English Read the passage and answer the questions.[6M][Flamingo Prose-PROSE]

At last, around four in the afternoon, the poet (or the editor) arrived. He was a tall man, very English, very serious and of course very unknown to all of us. Battling with half a dozen pedestal fans on the shooting stage, The Boss read out a long speech. It was obvious that he too knew precious little about the poet (or the editor).
The speech was all in the most general terms but here and there it was peppered with words like 'freedom' and 'democracy'. Then the poet spoke. He couldn't have addressed a more dazed and silent audience -- no one knew what he was talking about and his accent defeated any attempt to understand what he was saying.
1.When did the poet (or the editor) arrive?
a) Early morning
b) Around four in the afternoon
c) Late evening
d) During lunchtime
2.What was obvious?
a) The poet's fame
b) The editor's popularity
c) The lack of knowledge about the poet (or the editor)
d) The audience's enthusiasm
3.Which types of words were included in the speech delivered by the boss?
a) Technical terms
b) Specific details
c) General terms
d) Poetic language
4.What defeated any attempt to understand what the poet was speaking?
a) His silence
b) Lack of interest from the audience
c) The unfamiliar accent
d) The poet's lack of clarity
5.Find the word from the passage which means 'fighting'.
a) Struggling
b) Surrendering
c) Embracing
d) Relinquishing
6.Find the word from the passage which is opposite to 'exceptional'.
a) Outstanding
b) Extraordinary
c) Common
d) Remarkable

Six eminent men of letters in six separate essays described 'their journeys into Communism and their disillusioned return'; Andre Gide, Richard Wright, Ignazio Silone, Arthur Koestler, Louis Fischer and Stephen Spender. Stephen Spender! Suddenly the book assumed tremendous significance.
Stephen Spender, the poet who had visited Gemini Studios! In a moment I felt a dark chamber of my mind lit up by a hazy illumination. The reaction to Stephen Spender at Gemini Studios was no longer a mystery. The Boss of the Gemini Studios may not have much to do with Spender's poetry. But not with his god that failed.
1.What did six eminent men of letters describe in six separate essays?
a) Their experiences in Hollywood
b) Their disillusioned return to poetry
c) Their journeys into Communism and their disillusioned return
d) Their encounters with Gemini Studios
2.Which poet had visited the Gemini Studios?
a) Richard Wright
b) Ignazio Silone
c) Arthur Koestler
d) Stephen Spender
3.What was no longer a mystery?
a) The content of the essays
b) The Boss's involvement with poetry
c) The reaction to Stephen Spender at Gemini Studios
d) The significance of the book
4.Who may not have much to do with Spender's poetry?
a) Andre Gide
b) Richard Wright
c) Ignazio Silone
d) The Boss of Gemini Studios
5.Find the word from the passage which means “importance'.
a) Mystery
b) Illumination
c) Disillusioned
d) Significance
6.Find the word from the passage which is opposite to ‘passed'.
a) Experienced
b) Disillusioned
c) Lit up
d) Faile

And years later, when I was out of Gemini Studios and I had much time but not much money, anything at a reduced price attracted my attention. On the footpath in front of the Madras Mount Road Post Office, there was a pile of brand new books for fifty paise each.
Actually they were copies of the same book, an elegant paperback of American origin. ‘Special low-priced student edition, in connection with the 50th Anniversary of the Russian Revolution', I paid fifty paise and picked up a copy of the book, The God That Failed.
1.What attracted the narrator's attention?
a) Gemini Studios
b) Elegant paperbacks
c) Anything at a reduced price
d) Madras Mount Road Post Office
2.Where was the pile of brand new books available for sale?
a) Inside a bookstore
b) In front of the Madras Mount Road Post Office
c) At Gemini Studios
d) Near the American origin
3.What were those brand new books?
a) Russian novels
b) American paperbacks
c) Special student editions
d) Elegant hardcovers
4.Which book's copy was bought by the narrator?
a) The Elegant Paperback
b) The Russian Revolution
c) The God That Failed
d) The Special Student Edition
5.Find the word from the passage which means ‘source'.
a) Elegant
b) Pile
c) Anniversary
d) Origin
6.Find the word from the passage which is opposite to 'rough'.
a) Elegant
b) Pile
c) Special
d) Anniversary

