Reading Comprehension

Test - 1
The study of control processes in electronic, mechanical, and biological systems is known
as cybernetics. The word was coined in 1948 by the American mathematician Norbert Wiener
from the Greek word meaning pilot or steersman. Cybernetics is concerned with the analysis of
the flow of information in both living organisms and machines, but it is particularly concerned
with systems that are capable of regulating their own operations without human control.
Automatic regulation is accomplished by using information about the state of the end
product that is fed back to the regulating device, causing it to modify or correct production
procedures if necessary. The concept of feedback is at the very heart of cybernetics and is what
makes a system automatic and self-regulating machine is a thermostat, which reacts to continual
feedback about the outside temperature and responds accordingly to achieve the temperature that
has been programmed into it.
The applications of cybernetics are wide reaching, appearing in science, engineering,
technology, sociology, economics, education and medicine. Computers can keep a patient alive
during a surgical operation making instantaneous modifications based on a constant flow of
information. In education, teaching machines use cybernetic principles to instruct students on an
individual basis. In the home, automation is resent in such everyday products as refrigerators,
coffeemakers, and dishwashers. In industry, automation is increasing its applications, although it
is currently applied primarily to the large-scale production of single units. In industries in which
a break in the flow of production can ruin the product, automatic controls are invaluable.
Chemical and petroleum plants are now almost completely automatic, as are industries involve in
the production of chemicals and atomic energy. Automation has become the answer when human
safety is the number one priority.
Choose the correct answer:
1) Cybernetics is the study of control processes in all of the systems except
A) ecological B) biological C) mechanical D) electronic

2) The word cybernetics was coined from the Greek word meaning
A) information B) automatic C) pilot D) regulator.

3) Automatic regulation is accomplished by

A) modifying and correcting production procedures
B) feeding information to the regulatory device
C) Analyzing the flow of information to the organism.
D) Modifying cybernetic principles.

4) Cybernetics is primarily concerned with systems that

A) are controlled by humans
B) analyze flaws of information
C) are self-regulating
D) have wide reaching applications.

5) What makes a system automatic and self-regulating?

A) Technology B) Engineering C) philosophy D) education.

Mention whether the following statements are True or False

6. Cybernetics is the study of all systems False
7. Free flow of information is the key to self-regulation True
8. Teaching machines can replace teachers. False
9. Automation is useful to housewives also. True
10. Human safety in industries cannot be ensured without automation. False
 Reading Comprehension
Test - 2
Professor Gavraud is an engineer who almost gave up his post at an institute in
Marseilles because he always felt ill at work. He decided against leaving when he discovered that
the recurrent attacks of nausea only worried him when he was in his office at the top of the
building. Thinking that there must be something in the room that disturbed him, he tried to track
it down with devices sensitive to various chemicals, and even with a Geiger counter, but he
found nothing until one day, just as he was about to give up, he leaned back against the wall. The
whole room was vibrating at a low frequency. The source of this energy turned out to be an air-
conditioning plant on the roof of the building across the way, and his office was the right shape
and the right distance from the machine to resonate in sympathy with it. It was this rhythm, at
seven cycles per second that made him sick.
Fascinated by the phenomenon, Gavraud decided to build machines to produce
infrasound so that he could investigate it further. In casting around for likely designs, he
discovered that the whistle with a pea in it issued to all French gendarmes produced a whole
range of low-frequency sounds. So he built a police-whistle six feet long and powered it with
compressed air. The technician who gave the giant whistle its first trial fell down dead on the
spot. A post-mortem revealed that all his internal organs had been mashed into a jelly by the
vibrations.
Gavraud went ahead with his work more carefully and did the next test out of doors, with
all observers screened from the machine in a concrete shelter. When all was ready, they turned
the air on slowly- and broke the windows of every building within a half mile of the test site.
Late they learnt to control the strength of the infrasound generator more effectively and designed
a series of smaller machines for experimental work. One of the mopst interesting discoveries to
date is that waves of low-frequency can be aimed and that two generators focused on a particular
point even five miles away produce a resonance that can knock a building down as effectively as
a major earthquake. These frequency-7 machines can be built very cheaply.
Choose the correct answer.
1. Professor Gavraud fell ill because
(a) there were chemicals in his room
(b) his office was too high up
(c) he was affected by vibrations
(d) he was a very sensitive man.
2. He constructed a very large copy of a police whistle because he wanted to
(a) Produce low-frequency sounds.
(b) Improve its design
(c) Compare it with a organ
(d) See the effect it had on people.
3. The first experiment with the machine
(a) caused a major earthquake
(b) broke all the windows in nearby building
(c) made a noise like an organ
(d) Killed the man who switched it on.
4. Which of the following precautions was not taken by Professor Gavraud in his second
experiment?
(a) The observers were protected by a concrete shelter.
(b) The experiment was done outside.
(c) The compressed air was turned on slowly.
(d) A smaller machine was used.

