon’s soil, which is poor in nutrients, precluded its inhabitants from developing agriculture at a scale required to support complex societies. But a slew of archeological finds in recent decades — including the discovery of ancient urban centers in Amazonian areas of modern-day Bolivia — has revealed that people were actively shaping the Amazon for thousands of years before the arrival of the Europeans. Perron and his colleagues reviewed interviews of the Kuikuro people conducted by a Kuikuro filmmaker in 2018. Those conversations revealed that the Kuikuro villagers actively make dark earth — eegepe in Kuikuro — using ash, food scraps and controlled burns. “When you plant where there is no eegepe, the soil is weak,” explained the elder Kanu Kuikuro in one of the interviews. “That is why we throw the ash, manioc peelings and manioc pulp.” [Edit iv] The team found “striking similarities” between dark earth samples from ancient and modern sites, says Perron. Both were far less acidic than surrounding soils — probably thanks to the neutralizing effect of ash — and contained higher levels of plant-friendly nutrients.
These analyses also revealed that dark earth holds twice the amount of carbon as surrounding soils on average. The technique highlights how the ancient people were able to thrive in the Amazon by developing sustainable farming that doubled as a carbon-sequestration technique. With more and more greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere, making dark earth — or something like it — could be a method of mitigating climate change while supporting agriculture in the tropics. “People in the ancient past figured out a way to store lots of carbon for hundreds or even thousands of years,” Perron says. “Maybe we can learn something from that.” Adapted from: Kreier, Freda. “Indigenous People May Have Created the Amazon’s ‘Dark Earth’ on Purpose.” Science News, 05 Jan, 2023, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/indigenous-people-created- amazon-dark-earth.

“When you plant where there is no eegepe, the soil is weak,” explained the elder Kanu Kuikuro in one of the interviews. “That is why we throw the ash, manioc peelings and manioc pulp.”
Study the quote given above. The article uses this quote to _____.

Read the following article and answer the given subquestions.
Indigenous People May Have Created the Amazon’s ‘Dark Earth’ on Purpose
Indigenous people in the Amazon may have been deliberately creating fertile soil for farming for thousands of years. At archaeological sites across the Amazon River basin, mysterious patches of unusually fertile soil dot the landscape. Scientists have long debated the origin of this “dark earth,” which is darker in color than surrounding soils and richer in carbon. Now, researchers have shown that the indigenous Kuikuro people in southeastern Brazil intentionally create similar soil around their villages. [Edit i] The finding, presented December 16 at the American Geophysical Union meeting, adds evidence to the idea that the Amazonians deliberately manufactured such soil long-ago. [Edit ii] In doing so, these early inhabitants may have inadvertently stored massive quantities of carbon in the soil, says study presenter Taylor Perron, an earth scientist at MIT. [Edit iii] The technique, he says, could provide a blueprint for developing methods of sustainably locking atmospheric carbon in tropical soils, helping fight climate change.
The Western world has long viewed the Amazon as a vast wilderness that was relatively untouched before the Europeans showed up. At the center of this argument is the idea that the Amazon’s soil, which is poor in nutrients, precluded its inhabitants from developing agriculture at a scale required to support complex societies. But a slew of archeological finds in recent decades — including the discovery of ancient urban centers in Amazonian areas of modern-day Bolivia — has revealed that people were actively shaping the Amazon for thousands of years before the arrival of the Europeans. Perron and his colleagues reviewed interviews of the Kuikuro people conducted by a Kuikuro filmmaker in 2018. Those conversations revealed that the Kuikuro villagers actively make dark earth — eegepe in Kuikuro — using ash, food scraps and controlled burns. “When you plant where there is no eegepe, the soil is weak,” explained the elder Kanu Kuikuro in one of the interviews. “That is why we throw the ash, manioc peelings and manioc pulp.” [Edit iv] The team found “striking similarities” between dark earth samples from ancient and modern sites, says Perron. Both were far less acidic than surrounding soils — probably thanks to the neutralizing effect of ash — and contained higher levels of plant-friendly nutrients.
These analyses also revealed that dark earth holds twice the amount of carbon as surrounding soils on average. The technique highlights how the ancient people were able to thrive in the Amazon by developing sustainable farming that doubled as a carbon-sequestration technique. With more and more greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere, making dark earth — or something like it — could be a method of mitigating climate change while supporting agriculture in the tropics. “People in the ancient past figured out a way to store lots of carbon for hundreds or even thousands of years,” Perron says. “Maybe we can learn something from that.” Adapted from: Kreier, Freda. “Indigenous People May Have Created the Amazon’s ‘Dark Earth’ on Purpose.” Science News, 05 Jan, 2023, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/indigenous-people-created- amazon-dark-earth.

