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Read the following passages and answer the questions that follow :
By the time he was nine years old, Aftab Solanki weighed 49 kilos, nearly twice the normal weight for boys his age. His doting parents and neighbours considered him “healthy”, often describing or calling Aftab “cute”. His sluggishness and increasing appetite, his periodic breathlessness, occasional dizzy spells and pain in the knees were all dismissed as things that would disappear once he grew up. “But as his weight kept increasing, we became concerned and wanted to consult a good doctor,” says Aftab’s father Mohammed Ramzan Solanki. Kids like Aftab are part of a fast-growing national urban epidemic seen over the past few decades. It’s an irony that despite there being more undernourished children in India than in any other country, we also have millions of obese and overweight urban school children. And experts say these obese children will one day face severe medical consequences. Compared to children of normal weight, obese ones face several times the risk for developing high blood pressure, respiratory complications, Type-2 diabetes (the most common form of disease), cardiovascular disease and cancer— and, indeed, much reduced life-spans.
“The medical consequences of obesity are seen at all ages, even among kids,” says Dr. Vaman Khadilkar, consultant pediatric endocrinologist at Jehangir Hospital, Pune. “Our youngest Type-2 diabetic is six-year-old, while a hypertensive patient is just eight. High levels of cholesterol and triglycerides—both of which increase the risk of cardiovascular disease—are seen in children very frequently nowadays, unlike in the past. And we routinely see these high levels in obese children.”
A six-year-old Type-2 diabetic proves that _______ at all ages.

A diabetes can attack
B diabetes can’t attack
C the medical consequences of obesity are seen
D None of these

CHOOSE THE MOST SUITABLE OPTION TO COMPLETE EACH SENTENCE.
A person or an organisation that talks to another person or organisation on behalf of somebody else is called a/an ________.

Ainterpreter
Bmediator
Cgo-between
Dinterlocutor

CHOOSE THE CORRECT OPTION TO COMPLETE EACH SENTENCE.
Wow, you've painted such a stunning picture. I hadn't realised you were such a _______.

A black sheep
B dark horse
C mad dog
D white elephant

READ THE PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOW.

Much before medical science discovered it Readers Digest came out with the prescription-Laughter is the Best Medicine. News papers and magazines which regularly run humour columns are, therefore, doing their bit to keep the readers in good health. Reading light articles, whether they be satirical, comic or just humorous, relieves the tedium of work-a-day world. Some pieces may even tickle one’s grey matter.

It is said that if you laugh for ten minutes you will be in a better position to put up with pain for two hours. According to US researchers, laughter is a good antidote to stress that tones up the system. Facial laugh muscles instruct the brain to ‘feel good’ regardless of how you feel.

According to a French doctor, laughter deepens breathing, improves blood circulation, speeds up the process of tissue healing and stabilises many body functions. In short, it acts as a power drug with no side effects. Researchers state that laughter stimulates production of a beta-endorphins, natural pain killers in the body and improves digestion. Those who laugh are less prone to digestive disorders and ulcers.

Some people in France have made it a career. You can hire a ‘jovialist’ who cracks jokes and laughs and promises to make you dissolve your worries in helpless laughter. A word of caution. Although laughing is a good exercise for toning up the facial muscles, laughing at others’ expense, particularly at their disabilities, is in bad taste and is to be avoided. Secondly, laughing with food in the mouth is dangerous as the food stuff can get into the wind pipe and may choke the digestive system.

Eating, any way, is a serious business to be trifled with by any jocular diversion. Laughter comes best when it is free of encumbrances, whether it is constricting food or the need to humour the boss.

READ THE PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOW.
Over 35,000 different species of spiders live almost everywhere in the world. The only places you can't find spiders are on the tops of mountains, in the oceans and at the poles.
Spiders are carnivorous. This means that they eat only meat. They eat insects and sometimes other spiders. Some spiders eat other animals, such as small fish, lizards, frogs, baby birds and mice. Most spiders use poison to kill or paralyse their prey. All spiders have poison, and to a small insect all spiders are very dangerous, but only a few spiders have poison strong enough to hurt people. Spiders that bite and cause pain to humans are called medically significant spiders.
This means that they have enough venom (poison) to cause a serious bite that will need to be looked at by a doctor. Some of the poisonous spiders found in North America include the black widow, the brown recluse, the hobo spider, and the yellow sac spider.
There are about 6 different species of black widow spiders. Three of these species are found in the warm southern United States. Black widow spiders build webs, and they live wherever they can build one. They rarely live in houses and other buildings, but if the weather gets very cold, they can move inside. Black widow spiders eat insects, and stay in their webs to catch them. Only the female black widow spider is dangerous. She is considered to be the most venomous spider in the United States! Females are shiny black, with a red hourglass shaped mark on the bottom of their abdomens. Although they are dangerous, black widow spiders are not usually deadly because they only inject a very small amount of poison.
The brown recluse spider (often called a violin spider because of the marking on its back) lives mainly in the Midwestern United States. The brown recluse spider also spins webs, and can be found in dark, undisturbed areas. Unlike the black widow, the brown recluse leaves its web at night and goes in search of insects to eat. Both the male and female brown recluse spiders are poisonous. The brown recluse spider is also not usually deadly. In fact, fatal bites almost never occur. However, the bite of a brown recluse spider is very painful and takes a long time to heal because the poison damages the cells near the bite. The hobo spider is not native to the United States. It was originally introduced from Europe, and now lives in the northwestern United States and into southern British Columbia in Canada. Like the black widow and the brown recluse spiders, the hobo spider also builds webs, but its webs are funnel webs and almost never above the ground. Female hobo spiders never leave their webs, and so the male spiders must search for them. Because of this, most bites from hobo spiders come from males. Hobo spider bites aren't deadly, but they are painful. The yellow sac spider is commonly found in homes and gardens throughout the United States. The sac spider also makes a type of web; it makes a sac out of silk. The spider sits this sac when it's not out hunting. Among the black widow, brown recluse and hobo spiders, sac spider bites are the least medically significant. This means that the sac spider's bite causes the least amount of damage.
Although these four spiders are poisonous to people, they don't attack humans. Spiders are more scared of people than we are of them! Spiders only bite if they are trapped close to the skin, or cannot escape. If you do get bitten by a spider, clean the bite and then go to see a doctor.
Give a suitable title to the passage.

A The Venomous Spiders
B The Black Widow Preys
C The Reclusive Freaks
D The Hobo and the Yellow Sac

CHOOSE THE CORRECT SYNONYM OF THE GIVEN WORD.
Imply

A Insist
B Unjust
C Define
D Suggest

Choose the best answer :
Oops! I've spilt drink on your dress.

A Don't worry. It'll clean off easily.
B That wasn't nice!
C Oh, please don't mention it.
D I'll buy a new dress.

Choose the best answer :
I'll open this bottle of cola.

A Shall you pass me the tin-opener?
B Can you pass me the screw?
C Could you pass me the bottle opener?
D All of the above.

CHOOSE THE MOST SUITABLE OPTION TO COMPLETE EACH SENTENCE.
____________ far is __________ house from here? Oh, another thirty minutes.

AWho, I
BWhat, you
CHow, your
DHow, mine