Choose the appropriate definition for the given words or phrases as they are used in the
text:
5. infrasound
(a) high frequency sound (b) low frequency sound
(c) medium frequency sound (d) heavy frequency sound
6. to track down
(a) to smell (b) to detect
(c) to examine (d) to remove
7. to give up
(a) to go on (b) to stop
(c) to collapse (d) to find out
8. turned out to be
(a) was shown to be (b) hoping for
(c) was thought to be (d) was known to be

9. casting around
(a) looking for (b) hoping for
(c) asking for (d) sending for

10. went ahead

(a) delayed (b) proceeded
(c) hurried (d) changed
 Reading Comprehension
Test - 3
Think of an electric car that can accelerate swiftly to cruising speed, laptop computers
that can recharge in a couple of minutes rather than hours and a generation of super-miniature
mobile phones. Thats the vision sketched by a pair of scientists in the United States, unveiling
an invention that they say could lead to a smaller, lighter and more power-packed lithium battery
than anything available today.
Current batteries made of lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) are good at storing large
amounts of electricity but stumble at releasing it. They are better at dispensing the power in a
steady flow than at discharging it or gaining it in a sudden burst. As a result, electric cars
perform best when travelling along the motorway at a constant speed rather than when they are
accelerating, and their batteries take hours to recharge when they run down. Until now, the finger
of blame has pointed at charged lithium atoms. These ions, along with electrons, move too
sluggishly through the battery material before arriving at the terminal to deliver their charge -- or
so it was thought. But two materials experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
say the problem lies not with the ions but rather at how the ions gain access to Nano-scale
tunnels that riddle the material and transport the electrons to their destination. Their solution was
a lithium phosphate coating that, like a system of feeder roads, nudges the ions towards the
tunnels. The ions then zip instantly down the tunnel entrance and to the terminal.
A small cellphone battery can be recharged in just 10 seconds, thanks to the improved ion
flow, they report in the British journal Nature. In theory, a large battery that would be used to
power a plug-in hybrid electric car could be recharged in just five minutes, compared to up to six
or eight hours at present. But this would only be possible if a beefed-up electricity supply were
available. Unlike other battery materials, the tweaked LiFePO4 does not degrade as much when
repeatedly charged and recharged. This opens the way to smaller and lighter batteries, which will
not need such heft to deliver the same power. The invention, which was supported by US
government funds, has already been licensed by two companies. Because the material
involved is not new -- the difference is the way it is made -- the work could make it into the
marketplace within two to three years, it said. The invention is the latest claimed advance in the
quest to replace conventional electro-chemical batteries, which are heavy, lack energy density
and take time to recharge.
Choose the correct answer
1. What idea the US scientists visualize?
A. electronic car
B. laptop computers
C. fast recharging of batteries
D. super miniature mobile phones
2. What are the present day batteries made of?
A. lithium iron
B. lithium iron phosphate
C. electro chemical batteries
D. lithium phosphate
3. What is the major problem with current batteries?
A. they dont give power steadily
B. they store enormous electricity
C. they are difficult to use
D. they cannot be charged often
4. What solution do the MIT scientists give?
A. lithium coating
B. phosphate coating
C. lithium phosphate coating
D. lithium battery coating
5. What is new in the solution?
A. the way in which coating is done
B. the way in which the material is prepared
C. the way in which recharging is done
D. the way in which research is carried out
Choose the appropriate definition for the given words as they are used in the text:
6. cruising
A. crossing
B. slow
C. miraculous
D. steady and moderate
7. unveiling
1. celebrating
2. introducing
3. reducing
4. publishing
8. dispensing
A. giving medicine
B. wasting
C. distributing
D. displeasing

