IBPS CLERK PRELIMS STUDY PLANNER 2018 – Reading Comprehension -Day 12

Dear Bankersdaily Aspirants,

IBPS CLERK Prelims Exam – 2018 – Study Planner. English is one of the sections which haunts the aspirants because many aspirants chances to go to the next level in the Banking Exams are hindered due to this section. According to recent statistics, only 30% of the aspirants score above 10 marks in the Preliminary Examination in English Section and many aspirants struggle to get the required cutoff marks.

We have already provided 8 days of English Language Quizzes in our Bankersdaily website to enhance the preparation of the aspirants. Attend the Quizzes daily without any fail to score more marks in the IBPS CLERK Prelims Exam 2018. We have only less number of days to finalize the preparation strategy to crack the Preliminary Examinations.

After the SBI PO, SBI CLERK & IBPS PO Exams IBPS Clerk will be the most expected one to crack the banking job for many aspirants. Since IBPS has also changed the exam pattern similar to SBI, we are providing practice sets on the basis of IBPS CLERK 15 Days Study Planner.

Students are advised to practice the questions regularly and crack the IBPS Clerk 2018 which will be held shortly. Since this will be the dream job for most of the aspirant’s everyone should work hard and act smart to achieve their own destination.

We at Bankersdaily will be providing daily questions for the IBPS CLERK Prelims Exam 2018 through this IBPS CLERK Prelims 2018 – Study Planner to assist the aspirants in their preparation. All the Three sections Quants, Reasoning and English Langauge questions will be available regularly in Bankersdaily.

Quizzes will be released every day by the timing given below:

• Quantitative Aptitude – 8:00 P.M
• Reasoning Ability – 8:15 P.M 
• English Language – 8:30 P.M

D.1-10): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. One word is given in bold to help you locate that while answering a question.

The crypt under the Dominican Church of the Holy Spirit in the heart of Vilnius has a vivid history. The coffins hidden in the gloomy lair under the church’s altar were stripped by Napoleon’s army for wood. During the Second World War, the Nazis used it as a makeshift bomb shelter. And in their time as the local overlords, the Soviets converted the crypt into a museum of atheism. Now Dario Piombino-Mascali is applying an altogether more gentle touch as he attempts to prise out the secrets of its ghostly inhabitants: 23 men, women and children who died in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries and whose remains were mummified by the crypt’s cool temperature and gentle ventilation. Flesh still covers their bones, there are clothes on their skin, and organs remain in their chests. And Dario, an anthropologist from Italy, has found there are lessons to be learned for modern medicine from the diseases that killed these people. The DNA sampled from the pelvis and legs of a mummified child, who died sometime between 1643 and 1665 between the ages of two and four, has delivered the biggest find so far, offering scientists fresh insight into how smallpox evolved in the past and might mutate in the future. “We didn’t discover initially that this child had smallpox because the disease didn’t leave any sign,” Dario says, talking in his office in Vilnius University, his back to a wall of skulls, some boxed up, others gurning back at visitors. The value in the discovery, Dario says, is that scientists are now questioning the accepted understanding of when the killer virus, the cause of 500 million deaths worldwide, first emerged. It had been believed that smallpox emerged around the time of the Pharaohs and gradually mutated. But genetic researchers built a family tree of 49 modern strains and the child’s ancient one, and traced the evolution of them all back to common ancestors from 1530 and 1654. The finding raises the question of where smallpox suddenly appeared from in the 16th century. Perhaps, it jumped from animals to humans. Perhaps a dormant strain could still be found in animals, and make that deadly jump again. “You really need to know how these conditions develop and evolve through time,” Dario says. “It has been eradicated but the virus is kept by the US and Russian governments. That information might be valuable at some point. It’s always good to know what we can do.” “We have also found tuberculosis,” Dario adds. “Generally it is studied on the bones. But because the lungs were well preserved we were able to see the calcification of the lungs that is compatible with the presence of TB. There is an ongoing debate about the history of TB and we can do a genetic study now,” the anthropologist says. “We are working to identify both bacteria and viruses. There is a group in Helsinki working on the viruses found in the samples. We’ll find out more in September.” However for Dario himself, it is the insight into the habits and practices of the dead that has interested him most. “What I thought was really useful for our knowledge of disease was the discovery of the level of fat in the arteries: it was very severe,” he says. “Many people believe that this is a disease of civilisation, brought on by sedentary behaviour, bad food, junk food. “Actually we know the condition was present even before [the modern day] and in the specific case of Vilnius that is related to the diet of these people that was very poor in greens and vegetables and fruit. They were eating a lot of meat and cooking it in fat.” Dario is careful in his work, and intensely aware that these are the remains of human beings. “Some look like they are just sleeping,” the anthropologist says. He is also well aware of how easily the fragile lifelike remains can fall to dust. In the 1960s, the Russian forensic scientist Juozas Albinas Markulis, a Soviet spy who posed as a member of the anti-Nazi resistance, recorded that there were 500 bodies in the crypt, of which 200 were mummies. The authorities, however, became concerned about a potential epidemic and ordered that many of them be sealed behind glass, where they wasted away to a pile of bones in what was known at the time as the chamber of death. It is unclear why the 23 mummies intact today were saved from that fate, but Dario says he won’t be responsible for any further damage to what he regards as cultural treasures, as well as aids to scientific discovery. Dario doesn’t visit the crypt these days. It’s difficult to get access from the priest, and he already has his samples. But he doesn’t want the mummies’ stories to be lost. “They have to be exhibited in a decent proper way,” he says, “so that people can understand more about their history. I’ll keep working on that.”

