Parajumbles - Past Year Questions

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1. Among its major urban centres, Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro stand out as prime examples of this architectural prowess, revealing large public structures, residential areas, and sophisticated water management systems indicative of a complex societal structure.
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2. Showing remarkable sophistication for its time, this ancient culture developed meticulously planned cities, complete with advanced sanitation systems and intricate grid layouts that underscore its profound understanding of urban design and engineering.
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3. Economically, the civilization thrived on a foundation of extensive trade networks, connecting them with distant lands, alongside a robust agricultural system that sustained its large populations and facilitated surplus production.
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4. Despite its impressive achievements and longevity, the reasons behind the eventual decline of this remarkable civilization remain largely enigmatic, prompting ongoing research and speculation among historians and archaeologists.
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5. The Indus Valley Civilization, flourishing in the Bronze Age, represents one of humanity's earliest urban societies, evidenced by archaeological discoveries dating back thousands of years.
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1. Using the wonders of Artificial Intelligence (Al), they quickly improved upon those skills to become far more dexterous.
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2. Inside a robotics laboratory of the Toyota Research Institute, a group of robots is busy cooking. There is nothing special about that; robotic chefs have been around for a while.
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3. Despite their extraordinary culinary capabilities, these robots are not destined for a career in catering.
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4. But these robots are more proficient than most: flipping pancakes, slicing vegetables, and making pizzas with ease.
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5. The difference is that instead of being laboriously programmed to carry out their tasks, the Toyota robots have been taught only a basic set of skills.
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1. Seven of the ten worst affected countries (including India) are low- and middle-income countries.
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2. Between 1993 and 2022, India was the sixth worst-affected country in terms of fatalities and damage sustained from extreme weather events wrought by the climate crisis.
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3. High income nations, whose economies are founded in industrial era use of fossil fuels, meanwhile, insist that growing economies, especially India and China, shoulder greater responsibility.
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4. This reinforces the developing world's contention that it has had to bear a disproportionate burden of climate afflictions despite having contributed little to the crisis.
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1. When we take time to notice these moments, we discover hidden beauty that sparks our creative thoughts because creativity isn’t just about rare, amazing events—it’s also about finding the special in the ordinary.
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2. Creativity is often seen as the ability to look at the world in a new way—to turn everyday sights, sounds, and experiences into art or ideas.
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3. In fact, inspiration can come from small details of daily life: the gentle warmth of morning sunlight on a kitchen counter, the steady sound of traffic outside, or the brief smile of a stranger on a busy street.
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4. Many people wrongly think that true creativity only comes from big ideas or exciting adventures.
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1. In drought conditions, water often depletes in the topsoil and remains accessible only in the deeper subsoil layers.
2. A new study gives new insights into how the acid changes root growth angles to enable plants to reach out deeper subsoils in search of water.
3. Plants rely on their root systems, the primary organs for interacting with soil, to actively seek water.
4. Abscisic acid plays an important role in helping plants adapt to these challenging conditions.

1. Farmers, however, especially during the peak farming season, ignore the warnings of the weather forecast.
2. People from some states of India have demanded that families of those who have been killed by lightning strikes should receive compensation.
3. The Minister for Disaster Management announced that over 2800 people have died after being struck by a lightning last year.
4. The Minister responded that pamphlets on the dangers of lightning and precautions to be taken are being distributed in villages.

1. Meanwhile, people are posting less. The share of Americans who say they enjoy documenting their life online has fallen from 40 per cent to 28 per cent since 2020.
2. The striking feature of the new social media is that they are no longer very social.
3. Some of the consequences of this are welcome. Political campaigners say they have to tone down their message to win over private groups.
4. Debate is moving to closed platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram.
5. Inspired by TikTok, apps like Facebook increasingly serve a diet of clips selected by artificial intelligence according to a user’s viewing behaviour, not their social connections

1. The muddy concoction – made by grinding the kava plant’s roots and mixing it with water to create a dark, earthy liquid – holds a deep cultural significance throughout the region, and the drink is often shared between friends, guests, and colleagues.
2. Regular kava drinkers often describe this blissful state as a sort of peace, a way for the body and mind to uncoil from itself.
3. Called yaqona in Fiji, ‘ava in Samoa and sakau in Micronesia, kava has occupied a sacred role in Pacific countries for centuries.
4. A swig (or two) taken from a bowl or shell – sometimes quite literally a coconut shell cut in half – can lead to profound relaxation, a sort of numbness that trickles down from your mouth through your shoulders and spine.