9. beefed-up
A. strengthened
B. additional
C. modernized
D. badly-maintained

10. run down

A. stop functioning
B. fall down
C. go down
D. start functioning
 Listening Comprehension
Test - 1

English in Europe

English has without a doubt become the second language of Europe and the world.

European countries which have most successfully assimilated English into daily life are

England's neighbours in Northern Europe: Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and the

rest of Scandinavia.

The situation is so marked that any visitor to the Netherlands will soon be aware of the

pressure of English on daily life: television, radio and print bring it into every home and the

schoolyard conversation of children; advertisers use it to pep up their message, journalists take

refuge in it when their home-bred skills fail them. Increasingly one hears the view that Dutch

will give way to English as the national tongue within two or three generations..
 Listening Comprehension
Test - 2

Trinity College
Trinity College was founded by Sir Thomas Pope in 1555. A devout catholic with no surviving

children, Thomas Pope saw the Foundation of an Oxford college as a means of ensuring that he

and his family would always be remembered in the prayers and masses of its members. He came

from a family of small landowners in Oxford shire, trained as a lawyer, and rose rapidly to

prominence under Henry VIII. As Treasurer of the Court of Augmentations he handled the

estates of the monasteries dissolved at the Reformation, and amassed a considerable personal

fortune. Pope was a discreet and trusted privy counsellor of Mary Tudor, and it was from Mary

and Philip that he received Letters Patent and royal approval for his new foundation. Pope died

in 1559. Although his religious ideals were never fully realized - Elizabeth I had succeeded her

sister and England returned to the Protestant faith - nonetheless the memory of his name, like

his college, has endured the fluctuating fortunes of over 400 years. His wife, Lady Elizabeth

Pope, was a particularly influential 10) figure in Trinity's early years. Pope's foundation was for

a President, twelve Fellows and twelve scholars, all supported by the income from his generous

endowment of lands, and for up to twenty undergraduates. The Fellows, all men, were required

to take Holy Orders and remain unmarried. The College Statutes set out rules for a simple

monastic life of religious observance and study. The Garden was an informal grove of trees,

mainly elms, amongst which the members of the College could walk and meditate.
 Listening Comprehension
Test - 3

In 1973, when the tiger appeared to be facing extinction, the World Wide Fund for

Nature and the Indian Government agreed to set up "Operation Tiger" - a campaign to save this

threatened creature. They started by creating nine special parks so that tigers could live in

safety. The first was at Ranthambhore, a region which was quickly turning into a desert because

too much of the grass was being eaten by the local people's cattle. At that time there were just 14

tigers left there. The government had to clear twelve small villages, which meant moving nearly

1,000 people and 10,000 cattle so the land could be handed back to nature.

Today, Ranthambhore is a very different place, with grass tall enough for tigers to hide

in, and there are now at least forty of them in the park, wandering freely about. Other animals

have also benefited. For example, there are many more deer and monkeys than before. The

people who were moved are now living in better conditions. They live in new villages away

from the tiger park, with schools, temples and fresh water supplies. There are now 16 such tiger

parks in India and the animal's future looks a little safer.

