Comprehension
15 MPSC State Services Mains English past-year questions from 3 papers, 2016 to 2018, with answers and worked solutions.
- Difficulty: 12 easy · 2 moderate · 1 hard.
- Most-asked subtopics: Passage (13), Passage vocabulary (2).
- Updated 27 September 2026.
#1Passage
Read the following passage carefully and answer the question number 96 to 100 given below it : Man's behaviour is influenced by two forces ; heredity and environment. The biological or psychological characteristics which are transmitted by the parents to their offsprings are known by the name of heredity. Heredity is, in other words, a biological process of transmission of certain traits of behaviour of the parents to their children, by means of the fertilized egg. In the nuclei of these parent cells are certain hair like substances called 'chromosomes'. The chromosomes contain chemical substances called genes. These basic substances, chromosomes and genes determine characteristic of the individual. And this is what constitutes heredity. The essential characteristic inherited by all human beings are physical structure, reflexes, innate drives, intelligence, and temperament. There are some biologists who claim that the difference in the traits or qualities of individuals or groups are due to the difference in their heredity. They are duly supported by some psychologists and sociologists in their assertion, that like begets like. But there are others who explain that the variations of human beings and the societies are due to differences in environment. Thus a great controversy has been going since long about the relative importance of heredity and environment in determining the behaviour of individuals and groups. Though arguments have been advanced by the supporters of both heredity and environment, no exact conclusions with regard to the relative importance of the two factors have been drawn, nor is it possible either to determine the relative values of both. Modern biology has long insisted that we are what our parents and grand parents have made us, that heredity counts far more than social opportunity. Not only is it impossible for a man to change his skin, but also he cannot change his outlook, his mode of thinking or behaviour because these too are hereditary. Others, on the other hand, belittle the importance of heredity.#2Passage
Read the following passage carefully and answer the question number 96 to 100 given below it : Man's behaviour is influenced by two forces ; heredity and environment. The biological or psychological characteristics which are transmitted by the parents to their offsprings are known by the name of heredity. Heredity is, in other words, a biological process of transmission of certain traits of behaviour of the parents to their children, by means of the fertilized egg. In the nuclei of these parent cells are certain hair like substances called 'chromosomes'. The chromosomes contain chemical substances called genes. These basic substances, chromosomes and genes determine characteristic of the individual. And this is what constitutes heredity. The essential characteristic inherited by all human beings are physical structure, reflexes, innate drives, intelligence, and temperament. There are some biologists who claim that the difference in the traits or qualities of individuals or groups are due to the difference in their heredity. They are duly supported by some psychologists and sociologists in their assertion, that like begets like. But there are others who explain that the variations of human beings and the societies are due to differences in environment. Thus a great controversy has been going since long about the relative importance of heredity and environment in determining the behaviour of individuals and groups. Though arguments have been advanced by the supporters of both heredity and environment, no exact conclusions with regard to the relative importance of the two factors have been drawn, nor is it possible either to determine the relative values of both. Modern biology has long insisted that we are what our parents and grand parents have made us, that heredity counts far more than social opportunity. Not only is it impossible for a man to change his skin, but also he cannot change his outlook, his mode of thinking or behaviour because these too are hereditary. Others, on the other hand, belittle the importance of heredity.#3Passage
Read the following passage carefully and answer the question number 96 to 100 given below it : Man's behaviour is influenced by two forces ; heredity and environment. The biological or psychological characteristics which are transmitted by the parents to their offsprings are known by the name of heredity. Heredity is, in other words, a biological process of transmission of certain traits of behaviour of the parents to their children, by means of the fertilized egg. In the nuclei of these parent cells are certain hair like substances called 'chromosomes'. The chromosomes contain chemical substances called genes. These basic substances, chromosomes and genes determine characteristic of the individual. And this is what constitutes heredity. The essential characteristic inherited by all human beings are physical structure, reflexes, innate drives, intelligence, and temperament. There are some biologists who claim that the difference in the traits or qualities of individuals or groups are due to the difference in their heredity. They are duly supported by some psychologists and sociologists in their assertion, that like begets like. But there are others who explain that the variations of human beings and the societies are due to differences in environment. Thus a great controversy has been going since long about the relative importance of heredity and environment in determining the behaviour of individuals and groups. Though arguments have been advanced by the supporters of both heredity and environment, no exact conclusions with regard to the relative importance of the two factors have been drawn, nor is it possible either to determine the relative values of both. Modern biology has long insisted that we are what our parents and grand parents have made us, that heredity counts far more than social opportunity. Not only is it impossible for a man to change his skin, but also he cannot change his outlook, his mode of thinking or behaviour because these too are hereditary. Others, on the other hand, belittle the importance of heredity.#4Passage
