English/English Para Completion Sample Test,Sample questions

 Climate change and an increasing population could trigger a global food crisis in the next half century as countries struggle for fertile land to grow crops and rear animals. ---- Competition over sparse resources may lead to conflicts and environmental destruction, the scientists fear.
(A) To keep up with the growth in human population, more food will have to be produced world wide over the next 50 years than has been during the past 10,000 years combined, the experts said.
(B) But in many countries a combination of poor farming practices and deforestation will be exacerbated by climate change to steadily degrade soil fertility, having vast areas unsuitable for crops or grazing.
(C) The warnings came as researchers around the world convened at a United Nations-backed forum in Iceland on sustainable development to address halve hunger and extreme poverty by 2015.

 In April, the World Bank asked for bids for a high-tech project - laying a 110-mile-long canal that would channel water from the Red sea to the Dead sea. --- The system would also desalinate sea water - one reason why the scheme is popular with the Kingdom of Jordan, which suffers a severe water shortage.
(A) The project, estimated to cost $5 billion, would have additional benefits - the water cascading from sea level at the tip of the Red sea to minus 1,400 feet at the Dead sea would create hydro electricity.
(B) A low-tech alternative to this project has been suggested by the environmental organization, Friends of the Earth, Middle East.
(C) This alternative is to radically change the consumption habits of the millions of people who live in Jordan. 

 India has the largest number of wild tigers and a conservation infrastructure with a system of connected protected forest areas. ---- It is urgent that India and the world community weigh in on a concerted programme to save the tiger.
(A) But tragically, India's tiger population has collapsed.
(B) Experts say that according to the latest census, the Indian population of tigers has plummeted dangerously close to the tipping point for the loss of the species.
(C) Extinction of the Royal Bengal Tiger, lord of the Indian jungle, would be an irreversible loss to India's heritage and a signal to environmental dangers for the total ecosystem.

 With the release of foreign exchange for travel through liberalization, the number of non-business travellers increased. ---- Realising the Indian's penchant for shopping, many countries opened up their visa regime and made it easier for the visitors from the sub continent to spend a few days in their countries.
(A) The holidaying Indians went on a shopping spree wherever they could.
(B) With the introduction of more airlines and low air fares travel abroad has become so much cheaper and accessible to a vast multitude of Indians today.
(C) It may have been just Sri Lanka or Singapore to begin with but the ambit grew and the out-bound tourism industry recorded a phenomenonal growth.

A fast paced lifestyle comes with a baggage of various ailments like obesity, cardio-vascular problems, etc. ---- Sugar substitutes or artificial sweeteners is the smart way to cut on excess calories of sugar and control your calorie intake.
(A) Sugar substitutes offer the sweetness of sugar without adding to the calories or elevating blood sugar.
(B) Controlling your calories is the key to fitness as excess calories get converted into fat in your body.
(C) You may not have time to exercise, but you can still make changes in your daily lifestyle, like using artificial sweeteners to remain healthy and stay fit.

A man's work reveals his personality. ------ But in his book or in his picture the real man delivers himself defenceless.
(A) In social intercourse he gives you the facade that he wishes the world to accept and appreciate.
(B) You can only gain a true knowledge of him by inferences from little actions, of which he is unconscious, and from fleeting expressions which cross his face unknown to him.
(C) Sometimes people carry to such perfection the mask they have assumed that in due course they actually become the person they seem.

Although the share of agriculture in the overall GDP has declined from around 40 per cent in 1980- 81 to below 20 per cent in 2006-07, its importance to the Indian economy can hardly be over emphasized. -------- In the context of ensuring food security and promoting inclusive growth, strategies to revitalize agriculture has become highly relevant.
(A) Fiscal deficits as a proportion of the GDP have come down but are still high by global standards.
(B) Infrastructure deficiencies can hold back further  grown in the agriculture sector.
(C) Recent Volatility in agricultural production has had its impact not only on economic but on price stability as well.

Chronic pain is common among older people. ---- A new study has revealed that mind-body therapies such as yoga and meditation that cause interaction between the mind, body and behavior can help the elderly get rid of chronic pain.
(A) The people suffering from chronic pain can help themselves with some mind-body therapies which include yoga, meditation, progressive muscle relaxation and tai chi.
(B) Sufferers are often unable to receive adequate treatment because of limited physician training in pain management for the elderly and the increased likelihood of side effects from pain medication.
(C) The mind-body therapies are well suited even to the frail older adults because of their gentle approach.
A. 

Despite strenuous efforts to ensure access to safe drinking water for people in developing countries, progress in reaching the unserved has been poor since 1990----- Water related diseases continue to undermine the lives and well-being of the poor.
(A) Rapid population growth, slow coverage expansion and unplanned urbanization has led to inadequate, safe-water supplies.
(B) Water availability is fundamental to health and hygiene practices.
(C) Sanitation systems should be installed in order to safeguard the health of people.

If you can't give every student a computer, at least give them a mouse each. ----- This seems to be the reason behind Microsoft Research Lab India's development of a software solution that allows the use of multiple mice in a computer.
(A) According to a recent study, it was seen that at least five students worked on a single computer in government schools.
(B) This will help them use the same computer simultaneously for the cost of a few extra mice.
(C) Each mouse will have a different cursor color and all of them are displayed on the monitor.

Male Vanity is no different from female's ------ in Face, a confident man no longer shies away from stating his deep interest in beautifying his appearance.
(A) Western cosmetic houses have spent millions of dollars researching this: men want to look amazing too.
(B) Today's urban male spends as much on beauty products as his female counterpart.
(C) It is perhaps the fastest growing market segment of the feel good, look good industry.