1. In this microgravity environment, your blood also tends to move towards the heart and head.
2. Both effects are only short-lived and, after a brief period of readjustment on arriving back home, the heart and spine return to normal.
3. The heart interprets this as an increase in the amount of blood in the body and that it needs to pump less, so it shrinks.
4. In space with less gravitational force than on Earth, there’s less pressure on your spine and so it’ll get a bit longer, effectively making you as much as two inches taller.

1. By contrast, in America, it is estimated that even after post-COVID decline, total giving came to almost USD 500 billion in 2022.
2. There are no comparable data on different countries. But one report by Dasra, a Mumbai-based NGO, estimates total private giving in India came to about USD 13 billion in 2022.
3. A strategic sort of giving, involving philanthropy professionals, a long-term lens, and big ambitions of transforming society is gradually emerging. It differs, of course, between countries.
4. Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, put total giving in China at USD 21 billion in 2020.
5. By any measure, however, organised philanthropy across Asia is on a much smaller scale than in the West.

1. What is more shocking to observe is how often such strokes lead to death.
2. When the body temperature rises, our vital organs swell, and this causes death.
3. One main reason for this is that people underestimate how badly heat can affect the body.
4. Heat strokes have become more common in our country than ever before.

1. This instance highlights how young people from different backgrounds can make important contributions to climate change.
2. Participation in environmental education programmes can motivate children to act responsibly towards the environment.
3. They were motivated to act in ways that would help the environment, like using a reusable water bottle or refusing to use plastic straws.
4. Six hundred elementary school children from varied social and linguistic groups participated in an ocean pollution education programme.

1. Yet, even as TikTok delights consumers and advertisers, others believe the sunny app has a dark side.
2. Since launching just five years ago, the app has brought a warm glow to its 1 billion plus users, as well as an icy dash of competition to the social media incumbents of Silicon Valley.
3. ByteDance, its owner, has its headquarters in China, whose government is addicted to surveillance and propaganda- making it a worrying place for a media app to be placed.
4. With its wholesome dancing and lip-syncing videos, TikTok once billed itself as the 'last sunny corner on the Internet.'

1. Once they reach a high altitude, they manage to travel all over the world.
2. An expert from the team explained that the bacteria usually lived on the surface of vegetation, such as leaves.
3. The wind carries them off the surface and into the atmosphere.
4. A group of researchers were surprised to find that clouds had carried drug resistant bacteria over a long distance.

1. But the mutiny of Visakhapatnam predates this.
2. Instead of going against their heroic leader, the sepoys attacked the British soldiers and managed to escape from the town.
3. The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 in the garrison town of Meerut is regarded as the First War of Independence.
4. It happened in 1780 when the British officers asked the local sepoys to join the fight against Hyder Ali.

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• 1. The popularity of these creations grew along with that of the tea ceremony in the 16th century.
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• 2. However, savvy tourists find the best bargains for ceramics in Tokyo's Kitchen Town.
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• 3. Modern shops in touristy spots display thousands of them, both hand crafted and factory made.
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• 4. Japanese artisans have been making ceramics, known as Yakimono since prehistoric times.
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• 1. This means the brain receives less input over the course of a day.
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• 2. Youthful eyes jiggle regularly to take in new or unfamiliar stimuli.
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• 3. As the person attached to those eyes ages, the eye muscles grow slower and the pathways between the eye and the brain grow longer, more complex, or, in some cases, get damaged.
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• 4. Our eyes quickly scan the surroundings and then send the data to the brain.
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• 5. Human eyes perform jiggles, more formally called saccades, in response to a change in the field of vision.
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• 1. Located in the foothills of the Sion Fort, the lake is a Grade II-A heritage structure, dating back to the 17th century.
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• 2. Once home to several marine creatures, the lake is now surrounded by high-rise residential buildings.
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• 3. The Municipal Corporation is set to breathe life back into the city's Sion Talao (Lake) with the rejuvenation and beautification of the centuries-old lake.
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• 4. Over the years, the lake has lost its prominence.
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• 5. Earlier the talao was a known natural water tank with the Sion hillock expanding around it like an enclosing wall.
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• 1. A sub-par monsoon cuts farm yields, output, and farm incomes, increasing the country's dependence on food imports.
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• 2. A robust monsoon will help put a lid on food inflation by increasing domestic output of a variety of goods and commodities.
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• 3. This is because half the Indian population depends upon farm-derived income.
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• 4. The June-to-September rain-bearing system is often called the lifeblood of the country's economy.
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• 5. Unfortunately, however, nearly 40% of India's net sown area does not have access to irrigation.
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• 1. The Central African Republic has approved Bitcoin as an official currency.
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• 2. Experts foresee that this will damage the environment as well as the economy.
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• 3. Others claim that this may make money laundering easy and also use up a lot of electricity.
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• 4. Economists criticised this move as a potential risk to the financial stability of the nation.
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1. In a recent incident, villagers in a tea estate were shocked to find a leopard cub in a trench.
2. The cub was then taken to the area where she was discovered and reunited with her mother.
3. The 12,500 leopards in India stray into villages due to their shrinking habitat.
4. The wildlife vet examined and declared it to be uninjured but dehydrated.