With more and more greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere, making dark earth — or something like it — could be a method of mitigating climate change while supporting agriculture in the tropics. In the above-given sentence, the relevance of the modal verb is that

Read the passage and answer the given subquestions.
People came to him when the patient ____(1)_____ (is) on his last legs. Dr. Raman often burst out, ‘Why couldn’t you have come a day earlier?’ The reason was obvious—____(2)_____ (visit) fee twenty-five rupees, and more than that, people liked to shirk the fact that the time had come to call in Dr. Raman; for them there was something ominous in the very association. As a result, when the big man ______(3)____ (come) on the scene, it was always a quick decision one way or another. There was no scope or time for any kind of wavering or whitewashing. Long years of practice of this kind had _____(4)____ (breed) in the doctor a certain curt truthfulness; for that very reason his opinion was valued; he was not a mere doctor _____(5)_____ (express) an opinion but a judge pronouncing a verdict. The patient’s life hung on his words. This never worried Dr. Raman. He never believed that agreeable words ever saved lives.

Choose the correct option for blank (1).

Read the passage and answer the given subquestions.
People came to him when the patient ____(1)_____ (is) on his last legs. Dr. Raman often burst out, ‘Why couldn’t you have come a day earlier?’ The reason was obvious—____(2)_____ (visit) fee twenty-five rupees, and more than that, people liked to shirk the fact that the time had come to call in Dr. Raman; for them there was something ominous in the very association. As a result, when the big man ______(3)____ (come) on the scene, it was always a quick decision one way or another. There was no scope or time for any kind of wavering or whitewashing. Long years of practice of this kind had _____(4)____ (breed) in the doctor a certain curt truthfulness; for that very reason his opinion was valued; he was not a mere doctor _____(5)_____ (express) an opinion but a judge pronouncing a verdict. The patient’s life hung on his words. This never worried Dr. Raman. He never believed that agreeable words ever saved lives.

Choose the correct option for blank (2).

Read the passage and answer the given subquestions.
People came to him when the patient ____(1)_____ (is) on his last legs. Dr. Raman often burst out, ‘Why couldn’t you have come a day earlier?’ The reason was obvious—____(2)_____ (visit) fee twenty-five rupees, and more than that, people liked to shirk the fact that the time had come to call in Dr. Raman; for them there was something ominous in the very association. As a result, when the big man ______(3)____ (come) on the scene, it was always a quick decision one way or another. There was no scope or time for any kind of wavering or whitewashing. Long years of practice of this kind had _____(4)____ (breed) in the doctor a certain curt truthfulness; for that very reason his opinion was valued; he was not a mere doctor _____(5)_____ (express) an opinion but a judge pronouncing a verdict. The patient’s life hung on his words. This never worried Dr. Raman. He never believed that agreeable words ever saved lives.

Choose the correct option for blank (3).

Read the passage and answer the given subquestions.
People came to him when the patient ____(1)_____ (is) on his last legs. Dr. Raman often burst out, ‘Why couldn’t you have come a day earlier?’ The reason was obvious—____(2)_____ (visit) fee twenty-five rupees, and more than that, people liked to shirk the fact that the time had come to call in Dr. Raman; for them there was something ominous in the very association. As a result, when the big man ______(3)____ (come) on the scene, it was always a quick decision one way or another. There was no scope or time for any kind of wavering or whitewashing. Long years of practice of this kind had _____(4)____ (breed) in the doctor a certain curt truthfulness; for that very reason his opinion was valued; he was not a mere doctor _____(5)_____ (express) an opinion but a judge pronouncing a verdict. The patient’s life hung on his words. This never worried Dr. Raman. He never believed that agreeable words ever saved lives.

Choose the correct option for blank (4).

