“I saw on that ivory face the expression of sombre pride, of ruthless power, of craven terror—of an intense and hopeless despair. . . . He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision—he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath: ‘The horror! The horror!’”
Which political and existential condition can be inferred from the above passage in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness?
Show Hint
- The degeneration of the corrupted white man recognizing the moral evil of imperialism
- The state of shock on witnessing the economic disaster and commercial catastrophe suffered by the unnamed Belgian company
- The sense of an ending due to the imminent failure of a new nation state
- The fear of an emerging apocalypse caused by an ecological disaster
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Context of the quote.
The passage is from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, where Marlon Kurtz, a character embodying the horrors of European imperialism, reflects on his own moral decay. His cry, “The horror! The horror!” symbolizes the realization of the brutal, dehumanizing effects of imperialism, especially in the African colonies.
Step 2: Interpretation of the quote.
The passage reflects Kurtz’s moral degeneration due to his involvement in the exploitation and corruption of the indigenous people, acknowledging the “horror” of his actions and the system of imperialism itself.
Top Questions on Reading Comprehension
- Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
It is clear that language is used for more than one purpose. The man who hits his thumb nails with a hammer and utters a string of curses is using language to relieve his feeling and needs no audience but himself. But when a philosopher uses language to clarify his ideas on a subject, he is using it as an instrument of thought. When two women gossip over the fence or two men exchange greetings as they pass in the street, language is being used to strengthen the bonds between the members of society. Language, it seems, is a multipurpose instrument. One function, however, seems to be basic — language enables us to influence people's behaviour and thereby makes human co-operation possible. Some animals co-operate especially the social animals like bees and ants, but human co-operation is more thorough, more detailed, more effective than that found anywhere in the animal kingdom. The human co-operation would be unthinkable without language.
(b) For what purpose does a philosopher use language?- UP Board XII - 2025
- English
- Reading Comprehension
- Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
It is clear that language is used for more than one purpose. The man who hits his thumb nails with a hammer and utters a string of curses is using language to relieve his feeling and needs no audience but himself. But when a philosopher uses language to clarify his ideas on a subject, he is using it as an instrument of thought. When two women gossip over the fence or two men exchange greetings as they pass in the street, language is being used to strengthen the bonds between the members of society. Language, it seems, is a multipurpose instrument. One function, however, seems to be basic — language enables us to influence people's behaviour and thereby makes human co-operation possible. Some animals co-operate especially the social animals like bees and ants, but human co-operation is more thorough, more detailed, more effective than that found anywhere in the animal kingdom. The human co-operation would be unthinkable without language.
(c) For what purpose do the two women and two men use language?- UP Board XII - 2025
- English
- Reading Comprehension
- Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
The Indian National Army plans went away with the defeat of Japan. Subhash Bose was killed in a plane accident while on his way to Tokyo. It is true that many leaders did not like the idea of India winning freedom with the assistance of a country like Japan and her fascist allies. But during the closing years of the war, Subhash Bose and the Indian National Army served to hold up the dropping spirits of the nationalist Indians at home, who were feeling helpless and frustrated. They set before all sections of the Indian people, including those serving in the army, an example of courage and patriotism which was both inspiring and ennobling. Therefore, when the Government announced their decision to prosecute some of the Indian National Army officers for treason because they had broken their oath of loyalty to the British crown, there was a wave of nationalist protest. There were massive demonstrations all over the country. There were persistent demands that the officers should be released.
(a) What was the result of the defeat of Japan?- UP Board XII - 2025
- English
- Reading Comprehension
- Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
The Indian National Army plans went away with the defeat of Japan. Subhash Bose was killed in a plane accident while on his way to Tokyo. It is true that many leaders did not like the idea of India winning freedom with the assistance of a country like Japan and her fascist allies. But during the closing years of the war, Subhash Bose and the Indian National Army served to hold up the dropping spirits of the nationalist Indians at home, who were feeling helpless and frustrated. They set before all sections of the Indian people, including those serving in the army, an example of courage and patriotism which was both inspiring and ennobling. Therefore, when the Government announced their decision to prosecute some of the Indian National Army officers for treason because they had broken their oath of loyalty to the British crown, there was a wave of nationalist protest. There were massive demonstrations all over the country. There were persistent demands that the officers should be released.
(c) Who set an example of courage and patriotism?- UP Board XII - 2025
- English
- Reading Comprehension
Read the extract and complete the activities given below :
I spent 32 years in Information Technology out of which I was a Chief Executive Officer or MDorthe software head for 23 years for large global multinational software companies with thousands of software professionals worldwide and 6 offices in the US, 3 in Europe, 1 in Japan and 1 in Australia. I had to travel all over the globe around 150 times for business. During this period, I had also written 4 books with 500-700 pages each on Information Technology published by Tata McGraw-Hill and then translated into Chinese for global distribution.
I learnt a lot of things when I was running these large companies. The first one was the importance of team work. In today’s world, nothing is possible without team work. You cannot be successful if you are a loner and an egoistic person. Secondly, you need to lead from the front by setting a good example in front of your staff. Third was that you need to treat your subordinates and your colleagues as friends. In my career, I made a few mistakes, but learnt a lot about motivation, being a good listener, target setting and the art of delegation which forms such an important part of today’s management.
After working for all these software companies for so many years, I wanted to retire from my line of work and write on various subjects concerning human life and existence. Therefore, I gave up two offers of around 3 crore rupees per annum to become a writer. This is how my second innings as a writer in Marathi began.
After this, I have written about 34 books in Marathi. Most of them have become bestsellers with tens of thousands of copies sold for each. However it is not sales or the money that is important to me as much as the fact that these books have brought about very good changes in the lives of thousands of readers.- Maharashtra Class XII - 2025
- English
- Reading Comprehension
Questions Asked in GATE XH-C2 exam
Eight students (P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, and W) are playing musical chairs. The figure indicates their order of position at the start of the game. They play the game by moving forward in a circle in the clockwise direction.
After the 1st round, the 4th student behind P leaves the game.
After the 2nd round, the 5th student behind Q leaves the game.
After the 3rd round, the 3rd student behind V leaves the game.
After the 4th round, the 4th student behind U leaves the game.
Who all are left in the game after the 4th round?
The 12 musical notes are given as \( C, C^\#, D, D^\#, E, F, F^\#, G, G^\#, A, A^\#, B \). Frequency of each note is \( \sqrt[12]{2} \) times the frequency of the previous note. If the frequency of the note C is 130.8 Hz, then the ratio of frequencies of notes F# and C is:
Here are two analogous groups, Group-I and Group-II, that list words in their decreasing order of intensity. Identify the missing word in Group-II.
Abuse \( \rightarrow \) Insult \( \rightarrow \) Ridicule
__________ \( \rightarrow \) Praise \( \rightarrow \) Appreciate
- Had I learnt acting as a child, I ________ a famous film star.
Select the most appropriate option to complete the above sentence. - A car started from city P at 9:40 AM. The time taken for the car to reach city Q is 4 hours and 50 minutes. The time of arrival of the car at city Q is: