SSC CGL Tier-2 2010 English

Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.
Passage V:

When flowers bloom in the lush bamboo plantations in the hills of the northeast, the tribesmen are thrown into a state of panic. The rare phenomenon of the flowering of a dwarf-sized bamboo species triggers a boom in the rat population. They devour the crops in nearby farmlands. The result is famine.

The mauve-coloured flowers sprouting in the hill-slopes in the sprawling Seppa valley in east Kameng district, Arunachal Pradesh,are a palpable threat to the State Government. The worries are justified, if the catastrophe caused by the flowering of a bamboo species named Mau in Mizoram in 1959 is anything to go by Rodents had multiplied in millions during the flowering of bamboos and ravaged the crops in the foothills.

The flowering of the bamboo species in Arunachal Pradesh was first noticed in September this year. The depredations by the rats in the paddy, maize and millet fields from Bhalukpong on the Assam border to Seppa valley in the north were reported soon. As the agriculture department rushed its field-staff to the affected areas to fight the rampaging rodents with rattraps and zinc phosphate,fresh alarms
were sounded with flowering reported from the Tezu circle.

According to the local MLA much of the crops in Kameng had been destroyed by October. The State Veterinary Minister also confirmed the reports of a near-famine condition in that inaccessible district. The rats, feeding on the flower seedlings, continue to multiply. Till today, 33,000 rats, of the 26 varieties in the State have been trapped with the help of indigenous devices. The Chief Minister has sent an SOS to the Centre for both supplies and expertise in combating the rat menace.

Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.
Passage VI:

Nasiruddin was the cleverest man in Khorasan. One of his neighbours was a merchant. He was a great miser. One day the merchant saw Nasiruddin praying inside his house. He was praying in a loud voice asking God to be kind to him and send him 9999 dinars, not a dinar more, or a dinar less. If God sent him even one dinar more, he would return all the money. The merchant could not understand Nasiruddin's prayer. He decidedto find out the truth. He put 10,000 dinars in a bag andthrew it into Nasiruddin’s house. Nasiruddin found the bag and counted the money carefully. He profusely thanked God for giving him 10,000 dinars, when he had askedfor only 9999 dinars. The merchant heard Nasiruddin. He realized that Nasiruddin was going to keep the money. He went to Nasiruddin's house. Hecalled him a liar and demanded that his 10,000 dinars be returned to him. Nasiruddin refused. He claimed that he was not a fool to believe that any one would throw away 10,000 dinars just to test someone's honesty. It was his money given by God in answer to his prayer . The merchant decided to take the matterto the judge. Nasiruddin said that he had no clean clothes to wear. The merchant gave him some of his own clothes to wear. Then they went to see the judge.

The merchant told the judge what had happened. Nasiruddin argued that the merchant was mad. Ever since he lost a lot of money a few months back, he hadbeen talking like a mad man. The judge asked Nasiruddin whether he could prove his charge. He said, “Just now he told you that I stole his money. Next he is goingtotell you that these clothes which I am wearing are also his.” The merchant shouted angrily, “Of course, these clothes are mine!.

The judge thoughtfor a few minutes. Then he said, “The case is false. Nasiruddin has not stolen his neighbour’s money, The merhantis mad. He should be sent to a mental hospital.”