In those days, the British Council Library had an entrance with no long winded signboards and notices to make you feel you were sneaking into a forbidden area. And there were copies of The Encounter lying about in various degrees of freshness, almost untouched by readers. When I read the editor's name, I heard a bell ringing in my shrunken heart.
It was the poet who had visited the Gemini Studios I felt like I had found a long lost brother and I sang as I sealed the envelope and wrote out his address. I felt that he too would be singing the same song at the same time - long lost brothers of Indian films discover each other by singing the same song in the first reel and in the final reel of the film. Stephen Spender. Stephen, that was his name.
1.What made one feel one was sneaking into a forbidden area?
a) Long-winded signboards
b) Fresh copies of The Encounter
c) Notices from the British Council Library
d) The absence of signboards and notices
2.What happened when the narrator read the editor's name?
a) The narrator felt like a long-lost brother
b) The narrator heard a bell ringing in the heart
c) The narrator sealed an envelope
d) The narrator sang a song
3.Who had visited the Gemini Studios?
a) A poet
b) The Encounter editor
c) Stephen Spender
d) A long-lost brother
4.What was the name of the editor?
a) Gemini Studios
b) The Encounter
c) Stephen
d) Spender
5.Find the word from the passage which means 'closed'.
a) Sealed
b) Untouched
c) Forbidden
d) Freshness
6.Find the word from the passage which is opposite to 'final'.
a) Initial
b) Last
c) Fresh
d) Ultimate

The great prose-writers of the world may not admit it, but my conviction grows stronger day after day that prose writing is not and cannot be the true pursuit of a genius.
It is for the patient, persistent, persevering drudge with a heart so shrunken that nothing can break it; rejection slips don't mean a thing to him; he at once sets about making a fresh copy of the long prose piece and sends it on to another editor enclosing postage for the return of the manuscript.
It was for such people that The Hindu had published a tiny announcement in an insignificant corner of an unimportant page - a short story contest organised by a British periodical by the name The Encounter.
1.Which conviction of the narrator grows stronger day after day?
a) Prose writing is the true pursuit of a genius
b) Prose writing is for the patient and persistent
c) Prose writers are geniuses
d) Rejection slips are demoralizing
2.What is enclosed for the return of the manuscript?
a) Money
b) A fresh copy of the long prose piece
c) A rejection slip
d) Postage
3.Which newspaper had published a tiny announcement?
a) The Times of India
b) The Guardian
c) The Hindu
d) The Telegraph
4.What was the name of the British periodical?
a) The Encounter
b) The Guardian
c) The Times
d) The Telegraph
5.Find the word from the passage which means 'feeling'.
a) Conviction
b) Prose
c) Manuscript
d) Announcement
6.Find the word from the passage which is opposite to ‘selection'.
a) Rejection
b) Manuscript
c) Prose
d) Contest

A few months later, the telephone lines of the big bosses of Madras buzzed and once again we at Gemini Studios cleared a whole shooting stage to welcome another visitor. All they said was that he was a poet from England. The only poets from England the simple Gemini staff knew or heard of were Wordsworth and Tennyson; the more literate ones knew of Keats, Shelley and Byron; and one or two might have faintly come to know of someone by the name Eliot.
1.What happened a few months later?
a) A new film was released
b) A poet from England visited Gemini Studios
c) The shooting stage was closed
d) The staff went on strike
2.Why did the staff at Gemini Studios clear a whole shooting stage?
a) To make space for a new film production
b) To welcome a visitor, a poet from England
c) Due to technical issues in the shooting stage
d) To conduct a staff meeting
3.Who were the two poets from England known to the Gemini staff?
a) Keats and Shelley
b) Wordsworth and Tennyson
c) Byron and Eliot
d) Blake and Coleridge
4.Who were the poets known to the more literate Gemini staff?
a) Wordsworth and Tennyson
b) Keats, Shelley, and Byron
c) Eliot and Coleridge
d) Blake and Wordsworth
5.Find the word from the passage which is the synonym of 'moderately'.
a) Extremely
b) Intensely
c) Slightly
d) Enormously
6.Find the word from the passage which is the opposite to ‘illiterate'.
a) Illustrious
b) Ignorant
c) Uninformed
d) Literate

