SECRET OF HAPPINESS (The following speech is perfect for 1 min. to 1.05 min) Happiness does not consist in riches. True wealth would be much better defined as ‘character’ for a one can only be happy when one is at peace with oneself. The richest men are often the most unhappy since they do not realise that a… Read More »
SMOKERS Read the Passage Carefully and answers the Following Questions: – 1. Smokers are slowly being hounded out of all public spaces—be it aeroplanes, offices, restaurants or public places. Still, Vikas Goel was surprised when he got a letter from his apartment manager asking all tenants to stop smoking in their homes from January 1 next year or… Read More »
INFECTIOUS DISEASE Read the Passage Carefully and answers the Following Questions: – 1Within the next 25 years, AIDS is set to join heart diseases and stroke as the top three causes of death worldwide. Currently ranked fourth behind heart diseases, stroke and respiratory infections, AIDS is set to become No. 3. It accounts for about 2.8 million deaths… Read More »
Development of the English Language Read the passage given below carefully: Shakespeare, Milton, Chaucer, Spenser, Dr Johnson are among the literary masters who contributed greatly to the growth, enrichment and development of the English language. Among them, Shakespeare has no equal with regard to extent and profundity of his influence on the language. Critics conclude that his mind… Read More »
FOOD AND STRESS Read the following passage carefully. We are what we eat. The type of food we eat has both immediate and long-term effect on us, at all the… Read More »
Defence Minister Read the passages given below and answer the questions that follow them: Defence minister ManoharParrikar’s penchant for off-the-cuff comments came to the fore once again on Thursday when he wondered why India should be bound by a ‘no first use’ (NFU) policy on nuclear weapons. Shortly after, both Parrikar and his ministry clarified that his words… Read More »
Life-Threatening Read the passage given below. The presence of a pollutant in the air is not necessarily life-threatening. It becomes a killer only after concentration breaches safety limits. As many as 4000 Londoners died of air pollution when the Smog hit the UK capital in 1952. This was mainly due to PM 2.5 and SO2 levels crossing all… Read More »
Rajivalochan Subramaniam Read the following passage carefully: Born and brought up at West Mambalam in Chennai, Rajivalochan Subramaniam considered himself a failure at a US university before rediscovering himself in the field of high energy physics. A PhD was once a distant dream for Rajiv. It is the support of his father A. Subramaniam, a retired government officer,… Read More »
Garbage and Dirt Read the passages given below and answer the questions that follow them: Will the city be free from garbage and dirt by August 15? A week-long sanitation and cleanliness drive was launched with much fanfare by the administration a few days back, but a reality check reveals that it has remained sporadic. While the… Read More »
Computers as thinkers Read the passage and answer the following Questions Carefully:- The topic of thought is one area of Psychology and many observers have considered this aspect in connection with robots and computers; some of the old worries about artificial intelligence were closely linked to the question of whether computers could think. The first massive electronic computers… Read More »
Spiders Read the passage given below carefully: To most of us, the most fascinating thing about spiders is the webs they spin. But actually a spider the most amazing creature in many other respects. First of all, spiders are not insects. They belong to a group known as ‘arachnids’ and differ from insects in that they have eight… Read More »
Chirp for the Sparrow; Tweet for the Sparrow Read the following passage carefully and answers the following questions:- … Read More »
Giant Mammoths Read the passage given below. Hundreds of thousands of years ago giant mammoths still roamed the earth and the surface of the earth was covered by dense forests. Men took shelter in caves and covered their bodies with animal skins. At that time, dogs became man’s best friend. At first, they followed the man on his… Read More »
Adult Education Read the following passage carefully: One of the major problems of adult education is the paucity of time with adults. Their own pursuits will not allow them time to do this type of work. If at all they find the time, it is never the appointed time. The only solution… Read More »
People’s Addiction Read the Passage Carefully and answers the Following Questions: – How does television affect our lives? It can be very helpful to people who carefully choose the shows that they watch. Television can increase our knowledge of the outside world; there are high-quality programs that help us understand many fields of study, science, medicine, the arts… Read More »