Read the passage and answer the given subquestions.
People came to him when the patient ____(1)_____ (is) on his last legs. Dr. Raman often burst out, ‘Why couldn’t you have come a day earlier?’ The reason was obvious—____(2)_____ (visit) fee twenty-five rupees, and more than that, people liked to shirk the fact that the time had come to call in Dr. Raman; for them there was something ominous in the very association. As a result, when the big man ______(3)____ (come) on the scene, it was always a quick decision one way or another. There was no scope or time for any kind of wavering or whitewashing. Long years of practice of this kind had _____(4)____ (breed) in the doctor a certain curt truthfulness; for that very reason his opinion was valued; he was not a mere doctor _____(5)_____ (express) an opinion but a judge pronouncing a verdict. The patient’s life hung on his words. This never worried Dr. Raman. He never believed that agreeable words ever saved lives.

Choose the correct option for blank (5).

Match the words in List A with those in List B that are similar in meaning to them.

Based on the above data answer the given subquestions.

Plume

Match the words in List A with those in List B that are similar in meaning to them.

Based on the above data answer the given subquestions.

Bag

Match the words in List A with those in List B that are similar in meaning to them.

Based on the above data answer the given subquestions.

Door

Match the words in List A with those in List B that are similar in meaning to them.

Based on the above data answer the given subquestions.

Cupboard

Match the words in List A with those in List B that are similar in meaning to them.

Based on the above data answer the given subquestions.

Log

Complete the telephonic conversation given below with most polite and correct responses. Receptionist: Good afternoon, Verma Enterprises. (i) _______________________
Caller: Hello, this is Usha Patel from Vision Tech. Can I speak with Raghu Nath in IT?
Receptionist: Sure, ma’am. What's the purpose of your call?
Caller: I need to discuss the new software integration.
Receptionist: (ii) ___________________________________
Raghu: Hi, this is Raghu Nath in IT. How can I help?
Caller: Hello, Raghu. This is Usha from Vision Tech. I want to go over the new software integration details.
Raghu: Sure, we plan to start next Monday and finish in two weeks. Does that work?
Caller: Yes, will there be any downtime?
Raghu: About an hour during setup, scheduled off-peak.
Caller: Great. (iii) ___________________________
Raghu: I'll email it by the end of the day.
Caller: (iv) __________________Looking forward to working with you.
Raghu: No problem, Usha. Reach out if you need anything.
Caller: Will do. Thanks. Bye.
Raghu: (v) _________________
Based on the above data answer the given subquestions.

Which among the following is an appropriate response for blank (i)?

Complete the telephonic conversation given below with most polite and correct responses. Receptionist: Good afternoon, Verma Enterprises. (i) _______________________
Caller: Hello, this is Usha Patel from Vision Tech. Can I speak with Raghu Nath in IT?
Receptionist: Sure, ma’am. What's the purpose of your call?
Caller: I need to discuss the new software integration.
Receptionist: (ii) ___________________________________
Raghu: Hi, this is Raghu Nath in IT. How can I help?
Caller: Hello, Raghu. This is Usha from Vision Tech. I want to go over the new software integration details.
Raghu: Sure, we plan to start next Monday and finish in two weeks. Does that work?
Caller: Yes, will there be any downtime?
Raghu: About an hour during setup, scheduled off-peak.
Caller: Great. (iii) ___________________________
Raghu: I'll email it by the end of the day.
Caller: (iv) __________________Looking forward to working with you.
Raghu: No problem, Usha. Reach out if you need anything.
Caller: Will do. Thanks. Bye.
Raghu: (v) _________________
Based on the above data answer the given subquestions.

Which among the following is an appropriate response for blank (ii)?

Complete the telephonic conversation given below with most polite and correct responses. Receptionist: Good afternoon, Verma Enterprises. (i) _______________________
Caller: Hello, this is Usha Patel from Vision Tech. Can I speak with Raghu Nath in IT?
Receptionist: Sure, ma’am. What's the purpose of your call?
Caller: I need to discuss the new software integration.
Receptionist: (ii) ___________________________________
Raghu: Hi, this is Raghu Nath in IT. How can I help?
Caller: Hello, Raghu. This is Usha from Vision Tech. I want to go over the new software integration details.
Raghu: Sure, we plan to start next Monday and finish in two weeks. Does that work?
Caller: Yes, will there be any downtime?
Raghu: About an hour during setup, scheduled off-peak.
Caller: Great. (iii) ___________________________
Raghu: I'll email it by the end of the day.
Caller: (iv) __________________Looking forward to working with you.
Raghu: No problem, Usha. Reach out if you need anything.
Caller: Will do. Thanks. Bye.
Raghu: (v) _________________
Based on the above data answer the given subquestions.

