Given below is the paper for practice of Reading Comprehension for CLAT.
Passage 1
Napoleon once called history “a fable mutually agreed upon”. What we call history is sometimes a popular myth that is politically and ideologically convenient. The history of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K)’s accession to India is a classic case of this myth-making. A lot of haze surrounds the historic accession of the princely state that took place on October 26, 1947. That allows for leaders in Kashmir to repeat the myth of “conditional accession”. The final chapter in India’s Independence saga was the challenge of the accession of the 565 princely states into one of the two dominions by August 15, 1947.
A single document called the “Instrument of Accession” was to be the basis for the accession. It was the same accession document that the Maharaja of Kashmir signed too. The National Conference (NC), led by Sheikh Abdullah, held a special session in October 1948 to support the accession. It didn’t talk about any conditions. Supporting accession, it only said: “This convention has given serious thought to the question of accession…After mature consideration it is definitely of the opinion that Kashmir cannot find its proper place in Pakistan, which today has become the main citadel of reaction and decaying feudalism”. Sardar Patel was a loyal — (1) — of Mahatma Gandhi. He was not ambitious. When once Gandhi asked him about his mission after Independence, Patel replied that he would become a sadhu. His modesty helped Nehru climb the political ladder easily. History doesn’t have if and buts. Yet, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi was not off the mark when he said in the Rajya Sabha last year, “We believe that if Sardar Patel was the first PM of India there would not have been a Jammu and Kashmir problem.
Questions
- Which of the following is a good example of Fable?
- Mahabharat
- A story from Panchatantra
- A Shakespeare play
- All of the above
- Kashmir cannot find its proper place in Pakistan because Pakistan has become
- A fort of reactions
- A citadel of feudalism
- A hub of feudalism
- Both (b) and (c)
- Which of the following facts are not true about Jammu and Kashmir accession as per the passage?
- The accession took place after Independence.
- Sheikh Abdullah did not oppose the accession
- The instrument of accession was the basis of accession
- The instrument of accession was not signed by the king of Kashmir.
- The best-suited word for (1) is
- Disciple
- Devotee
- Either (a) or (b)
- None of these
- Which of the following facts are not true about Sardar Patel?
- Sardar Patel did not agree with the ideologies of Mahatma Gandhi
- Sardar Patel had plans to go to Himalayas post-Independence
- Both (a) and (b)
- None of these
Passage 2
President Trump’s legacy of black marks will be led by his abject refusal to recognize the science of climate change, and his decision to expand the kinds of policies that created and are exacerbating this terribly urgent problem. Blame also falls on his — (1) — who deny the problem, or, worse still, those who recognize it but worry more about the short-term economic or political costs of addressing climate change than about the future costs of inaction. Without action, we can expect rising seas to wash out more than a $1 trillion worth of buildings and infrastructure in the U.S. alone. Bigger and more powerful storms, hurricanes and wildfires that will devastate communities around the world. Worsened droughts and flooding that, when combined with localized temperature spikes, will make portions of the Earth all but uninhabitable for humans.
Just over four years ago, the world’s nations met in Paris and agreed to take steps to try to hold the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, which scientists said was critical if we were to avoid the worst effects of global warming. But little progress has been made. In fact, global greenhouse gas emissions hit a record high last year. Instead of working to protect the planet by making the agreement stronger, Trump has moved the United States in the opposite direction, to its shame, and has begun the process of withdrawing from the agreement.
The Democratic contenders to unseat Trump in the 2020 election all recognize the overwhelming significance of climate change and have laid out plans for ratcheting back emissions. Yet none of those proposals is sufficient to address a problem that is getting worse faster than scientists realized just a few years ago. Nor has the issue received the global attention it demands. Yes, there are popular campaigns and some governments that have made efforts to roll back their emissions, and in some cases, there’s been real progress (Costa Rica, for instance, generates nearly all of its electricity using renewable resources, primarily hydroelectric plans). Yet they are far from sufficient. Global warming is neither a scientific abstraction nor a future event that we can ignore. We must act now, and with urgency, to address it. Because there is no other acceptable option.
Questions
- The synonym of the word in bold in the passage is
- Excellent
- Commendable
- Proud
- None of these
- The issue of Climate change
- Will not be used by Trump’s opponents in 2020 elections
- Democratic contenders realise the importance of climate change and are trying to layout plan for it
- Both (a) and (b)
- None of these
- As per the passage, which of the following facts is not true about Trump?
- Trump is not from Democratic Parties.
- Trump will contest the 2020 elections.
- Trump holds the position of President in the US.
- Trump will not lose the 2020 elections.
- The best-suited word for (1) is
- Supporters
- Devotee
- Either (a) or (b)
- None of these
- The antonym of the word abstraction is
- Idea based
- Actual
- Concrete
- Either (a) or (b)
Answers
Passage 1
- (b)
- (a)
- (d)
- (a)
- (c)
Passage 2
- (d)
- (b)
- (d)
- (a)
- (a)
First published on December 19, 2020.