Q.1) What does the phrase “the time of the Pharaohs” imply?

a) A strong belief in ancient mummies.

b) A period of Egyptian rulers.

c) A gradual death due to TB.

d) A ruler in ancient Egypt.

e) A period of ancient Egyptian domination.

Q.2) Which of the following is true according to the passage?

a) Flesh still covers their bones, there are only clothes on their bones.

b) “Many people believe that smallpox is a disease of civilisation, brought on by sedentary behaviour, bad food, junk food” says a scientist from Russia.

c) In the 1960s, a Soviet spy who posed as a member of the anti-Nazi resistance, recorded that there were 500 bodies in the crypt.

d) Both (a) and (c) are true.

e) All the given statements are false.

Q.3) Which among the following titles is suitable to the passage?

a) Secrets of mummies.

b) Unveiled story of mummies.

c) A deep research of mummies.

d) Old vs New mummies.

e) New version of mummies.

Q.4) Who stripped the coffins and what is the reason behind that?

a) Egyptian people and they don’t want such an old memory.

b) A scientist Juozas Albinas Markulis for a research.

c) Napoleon’s army for wood.

d) Egyptian army for security reason.

e) Egyptian government for political reason.

Q.5) The DNA samples were taken from which of the following?

a) The hands and legs of 23 mummified men.

b) The lungs of the 33 year old mummified woman.

c) The pelvis and legs of a mummified child.

d) The chest flesh of the mummified men.

e) A thousand year old mummies’ organs.

Q.6) Which of the following is not mentioned in the passage?

a) The hot, dry sand quickly removed moisture from the dead body was used to create a natural mummy.

b) Dario says he won’t be responsible for any further damage to what he regards as cultural treasures.

c) Dario says “Smallpox has been eradicated but the virus is kept by the US and Russian governments”.

d) All are mentioned in the passage except ‘c’.

e) 23 men, women and children remains were mummified by the crypt’s cool temperature and gentle ventilation.

Q.7) Where were the coffins hidden by ancient Egyptians?

a) The gloomy den under the big mountain.

b) The gloomy cave under the large valley.

c) The grotto dreary under the church’s entrance.

d) The dark lair under the big the banyan tree.

e) The gloomy lair under the church’s altar.

Q.8) During the second world war, the crypt was used as which of the following?

a) A Refugee shelter.

b) A makeshift bomb shelter.

c) An army shelter.

d) A lurk area for Army soldiers.

e) An arsenal for Army troops.

Q.9) “Some look like they are just sleeping,” Who said this?

a) A scientist Juozas Albinas Markulis from Egypt.

b) The Nazis from Vilnius University.

c) The author of this article.

d) Dario, an anthropologist from Italy.

e) An Archeologist from Vilnius University.

Q.10) Which of the following is false according the passage?

a) The genetic researchers built a family tree of 49 modern strains and the child’s ancient one.

b) “The history of TB is an ongoing debate” an anthropologist, Piombino-Mascali says.

c) The smallpox suddenly appeared in the 16th century from animals to humans.

d) Both (a) and (c) are false according to the passage.

e) The Napoleon’s army converted the crypt into a museum of atheism.

Answers for the above questions are provided below. 

Q.1) b

Q.2) c

Q.3) a

Q.4) c

Q.5) c

Q.6) a

Q.7) e

Q.8) b

Q.9) d

Q.10) e

Aspirants can check the Day 10 – IBPS CLERK Prelims Exam 2018 from the below-given links 

IBPS CLERK Prelims 2018 Planner – Reasoning – Day 10 – Wrong Numbers/Boats&Streams

IBPS CLERK Prelims 2018 Planner – Aptitude – Day 10 – Seating Arrangement – II 

IBPS CLERK Prelims 2018 Planner – English Language – Day 10 – Reading Comprehension – III

Aspirants can check the Whole planner of IBPS CLERK Prelims Exam 2018 from the below-given link. 

IBPS CLERK prelims Exam 2018 – Planner