It was some years later that I learnt that the MRA was a kind of counter movement to international Communism and the big bosses of Madras like Mr. Vasan simply played into their hands. I am not sure however, that this was indeed the case, for the unchangeable aspects of these big bosses and their enterprises remained the same, MRA or no MRA, international Communism or no international Communism.
The staff of Gemini Studios had a nice time hosting two hundred people of all hues and sizes of at least twenty nationalities. It was such a change from the usual collection of crowd players waiting to be slapped with thick layers of make-up by the office-boy in the make-up department.
1.What was MRA?
a) Madras Radio Association
b) Madras Reform Act
c) Moral Re-Armament
d) Madras Recreational Alliance
2.Who played into the hands of MRA?
a) The staff of Gemini Studios
b) International Communists
c) Big bosses of Madras like Mr. Vasan
d) The office-boy in the make-up department
3.How did the staff of Gemini Studios have a nice time?
a) By participating in international Communism
b) Hosting two hundred people of various nationalities
c) Engaging in counter-movements
d) Applying thick layers of make-up
4.What did the usual collection of crowd players wait for?
a) Scripts from the writers
b) Rehearsals with the director
c) Slapping with thick layers of make-up
d) Breaks between scenes
5.Find the word from the passage which means 'certainly'.
a) Possibly
b) Indeed
c) Maybe
d) Uncertainly
6.Find the word from the passage which is opposite to ‘most'.
a) Majority
b) Plentiful
c) Least
d) Abundant

When Frank Buchman's Moral Re-Armament army, some two hundred strong, visited Madras sometime in 1952, they could not have found a warmer host in India than the Gemini Studios. Someone called the group an international circus.
They weren't very good on the trapeze and their acquaintance with animals was only at the dinner table, but they presented two plays in a most professional manner. Their 'Jotham Valley' and 'The Forgotten Factor' ran several shows in Madras and along with the other citizens of the city, the Gemini family of six hundred saw the plays over and over again.
The message of the plays were usually plain and simple homilies, but the sets and costumes were first-rate. Madras and the Tamil drama community were terribly impressed and for some years almost all Tamil plays had a scene of sunrise and sunset in the manner of Jotham Valley' with a bare stage, a white background curtain and a tune played on the flute.
1.When did Frank Buchman's Moral Re-Armament army visit Madras?
a) 1952
b) 1945
c) 1960
d) 1975
2.What was the group not very good at?
a) Playing musical instruments
b) Trapeze acts
c) Animal training
d) Scriptwriting
3.Which two plays did the group present in a most professional manner?
a) 'Sunrise' and 'Sunset'
b) 'The International Circus' and 'Jotham Valley'
c) 'Jotham Valley' and 'The Forgotten Factor'
d) 'Plain and Simple' and 'Homilies'
4.For some years, what did almost all Tamil plays have?
a) A scene of sunrise and sunset
b) A trapeze act
c) Animal characters
d) Complex storylines
5.Find the word from the passage which means 'global'.
a) National
b) International
c) Local
d) Regional
6.Find the word from the passage which is opposite to 'unprofessional'.
a) Amateur
b) Unskilled
c) Inexperienced
d) Professional

