Antonyms

• Immolate – a) Motionless b) Sacrifice c) Mock d) Inspire

• Lurid – a) Boiling b) Towering c) Shocking d) Glowering

• Breatharian – a) Beautician b) fresh air c) hill climber d) practitioner

• Dyspraxia – a) Brain disorder b) theorem c) reading difficulty d) blue flowered plant

• Gelid – a) Brisk b) balmy c) very cold d) sleety

• Inundate – a) To flood b) sink c) batter down d) pass by

• Ergo – a) Always b) suddenly c) likewise d) therefore

• Oratorio – a) Speech b) religious order c) musical work d) record book

• Tenebrous – a) Fragile b) gruesome c) dark d) nervous

• Nihilist – a) Extreme sceptic b) strict hermit c) habitual protestor d) sentimental writer

Synonyms

• Blasé – a) Excited b) casual c) indifferent d) lazy

• Bombastic – a) Verbose b) blustering c) restrained d) explosive

• Bury – a) Conceal b) embed c)encapsulate d) exhume

• Capacious – a) Cramped b) ample c) capable d) whimsical

• Cure – a) Rectify b) undo c) heal d) exacerbate

• Especial – a) Special b) uncharacterised c) species d) noted

• Evocative – a) Eventful b) callous c) evoke d) charitable

• Interdict – a) Prohibit b) sanction c) interrupt d) interfere

• Insouciant – a) Airy b) unconcerned c) sufficient d) anxious

• Lustrous – a) Dreary b) lust c) lustre d) polished

 

 

Reading Comprehension

In its current application to art, the term ‘primitive’ is as vague and unspecific as the term ‘heathen’ is in application to religion. A heathen sect is simply one that is not affiliated with one or another of the three or four organised system of theology. Similarly, a primitive art is one that flourished outside the small number of cultures that we have designated as civilisations. Such arts differ vastly, more among themselves than do those of the civilisations in question, and it is correspondingly difficult to generalise about them. Any statement that will hold true for such diverse aesthetic experiences as the pictographs of the Australians, the woven designs of the Peruvians, and the abstract sculptures of the African-Americans must be of the broadest and simplest sort. Moreover, the problem is complicated by the meaning attached to the word ‘primitive’ in its other uses. It stands for something simple, undeveloped, and by implication, ancestral to more evolved forms. Its application to arts and cultures other than our own is an unfortunate heritage from 19^th Century anthropologists. Elated by the newly enunciated doctrine of evolution, these students sae all cultures as stages in a single line of development and assigned them places in this series on the basis of how much they differed from European culture, which was blandly assumed to be final and the perfect flower of the evolutionary process. This idea has long been abandoned by anthropologists, but before its demise it diffused to other social sciences and became a part of the general body of popular misinformation. It still tinges a great deal of the thought and writing about the arts on non-European peoples, and has been responsible for many misunderstandings.

 

1. The main purpose of the passage is to

Explain the various definitions of the term primitive.

Show that the term primitive can be applied validly to art.

Deprecate the use of the term ‘primitive’ as applied to art.

Show that ‘primitive’ arts can vary greatly among themselves.

 

2. The 19^th century anthropologists believed that the theory of evolution

Could be applied to the development of culture.

Was demonstrated in all social sciences.

Was proved by the diversity of ‘primitive’ art.

Could be applied only to European culture.

Disproved the idea that some arts are more primitive than others.

 

3. Which of the following would the author agree with:

The term ‘primitive’ is used only by the misinformed.

‘Primitive arts might be as highly developed as ‘civilised’ art’.

The arts of a culture often indicate how advanced that culture is.

A simple culture is likely to have a simple art.

 

4. According to the author many misunderstandings have been caused by the belied that:

Most cultures are fundamentally different.

‘Primitive’ arts resemble one another.

Non-European arts are diverse.

European art is the final product of the evolutionary process.

 

Miscellaneous

Foreign Phrases

1. Bona Fide – a) Good health b) genuine c) fidelity d) incredulous
2. Coup de grace – b) Finishing blow b) cooped feeling c) finale d) very graceful
3. Faux pas – a) A farce b) a passing comment c) a social blunder d) a factual error

 

Identify the correct spelling

4. a) Bureaucracy b) Buriucracy c) Bureacracy d) Buroeucracy
5. a) Harasment b) Harrasment c) Harrassment d) Harassment

 

Complete the sentences

6. People have always dressed to _______ flaws of their body – a) Disfigure b) show c) camouflage d) delineate
7. Being watched by the enemy is not as _____ being bombarded by them – a) Convenient b) unsettling c) crazy d) universal
8. The villagers’ __ read and write their mother tongue. (may/can/must).
9. __ I ask a question? (Could/might/ought)
10. You ___ have taken all the trouble. (needn’t/ ought/used)
11. Despite the affected ___ that convinced casual observers he was indifferent about his painting, and enjoyed only frivolity, the young NIFT graduate cared deeply about his art and laboured at it ___. – a) Non-chalance…diligently b) serendipity…mechanically c) fervour…secretly d) gloom…sporadically.
12. Because Anita had a reputation for ___, we were surprised and pleased when she greeted us ___. – a) Insolence…irately b) insouciance….cordially c) graciousness..amiably d) arrogance…disdainfully.

 

Identify the odd one out

3. a) Pond b) Tank c) Lake d) Brook
4. a) Bracelet b) Ring c) Ornament d) Bangle
5. a) Cube b) Square c) Foot d) Prism

 

Idioms and Phrases

6. Pooja will participate in the debate. She has ____. – a. The first leg b. the going rate c. The gift of the gab d. The golden rule
7. Most of the times when you speak in public you usually – a. Put your finger in the mouth b. lose your tongue c. Put your foot in your mouth d. Put your tongue between your teeth.
8. If you forget to do one of these things ____. –
   a. Back to square one b. bad taste in your mouth c. A ballpark figure d. Shall be head over heels.

Homonyms

9. Judges have (judicial/judicious) power to decide cases.
10. It is unlawful to (abet/abate) a criminal.

 

 

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