NDA General Ability 13 April 2025 | Reading Comprehension Question 3 | English

1

NDA General Ability 13 April 2025

MCQ (Single Correct Answer)

+4

-1.33

An attempt to determine the number of languages in the world is affected by other factors. A few new languages do continue to be discovered, even these days, as unexplored regions of the world begin to be opened up. The discovery does not usually take place straight away. Often there are similarities with an already known language which make the investigators assume that what they have found is just a dialect of that language. Only after a considerable period of contact does it transpire that the speech is so different that it has to be considered a different language. It takes a language survey to establish the facts, and there are still many countries where such surveys are incomplete or have not even begun. The people may be known, but the identity of their language may not be. Because many such peoples are bilingual or multilingual, and converse with outsiders in lingua franca, it may take a while before linguists come to realize that there is an ethnic language there at all.

Which one of the following statements is correct ?

1

Language surveys have been conducted by all nations

2

There is hardly any language to be discovered in the world

3

All the languages are either complete languages or dialects of other major languages

4

No new language needs to be discovered since all languages are known to the world

2

NDA General Ability 13 April 2025

MCQ (Single Correct Answer)

+4

-1.33

An attempt to determine the number of languages in the world is affected by other factors. A few new languages do continue to be discovered, even these days, as unexplored regions of the world begin to be opened up. The discovery does not usually take place straight away. Often there are similarities with an already known language which make the investigators assume that what they have found is just a dialect of that language. Only after a considerable period of contact does it transpire that the speech is so different that it has to be considered a different language. It takes a language survey to establish the facts, and there are still many countries where such surveys are incomplete or have not even begun. The people may be known, but the identity of their language may not be. Because many such peoples are bilingual or multilingual, and converse with outsiders in lingua franca, it may take a while before linguists come to realize that there is an ethnic language there at all.

‘The people may be known, but the identity of their language may not be,’ means

1

People are recognised as different ethnic groups but not necessarily their language

2

People are recognised as different ethnic groups and their language is recognised

3

People are not recognised as different ethnic groups, and so are their languages

4

Because the people are not from different ethnic groups and their language is recognised

3

NDA General Ability 13 April 2025

MCQ (Single Correct Answer)

+4

-1.33

An attempt to determine the number of languages in the world is affected by other factors. A few new languages do continue to be discovered, even these days, as unexplored regions of the world begin to be opened up. The discovery does not usually take place straight away. Often there are similarities with an already known language which make the investigators assume that what they have found is just a dialect of that language. Only after a considerable period of contact does it transpire that the speech is so different that it has to be considered a different language. It takes a language survey to establish the facts, and there are still many countries where such surveys are incomplete or have not even begun. The people may be known, but the identity of their language may not be. Because many such peoples are bilingual or multilingual, and converse with outsiders in lingua franca, it may take a while before linguists come to realize that there is an ethnic language there at all.

Which one of the following words from passage means ‘come to be known’ ?

1

transpire

2

lingua franca

3

straight

4

variant

4

NDA General Ability 21 April 2024

MCQ (Single Correct Answer)

+4

-1.33

Read the following passage carefully and answer the items based on it. You are required to select your answers based solely on the contents of the passage and the opinion of the author.

The grouping or assemblage of plants, animals and microbes we observe when we study a natural forest, a grassland, a pond, a coral reef or some other undisturbed area, is referred to as the area’s biota or biotic community. The plant portion of the biotic community includes all vegetation, from large trees down through to microscopic algae. Likewise, the animal portion includes everything from large mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians through to earthworms, tiny insects and mites. Microbes encompass a large array of microscopic bacteria, fungi and protozoans. Thus, the biotic community comprises a plant community, an animal community and a microbial community.

The particular kind of biotic community found in a given area is, in large part, determined by abiotic factors such as the amount of water or moisture present, the temperature, the salinity, or the type of soil in the area. These abiotic factors both support and limit the particular community. For example, a relative lack of available moisture prevents the growth of most species of plants, but supports certain species, such as cacti; these kinds of areas are deserts. Land with plenty of available moisture and a suitable temperature supports forests. The presence of water is the major factor that sustains aquatic communities.

The first step in investigating a biotic community may be simply to catalogue all the species present. Species are the different kinds of plants, animals and microbes in the community. A given species includes all those individuals which have a strong similarity in appearance to one another and which are distinct in appearance from other such groups. Each species in a biotic community is represented by a certain population — that is, by a certain number of individuals that make up the interbreeding, reproducing group.

Which one of the following does not belong to the biotic community?

A

Water

B

Human

C

Protozoa

D

Bush