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Welcome to Online English Section with explanation in AffairsCloud.com. Here we are creating question sample in Reading comprehension, which is BASED ON IBPS PO/CLERK/LIC AAO/RRB & SSC CGL EXAM and other competitive exams.
Directions (1-10): Read the following passage carefully and answer the given questions. Certain words are given in bold to help you locate them while answering same of the questions.
French President François Hollande’s presence as chief guest at India’s Republic Day parade today is an occasion not just to advance cooperation in economic and strategic fields, but also to reflect on republics as systems of government and how they continuously learn from each other.
France is a leading example of a republic among modern nation-states, boasting a philosophical tradition of limits on absolute state power, people’s participation in governance and promotion of enlightened citizenship. French républicanisme, enshrined in revolutionary mottos like “liberty, equality and fraternity”, was a major inspiration for the founding fathers of the Indian republic.
The fundamental rights in our Constitution carry forward the legacy of the legendary 1789 document, ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen’, enacted by France’s National Constituent Assembly. If post-independence India assumed the mantle of a democracy which vested power in the will of the people rather than in the hands of a monarch or an organised religious entity, the conceptual origins of this model derived from the ideals of multiple French republics.
By sustaining a constitutionally governed liberal republic far better than fellow developing countries, India is living up to the eternal truths enunciated by French intellectuals. The doctrine of separation of powers among legislature, executive and judiciary, which has enabled India to avert excessive concentration of power in any one person or group, owes to the French thinker Montesquieu who advocated designing government such that “no man need be afraid of another”.
The checks and balances which helped India avoid destructive dictatorships and civil wars have a distinct French feel, although they were adapted to suit a uniquely Indian context. On our Republic Day we must take a bow to another pioneering mind of the French republic, Rousseau, whose concept of the “social contract” shaped republics worldwide by establishing responsibility of rulers to the ruled as a fundamental principle of politics.
Rousseau’s call for people to obey only “legitimate powers” through direct democratic means and to oppose coercive rule was an emancipatory doctrine. The father of our Constitution, B R Ambedkar, often quoted Rousseau to amplify his vision of social justice in India and maintained that “everyone from the labouring classes should be acquainted with Rousseau’s The Social Contract”.
Rousseau’s early alarm bells about “a handful of people gorging themselves on superfluities, while the starving multitudes lack the basic necessities of life” set a benchmark of socioeconomic equality for republics to emulate. Radical French republicanism is the ancestor of President Hollande’s ruling Socialist Party. It is equally an influence on Indian political ideologies of various hues that claim to be devoted to the “poorest of the poor”.
Yet, despite the richness of ideas transferred from France to India, the land of Montesquieu and Rousseau faces arduous challenges for the future. The core pillar of France’s republican values – laïcité or constitutional secularism – has become so rigid that it is impeding integration of Muslim immigrants who comprise 10% of the French population.
Islamophobia is on the rise in France, as evidenced by the growing popularity of extreme rightist political parties such as the National Front, which mask their xenophobia and racism by harking to French republicanism. The defence of the “French republic” is nowadays a thinly disguised code to force Muslims in France to abandon expression of their cultural symbols and willingly conform to majoritarian ways of life.
1. Find the incorrect statement on the basis of the given passage?
1) India is living up to the eternal truths enunciated by French intellectuals.
2) France is a leading example of a republic among modern nation-states
3) Radical French republicanism is the ancestor of President Hollande’s ruling Socialist Party.
4) All of above
5) None of these
2. According to the passage, What equally influenced on Indian political ideologies?
1) France’s republican values.
2) French republicanism
3) Radical French republicanism.
4) Dr B R Ambedkar.
5) All of Above
3. What is the central theme of the passage?
1) A tale of two Republics.
2) Two largest democracy of the world.
3) Our Republic day guest.
4) Similarities between two countries.
5) None of these
4. Which of the following is ‘true’ in the context of the passage?
1) Muslim immigrants are 10% of the total population of France.
2) The richness of ideas transferred from France to India, the land of Montesquieu and Rousseau faces arduous challenges for the future.
3) The core pillar of France’s republican values – laïcité or constitutional secularism.
4) All of Above
5) None of these
Directions (Q. 5-7): Choose the word that is most nearly the SAME in meaning as the word given in bold as used in the passage.
5. Abandon
1) Accept
2) Discard
3) Adherent
4) Follower
5) Passive
6. Harking
1) Forget
2) Remember
3) Repress
4) Analysis
5) Curious
7. Coercive
1) Violent
2) Claim
3) Surrendering
4) Yielding
5) Submissive
Directions (Q. 8-10): Select the word which is most nearly the OPPOSITE in meaning of the word as used in the passage.
8. Monarch
1) A friend
2) Despot
3) Subordinate
4) Autocrat
5) Crowned head
9. Enshrined
1) Inviolable
2) Irreligious
3) Sacrosanct
4) Holy
5) Enshrined
10. Boasting
1) Hyperbolise
2) Modest
3) Exaggerate
4) Overdraw
5) Hyperbolize
