1.

Read the passage given below:

Subhash Chandra Bose passed through quarters inhabited by Englishmen and also met a
large number of them in the tram cars. The British using these cars were purposely rude
and offensive to Indians in various ways. The sensitive mind of Subhash revolted against
such insulting and rude behavior of the British. On many occasions, there was an
exchange of hot words between him and misbehaving British. Majority of the students
of the Presidency College, where he studied, were free thinkers. The college continued
to be a storm centre and was looked upon by the British Government “as a hotbed of
sedition, rendezvous of revolutionaries” and was frequently searched by the police. The
first two years of his life were greatly influenced by the group, which styled itself as the
neo-Vivekananda group and Subhash developed intellectually during this period. The
group generally followed the teachings of Rama Krishna and Vivekananda with special
emphasis on social service as means of spiritual development and was nonaligned to a
revolutionary group. The shock of the Great World War roused his political
consciousness. He graduated at the age of 22 and enrolled himself for the postgraduate
with experimental psychology as a special subject. His father, however, wanted him to
go to England to appear for the Indian Civil Services. In spite of his mental reservations,
Subhash took it as a challenge. In England, he was greatly impressed with the freedom
allowed to students at Cambridge. Every student behaved in a dignified manner.
Notwithstanding his preoccupation with his studies, he displayed his public spirit and
fearlessness throughout his stay in England. He and K. L. Gouba were selected by the
Indian Majlis, to represent the British Government the difficulties the Indian students
encountered for admission to the University Officers’ Training Corps. Though he took a
harsh view of the British high handedness and racial arrogance, he did admire their
qualities which exacted him. He himself behaved there in a dignified way and was of the
view that Indians who go abroad, must consider themselves to be unofficial
ambassadors of the country, who should uphold their country’s prestige. He was quite
serious in purpose.
2.Read the passage given below:

One day Nandu rode his horse to the village fair. On his way back he met Somendra, the
merchant. The merchant was a crafty man, ready to do anything to earn some money.
The villagers knew this. In fact no one knew what trick he would be up to next. Now,
Nandu was poor and had no one in the world to call his own except a beautiful, white
horse. He loved it more than anything else in the world. The merchant had his eye on
the horse for a long time and tried to think of a way to get it for himself. Seeing Nandu,
the merchant thought, Nandu is a simpleton. Let me see if I can trick him out of his
horse. So he said to Nandu, You live all alone. How do you manage? What does a young
boy like you need with a horse? Sell it to me and I shall make you rich in return. Nandu
replied, "No I don’t want to sell my horse." But the merchant refused to give up so
easily. He offered Nandu more money. Finally, when the offer reached five hundred gold
coins, Nandu paused and said. Five hundred gold coins seems like a good price. But I
have a condition. If you agree to it, I shall give you my horse. "What is it?", the merchant
asked impatiently. "Give me the money right now and I shall give you my horse when I
have given you ten lashes." After all he would resell the horse for over a thousand gold
coins in the market. He would take twenty lashes for such a gain. He agreed instantly.
He ran home and got the money for Nandu and brought along his whip as well. Nandu
counted the money carefully. He then took the whip and the lashes fell on the
merchant’s back in quick succession. By the eighth lash the merchant was almost in
tears but he told himself that there were only two lashes to go and the horse would be
his. The merchant held his breath waiting for the final lashes. But Nandu had mounted
his horse and was riding off. "Wait!", shouted the merchant in anger. "What about the
last lashes? Where are you going with the horse? We had a deal. Nandu stopped and
said, "I agree to give you the horse only after I had given you ten lashes. But it is
upsetting my horse. I’ll give you the last lashes later. Till then goodbye!" "Come back
you cheat!", the merchant shouted. But the crowd that had gathered around agreed
with Nandu. A deal was a deal. Till the last lash was given, the horse could not belong to
the merchant. Nandu rode away richer by five hundred gold coins and Somendra waited
in vain for several days for the final lash which never came. and disliked anybody
wasting time on trivialities.
3. Read the passage given below:
Cardamom, the Queen of all spices, has a history as old as the human race. It is the dried fruit
of a herbaceous perennial plant. Warm humid climate, loamy soil rich in organic matter,
distributed rainfall and special cultivation and processing methods all combine to make Indian
cardamom truly unique in aroma, flavour, size and it has a parrot green colour. Two types of
cardamom are produced in India. The first type is the large one, which has not much
significance as it is not traded in the future market. It is cultivated in Northeastern area of the
country. The second type is produced in the Southern states and these are traded in the future
market. These are mainly cultivated in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. As per the future
market rules, only 7 mm quality was previously traded in exchanges. But later, it relaxed its
norms, and now 6 mm quality is also traded in the exchanges. The small variety, known for its
exotic quality throughout the world, is now traded in India’s commodity future exchanges.
Traditional auction markets also exist for trading in small cardamom in the country. Cardamom
is an expensive spice, second only to saffron. It is often adulterated and there are many inferior
substitutes from cardamom-related plants such as Siam cardamom, Nepal cardamom, Winged
Java cardamom, etc. However, it is only Elettaria cardamom which is the true cardamom. Indian
cardamom is known in two main varieties: Malabar cardamom and Mysore cardamom. The
Mysore variety contains levels of cineol and limonene and hence is more aromatic. India was
the world’s largest producer and exporter of cardamom till the 1980s. By 1990s Guatemala
emerged as the leading producer and exporter of cardamom. The main harvest season of
cardamom in India is between August-February. Cardamom reaches yielding stage two years
after planting. The primary physical markets of cardamom are Kumily, Vandenmedu, Thekkady,
Puliyarmala in Kerala and Bodynaikkannur and Cumbam in Tamil Nadu. Cardamom auctions
also take place in Sakalespur and Sirsi in Karnataka. North India is the main market for
cardamom produced in the country. Normally, domestic demand goes up during the major
festivals such as Diwali, Dussehra and Eid. Colour, size and aroma are the major variables that
shape cardamom prices in the Indian market. Cardamom price formation in India is also
influenced by the output in Guatemala as that country controls the global markets. Kerala is the
main producer of cardamom and contributes up to 60% in total production. Karnataka
produces around 25% cardamom of the total production. Ooty is the main producer of
cardamom in Tamil Nadu and contributes around 10-15% of the total production. Besides India,
Guatemala also produces around 2,200-ton cardamom. On the other hand, India produces
nearly 1,000-2,000-ton cardamom per year. Due to low quality of cardamom from Guatemala,
it remains available at cheaper rates. Moreover, cardamom of Indian origin fetches $ 3-4 per
kilogram higher rates than the ones from Guatemala.