Read the following passage carefully and answer the question number 96 to 100 given below it : Man's behaviour is influenced by two forces ; heredity and environment. The biological or psychological characteristics which are transmitted by the parents to their offsprings are known by the name of heredity. Heredity is, in other words, a biological process of transmission of certain traits of behaviour of the parents to their children, by means of the fertilized egg. In the nuclei of these parent cells are certain hair like substances called 'chromosomes'. The chromosomes contain chemical substances called genes. These basic substances, chromosomes and genes determine characteristic of the individual. And this is what constitutes heredity. The essential characteristic inherited by all human beings are physical structure, reflexes, innate drives, intelligence, and temperament. There are some biologists who claim that the difference in the traits or qualities of individuals or groups are due to the difference in their heredity. They are duly supported by some psychologists and sociologists in their assertion, that like begets like. But there are others who explain that the variations of human beings and the societies are due to differences in environment. Thus a great controversy has been going since long about the relative importance of heredity and environment in determining the behaviour of individuals and groups. Though arguments have been advanced by the supporters of both heredity and environment, no exact conclusions with regard to the relative importance of the two factors have been drawn, nor is it possible either to determine the relative values of both. Modern biology has long insisted that we are what our parents and grand parents have made us, that heredity counts far more than social opportunity. Not only is it impossible for a man to change his skin, but also he cannot change his outlook, his mode of thinking or behaviour because these too are hereditary. Others, on the other hand, belittle the importance of heredity.#5Passage vocabulary
Read the following passage carefully and answer the question number 96 to 100 given below it : Man's behaviour is influenced by two forces ; heredity and environment. The biological or psychological characteristics which are transmitted by the parents to their offsprings are known by the name of heredity. Heredity is, in other words, a biological process of transmission of certain traits of behaviour of the parents to their children, by means of the fertilized egg. In the nuclei of these parent cells are certain hair like substances called 'chromosomes'. The chromosomes contain chemical substances called genes. These basic substances, chromosomes and genes determine characteristic of the individual. And this is what constitutes heredity. The essential characteristic inherited by all human beings are physical structure, reflexes, innate drives, intelligence, and temperament. There are some biologists who claim that the difference in the traits or qualities of individuals or groups are due to the difference in their heredity. They are duly supported by some psychologists and sociologists in their assertion, that like begets like. But there are others who explain that the variations of human beings and the societies are due to differences in environment. Thus a great controversy has been going since long about the relative importance of heredity and environment in determining the behaviour of individuals and groups. Though arguments have been advanced by the supporters of both heredity and environment, no exact conclusions with regard to the relative importance of the two factors have been drawn, nor is it possible either to determine the relative values of both. Modern biology has long insisted that we are what our parents and grand parents have made us, that heredity counts far more than social opportunity. Not only is it impossible for a man to change his skin, but also he cannot change his outlook, his mode of thinking or behaviour because these too are hereditary. Others, on the other hand, belittle the importance of heredity.Done a few? Here’s your next move
#6Passage vocabulary
Read the passage given below carefully and answer Question numbers 96 to 100 based on it. Dilip Chitre (b. 1938) was educated in Baroda and Mumbai. He has been a teacher, painter, film-maker and magazine columnist. A winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award, Chitre has lived and taught in Ethiopia and the USA and was invited to participate in the Iowa University International Writing Programme. He is a bilingual writer and writes mostly in Marathi. His major translations (from Marathi into English) include *An Anthology of Marathi Poetry*, (1945-1965) and *Says Tuka* (1991). *Travelling in a Cage* (1980) is his first and only book of English poems. Exile, alienation, self-disintegration and death are the major themes in Chitre's poetry. It belongs essentially to the Modernist Movement, as it reflects cosmopolitan culture, an urban sensibility, uses oblique expressions and ironic tones. 'Father Returning Home', selected from *Travelling in a Cage*, is a deftly drawn word portrait of a commuter and his dull, drab and exhausting daily routine. Forced to return to stale food and painful isolation at home, the pathetic old man has no choice but to talk to himself. He is delinked from the present, including his family, and can only communicate with the buried past and unborn future dreaming about his ancestors and grandchildren. Characteristically, the poem is totally devoid of sentimentality despite its tender subject. The evocative imagery, subtle irony and the symbolic projection of the commuter as a modern nomad are the major devices which reinforce the theme of man's estrangement from a man-made world.#7Passage
