All Free English MCQs with Answers

6681. Read the passage to answer the question:What is life? A little scum of no importance on the surface of an unimportant globe circling round a second-rate star? An accidental conglomeration of atoms which have come together by an odd chance, the result of an exceedingly improbable happening? That is what some astronomers would have us think. Looking out into the depth of space, they have discovered a universe of unthinkable dimensions. A billion suns in our own galaxy, beyond it perhaps a billion galaxies, only revealed to us as tiny smudges on a photographic plate. No wonder they are impressed by the enormous disparity between the scaffolding and the result. Life seemed to be, as Jeans said, 'an utterly unimportant by-product' in a universe which was clearly not designed for life, and which, to all appearances, is either totally indifferent or definitely hostile to it'. It seemed 'incredible that the universe can have been designed primarily to produce life like our own; had it been so, surely we have might expected to find a a better proportion between the magnitude of the mechanism and the amount of the product.According to the author if the universe had been designed primarily to produce life like our own then:

6682. Read the passage to answer the question:The names of three men - an Englishman, a German, and an Italian stand out from the many who have opened up for us this new path of progress: James Clerk Maxwell, Heinrich Hertz, and Guglielmo Marconi Maxwell prophesied wireless, discovering its principles. Hertz discovered and demonstrated those waves which are its secret, and Marconi invented the instruments which put these ideas to practical use. A crowd of other brilliant men have made their different contributions. Sir Oliver Lodge came very near to doing what Marconi did; indeed, a year before Marconi invented his instrument, Lodge demonstrated the possibility of sending a signal by these Hertzian waves but turned aside under pressure from other work. Professor Righi, Marconi's science master, experimented in the laboratory and showed young Marconi the potentialities Oliver Heaviside, the English telegraphic engineer, subsequently revealed to us the amazing fact that these wireless waves are thrown back to the earth from the two curious 'mirrors' which, moving in the depth of the sky hundreds of miles from the surface of the earth, act as a kind of double sounding board. These are but a few of the men whose work all over the earth has brought the miracle of wireless to its present stage. But the three names stand pre-eminent.Which of the following could be the best title of the paragraph?

6683. Read the passage to answer the question:The names of three men - an Englishman, a German, and an Italian stand out from the many who have opened up for us this new path of progress: James Clerk Maxwell, Heinrich Hertz, and Guglielmo Marconi Maxwell prophesied wireless, discovering its principles. Hertz discovered and demonstrated those waves which are its secret, and Marconi invented the instruments which put these ideas to practical use. A crowd of other brilliant men have made their different contributions. Sir Oliver Lodge came very near to doing what Marconi did; indeed, a year before Marconi invented his instrument, Lodge demonstrated the possibility of sending a signal by these Hertzian waves but turned aside under pressure from other work. Professor Righi, Marconi's science master, experimented in the laboratory and showed young Marconi the potentialities Oliver Heaviside, the English telegraphic engineer, subsequently revealed to us the amazing fact that these wireless waves are thrown back to the earth from the two curious 'mirrors' which, moving in the depth of the sky hundreds of miles from the surface of the earth, act as a kind of double sounding board. These are but a few of the men whose work all over the earth has brought the miracle of wireless to its present stage. But the three names stand pre-eminent.Which of the following is mentioned in the paragraph as the contribution of Heinrich Hertz?

6684. Read the passage and answer the following question:"What a silly boy you are!" cried the miller. "I really don't know what is the use of sending you to school. You seem not to learn anything. If little Hans came up here and saw our warm fire, our good supper, and our great cask of red wine, he might get envious. Envy is the most terrible thing and would spoil anybody's nature. I certainly will not allow Hans's nature to be spoiled. I am his best friend, and I will always watch over him, and see that he is not led into any temptations. Besides, if Hans came here, he might ask me to let him have some flour on credit, and that I could not do. Flour is one thing and friendship is another and they should not be confused. Why? The words are spelled differently and mean quite different things. Everybody can see that." What does the statement " Flour is one thing, and friendship is another" tell about the nature of Miller?

