| GyanCentral - The hub for engineering and law students - IIT-JEE, AIEEE, BITSAT, CLAT, AILET - 2012: Reading Comprehension Exercise for CLAT 2013 Sep 23rd 2012, 10:22 | GyanCentral - The hub for engineering and law students - IIT-JEE, AIEEE, BITSAT, CLAT, AILET - 2012 | | The most comprehensive career education and test preparation forums in india. | | | Reading Comprehension Exercise for CLAT 2013 Sep 23rd 2012, 10:10 Read the following passage carefully before attempting the questions. The Universities in India must learn to encourage individuality, variety and dissent, within a climate of tolerance. Dissent there is, even now, but usually of superficial or sensational kind. The general tendency, however, is to produce the 'organisation man' who is afraid to challenge the accepted pattern of social behaviour and social institutions at the intellectual level and who is too often anxious to worm himself into the good graces of the people who count so that he may be able to 'get on' in life. A university should have no one with this type of mind. Its business is not primarily to give society what it wants but what it needs and obviously they are not always identical. It is not a 'community service station', passively responding to popular demands and thereby endangering its intellectual integrity. Nor is it an ivory tower into which students and teachers can withdraw for a time for teaching or research, accepting no responsibility for the improvement of society. It has to maintain an ambivalent position balancing itself carefully between commitment and detachment—commitment in action, detachment in thought. It must always be in a constant state of creative tension knowing where to interpret, where to criticise, where to pioneer and where to support traditional values. It can neither identify itself with the existing environment and institutions, nor yield uncritically to every kind of change, every passing pressure. It must ever stand ready to assimilate the new that is healthy and to eschew the old that is diseased. Such an attitude is challenging and can be unpleasant, for it needs courage to reject unduly complacent images of one's individual or national life and overcome the many emotional blocks in the mind. The university can play this role adequately if it has faith in the power of the mind and helps others to share this faith. It must encourage, not only in its students but also in the general public, so far as possible, free and disinterested thinking which can challenge vested interests and established ways. This is the only way which holds out some hope that man will be able to live wisely and intelligently. Another onerous responsibility which the Indian universities now have is to shake-off the heavy load of their early tradition which gives a dominant place to examinations, to improve standards all-round and by a symbiotic development of teaching and research, to create at least a few centres which would be comparable to those of their type in any other part of the world. This alone would help bring back the centre of gravity of Indian academic life within the country itself. Directions : Given below is a list of words from the above passage. Choose the alternative closest to the sense in which the word is used above. 1. Dissent (a) nonconformity (b) distinctiveness (c) ratification (d) discreet 2. Sensational (a) exceedingly excellent (b) dramatic (c) unique (d) tending to arouse quick interest 3. Worm (a) proceed insidiously (b) evade (c) persuade (d) introduce 4. Graces (a) reprieve (b) considerateness (c) acceptance (d) attractiveness 5. Get on (a) gain knowledge (b) upset (c) manage (d) progress Directions : Choose the correct alternative in response to the questions that follow and identify the correct answer. The questions are based on the passage above. 6. According to the passage, universities should encourage (a) agencies which discourage dissent. (b) the tendency of critically reviewing accepted pattern of social behaviour (c) the people who make themselves acceptable by winning favours. (d) the people who challenge accepted social institutions only at the intellectual level. 7. According to the passage, universities should strive to (a) improve upon the standards of instruction and research. (b) pioneer and support traditional values. (c) accept the responsibility of giving the society what it wants. (d) create a centre of gravity of academic life in India itself. 8. For bringing back the centre of gravity of Indian academic life to India, universities should (a) maintain the balance between commitment and detachment. (b) not yield to every kind of change and pressure. (c) create internationally comparable centres of learning. (d) reject unduly complacent image of national life. 9. The author's objective in writing the passage seems to be to (a) highlight the role and functions of Indian universities. (b) criticise education imparted in universities. (c) make a strong case for change in the present examination system. (d) comment in general on Indian academic life. 10. According to the author, which of the following does not fit in the description of an 'organisation man'? (a) He secures the confidence and favour of those who matter. (b) He adopts the accepted pattern of social behaviour. (c) With the favours of higher ups, he advances in life. (d) He is bold enough to criticise the accepted norms of social life. | | | |  | |
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