Read the passage given below carefully and answer Question numbers 96 to 100 based on it. Dilip Chitre (b. 1938) was educated in Baroda and Mumbai. He has been a teacher, painter, film-maker and magazine columnist. A winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award, Chitre has lived and taught in Ethiopia and the USA and was invited to participate in the Iowa University International Writing Programme. He is a bilingual writer and writes mostly in Marathi. His major translations (from Marathi into English) include *An Anthology of Marathi Poetry*, (1945-1965) and *Says Tuka* (1991). *Travelling in a Cage* (1980) is his first and only book of English poems. Exile, alienation, self-disintegration and death are the major themes in Chitre's poetry. It belongs essentially to the Modernist Movement, as it reflects cosmopolitan culture, an urban sensibility, uses oblique expressions and ironic tones. 'Father Returning Home', selected from *Travelling in a Cage*, is a deftly drawn word portrait of a commuter and his dull, drab and exhausting daily routine. Forced to return to stale food and painful isolation at home, the pathetic old man has no choice but to talk to himself. He is delinked from the present, including his family, and can only communicate with the buried past and unborn future dreaming about his ancestors and grandchildren. Characteristically, the poem is totally devoid of sentimentality despite its tender subject. The evocative imagery, subtle irony and the symbolic projection of the commuter as a modern nomad are the major devices which reinforce the theme of man's estrangement from a man-made world.#8Passage
Read the passage given below carefully and answer Question numbers 96 to 100 based on it. Dilip Chitre (b. 1938) was educated in Baroda and Mumbai. He has been a teacher, painter, film-maker and magazine columnist. A winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award, Chitre has lived and taught in Ethiopia and the USA and was invited to participate in the Iowa University International Writing Programme. He is a bilingual writer and writes mostly in Marathi. His major translations (from Marathi into English) include *An Anthology of Marathi Poetry*, (1945-1965) and *Says Tuka* (1991). *Travelling in a Cage* (1980) is his first and only book of English poems. Exile, alienation, self-disintegration and death are the major themes in Chitre's poetry. It belongs essentially to the Modernist Movement, as it reflects cosmopolitan culture, an urban sensibility, uses oblique expressions and ironic tones. 'Father Returning Home', selected from *Travelling in a Cage*, is a deftly drawn word portrait of a commuter and his dull, drab and exhausting daily routine. Forced to return to stale food and painful isolation at home, the pathetic old man has no choice but to talk to himself. He is delinked from the present, including his family, and can only communicate with the buried past and unborn future dreaming about his ancestors and grandchildren. Characteristically, the poem is totally devoid of sentimentality despite its tender subject. The evocative imagery, subtle irony and the symbolic projection of the commuter as a modern nomad are the major devices which reinforce the theme of man's estrangement from a man-made world.#9Passage
Read the passage given below carefully and answer Question numbers 96 to 100 based on it. Dilip Chitre (b. 1938) was educated in Baroda and Mumbai. He has been a teacher, painter, film-maker and magazine columnist. A winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award, Chitre has lived and taught in Ethiopia and the USA and was invited to participate in the Iowa University International Writing Programme. He is a bilingual writer and writes mostly in Marathi. His major translations (from Marathi into English) include *An Anthology of Marathi Poetry*, (1945-1965) and *Says Tuka* (1991). *Travelling in a Cage* (1980) is his first and only book of English poems. Exile, alienation, self-disintegration and death are the major themes in Chitre's poetry. It belongs essentially to the Modernist Movement, as it reflects cosmopolitan culture, an urban sensibility, uses oblique expressions and ironic tones. 'Father Returning Home', selected from *Travelling in a Cage*, is a deftly drawn word portrait of a commuter and his dull, drab and exhausting daily routine. Forced to return to stale food and painful isolation at home, the pathetic old man has no choice but to talk to himself. He is delinked from the present, including his family, and can only communicate with the buried past and unborn future dreaming about his ancestors and grandchildren. Characteristically, the poem is totally devoid of sentimentality despite its tender subject. The evocative imagery, subtle irony and the symbolic projection of the commuter as a modern nomad are the major devices which reinforce the theme of man's estrangement from a man-made world.#10Passage