Modern western cultures have encouraged the view that 'being human means to be creative' - not simply living in response to nature. ----- The geographic location of facilities, academic preparation, cultural stimulus, and sponsorship by preparation foundations and governmets is mainly concentrated in advanced countries
(A) But the opportunities to be imaginative and creative in the economic arena are not spread evenly around the world.
(B) The present concentration in a few countries challenges the acceptability of globalisation.
(C) In economics and business, creativity for a nation means to be involved in scientific discovery and technological Innovation. 

Our ancient dances are not just art forms to be pursued by only those who have a special liking for learning them. ----- Flexibility will come to stay even as one ages, for the benefits of dance are for a lifetime.
(A) The fundamentals of dance are perhaps the best of all forms of physical fitness regimen.
(B) Every part of the body gets toned through the artistic jerks which help in keeping the body fit.
(C) A rigorous one-hour practice is more than sufficient to keep the practitioner in perfect health and figure.

Poverty is hitting increasing numbers of women, and it is hitting them harder, ---- The percentage of female-headed households varies from thirty to forty percent in some south and south-east Asian countries, to almost half of all households in developing as well as in industrial countries.
(A) This 'feminisation' of poverty is linked closely to the increase in poor female-headed households in developing as well as in industrial countries.
(B) The greatest burden of the world economic recession is increasingly borne by those least able to sustain it : women and children.
(C) Low-income women have sought paid work to compensate for decline in household income.

Poverty tends to create stress and frustrations which prevent parents from providing the kind of care they really desire for their children ---------- Poverty makes some parents more likely to be violent towards their children.
(A) Poor parents often feel depressed and powerless, violent due to anger and disorganized due to feelings of ailenation.
(B) Poverty can also undermine good emotional bonding within the family setting and extended family networks.
(C) The situations of families who are poor vary widely.

Purists among journalists would cringe a referring to news as a commodity. ------- With changing times, media habits changed as did consumer habits, news became 'infotainment' as cars became suvs and what not.
(A) But pretensions apart, it has always been marketed like cars or any other consumer item.
(B) Newsmen worked from crowded rooms littered with papers and lined rows of typewriters.
(C) They even had to share editing facilities with producers of other programmes.

Recently India celebrated its 60th year of independence - momentous journey in realizing its constitutional goals and democratic aspirations. ----- Urgent steps are needed to establish a rule of law society in India, without which our fundamental credentials as a democracy, will be seriously undermined.
(A) While the strength of Indian democracy has withstood the last six decades of social, economic and political developments, there are numerous challenges to democratic governance.
(B) The rule of law is still not sufficiently established in the Indian society.
(C) Since independence, various attempts to enforce and institutionalise the rule of law in the Indian society have not achieved the intended results.

Starfish, sequoias, salamanders and the rest of the earth's residents may seem very diverse, but they are surprisingly similar on the molecular scale. ---- Planets and moons that have hints of liquid water have been ranked high on the list of potential sites for life-detection missions.
(A) All species that scientists have studied need liquid water to survive, for example.
(B) Further they all rely on DNA to carry genetic information, and they all use that information to build proteins from the same set of building blocks, known as amino acids.
(C) Scientists have long looked to life on the earth to guide their search for life in other worlds.

The birth of writing was the genesis of civilization. ------ Few things have been more significant for the development of homosapiens, the being whose period of dependency is longer, and whose genetically encode instincts are fewer than any other.
(A) Humanity's great evolutionary advantage is that we are par excellence, the learning animal.
(B) For the first time knowledge could be accumulated and handed on to future generations in a way that exceeded, in quantity and quality, the scope of unaided memory.
(C) Writing was the breakthrough by which the present could hand on the lessons of the past to the generations of the future.

The cryptic nature of scriptural revelations demands tremendous effort to unravel the sacred truths they proclaim. ----- The oral tradition of yore has been responsible in handing down the ancient knowledge proclaimed in the scriptures through a strong preceptor-disciple bond.
(A) Words carry deep meanings beyond the surface level and the meaning of esoteric truths cannot be realized from mere words or their meanings.
(B) The oral method of instruction from Guru to Sishya continues to be extremely valuable even in the midst of texts and commentaries in the print and electronic media.
(C) The lives of Acharyas and disciples illustrate the difficulties in the teaching learning process.

The greatest discovery in the field of psychology is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind ------ This reveals that humans shape their destiny.
(A) As you think, so shall you be.
(B) A person's success and failure depends upon his/her attitude.
(C) Right direction leads an individual to achieve the set goals.

The threat perception level in Andhra Pradesh remains very high and available intelligence points to the presence of fundamentalist groups, and cash flows with foreign links. ------ To meet the challenge of terrorism successfully, these issues need to be addressed with a sense of urgency.
(A) All these need to be watched, monitored and analysed thoroughly if dastard, terrorist attacks are to be prevented.
(B) A greater coordination among various wings of the state police and regular exchange of information and intelligence with the central agencies acquire importance in this exercise.
(C) The success of anti-terrorism strategy depends on the strength and credibility of counter-intelligence.

Wages and Salaries are recognized to be a significant, but complex, multi-dimensional factor in job satisfaction. ------ Money not only helps people attain their basic needs but is instrumental in providing satisfaction.
(A) If employees are allowed some flexibility in choosing the type of benefits they prefer within a total package, called a flexible benefit plan, there is a significant increase in both satisfaction pertaining to the benefits received and overall job satisfaction.
(B) In order to retain talent, salaries have to be competitive.
(C) Promotional opportunities seem to have a varying effect on job satisfaction.

Women's boxing is yet to be recognized as an Olympic support,----. If that happens the dream of most of the tough girls may come true.
(A) The International Boxing Association has been campaigning to include it as an event in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
(B) Though boxing is a very tough sport many women are seen willing to take up professional boxing now a days.
(c) Even some state governments are now willing to employ the women pugilists.