Reading

Reading

Reading Comprehension

General tips

❖  Read the text completely to get the global comprehension of the text

❖  Read the text again for specific information

❖  Apply the context clue to know the meaning of passive vocabulary

❖  Attempt answering the direct or easy questions

❖  Then, attempt answering other questions

❖  For answering the vocabulary–based questions, pay your attention to the preceding and the following sentences of the sentence where the word is placed

❖  After identifying the answers, they may be reproduced or presented in simplified version (form)

❖  Besides literal understanding of the text, critical understanding of the text has to be applied.

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow.

Humans have long been fascinated by fiction. We experience excitement in assigning supernatural power to imaginary characters in fictional stories – and so we have Spider man, Batman, He–man, Titans and many more. The ‘Cyborg’ was an offshoot of such wild imagination of humans to invest our species with superhuman powers. Today, the Cyborg is no more an imaginary organism. We are living in a world where a sizeable population of humans have merged their bodies with technological implants. The term ‘Cyborg’, short for ‘cybernetic organism’, was coined to describe a man, whose body is implanted with technological devices to supplement and substitute body functions.

Cyborgs include people with cardiac pacemakers, contact lenses, bionic ears and eyes, prosthetics and so on. In other words, a cyborg is partly human and partly machine. The technological innovations in the field of medicine and healthcare augment humans with machines, producing a beta version of the human body. The advent of brain machine interfaces is certain to blur the boundary between humans and machines. Scientists are working hard to find a technique for age reversal too. People do not want to die, so mankind is striving to get to the final frontier, which is development of machines and devices that would accord man immortality.

The needs of humans are not limited. As time passes, food habits change, thinking patterns change, and even appearances change. We are about to travel by driverless, fully automated vehicles. Computers and smart phones have become our masters. The more we depend and merge with technological advancements, the more the humanness in us slowly erodes. Intelligence is sought to be infused into machines and robotics are designed in such a way to give man a virtual human companion. The field of artificial intelligence is overtaking the human brain and many fear that it could even harm the human race. Despite certain limitations and potential threats, many believe that cyborgs will be the next step in the evolution of mankind. The amalgamation of man and machine is sure to add a new dimension to the life of mankind and this will prove to be the ‘biggest evolution in Biology’ since the emergence of life, four billion years ago.

a)  Account for the popularity of characters with supernatural powers.

All people (children and grown-up-people) experience emotional excitement and thrill, when they see imaginary characters with superhuman(or supematural)powers.That is the reason why superman,spiderman and Titans become popular.

b)  Who is referred to as a ‘Cyborg’?

The word “cyborg” refers to a man whose body is implanted with technological devices to improve his body functions.Therefore a person who wears contact lenses or hearing aids is a cyborg.

c)  What is expected to happen with the advent of the brain machine interface?

The brain-machine interface may slowly narrow the boundary between humans and machines.

d)  The needs of humans are not limited. How is this statement elaborated in the passage?

The needs of humans are unlimited. As time passes our food habits,our dresses and our thinking - all these change. We all want to lead a more comfortable life with the help of machines—vehicles, grinder, cooker, washing machine and the like.

e)  How can a machine turn into a virtual companion for humans?

Intelligence is put into machines and robots become companions for humans.

f)  Explain the flipside of the rapid technological advancement.

The word “flipside” means the other side(usually the harm foi effect) of something. Artificial intelligence (in machine) will slowly harm the human brain. This is the flipside of technological development.

g)  Identify the word in para 1 which means ‘everlasting life’.

Means “everlasting life”

h)  Which of the following words is synonymous with ‘amalgamation’?

a)  recreation        b)  integration

c)  exploration      d)  proposition

Ans: b) integration

i)  Which of the following options is the antonym of the word ‘advent’?

a)  drawback        b)  dispute

c)  departure         d)  danger

Ans: c) departure

j)  Find out the word which is the antonym of ‘natural’ in para 2.

Para 3-antonyms “natural” is artificial.