PASSAGE 11

The last half of my life has been lived in one of those painful epochs of human history during which the world is getting worse, and past victories which had seemed to be definitive have turned out to be only temporary. When I was young, Victorian optimism was taken for granted. It was thought that freedom and prosperity would spread gradually throughout the world by an orderly process, and it was hoped that cruelty, tyranny, and injustice would continually diminish. Hardly anyone was haunted by the fear of great wars. Hardly anyone thought of the nineteenth century as a brief interlude between past and future barbarism.

1. The author feels sad about the latter part of his life because 
A) the world had not become prosperous
B) he was nostalgic about his childhood
C) the world was painfully disturbed during that period of time
D) the author had not won any further victories

2. The victories of the past
A) filled men with a sense of pessimism
B) proved to be temporary events
C) ended cruelty, tyranny, and injustice
D) brought permanent peace and security

3. The world ‘definitive’ as used in the passage means
A) incomplete B) defined
C) temporary D) final

4. During the Victorian age people believed that 
A) there would be unlimited freedom
B) strife would increase
C) peace would prevail and happiness would engulf the whole world
D) wars would be fought on a bigger scale

5. ‘A brief interlude between past and future barbarism’ can be interpreted as 
A) a dramatic performance during wars
B) an interval between cruel wars
C) a short space of time between two great events
D) a short period of time between past and future acts of savagery

Answer Key

Solution with explanation

1. Option ‘C’ (the world was painfully disturbed during that period of time). The first sentence of the passage says option ‘C’ should be the answer.

4. Option ‘C’ (peace would prevail and happiness would engulf the whole world). The second sentence is clear about option ‘C’. Cruelty, tyranny and injustice would diminish means peace and happiness would come.

5. Option ‘D’ (a short period of time between past and future acts of savagery). SAVAGERY = (acts of) cruel and violent behaviour. BARBARISM = extreme cruelty or brutality.

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