Read the following passage and tally the meaning of the
numbered words with the meanings given in the table below.
Our
inglorious meltdown at Olympics is another pointer telling us in (1)unadorned language that it's high time
we disabused ourselves of the notion that we are going great guns, and if we
keep firing ferociously, glory - by 2020 or whatever - is ours for the taking.
The (2)abysmal lack of medals in
London punctures the (3)grandiloquent
narrative that seems to have completely overtaken us in our drive to project to
the world that ours is an engine that is about to reach the station of
superpowerdom.
We have been
preparing the (4)scaffolding of this
magically real narrative, of which even Marquez would be proud, for some time
now. The new season of Anna Tamasha, which devolved into demagoguery and
finally bowed out, was a product of the new (5)fin-de-siècle generation in India. Chabbi Biswas, brilliantly
portraying the decadent landlord in Ray's Jalsaghar, captured the first; Anna,
a noble-intentioned man talking high principles in these (6)venal and (7)unscrupulous times, represents the new generation. A man completely
out of depth with the horrifying reality revolving around him in the form of
his ambitious (8)minions and a media
feasting on the immoral (9)detritus
of a wicked class intent on gathering all the goodies for itself.
So much (10)tosh has been fed into his
inexperienced ears by his (11)sycophants
that he perhaps started fancying himself a Gandhi: do a quick fast and get that
Lokpal or whatever. What else is this (12)befuddled
behaviour symptomatic of but a stupid belief in an (13)asinine narrative that compels you to assume a superpower-like
status. Well, someone tell Anna and his (14)cohorts that they - and the nation - have to put their nose to the
grindstone, and not brownnose each other, to reach their cherished destination.
Another
example of this power-puffed story plays out in what are called the corridors
of power. In bewildering times such as these, when politicos get promotions for
goofing up, these walkways should be called (15)labyrinths of power. Sushilkumar
Shinde, who didn't become President because Pranab babu suddenly developed a
great love for the gardens in Rashtrapati Bhavan, tom-tomed that the country's
power grid was better because the blackout didn't last as long as it did when
US went powerless a few years ago. The grandness of this tall claim shamelessly
(16)deep-sixed the fact that the
country suffered two blackouts on consecutive days. The sweeping
superpower-type statement that Shinde made, (17)hilariously, was perhaps evidenced only by the increased number of
Indians submerged in darkness on the second day of grid failure!
The Cabinet, led by a well-meaning but ineffectual Prime
Minister, behaves in a la-di-da fashion the vestiges of which were seen by the
world when Yuri Andropov was lording over the Soviet Union. A
Russia that was fed (18)balderdash
to believe it was a superpower and its (19) hapless, never-far-from-the-(20)gulag citizenry fed on grand gestures
and visions of grandeur. Lack of transparency and an (21)addled attitude dealing only in (22)highfalutin (23)rant is
what binds our and the now-dead Soviet (24)nomenklatura.
A) a company of companions or supporters
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B) A place or situation of great suffering and hardship, likened to the atmosphere in a prison system or a forced labor camp.
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C) Turn
of the century
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D) a temporary arrangement erected around a building for
convenience of workers
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E) Resembling an abyss in depth; unfathomable.
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F) Foolish nonsense
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G) Pompous or bombastic speech or expression.
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H) Immoral;
dishonest
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I) Confused;
perplexed
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J) not decorated with something to increase its beauty or
distinction
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K) easily bribed or corrupted
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L) Pompous or pretentious
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M) a person who uses flattery to win favour from
individuals wielding influence;
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N) Violent or extravagant speech or writing.
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O) The system of patronage to senior positions in the
bureaucracy of the Soviet Union and some other Communist states, controlled
by committees at various levels of the Communist Party.
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P) Unfortunate,
miserable
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Q) Loose fragments or grains that have been worn away from
rock
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R) complex system of paths or tunnels in which it is easy
to get lost; Maze
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S) Rejected
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T) In a funny manner
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