Complex Comprehension Passage Quiz for NABARD / IPPB / SSC

Directions (Q. 1-15): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.

“Thanks, Nature.” Two little words marked the end of the speech of Fabiola Gianotti, the spokesperson of the ATLAS experiment, indicating the collective sigh of relief at what is believed to be the beginning of the end of the longest, and most expensive, search in the history of science.The discovery of the Higgs particle will lead to a new understanding of the origin of matter in the Universe, which occurred in the smallest fraction of a second after its creation 13.4 billion years ago. Indeed, it is the key to understanding the existence of diversity and life in the Universe.Physicists believe that the Higgs particle has been spotted at the world’s largest and most expensive laboratory— 27 km in circumference, 100 m below ground, straddling the border of France and Switzerland. The Large Hadron Collider, a multi-billion-dollar array of machines, is run by a pan-European organisation called CERN in Geneva. This is where, among other things, the World Wide Web was invented. Now it is the scene of another ground-breaking event. The world has been waiting for over 40 years since professor Peter Higgs, currently at the University of Edinburgh, UK, predicted the existence of Higgs particle. In recent years, “Higgs Rumors” has been one of the most popular hashtags on Twitter.

According to the standard theory, at the moment of the creation of the Universe, all particles were massless, and they all travelled at the speed of light. A trillionth of a second after the birth of the Universe, an all-pervading invisible field switched on, that caused particles to acquire mass. This is known as the “Higgs field”, and its only visible manifestation is the Higgs boson.When I run on a track, I am at my fastest, but if I try to run on sand, or in water, I won’t be able to get up to the same speed, even though I might exert the same energy. It is the medium, like air, sand or water, that holds me back. If a bunch of particles is given the same amount of energy, the more massive particles travel sluggishly, and the lighter particles travel at higher speeds. The only exception is the photon, the particles that make up light. Even in the Higgs field, the photon acquires no mass, and thus can travel at the maximum possible speed allowed by nature, which is… you’ve guessed it… the speed of light.Inside the Large Hadron Collider, particles like protons were being accelerated to near-light speeds, and hurled at each other in the dark underground tunnels, colliding in a flash of energy, as electrons, quarks, and other more massive particles emerge. If our theories are correct, a few of these particles, including the new particle announced on July 4, will be Higgs particles. It is not clear how many kinds of particles make up the Higgs field. Various instruments that line the walls of the tunnel will help piece together the complicated jigsaw of what actually happened in the collision. The experiment will run till the end of this year, and it will take a decade for scientists to analyse the data to look for and confirm the detections of possible Higgs particles.

The Higgs boson was named the “God particle” by the Nobel-winning US physicist, Leon Lederman, since it is all-pervading and omnipresent. Scientists often use the word “God” when they borrow one of the divine characteristics attributed by various religions. Apart from understanding the nature of matter, such fundamental discoveries open up fields of research that are hard to imagine at the time. For instance, when the electron was discovered at the dawn of the 20th century, nobody imagined how today our life would be dominated by electronic devices. Only time will tell what the Higgs will lead us to. Of the 6,000 scientists involved in the experiments, many are Indians, belonging to, among others, the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics in Kolkata and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai. There is a deeper connection with India. All elementary particles are divided into two kinds, fermions and bosons. The Higgs particle is a boson, named after the Indian physicist Satyendranath Bose, who, along with Albert Einstein, first described its nature, almost a century ago.

1. Which of the following is incorrect regarding the ATLAS experiment?

• 1) The LHC, a multi-billion-dollar array of machines, is run by CERN in Geneva.
• 2) The laboratory is situated one hundred metre below ground, straddling the border of Geneva and France.
• 3) The Higgs particle is a boson.
• 4) Satyendranath Bose, along with Albert Einstein, first discovered the nature of boson almost a hundred years ago.
• 5) All the above are correct

2. Why is the discovery of Higgs particle so important?

(A) It is the key to understanding the existence of life in the Universe.