 Error Correction
Test 1
1. Do you know where is the nearest police station?
Do you know where the nearest police station is?
2. I often do mistakes when I speak English.
I often make mistakes when I speak English.
3. How does your new painting look like?
How does your new painting look?
4. I look forward to see you next month.
I look forward to seeing you next month.
5. The capital of the United Kingdom is the London.
The capital of the United Kingdom is London.
6. Even I was tired, I went to the party.
Even though I was tired, I went to the party.
7. I have visited Niagara Falls last weekend.
I visited Niagara Falls last weekend.
8. The woman which works here is from Japan.
The woman who works here is from Japan.
9. The police is coming.
The police are coming.
10. The house isnt enough big.
The house isnt big enough.
11. You should not to smoke.
You should not smoke.
12. Do you like a glass of wine?
Would you like a glass of wine?
13. There is seven girls in the class.
There are seven girls in the class.
14. I didnt meet nobody.
I didnt meet anybody.
15. My flight departs in 5:00 am.
My flight departs at 5:00 am
 Error Correction
Test 2
1. Churchill, statesman and writer (is/ are) no more.
Churchill, statesman and writer is no more.
2. Ram, along with his parents (is/ are) going to Singapore.
Ram, along with his parents is going to Singapore.
3. The North pole and the South pole (is/are) equally distant from the equator.
The North pole and the South pole are equally distant from the equator.
4. Sheela with her friends (was/were) at the theatre.
Sheela with her friends was at the theatre.
5. A pack of cards (is/ are) missing.
A pack of cards is missing.
6. One of my friends (is /are) going abroad today.
One of my friends is going abroad today.
7. Either of the two books (is/are) not sufficient.
Either of the two books is not sufficient.
8. Neither Sita nor her friends (has /have) come.
Neither Sita nor her friends have come.
9. Half of the cake (was/ were) eaten by Raju.
Half of the cake was eaten by Raju.
10. Any new vehicle (has/have) to be registered.
Any new vehicle has to be registered.
11. There (was/ were) three meetings in succession.
There were three meetings in succession.
12. Hundred miles (is/are) not a long distance.
Hundred miles is not a long distance.
13. A volley of questions (was/were) put forth by the quiz master.
A volley of questions was put forth by the quiz master
14. This information (is/are) not correct.
This information is not correct.
15. Your scissors (is/are) very sharp
Your scissors are very sharp
 Error Correction
Test 3
1. Many an artiste (do/ does) not gain stand for more than one film.
Many an artiste does not gain stand for more than one film.
2. The number of girls in the hall (is/are) very small.
The number of girls in the hall is very small.
3. None of the candidates (has/ have) filed their nomination.
None of the candidates has filed their nomination.
4. People (do/does) not care to segregate the non-biodegradable from the biodegradable
waste.
People do not care to segregate the non-biodegradable from the biodegradable waste.
5. The girl who (has/have) scored the highest marks is appreciated by all the friends.
The girl who has scored the highest marks is appreciated by all the friends.
6. The General Manager as well as the area managers (is/are) on official duty.
The General Manager as well as the area managers is on official duty.
7. Neither the student nor the teacher (has / have) understood the purpose of the new rule.
Neither the student nor the teacher has understood the purpose of the new rule.
8. Each of the boys (has/have) managed to get a prize.
Each of the boys has managed to get a prize.
9. Every Tree and every plant (need / needs) water.
Every Tree and every plant needs water.
10. The principal of the college that has two thousand students (have / has) a heavy
responsibility.
The principal of the college that has two thousand students has a heavy responsibility.
11. The opinion expressed by all the teachers (was / were) rejected by the principal
The opinion expressed by all the teachers was rejected by the principal
12. Last minute changes in the tour programme of the Prime Minister (was / were) necessary
on security considerations.
Last minute changes in the tour programme of the Prime Minister were necessary on
security considerations.
13. My sister along with her two children, (has / have) arrived.
My sister along with her two children has arrived.
14. The greater part of the money (was / were) wasted.
The greater part of the money was wasted.
15. One should do (his / ones) duty.
One should do ones duty.