VMR Logics
PASSAGES
Passage 1
Compact Discs (CDs) have revolutionised the music
industry with their surprisingly realistic sound. The six-inch
discs look like thin plastic sandwiches with aluminium at the
centre. They have digitally recorded material that is read by
laser beams, so the sound has none of the crackling of vinyl
records. CDs are also virtually indestructible, and they are
lighter and smaller than conventional records. Since their
introduction, CDs have become more affordable and widely
available. In fact, they are now sold in electronics and video
stores that didn't formerly carry records or cassettes.
There has been a phenomenal growth in the sale of
CDs. Sales climbed dramatically during the second half of
the 1980s. In the 1990s sales have been greater. CDs have
all but replaced records in stores and, in spite of their being
less affordable than cassettes, continue to gain in popularity.
1. The main appeal of CD is their
A) price B) size C) availability D) Sound
2. The word 'revolutionised', as used in line 1, could best
be replaced by
A) changed B) taught
C) surprised D) marked
3. The author refers to CDs as 'sandwiches' because they
A) are light B) are small
C) are layered D) don't crackle
4. According to the pasage, which one of the following
is true ?
A) New kinds of stores are selling CDs
B) Stores are selling more CDs than cassettes
C) Stores are losing money on their cassettes
D) Stores are earning money on their cassettes
5. The author's main purpose is to
A) tell how CDs are made
B) discuss the growth of CDs
C) comapre CDs to sandwiches
D) describe the store that sells CDs
Passage – 2
He came out of a storym February night. Two large eyes
glared at me through the darkness of my rain-drenched cabin
window, and in the gleam of lightening I saw a large brown
body and huge jaws, I feared it was a mountain lion.
I had gone to British Columbia, on the Pacific coast of
Canada, to write a novel. For seven months, I had lived all
alone in my wooden cabin. Scared, I slowly backed into
the kitchen for my torch and axe. Keeping away from the
window, I shone the torch to find myself facing a large black
and brown dog, his tail wagging wildly.
I opened the door slightly and he rushed into the room,
bringing pools of water, going half-mad with delight. In spite
of his big head he was very, very thin. The bones showed
through his coat. But the look in his eyes said more clearly
than any words: Please may I have something to eat?
1. The writer kept away from the window because
A) it was rain-drenched
B) the lightening flashed through it
C) he was scared of the form he saw
D) he was scared of the darkness outside
2. The dog was delighted as he rushed into the room
because he
A) saw the light from the torch
B) could shake off the water from his body
C) could not see the flashes of lightening any more
D) felt that he might get some food there
3. The writer was extremely moved when he
A) saw the imploring hungry look in the dog's eye
B) saw that the dog was very thin
C) noticed that the dog was shivering
D) saw the dog's bones showing through its coat
Passage – 3
For thousands of years, Indians have believed that man
is different from his fellow animals because of his ability to
make tools. We have also developed a tradition of wor-
shipping and honouring the tools and implements we use in
agriculture and business. By honouring our implements we
honour human ingenuity. Weapon worship originated with
warriors honouring their weapons, the tools of their trade.
In modern India, people still place garlands on the machines
of their different trades hoping for an auspicious response.
But in our electronic age, new machines are arriving with
such rapidity that honouring them can take more than just a
day.
1. According to the author, what makes man different
from animals is his
A) ability to enter into fruitful social relationships
B) capacity of speech and power of thinking
C) ability to make tools for various purposes
D) capacity to use weapons efficiently
2. The author states that the significance of honouring
and worshipping tools is that we
A) recognise the usefulness of tools for agriculture and
business
B) honour man's inventive power to produce tools
C) approve of the high cost of producing tools
D) express our gratitude to god for giving us tools
3. The purpose of placing garlands on the machines of
different trades in modern times is to
A) decorate the machines
B) create a fragrant atmosphere around the machines
C) attract the customers in the trade and business
D) show respect ot them
Passage – 4
Iw was very hot. Suddenly, at about 3 o'clock in the
afternoon, there fell such an abundance of rain that 150 men
of the grand guard, in order not to be submerged, were
forced to leave the large depression in which they were hid-
den. But what was the surprise when there began to fall, on
the ground, all about a considerable number of toads, the
size of hazelnuts, which began to lump about in every direc-
tion. M. Gayet (the solidier who provided this information),
who could not believe that these myriad of reptiles fell with
the rain, stretched out his handkerchief at the height of a
man, his comrades holding the corners; they caught a con-
siderable number of toads, most of which had their poste-
rior parts elongated into a tail, that is to say, in the tadplole
state. During this rain storm, which lasted about half an hour,
the men of the grand guard felt very distinctly on their hats
and on their clothing the blows struck by falling toads. As a
final proof of the reality of this phenomenon, M. Gayet re-
ports that, after the storm the three-cornered hats of the
men of the guard held in their folds, some of the reptiles.
