(Part-5) Language English

Directions : Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow (Q. No. 1 to 9) by selecting the most appropriate option.

1 Karuna Verma is bewildered. ‘‘I don’t know how she did it,’’ she says about her mother, Renu Chopra. Karuna’s childhood memories are of her father
leaving late for office so that, by then, her mother would be back from work. Of her parents working in sync to make sure the kids were well taken care of. Of
her mother handling kitchen and classroom with ease.

2 When her own daughter was born, Karuna too wanted to do the balancing act. But it did not turn out to be as easy as it seemed. For starters, her parents’ era was different from hers. As she was living with her husband in Andheri, Mumbai, away from their families,  resuming work would have meant leaving her daughter with a maid while she was away. Her daughter’s formative  years would be spent with an outsider,a thought that did not appeal to Karuna. She quit her teaching job in a school.

3 For a woman who was encouraged to be independent throughout her life, the decision to quit and stay at home was a difficult one. Ironically it was her mother who urged her to quit the job and become a full-time mother. For Karuna, being a housewife is one of the tougher jobs she has had. ‘‘I have no time for myself,’’ says Karuna. ‘‘I make sure all my personal work is done when Avni is asleep. Earlier I had a set routine. My husband and I used to wake up at 6 a.m. I would re-heat the food the maid had cooked the day before and pack it for lunch. Then we used to head off to work, and at night, we would go out. I had a lot of time to myself and for my husband then,’’ says Karuna.

4 The routine is quite different now. Karuna has taken to cooking. She wakes up quite early and makes sure all her work is done before the baby is up. The rest of the day flies by, pandering to two-year-old Avni’s needs.

1. Karuna Verma is bewildered at
(1) the amount of work that she has to do after becoming a mother
(2) the late hours of work that her father followed
(3) the responsibility of bringing up a daughter in a big city
(4) her mother’s ability to combine her career with household work

2. ‘... parents working in sync’ means
(1) parents pooling their resources together to take care of expenses
(2) husband and wife sinking their differences to preserve domestic harmony
(3) father earning and mother taking care of children
(4) parents having staggered office hours and sharing household work

3. ‘... Karuna too wanted to do the balancing act.’ In this sentence, the term ‘balancing act’ implies
(1) sharing of responsibilities by both husband and wife
(2) a mother’s ability to look after her child without quitting her job
(3) managing the time efficiently so that parents can spend quality time with their children
(4) making adjustments in order to balance work and leisure properly

4. ‘As she was living with her husband in Andheri, Mumbai, away from their families ............ . In this sentence ‘their families’ refers to
(1) Karuna’s mother and father’s families
(2) Karuna’s husband’s family
(3) Families of friends in Andheri, Mumbai
(4) Karuna’s parents and in-laws

5. Karuna’s parents and her husband’s parents probably lived
(1) in Andheri, Mumbai
(2) in some other city
(3) in Mumbai but not in Andheri
(4) with Karuna and her husband

6. Karuna decided to quit her job because
(1) she was not interested in her teaching job
(2) she did not want her daughter to spend her early years with a maid
(3) she wanted to have more time to herself and for her husband
(4) she wanted to pay more attention to her cooking

7. It was ironical that Karuna’s mother should advise her to quit her job and stay at home because
(1) Karuna herself was keen on quitting her job
(2) Karuna’s parents had insisted that household chores should be shared between husband and wife
(3) Karuna’s parents had always advised her that home was much more important than career
(4) Karuna’s mother herself had not quit her job to take care of children as she encouraged independence of women

8. After Karuna quit her job
(1) she had a lot of time to herself and for her husband
(2) she occupied herself with cooking to spend her time usefully
(3) she sent her maid away as she felt that the maid was a bad influence on Avni
(4) she had no time for herself as Avni needed all her attention and care

9. ‘‘I have no time for myself,’’ says Karuna. This sentence can be written in reported speech as
(1) Karuna says that she have no time for herself
(2) Karuna said that she had no time for myself
(3) Karuna said that she had no time for herself
(4) Karuna says that she had no time for herself

Directions : Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow (Q. No. 10 to 15) by selecting the most appropriate option.

1 This was one of the Old Man’s pet schemes; and one about which he would brook no interference. Each child would review the events of his school week in
his own words, in his own way; he was free to comment, to criticize, to agree or disagree, with any person, subject or method, as long as it was in some way
associated with the school. No one and nothing was sacred, from the Headmaster down, and the child, moreover, was safe from any form of reprisal.

2 ‘‘Look at it this way,’’ Mr. Florian had said. ‘‘It is of advantage to both pupil and teacher. If a child wants to write about something which matters to him,
he will take some pains to set it down as carefully and with as much detail as possible; that must in some way improve his written English in terms of spelling, construction and style. Week by week we are able, through his reviews, to follow and observe his progress in such things. As for the teachers, we soon get a pretty good idea what the children think of us and whether or not we are getting close to them. It may sometimes be rather deflating to discover that a wellprepared lesson did not really excite Johnny Smith’s interest, but, after all, the lesson was intended to benefit Johnny Smith, not his teacher.

10. The scheme, according to the Old Man, was useful because
(1) it was meant to humiliate the teacher
(2) it was meant to give power to the teacher
(3) it was excellent feedback for the teacher, principal and school
(4) he was slightly eccentric

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