6685. Read the passage and answer the following question:"What a silly boy you are!" cried the miller. "I really don't know what is the use of sending you to school. You seem not to learn anything. If little Hans came up here and saw our warm fire, our good supper, and our great cask of red wine, he might get envious envy is the most terrible thing and would spoil anybody's nature. I certainly will not allow Hans's nature to be spoiled. I am his best friend, and I will always watch over him, and see that he is not led into any temptations. Besides, if Hans came here, he might ask me to let him have some flour on credit, and that I could not do. Flour is one thing and friendship is another and they should not be confused. Why? The words are spelled differently and mean quite different things. Everybody can see that." Why does Miller not want Hans to come inside his home?

6686. Read the passage and answer the following question:In earlier times, when every substance was believed to have its own qualities, there was no difficulty in believing that some substances were endowed with life, others not. Wood was wood, and water was water, and though transformations did occur, as in the disappearance of wood in the fire, they were not surprising in a world where the most miraculous changes were taking place under everyone's every day. There was nothing but 'doth suffer a sea-change into something rich and strange'. A seed put into the ground became in a short time a plant with leaves and flowers: the white and yolk of an egg turned into the flesh and bones and feathers of a chicken, which, no sooner was the shell cracked, jumped out and started running about. Some substances are alive, and some are not.Which of the following statements best describes this belief?

6687. Read the passage and answer the following question:In earlier times, when every substance was believed to have its own qualities, there was no difficulty in believing that some substances were endowed with life, others not. Wood was wood, and water was water, and though transformations did occur, as in the disappearance of wood in the fire, they were not surprising in a world where the most miraculous changes were taking place under everyone's every day. There was nothing but 'doth suffer a sea-change into something rich and strange'. A seed put into the ground became in a short time a plant with leaves and flowers: the white and yolk of an egg turned into the flesh and bones and feathers of a chicken, which, no sooner was the shell cracked, jumped out and started running about. There was nothing but 'Doth suffer a sea-change into something rich and strange' means:

6688. Read the passage to answer question:Due to the extremely hot weather, the electric company is planning to turn off power in certain districts during the day. This will reduce the total demand for electricity and prevent a city-wide shutdown of electrical services. Power will not be out longer than two hours in your area. For further information, please visit our Web site at www.electricity.com. All areas affected by the shutdown are listed there, as well as the times that the power will be turned off in each area.Why is the power being turned off?

6689. Read the passage and answer the following question:Due to the extremely hot weather, the electric company is planning to turn off power in certain districts during the day. This will reduce the total demand for electricity and prevent a city-wide shutdown of electrical services. Power will not be out longer than two hours in your area. For further information, please visit our Web site at www.electricity.com. All areas affected by the shutdown are listed there, as well as the times that the power will be turned off in each area. How long will power be off?

6690. Read the passage and answer the question given at the end of the passage:Recent advances in science and technology have made it possible for geneticists to find out abnormalities in the unborn fetus and take remedial action to rectify some defects which would otherwise prove to be fatal to the child. Though genetic engineering is still at its infancy, scientists can now predict with greater accuracy a genetic disorder. It is not yet an exact science since they are not in a position to predict when exactly a genetic disorder will set in. While they have not yet been able to change the genetic order of the gene in germs, they are optimistic and are holding out that in the near future they might be successful in achieving this feat. However, genetic misinformation can sometimes be damaging for it may adversely affect people psychologically. Genetic information may lead to a tendency to brand some people as inferiors. Genetic information can therefore be abused and its application in deciding the sex of the fetus and its subsequent abortion is now hotly debated on ethical lines. But on this issue geneticists cannot be squarely blamed though this charge has often been leveled at them. It is mainly a societal problem. At present genetic engineering is a costly process of detecting disorders but scientists hope to reduce the costs when technology becomes more advanced. This is why much progress in this area is seen in scientifically advanced and rich countries like the U.S.A, UK and Japan. It remains to be seen if in the future this science will lead to the development of a race of supermen or will be able to obliterate disease from this world.Which of the following is the same in meaning as the phrase ' 'holding out" as used in the passage?