Reading Comprehension

UAR- Important aspects of RC:

➢ Understanding
➢ Assimilation
➢ Retention
Passages are also classified on the basis of the STYLE of writing:

➢ Analytical- usually weigh the pros and cons of a specific passage

➢ Descriptive- descriptions of:
○ Event
○ Discovery
○ Travelogue
○ Accident
○ Scene
➢ Factual- fact and instance driven
○ Not overtly descriptive
○ Talk about the central idea of the passage in a very regular and straightforward way
➢ Argumentative- similar to analytical passages; however they also put forth
an argument and a POV
➢ Abstract- these passages deal with ideas rather than events- can be
philosophical or metaphysical- beyond the physical or concrete world
 Author’s
attitude or
Tone of the
passage
Intensity of
Tone of Anger or negative or
disapproval positive
perspective
Is the author enraged, mildly disturbed or
strongly disapproving?
Implied information Questions:
➢ Like specific information questions even they inquire usually about a
particular section of the passage
➢ Asked by using the words- inferred, implied, indicated or suggested

Specific Information Implied Information

Questions Questions
ask about less obvious
ask about concrete information contained
information contained in between the lines of the
the text text
Types of questions- To Sum Up:
➢ Main theme or idea questions
➢ Author’s attitude or tone questions
➢ Specific information questions
➢ Implied information questions
➢ Understanding the themes and arguments questions
➢ Words-in- context questions
Let’s solve together:
OVER a couple of days in February, hundreds of thousands of point-of-sale
printers in restaurants around the world began behaving strangely. Some churned
out bizarre pictures of computers and giant robots signed, “with love from the
hacker God himself”. Some informed their owners that, “YOUR PRINTER HAS
BEEN PWND’D”. Some told them, “For the love of God, please close this port”.
When the hacker God gave an interview to Motherboard, a technology website, he
claimed to be a British secondary-school pupil by the name of “Stackoverflowin”.
Annoyed by the parlous state of computer security, he had, he claimed, decided to
perform a public service by demonstrating just how easy it was to seize control.
Not all hackers are so public-spirited, and 2016 was a bonanza for those who are
not. In February of that year cyber-crooks stole $81m directly from the central
bank of Bangladesh—and would have got away with more were it not for a crucial
typo. In August America’s National Security Agency (NSA) saw its own hacking
tools leaked all over the internet by a group calling themselves the Shadow
Brokers. (The CIA suffered a similar indignity this March.) In October a piece of
software called Mirai was used to flood Dyn, an internet infrastructure company,
with so much meaningless traffic that websites such as Twitter and Reddit were
made inaccessible to many users. And the hacking of the Democratic National
Committee’s e-mail servers and the subsequent leaking of embarrassing
communications seems to have been part of an attempt to influence the outcome
of the American elections.
Away from matters of great scale and grand strategy, most hacking is either
show-off vandalism or simply criminal. It is also increasingly easy. Obscure
forums oil the trade in stolen credit-card details, sold in batches of thousands at a
time. Data-dealers hawk “exploits”: flaws in code that allow malicious attackers to
subvert systems. You can also buy “ransomware”, with which to encrypt photos
and documents on victims’ computers before charging them for the key that will
unscramble the data. So sophisticated are these facilitating markets that coding
skills are now entirely optional. Botnets—flocks of compromised computers
created by software like Mirai, which can then be used to flood websites with
traffic, knocking them offline until a ransom is paid—can be rented by the hour.
Just like a legitimate business, the bot-herders will, for a few dollars extra, provide
technical support if anything goes wrong.
The total cost of all this hacking is anyone’s guess (most small attacks, and many
big ones, go unreported). But all agree it is likely to rise, because the scope for
malice is about to expand remarkably. “We are building a world-sized robot,” says
Bruce Schneier, a security analyst, in the shape of the “Internet of Things”. The IoT
is a buzz-phrase used to describe the computerisation of everything from cars and
electricity meters to children’s toys, medical devices and light bulbs. In 2015 a
group of computer-security researchers demonstrated that it was possible to take
remote control of certain Jeep cars. When the Mirai malware is used to build a
botnet it seeks out devices such as video recorders and webcams; the botnet for
fridges is just around the corner.
1) Suggest a suitable title for the passage

1. Gadgets and gimmicks

2. Hail o’ Hackers
3. Bane of technical burglars
4. Warning malicious Content
5. Virus 2.0
2) Choose the word which is nearest to ‘bizzare’ as used in the passage

1. Strange
2. cumbersome
3. awkward
4. Intangible
5. Replicate
3) Choose the word which is farthest to ‘ Parlous’ as used in the passage

1. Precarious
2. Dire
3. appalling
4. Insecure
5. fortify
4) What is the author’s perspective according to the passage?

1. The affluent are able to afford high range of security packs whereas the common folks are usually vulnerable
2. Enhancing breeds of robots at all levels is the need of the hour
3. Top bureaucrats’ ignorance is a major thorn in the flesh for cyber security
4. Patch up work for malware attacks is not an original remedy
5. The wizards of technology are no more watch dogs of the field.
5) Which of the following is False?

a)The shadow brokers’ hacks have largely affected the outcome of the U.S general elections.
b) The software Mirai was used by hackers to leak personal photos and videos which made an impact in the U.S
presidential Elections.
c) Highly sophisticated coding skills are required to hack into someone’s computer.
d) Botnets can be used to create unwanted traffic and demand money.

1. Only C & d
2. Only a, b & c
3. Only c & d
4. Only d
5. All of the above
6) Choose the word which is farthest to ‘ obscure’ as used in the passage

1. Dubious
2. hazy
3. Vague
4. unambiguous
5. oblivion
7) Choose the word which is nearest to ‘malice’ as used in the passage

1. Benevolence
2. proclivity
3. Spite
4. Renegade
5. Inclination
Thank you!