A girl from the countryside, she hadn't gone through all the stages of worldly experience that generally precede a position of importance and sophistication that she had found herself catapulted into. She never quite recovered from the terror she felt that day.
That was the end of a brief and brilliant acting career the legal adviser, who was also a member of the Story Department, had unwittingly brought about that sad end. While every other member of the Department wore a kind of uniform - khadi dhoti with a slightly oversized and clumsily tailored white khadi shirt the legal adviser wore pants and a tie and sometimes a coat that looked like a coat of mail.
Often he looked alone and helpless a man of cold logic in a crowd of dreamers - a neutral man in an assembly of Gandhiites and khadiites.
1.Where was the girl from?
a) Urban area
b) Countryside
c) Foreign country
d) Coastal region
2.What did the girl never recover from?
a) Fear of heights
b) Stage fright
c) The terror she felt on a particular day
d) Lack of confidence
3.What did every other member of the Story Department wear?
a) Uniform with a tie
b) Pants and a coat
c) Khadi dhoti with a khadi shirt
d) Casual attire
4.What did the legal adviser wear?
a) Khadi dhoti and shirt
b) Pants, tie, and sometimes a coat
c) Casual attire
d) Traditional attire
5.Find the word from the passage which means 'small'.
a) Oversized
b) Clumsily
c) Sophistication
d) Undersized
6.Find the word from the passage which is opposite in meaning to 'undersized'.
a) Overgrown
b) Clumsy
c) Petite
d) Compact

You saw Subbu always with The Boss but in the attendance rolls, he was grouped under a department called the Story Department comprising a lawyer and an assembly of writers and poets. The lawyer was also officially known as the legal adviser, but everybody referred to him as the opposite.
An extremely talented actress, who was also extremely temperamental, once blew over on the sets. While everyone stood stunned, the lawyer quietly switched on the recording equipment. When the actress paused for breath, the lawyer said to her, “One minute, please,” and played back the recording.
There was nothing incriminating or unmentionably foul about the actress's tirade against the producer. But when she heard her voice again through the sound equipment, she was struck dumb.
1.What did the Story Department comprise of?
a) Only writers
b) Lawyers and poets
c) Lawyers and actors
d) Producers and poets
2.Who was officially known as the legal adviser?
a) The Boss
b) Subbu
c) The talented actress
d) The lawyer
3.What was the characteristic quality of the extremely talented actress?
a) Shyness
b) Temperamentality
c) Introversion
d) Timidity
4.Who played back the recording?
a) The Boss
b) Subbu
c) The poet
d) The lawyer
5.Find the word from the passage which means 'shocked'.
a) Stunned
b) Excited
c) Delighted
d) Amused
6.Find the word from the passage which is opposite to ‘unofficially'.
a) Formally
b) Casually
c) Informally
d) Secretly

He always had work for somebody he could never do things on his own – but his sense of loyalty made him identify himself with his principal completely and turn his entire creativity to his principal's advantage. He was tailor-made for films.
Here was a man who could be inspired when commanded. “The rat fights the tigress underwater and kills her but takes pity on the cubs and tends them lovingly - I don't know how to do the scene,” the producer would say and Subbu would come out with four ways of the rat pouring affection on its victim's offspring.
“Good, but I am not sure it is effective enough,” the producer would say and in a minute Subbu would come out with fourteen more alternatives. Film-making must have been and was so easy with a man like Subbu around and if ever there was a man who gave direction and definition to Gemini Studios during its golden years, it was Subbu.
1.What made Subbu identify himself with his principal completely?
a) Independence
b) Creativity
c) Sense of loyalty
d) Isolation
2.What was Subbu tailor-made for?
a) Business
b) Politics
c) Films
d) Writing novels
3.What must have been and was so easy with a man like Subbu around?
a) Cooking
b) Gardening
c) Film-making
d) Carpentry
4.What did Subbu give to Gemini Studios during its golden years?
a) Financial assistance
b) Direction and definition
c) Innovative technology
d) Artistic criticism
5.Find the word from the passage which means ‘understanding'.
a) Loyalty
b) Identification
c) Definition
d) Comprehension
6.Find the word from the passage which is opposite to difficult.
a) Challenging
b) Complicated
c) Easy
d) Arduous