1. It mentions a video on TikTok that questioned an influencer's possible views on the Israel-Palestine crisis.
2. Social media has given us the expectation that every video, every tweet needs to be irreproachable and encompass the lived experiences of the audience.
3. Should celebs always have a take, asks an article in a magazine.
4. "Do you guys even care about the issue or do you care about influencers caring about the issue?"

1. In the past, companies with international aspirations simply familiarised themselves with any differences in the legal system or in the procedures used in the day-to-day business of import and export.
2. Modern trade, however, demands more from companies.
3. Today, the company seeking international success must also understand the people who live and work in countries they deal with, how they think, behave and do business.
4. To succeed in today's global market place, it is essential to learn as much as possible about the conditions in overseas markets.

1. However, they stand out because they help the film maker realize his personal artistic vision.
2. An Indie film refers to independent films made outside a major studio system.
3. Their release is also limited to a few screens, although there have been films with a wide release.
4. Most of such films are low budget films produced and distributed by small companies.

1. It was felt that the major polluters had a moral obligation to deliver on the agreements reached some years ago during a similar convention on Climate Change.
2. The papers presented indicated that the impacts of current warming are much more severe than previously understood.
3. It appears that the planet's ability to adapt to and cope with how it is being treated is fraying.
4. For example, the acceleration of sea level rise and ocean warming, and increasing risks of reaching limits to adaptation.
5. This is what emerged at a recent conference attended by the largest scientific community on climate science.

1. Mental illness continues to struggle for recognition as a significant contributor to poor health in spite of the existence of the Mental Healthcare Act 2017
2. The data reveals that an estimated one in seven Indians - or 197 million persons suffered from mental disorders, at varying degrees of severity, in 2017.
3. There is always more to human health than meets the eye.
4. This is particularly important in the Indian cultural and political context, where the outward appearance of physical well-being is often considered the only visible marker of overall health.

1. The study, published in the Lancet recently, revealed that people living in democratic countries live longer than those who don't; they also have less of a chance of dying from heart disease, strokes, and even road accidents.
2. Incredible as it may sound, we are now told that democracy is not just good for the soul, it is good for the body too.
3. Without pressure from voters or foreign-aid agencies, dictators have less incentive to finance more expensive prevention and treatment of heart disease, cancers, and other chronic illnesses.
4. The study suggests that elections and the health of the people are increasingly inseparable.
5. A study spanning 170 countries found a strong correlation between health and the most form of government.

1. People here are one injury away from starvation, one misspoken word away from detainment or death.
2. Soon, however, she notices the lack of access to basic medical care or education.
3. Life in a rural Kashmiri village seems idyllic to Shalini at first, as she's befriending lovely people and admiring majestic natural scenery, especially in contrast to the cacophony of urban Mumbai.
4. Moreover, the ever-present political disruptions mean that life in Kashmir is far from Shangri-La utopia.

1. He just harvested the wild grains.
2. The hunter-gatherer went from place to place in search of food.
3. As the crops began to give better yields, this reduced his need to go in search of animals and wild plants.
4. This was followed by an attempt to grow food by scattering the spare grains.

Arrange the following parts of a sentence in order to make a meaningful sentence.

P: around the town

Q: when I was young,

R: delivering food to customers

S: shopkeepers would cycle

Arrange the following parts of a sentence in order to make a meaningful sentence.

P: an extra person

Q: this card entitles

R: with you free

S: you to take