Read the passage given below carefully and answer Question numbers 96 to 100 based on it. Dilip Chitre (b. 1938) was educated in Baroda and Mumbai. He has been a teacher, painter, film-maker and magazine columnist. A winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award, Chitre has lived and taught in Ethiopia and the USA and was invited to participate in the Iowa University International Writing Programme. He is a bilingual writer and writes mostly in Marathi. His major translations (from Marathi into English) include *An Anthology of Marathi Poetry*, (1945-1965) and *Says Tuka* (1991). *Travelling in a Cage* (1980) is his first and only book of English poems. Exile, alienation, self-disintegration and death are the major themes in Chitre's poetry. It belongs essentially to the Modernist Movement, as it reflects cosmopolitan culture, an urban sensibility, uses oblique expressions and ironic tones. 'Father Returning Home', selected from *Travelling in a Cage*, is a deftly drawn word portrait of a commuter and his dull, drab and exhausting daily routine. Forced to return to stale food and painful isolation at home, the pathetic old man has no choice but to talk to himself. He is delinked from the present, including his family, and can only communicate with the buried past and unborn future dreaming about his ancestors and grandchildren. Characteristically, the poem is totally devoid of sentimentality despite its tender subject. The evocative imagery, subtle irony and the symbolic projection of the commuter as a modern nomad are the major devices which reinforce the theme of man's estrangement from a man-made world.#11Passage
Read the following passage carefully and answer question numbers 96 to 100 based on it. There are two considerations which deserve at least a word in any discussion of the future of the Indian theatre. The first is the rapid development of the cinema as a competition for popular favour. At first in the early flush of cinematic triumph, people- some of whom might have been expected to know better - prophesied the extinction of the theatre. It is now clear that though here and there, temporarily, the theatre may be affected, the cinema can never hope to replace the stage and elbow it out of existence. Experience in the West has shown that the stage will always be required as a feeder to the studio. For the technique is different and great stage actors have always to their disgust discovered that film-acting is at least only a second best to them; it cannot mean to them what the stage means. Something is lacking, the human touch. In the theatre heart responds to heart, and mind acts on mind in a way unknown to the cinema. Thus the theatre is in no danger of extinction. On the other hand, the rivalry of the screen ought to and will put the theatre to a new test and give it a new stimulus that may well lead to still higher planes of artistic achievements. Finally, a word about what a national language, spoken, written and thought might do for the theatre in India. With new awakening in social life the need for a common tongue is being increasingly felt. Much work is being done to hammer out a common linguistic medium. The day when it is accepted will be a great day for the Indian theatre, as it will be for all art in the country. But the theatre, because its life-blood is the spoken word, will gain most. With a common tongue, with a live national consciousness, the theatre will come into its own as a definite instrument of national unity, reflecting the national mind, interpreting the national heart and dreaming national dreams for the future.#12Passage
Read the following passage carefully and answer question numbers 96 to 100 based on it. There are two considerations which deserve at least a word in any discussion of the future of the Indian theatre. The first is the rapid development of the cinema as a competition for popular favour. At first in the early flush of cinematic triumph, people- some of whom might have been expected to know better - prophesied the extinction of the theatre. It is now clear that though here and there, temporarily, the theatre may be affected, the cinema can never hope to replace the stage and elbow it out of existence. Experience in the West has shown that the stage will always be required as a feeder to the studio. For the technique is different and great stage actors have always to their disgust discovered that film-acting is at least only a second best to them; it cannot mean to them what the stage means. Something is lacking, the human touch. In the theatre heart responds to heart, and mind acts on mind in a way unknown to the cinema. Thus the theatre is in no danger of extinction. On the other hand, the rivalry of the screen ought to and will put the theatre to a new test and give it a new stimulus that may well lead to still higher planes of artistic achievements. Finally, a word about what a national language, spoken, written and thought might do for the theatre in India. With new awakening in social life the need for a common tongue is being increasingly felt. Much work is being done to hammer out a common linguistic medium. The day when it is accepted will be a great day for the Indian theatre, as it will be for all art in the country. But the theatre, because its life-blood is the spoken word, will gain most. With a common tongue, with a live national consciousness, the theatre will come into its own as a definite instrument of national unity, reflecting the national mind, interpreting the national heart and dreaming national dreams for the future.#13Passage
