English Comprehension

Directions for 1 to 3: 

Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.

Passage:
      Where did the matter and energy of the Big Bang originate? Science cannot answer the question at present. In fact it seems impossible-perhaps likely-that it will never be able to answer that question. For it, matter existed in atomic form before the Big Bang, it did not carry information with it through the Big Bang. Thus the matter itself cannot tell us anything about its pre-big bang history. 

         Does this mean that science can say that there must be a creator, and that science has, after all, found a need for God? An Individual scientist may believe this, but science itself cannot use God as the explanation for the Big Bang. Science cannot use God for any explanation. It has been said that science avoids God. It does, indeed. The reason that science does not use God for explanations is basically that science has been successful in explaining the material world without reference to a God. Science, by intention, uses natural causes to explain natural effects. 

    We say that science is successful in its method because scientific explanations of the workings of the material world have led us to further understanding of that world. The fact that success has come without reference to God indicates that the material universe seems to be describable by completely Natural Principles. 

       What about cases where science is unable to find an answer? If science, when it comes to something that it cannot explain at that time, were to explain it by reference to God, the search for an explanation would end. If Newton had used God as an explanation for why things fall to Earth, he would never have developed the Theory of Gravitation. If we use God as an explanation for the Big Bang, there would be no reason to look further for a natural explanation. Use of super-natural explanations would shut down science. History however, tells us that it is profitable to look for natural explanations. Super natural explanations cannot be used in Natural Science. 

        There is another reason that science cannot use God for an explanation, and this relates to the reason that traditional science does not accept creationism as a science: A theory of science must be able to be shown wrong. A theory must be testable. Every theory must be regarded as tentative, as being only the best theory we have at present. It must contain within itself its own possibility of destruction. The 1948 prediction concerning cosmic background radiation was such a case. If the background radiation had not been found, the big bang theory would have had to have been adjusted, or—if enough such contradictions appeared— the theory would have had to be dropped and replaced with another. This has happened a number of times in science. It happened to the Steady State Theory and to other theories presented in the text. On the other hand, if science relied on a creator to explain the inexplicable, there would be nowhere to go, no way to prove that explanation wrong.

         This is not to say that God might not be the Explanation. Many people believe that a creator is the ultimate explanation of everything. Perhaps some questions, like the origin of the material for the Big Bang, simply cannot be answered without reference to a creator. But in that case, science simply cannot answer the question. The question is beyond the realm of science. Science does not deny the existence of God. God is simply outside its realm.

1. Reasons are suggested for discarding god as scientific explanation; which one does the passage not suggest?

A. Science doesn’t embrace the beliefs of its populating members.

B. Creationism as a theory is not proscribed in science.

C. Material universe seems to be delineated by completely Natural Principles.

D. The progress of science lies in its theories being provisional.

2. Which if these would be a close representation of facts from paragraph 5?
A. Not believing in God has furthered science with the proposition of new theories.
B.  Scientific theory inherently needs readjustment if not for chance discoveries.
C. to prove that creationism is wrong, science would have to accept it first.
D.  Cosmic radiation has meant that Big Bang theory is readjusted.

3. Describe in a word the tone of the passage.

A. Acrimonious
B. Pusillanimous
C. Descriptive
D.  Skeptical

Directions for 4 to 10: 

Choose the option that is closest in meaning to the word in bold font
 
4. I still owe him that modicum of discretion.
A. Option
B. Trifle
C. Authority
D. Responsibility

5. We had a car industry in India that was free of encumbrances like competition.
A. Motivations
B. Obstacles
C. Burdens
D. Detractors
6. This masterpiece, originally a wedding present, is still preserved in intaglio.
A. Memory
B. Incisione
C. Intact
D. Chemical

7. Both homilies are repeated so often that few remember their purpose.
A. Platitude
B. Theory
C. Phrase
D. Homograph

8. The fault is overwhelmingly that of its own fecund residents.
A. Apathetic
B. Fertile
C. Feline
D. Farcical

9. Talks were desultory, and he did not know if the two companies would get together.
A. Digressive
B. Disconnected
C. Disappointing
D. Haphazard

10. The news had left him in a state of disquietude.
A. Elation
B. Unease
C. Anguish
D. Boredom

Answers

1. C                               6. B

2. A                              7. A

3. A                               8. B

4. B                               9. C

5. C                               10.B