1. From where could this account have been taken ?
A) A weather report
B) A novel
C) A newspaper
D) A pamphlet
2. The soldiers left their hiding place because they
A) were scared of toads
B) were ordered to
C) were getting wet
D) might have drowned there
3. M. Gayet and his friends caught the toads in
A) a handkerchief B) their hats
C) their clothing D) the depression
4. What proof does M. Gayet give to prove that what
happend was real ?
A) Toads were found in the depression
B) Soldiers felt tht toads striking blows as they fell
C) 150 men of the grand guard swore it rained toads
D) Toads were found in the guards' hats after the rain
stopped.
5. A suitable title for this passage would be
A) A Mystery B) A rain of Toads
C) A Long Time Ago D) M. Gayet's Report
Passage – 5
Akbar had quarrelled with Birbal over something im-
portant and had asked him not to come to the palace again.
Akbar started missing Birbal and wanted him back, but could
not find out where has was. Akbar hit upon a plan. He sent
a message to all the villages that wells had been selected to
wed the royal well and so they had to bring the bride to the
capital immediately.
The headmen of the various villages were alarmed at
the impossible task and came rushing to the capital to
apologise for their inability to move their wells. One man,
Khaji, however, came to discuss the details of the wed-
ding. Khaji wanted to know wheter the marriage ceremony
would be conducted in the traditional manner. Akbar as-
sured him that all the formalities would be observed. Khaji
was happy and assured Akbar that he would bring the bride
to the gates of the city. Khaji added that according to the
tradition, the bridegroom was to meet the bride at the villate
gates and take her into the city. He also asked Akbar when
was the commitment date from the bridegroom so that they
could set out with the bridal party.
Akbar was happy to hear all this. He realised that such
an intelligent idea could be thought out only by the fertile
brain of Birbal and told Khaji that he did not want the well
but the man who gave him the idea.
1. Why did Akbar decide to perform the marriage ?
A) He wanted to know how marriages are performed
B) He wanted to increase the water in his well
C) He wanted to test the intelligence of the village
Headmen
D) He wanted to find out the wherebouts of Birbal
2. Which of the following is not true in the context of the
passage ?
A) According to Akbar, Birbal was the most intelli-
gent man in his kingdom
B) Khaji thought of the idea that the marriage of wells
should be conducted in a traditional manner
C) Akbar enjoyed Birbal's company
D) The King's well was to be the bridegroom
3. Which of the following is true in the context of the
passage ?
A) Akbar never quarrelled with others on small mat-
ters
B) Akbar ordered all the village headmen to find out
about Birbal
C) Every village headmen did not reach to Akbar's
marriage in the same way
D) Khaji was to bring the bridegroom to the village
gates
4. Why did Akbar say that he did not want the well which
Khaji was offering ?
A) Akbar did not like the demands which Khaji was
making
B) Akbar's intention behing his plan to perform the
marriage was fulfilled
C) There was not much water in the wll
D) None of these
5. Why did Khaji come to meet Akbar ?
A) He wanted to know whether the marriage would
be performed in a traditional manner
B) He wanted to know whether the bridegroom would
come to his village gate to receive the bride
C) He wanted to know why Akbar had thought of the
marriage between wells
D) He wanted to know when the marriage ceremony
was to be held
Passage – 6
Twenty-five years ago it was a slum, and it is slum
today. The lanes are muddy; the hovels tilt and sag. Outside
one wretched hut, a woman crouching in the sun picks lice
from a child's tangled hair. But in a rutted field nearby, where
pigs snuffle and grunt, there is a small, two-room-school-
house. Its walls are made of tarred bamboo matting and its
gutters are shaped out of soyabean oil tins, but from within,
comes the low, cheerful murmur of children at their lessons.
Into this Calcutta slum, walked a woman in a white
saree. She had no income, no savings, no property, only
five rupeees and an inspired calling to help the poorest of
India's poor. She knocked on hovel doors, she puyt sturdy
arms aroung ragged, barefooted children, she washed them
and, under a tree in the open field, she taught them. Today,
Mother Teresa - the woman in the white saree - is among
the best known women in India.
1. The place is described as a slum, because of
A) unhygienic conditions
B) muddy lanes
C) tarred walls
D) rutted field nearby
2. Which one of the following suggests hope in hope-
lessness ?
A) One wretched hut
B) A woman crouching in the sun
C) Two-room school-house
D) A school in dirty surrrdoundings
3. What changed the observant woman in the white saree
into the best known woman in India ?
A) The sufferings of the poorest of the poor
B) The hopeless children
C) The call of love to help
D) Her own whim
4. Mother Teresa is the most respected woman of the
world because.
A) She served the destitute inspite of the depressing
state of affairs.
B) She has received many National and International
awards.
C) She wears a white saree.
D) She serves the needy.