Read the following passage carefully and answer question numbers 96 to 100 based on it. There are two considerations which deserve at least a word in any discussion of the future of the Indian theatre. The first is the rapid development of the cinema as a competition for popular favour. At first in the early flush of cinematic triumph, people- some of whom might have been expected to know better - prophesied the extinction of the theatre. It is now clear that though here and there, temporarily, the theatre may be affected, the cinema can never hope to replace the stage and elbow it out of existence. Experience in the West has shown that the stage will always be required as a feeder to the studio. For the technique is different and great stage actors have always to their disgust discovered that film-acting is at least only a second best to them; it cannot mean to them what the stage means. Something is lacking, the human touch. In the theatre heart responds to heart, and mind acts on mind in a way unknown to the cinema. Thus the theatre is in no danger of extinction. On the other hand, the rivalry of the screen ought to and will put the theatre to a new test and give it a new stimulus that may well lead to still higher planes of artistic achievements. Finally, a word about what a national language, spoken, written and thought might do for the theatre in India. With new awakening in social life the need for a common tongue is being increasingly felt. Much work is being done to hammer out a common linguistic medium. The day when it is accepted will be a great day for the Indian theatre, as it will be for all art in the country. But the theatre, because its life-blood is the spoken word, will gain most. With a common tongue, with a live national consciousness, the theatre will come into its own as a definite instrument of national unity, reflecting the national mind, interpreting the national heart and dreaming national dreams for the future.#14Passage
Read the following passage carefully and answer question numbers 96 to 100 based on it. There are two considerations which deserve at least a word in any discussion of the future of the Indian theatre. The first is the rapid development of the cinema as a competition for popular favour. At first in the early flush of cinematic triumph, people- some of whom might have been expected to know better - prophesied the extinction of the theatre. It is now clear that though here and there, temporarily, the theatre may be affected, the cinema can never hope to replace the stage and elbow it out of existence. Experience in the West has shown that the stage will always be required as a feeder to the studio. For the technique is different and great stage actors have always to their disgust discovered that film-acting is at least only a second best to them; it cannot mean to them what the stage means. Something is lacking, the human touch. In the theatre heart responds to heart, and mind acts on mind in a way unknown to the cinema. Thus the theatre is in no danger of extinction. On the other hand, the rivalry of the screen ought to and will put the theatre to a new test and give it a new stimulus that may well lead to still higher planes of artistic achievements. Finally, a word about what a national language, spoken, written and thought might do for the theatre in India. With new awakening in social life the need for a common tongue is being increasingly felt. Much work is being done to hammer out a common linguistic medium. The day when it is accepted will be a great day for the Indian theatre, as it will be for all art in the country. But the theatre, because its life-blood is the spoken word, will gain most. With a common tongue, with a live national consciousness, the theatre will come into its own as a definite instrument of national unity, reflecting the national mind, interpreting the national heart and dreaming national dreams for the future.#15Passage
Read the following passage carefully and answer question numbers 96 to 100 based on it. There are two considerations which deserve at least a word in any discussion of the future of the Indian theatre. The first is the rapid development of the cinema as a competition for popular favour. At first in the early flush of cinematic triumph, people- some of whom might have been expected to know better - prophesied the extinction of the theatre. It is now clear that though here and there, temporarily, the theatre may be affected, the cinema can never hope to replace the stage and elbow it out of existence. Experience in the West has shown that the stage will always be required as a feeder to the studio. For the technique is different and great stage actors have always to their disgust discovered that film-acting is at least only a second best to them; it cannot mean to them what the stage means. Something is lacking, the human touch. In the theatre heart responds to heart, and mind acts on mind in a way unknown to the cinema. Thus the theatre is in no danger of extinction. On the other hand, the rivalry of the screen ought to and will put the theatre to a new test and give it a new stimulus that may well lead to still higher planes of artistic achievements. Finally, a word about what a national language, spoken, written and thought might do for the theatre in India. With new awakening in social life the need for a common tongue is being increasingly felt. Much work is being done to hammer out a common linguistic medium. The day when it is accepted will be a great day for the Indian theatre, as it will be for all art in the country. But the theatre, because its life-blood is the spoken word, will gain most. With a common tongue, with a live national consciousness, the theatre will come into its own as a definite instrument of national unity, reflecting the national mind, interpreting the national heart and dreaming national dreams for the future.