Those were the days of mainly indoor shooting, and only five percent of the film was shot outdoors. I suppose the sets and studio lights needed the girls and boys to be made to look ugly in order to look presentable in the movie. A strict hierarchy was maintained in the make-up department. The chief make-up man made the chief actors and actresses ugly, his senior assistant the 'second' hero and heroine, the junior assistant the main comedian, and so forth.
The players who played the crowd were the responsibility of the office boy. (Even the make-up department of the Gemini Studio had an office boy!) On the days when there was a crowd shooting, you could see him mixing his paint in a giant vessel and slapping it on the crowd players.
The idea was to close every pore on the surface of the face in the process of applying make-up. He wasn't exactly a 'boy'; he was in his early forties, having entered the studios years ago in the hope of becoming a star actor or a top screen writer, director or lyrics writer. He was a bit of a poet.
1.What percent of the film was shot indoors?
a) 90%
b) 95%
c) 5%
d) 10%
2.What did the sets and studio lights need?
a) Dark ambiance
b) Outdoor shooting
c) Make-up to make the actors look ugly
d) Natural beauty
3.Who was responsible for the make-up of the players who played the crowd?
a) Chief make-up man
b) Senior assistant
c) Junior assistant
d) Office boy
4.What was the “idea'?
a) Enhance natural beauty
b) Close every pore on the surface of the face during make-up
c) Make everyone look like a star
d) Use minimal make-up for crowd players
5.Find the word from the passage which means ‘rigid'.
a) Flexible
b) Ugly
c) Compliant
d) Strict
6.Find the word from the passage which is opposite to 'beautiful.
a) Ugly
b) Graceful
c) Stunning
d) Attractive

The make-up room had the look of a hair-cutting salon with lights at all angles around half a dozen large mirrors. They were all incandescent lights, so you can imagine the fiery misery of those subjected to make-up. The make-up department was first headed by a Bengali who became too big for a studio and left.
He was succeeded by a Maharashtrian who was assisted by a Dharwar Kannadiga, an Andhra, a Madras Indian Christian, an Anglo-Burmese and the usual local Tamils. All this shows that there was a great deal of national integration long before A.I.R. and Doordarshan began broadcasting programmes on national integration.
1.How did the make-up room look like?
a) Like a hospital room
b) Resembling a library
c) Similar to a hair-cutting salon with multiple mirrors and incandescent lights
d) Like a dark, gloomy cave
2.What can you imagine?
a) The joy of those subjected to make-up
b) The mundane atmosphere in the make-up room
c) The fiery misery of those undergoing make-up
d) The peaceful ambiance of the make-up room
3.Whom was the Maharashtrian assisted by?
a) Bengali
b) Dharwar Kannadiga
c) Andhra
d) All of the above
4.What was the theme of the programmes broadcasted by A.I.R. and Doordarshan?
a) Comedy
b) National integration
c) Science fiction
d) Historical dramas
5.Find the word from the passage which means 'twelve'.
a) Dozen
b) Score
c) Myriad
d) Centenary
6.Find the word from the passage which is opposite to 'comfort'.
a) Misery
b) Joy
c) Elegance
d) Pleasure

Pancake was the brand name of the make-up material that Gemini Studios bought in truckloads. Greta Garbo must have used it, Miss Gohar must have used it, Vyjayantimala must also have used it but Rati Agnihotri may not have even heard of it. The make-up department of the Gemini Studios was in the upstairs of a building that was believed to have been Robert Clive's stables.
A dozen other buildings in the city are said to have been his residence. For his brief life and an even briefer stay in Madras, Robert Clive seems to have done a lot of moving, besides fighting some impossible battles in remote corners of India and marrying a maiden in St. Mary's Church in Fort St. George in Madras.
1.What did Gemini Studios buy in truck-loads?
a) Pancakes
b) Make-up material
c) Movie cameras
d) Studio lights
2.Who must not have even heard of it?
a) Greta Garbo
b) Miss Gohar
c) Vyjayantimala
d) Rati Agnihotri
3.What was the make-up department of the Gemini Studios believed to have been?
a) Robert Clive's residence
b) A stable
c) A movie theater
d) Greta Garbo's dressing room
4.What does Robert Clive seem to have done, besides fighting battles and marrying a maiden?
a) Painting
b) Moving residences
c) Acting in movies
d) Starting a studio
5.Find the word from the passage which means 'faraway'.
a) Remote
b) Believed
c) Maiden
d) Studios
6.Find the word from the passage which is opposite to 'long'.
a) Brief
b) Distant
c) Remote
d) Impossible