UGC NTA NET/JRF Exam. December 2020/June 2021 ENGLISH-II (Shift-II)

Total Questions: 100

1. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:

The aim of all solitude...is the same: to live more at leisure and at one's ease. But people do not always look for the right way. Often they think they have left business, and they have only changed it. There is scarcely less trouble in governing a family than in governing an entire state: whatever the mind is wrapped up in it, it is all wrapped up in it, and domestic occupations are no less importunate for being less important. Furthermore, by getting rid of the court and the marketplace we do not get rid of the principal worries of our life....Ambition, avarice, irresolution, fear and lust do not leave us when we change our country....They often follow us even into the cloisters and schools of philosophy. Neither deserts, nor rocky caves, nor hair shirts, nor fasting will free us of them.
-- Michel de Montaigne, "Of solitude"

Which of the following best captures the theme of the passage?

Correct Answer: (d) Try what one may, no one can ever be at ease.
Solution:

After going through the excerpt of "On Solitude" by Michael de Montaigne, it is found that 'Try what one may, no one can ever be at ease' is most appropriate theme of the given passage.
'On Solitude' is an essay, return to it three times during ten years of editing and emending for publication. The essence of 'On Solitude' is a stoic acceptance of the stupidity of society and the wisdom of living a life of imagination and virtue. Hence, the appropriate answer is option (d).

2. The mistake human beings make is to:

Correct Answer: (b) abstain from restraining the mind.
Solution:

In the above passage, the appropriate answer is (b). The mistake human beings make is to abstain from restraining the mind, because people are not able to restrain them self from worries of ambition, extreme desire for accumulating wealth, irresolution and lust. And all these happen only through mind of human beings. So the correct answer is option (b).
Note- Michel de Montaigne was a French writer regarded as the originator of the Modern essay.

3. The mistake human beings make is to:

A. detach our self from family life.
B. are deep into buying and selling.
C. mentally abstain from hustle and bustle.
D. are in to schools of philosophy.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

Correct Answer: (c) B and D only
Solution:

According to the passage, the 'principal worriers of our life' follow us if we are deep into buying and selling and schools of philosophy. Montaigne emphasizes in his philosophy that rationality is no more than a form of animal behaviour. He also explored the various aspects of human nature and life by writing. Hence, option (c) is correct answer.

4. Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow :

A Prayer for Old Age God guard me from those thoughts men think In the mind alone; He that sings a lasting song Thinks in a marrow-bone; From all that makes a wise old man That can be praised of all; O what am I that I should not seem For the song's sake a fool? I pray--for fashion's word is out And prayer comes round again -- That I may seem, though I die old, A foolish, passionate man.
- W.B.Yeats

In the second stanza the poet thinks of : 

Correct Answer: (c) what he does not want to appear.
Solution:

After analysing the poem "A Prayer For Old Age" by W.B. Yeats. The second stanza can be interpreted as the poet thinks of 'What he does not want to appear'.
Here 'what he does not want to appear' means, the poet does not want to appear as a wise and old men rather he want to be seen as young and passionate man. Hence, option (c) is correct.

5. Which one of the following best captures what we infer about the poet?

Correct Answer: (d) He is old but happy in not being wise.
Solution:

After analysing the poem, it can be inferred about the poet that he is old but happy in not being wise. This poem highlights the influence of youthful passion and Juxtaposes the term of fool and wise. Its all about wanting to be seen as young and passionate and not old and wise. Hence, option (d) is correct.

6. Thoughts true for all time are-

Correct Answer: (b) felt deep inside the self.
Solution:

In the poem, after reading it is found that thoughts true for all time are felt deep inside the self. This poem (A Prayer For Old Age) should create a passion for life that, no matter how foolish it may appear to others, provides meaning to one's life.
W.B. Yeats chooses to be a passionate man rather than a reasonable man. Thus, the appropriate answer is option (b).

7. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:

The earth was made for Dombey and Son to trade in, and the sun and moon were made to give them light. Rivers and seas were formed to float their ships; rainbows gave them promise of fair weather; winds blew for or against their enterprises; stars and planets circled in their orbits, to preserve inviolate a system of which they were the centre. Common abbreviations took new meanings in his eyes, and had sole reference to them: A. D. had no concern with anno Domini, but stood for anno Dombeyand Son.
- Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son
The whole description is an example of: 

Correct Answer: (d) sarcasm.
Solution:

In the above extract we find the figure of speech sarcasm:
Sarcasm refers to the use of words that mean the opposite of what you really want to say, especially in order to insult someone or to show irritation or just to be funny. Thus, the appropriate answer is option (d).

8. What is the 'system' of which Dombey and Son were the centre?

Correct Answer: (b) The country's commerce
Solution:

In the above extract it is found out that in Dombey and Son was centre of The country's commerce. 'Dombey and Son' is obviously the name of a commercial firm. It conveys the nation of a business enterprise which has passed through at least two generation and is therefore effective and reliable. Thus an appropriate answer is option (b).

9. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:

Is man no more than this? Consider him well. Thou ow'st the worm no silk, the beast no hide, the sheep no wool, the cat no perfume. --- Ha! here's three one's are sophisticated. Thou art the thing itself, unaccommodated man is no more than such a poor, bare, forked animal as thou art.
- Shakespeare, King Lear

'Is man no more than this?' means: 

Correct Answer: (d) Man is not as well endowed as some other animals.
Solution:

In the passage, extract from Shakespeare's King Lear it is found tnat the line 'Is man no more than this?" Means "man is not as well endowed as some other animals". King Lear delivers these lines after he has been driven to the end of his rope by the cruelties of Goneril and Regan. He cries explaining that humans would be no different from the animals if they did not need more than the fundamental necessities of life to be happy. Thus, option (d) is correct.

10. Which one of the following best captures what Shakespere means?

Correct Answer: (a) Animals unlike man are more complex.
Solution:

When we read the passage, we find that Shakespeare means by this passage, Animals unlike man are more complex.
The moral of King Lear is the idea that a person's actions speak louder than words alone. Thus, an appropriate answer is option (a).