List of top English Questions

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(1) Silk is a natural protein fibre, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. Silk has a long history in India. It is known as Resham in eastern and northern India, and Pattu in the southern parts of India. India is the second largest producer of silk in the world after China.
(2) Silk is renowned for its luxurious qualities with a natural soft and smooth texture that feels comfortable on the skin. One of its unique qualities is to absorb and release moisture, regulating the body temperature, and keeping the wearer cool and dry.
(3) Silk is one of the strongest natural fibres, but it loses up to 20% of its strength when wet. Its elasticity is moderate to poor: if elongated even a small amount, it remains stretched. It can be weakened if exposed to too much sunlight. It may also be attacked by insects, especially if left dirty.
(4) The process of silk production is known as sericulture. Silk is produced by several insects; but, generally, only the silk of moth caterpillars has been used for textile manufacturing. To produce 1 kg of silk, 104 kg of mulberry leaves must be eaten by 3000 silkworms.
(5) So what makes silk so costly ? Firstly, cultivation of silk is a labour-intensive work. Secondly, the silk fabric is carefully derived from the larva of the silkworms which spin silk threads around themselves to make cocoons from natural sources. This makes the production limited due to factors like - climate, availability of quality mulberry leaves and time required by silkworms to complete their lifecycle. Thirdly, the intensive work can only be carried out with specialized knowledge and expertise by skilled artisans andcraftsmanship. Lastly, superior quality silk fabrics are made from long and uniform silk fibres giving them a smooth and lustrous appearance. Thus, production requires careful selection, adding to the cost.
In 2021, Karnataka was the highest producer of raw silk at 8483 metric tonnes followed by Andhra Pradesh at 5520 metric tonnes with Assam close behind at 5038 metric tonnes. At the other end of the spectrum there was Chhattisgarh (248 metric tonnes), Nagaland (230 metric tonnes) and UP trailed behind at 179 metric tonnes.
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Read the following passage carefully :
(1) Saffron is a spice that's long been revered across the globe,captivating hearts and palates with its deep-red hue and complex flavour. It is one of the most prized spices that you can find on this planet. Just like gold is among the most valuable metals in the world,saffron means the same in the world of spices. Also known as 'kesar' in Hindi, it has a rich history and is often called an ancient spice.Saffron is being used since ages in various foods made for the royals and the elite as it contains medicinal properties.
(2) Originating from the delicate stigma of the saffron crocus flower, it transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary, infusing dishes with a subtle, earthy sweetness that adds a special taste to the palate.Saffron has a strong exotic aroma and a unique flavour and is used to colour and flavour many Mediterranean and Asian dishes, particularly rice, fish and English, Scandinavian, and Balkan breads.
(3) Saffron forms the backbone of several iconic dishes from around the world, such as the Spanish rice, seafood dish Paella, the French stew Bouillabaisse, Italian rice dish Risotto Milanese, the Indian ice cream Kesar Kulfi, Pakistani rice dish Biryani, and baked Iranian rice Tachin. Saffron's rich red colour is attributed to crocin; its bitter taste, to picrocrocin; and its distinctive aroma, to safranal.
(4) Saffron is cultivated chiefly in Iran but is also grown in Spain,France, Italy, and parts of India. A labour-intensive crop, the three stigmas are handpicked from each flower, spread on trays, and dried over charcoal fires for use as a food flavouring and colouring agent.
(5) Most historians speculate it was first domesticated in Iran, but south-western Greek islands remain strong contenders. Traders,conquerors, and world explorers introduced it to China, India and the Middle East. From there, it travelled to Mediterranean Europe.
(6) The high retail value of saffron is maintained in world markets because of labour-intensive harvesting methods, which require some 444,000 hand-picked saffron stigmas per kilogram - equivalently,150,000 crocus flowers per kilogram. Forty hours of labour are needed to pick 150,000 flowers. Almost all saffron grows in a belt from Spain in the west to India in the east. Iran is responsible for around 88% of global production. Afghanistan comes second, and Spain is the third largest producer, while the United Arab Emirates, Greece, the Indian subcontinent and Morocco are among minor producers.
(7) Given its high price, adulteration is quite common, unfortunately.Adulterants like beetroot or pomegranate are used to enhance red colour; silk fibres, oil, or wax are used to add bulk, and powdered saffron can be adulterated with turmeric and paprika.
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(1) Creativity is our most precious resource and the most inexhaustible one. As anyone who has ever spent any time with children knows, every single human being is born creative; every human being is innately endowed with the ability to combine data and perceptions, materials and ideas and devise new ways of thinking and doing. What fosters creativity? More than anything else: the presence of other creative people, contrary to that creativity is the province of great individual geniuses. In fact, creativity is a social process. Our biggest creative breakthrough comes when people learn from, compete with, and collaborate with other people. 
(2) Cities are centres of creativity. With their diverse populations, dense social networks, and public spaces, people can meet spontaneously and spark or catalyse new ideas. With their infrastructure for finance, organization, and trade, they allow the idea to swiftly reach its destination. 
(3) A study tracking the decline of unconventional thinking ability as children age states that while 98 percent of 3 to 5-year-olds exhibited creative thinking, this dwindled to 10 percent among 13 to 15-year-olds and a mere 2 percent among 25-year-olds. Thus, adulthood witnesses the erosion of innate creativity. There is a variance in creative vitality across cities. Although all cities harbour creative individuals by default, some are saturated with leaders, institutions, and people that inhibit creativity. 
(4) Creativity (or the lack of it) follows the same general contours of the great socio-economic divide– our rising inequality– that plagues us. According to estimates, roughly one-third of people are able to do work which engages our creative faculties to some extent, whether as artists, musicians, writers, techies, innovators, entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers, journalists, or educators. That leaves a group termed “the other 66 percent”, in which their creativity is subjugated, ignored, or wasted. 
(5) Creativity itself is not in danger. It is flourishing all around us– in science and technology, arts and culture, in our rapidly revitalizing cities. But we still have a long way to go if we want to build a truly creative society that supports and rewards creativity for each one of us. (Created for academic usage / 410 words)