(B) It will lead to a new understanding of the origin of matter in the Universe.

(C) It will help understand the existence of diversity in the universe.

• 1) Only (A)
• 2) Only (B)
• 3) Only (A) and (B)
• 4) Only (A) and (C)
• 5) All (A), (B) and (C)

3. According to the standard theory of the creation of Universe, which of the following statements is incorrect?

• 1) At the moment of the creation of the universe, all the particles were having very little mass.
• 2) All these particles travelled at the speed of light.
• 3) A trillionth of a second after the birth of the Universe all these particles acquired mass.
• 4) The invisible field which caused the particle acquire mass is called Higgs field.
• 5) All the above are correct

4. Which of the following is/are true about the elementary particles, as mentioned in the given passage?

(A) All elementary particles are divided into two types, bosons and fermions.

(B) Boson, the Higgs particle, has been named after SN Bose.

(C) SN Bose, along with albert Einstein first, described the nature of boson about a century ago.

• 1) Only (A) and (B)
• 2) All (A), (B) and (C)
• 3) Only (C)
• 4) Only (B) and (C)
• 5) Only (A) and (C)

5. Who among the following is not associated with the discovery of the Higgs particle which will lead to a new understanding of the origin of matter in the Universe?

• 1) Leon Lederman
• 2) Fabiola Gianotti
• 3) Peter Higgs
• 4) SN Bose
• 5) CV Raman

6. Regarding the “God particle”, which of the following is correct?

(A) The term “God” particle was coined by the US physicist Leon Lederman.

(B) Scientists use the word “God” when they find all the divine characteristics attributed by various religions.

(C) “God particle” is another name of Higgs boson.

• 1) Only (A)
• 2) Only (A) and (B)
• 3) Only (B) and (C)
• 4) Only (A) and (C)
• 5) All (A), (B) and (C)

7. The World Wide Web (www) was invented in which of the following places?

• 1) France
• 2) Switzerland
• 3) Geneva
• 4) UK
• 5) Germany

8. In view of the experiment carried out inside the LHC, find out the correct statement(s).

(A) Particles like protons were accelerated to near-light speeds and hurled at each other in the dark underground tunnels.

(B) These particles collide in a flash of energy, as electrons, quarks, and other more massive particles emerge. Out of these, some particles might have been Higgs particle.

(C) How many types of particles make up the Higgs field is not clear.

• 1) Only (A)
• 2) Only (B)
• 3) Only (C)
• 4) Only (A) and (B)
• 5) All (A), (B) and (C)

9. Trace out the statement which contradicts the facts mentioned in the passage.

• 1) It is the medium such as air, water and, sand which impedes the speed of moving objects.
• 2) If equal amount of energy is given to a group of objects, the lighter object moves faster.
• 3) The speed of photon does not get retarded in any medium.
• 4) Only in Higgs field the speed of photon gets retarded.
• 5) None of these

Directions (Q. 10-12): Choose the word which is most similar in meaning to the words printed in bold as used in the passage.

10. Straddling

• 1) stretching
• 2) wandering
• 3) strolling
• 4) stumbling
• 5) measuring

11. Hurled

• 1) pressed
• 2) damaged
• 3) threw
• 4) hurt
• 5) left

12. Jigsaw

• 1) collide
• 2) puzzle
• 3) difficulty
• 4) strange
• 5) cudgel

Directions (Q. 13-15): Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold as used in the passage.

13. Predicted

• 1) presumed
• 2) declared
• 3) stated
• 4) confirmed
• 5) doubted

14. Pervading

• 1) prevailing
• 2) disturbing
• 3) non-existent
• 4) perceptible
• 5) present

15. Attributed

• 1) discredited
• 2) assigned
• 3) contributed
• 4) distributed
• 5) referred

Answers :-

1. 2
2. 5
3. 1
4. 2
5. 5
6. 4
7. 3
8. 5
9. 4
10. 1
11. 3
12. 2
13. 5
14. 3
15. 1