Which among the following is an appropriate response for blank (iii)?

Complete the telephonic conversation given below with most polite and correct responses. Receptionist: Good afternoon, Verma Enterprises. (i) _______________________
Caller: Hello, this is Usha Patel from Vision Tech. Can I speak with Raghu Nath in IT?
Receptionist: Sure, ma’am. What's the purpose of your call?
Caller: I need to discuss the new software integration.
Receptionist: (ii) ___________________________________
Raghu: Hi, this is Raghu Nath in IT. How can I help?
Caller: Hello, Raghu. This is Usha from Vision Tech. I want to go over the new software integration details.
Raghu: Sure, we plan to start next Monday and finish in two weeks. Does that work?
Caller: Yes, will there be any downtime?
Raghu: About an hour during setup, scheduled off-peak.
Caller: Great. (iii) ___________________________
Raghu: I'll email it by the end of the day.
Caller: (iv) __________________Looking forward to working with you.
Raghu: No problem, Usha. Reach out if you need anything.
Caller: Will do. Thanks. Bye.
Raghu: (v) _________________
Based on the above data answer the given subquestions.

Which among the following is an appropriate response for blank (iv)?

Complete the telephonic conversation given below with most polite and correct responses. Receptionist: Good afternoon, Verma Enterprises. (i) _______________________
Caller: Hello, this is Usha Patel from Vision Tech. Can I speak with Raghu Nath in IT?
Receptionist: Sure, ma’am. What's the purpose of your call?
Caller: I need to discuss the new software integration.
Receptionist: (ii) ___________________________________
Raghu: Hi, this is Raghu Nath in IT. How can I help?
Caller: Hello, Raghu. This is Usha from Vision Tech. I want to go over the new software integration details.
Raghu: Sure, we plan to start next Monday and finish in two weeks. Does that work?
Caller: Yes, will there be any downtime?
Raghu: About an hour during setup, scheduled off-peak.
Caller: Great. (iii) ___________________________
Raghu: I'll email it by the end of the day.
Caller: (iv) __________________Looking forward to working with you.
Raghu: No problem, Usha. Reach out if you need anything.
Caller: Will do. Thanks. Bye.
Raghu: (v) _________________
Based on the above data answer the given subquestions.

Which among the following is an appropriate response for blank (v)?

Choose the correct sentence that demonstrates proper subject verb agreement

Choose the sentence with the correct preposition.

Identify the incorrect sentence among the two based on the usage of the verb:

The consonant cluster in the word flip is an instance of _________.

The compound word ice-cold is stressed on the ___________.

The word ‘entrepreneur’ has _____ syllables.

Choose the correct option.
She has ______ too hard today.

Choose the future perfect continuous tense sentence from the following options:

Thousand rupees ___________ the fine for that traffic violation.

Fill in the blank with the most suitable phrasal verb.
The culprit, overwhelmed by guilt, _____ in front of the jury.

Fill in the blank with the most suitable modal verb.
Your prospective employer _____ file a petition on your behalf with USCIS for you to come to the USA as a temporary nonimmigrant worker.
Hint: To denote a binding obligation imposed by the government.

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate phrase/idiom corresponding to the meaning provided. He disliked having to confront his father, but he knew that he would just have to _____. Intended meaning: To force yourself to do something difficult or unpleasant and face the consequences, or to be brave in a difficult situation.

Which word is both a noun and a verb?

"Whose book is this?"
What type of pronoun is 'whose'?

Identify the adverb of manner:

Which sentence uses an adjective in the comparative degree?

"an hour"
Why is 'an' used instead of 'a'?

Which /p/ sound in the word people is aspirated?

Consider the sentence Jane was a rebel when she was young. The word rebel in this sentence is stressed as _________.

Which semi-vowel occurs in the transition between the words “she” and “actually” in the sentence “I can’t believe she actually remembered”?