Because of the dead-air space that might be missed by turbulent hot air bouncing around above a fire, smoke detectors should be installed either on the ceiling at least four inches from the nearest wall, or high on a wall at least four, but no further than twelve, inches from the ceiling. Detectors should not be mounted near windows, exterior doors, or other places where drafts might direct the smoke away from the unit. Nor should they be placed in kitchens and garages, where cooking and gas fumes are likely to cause false alarms.
Which organizational scheme does this list of instructions follow?
- hierarchical order
- comparison-contrast
- cause-and-effect
- chronological order by topic
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
Analyzing the Organization:
The instructions are given in a sequence that follows the logical steps for smoke detector placement and considerations. Hence, they are organized chronologically by topic, addressing different aspects in a systematic way.
What is the main focus of this passage?
- how fire fighters carry out their responsibilities
- the proper installation of home smoke detectors
- the detection of dead-air space on walls and ceilings
- the detection of dead-air space on walls and ceilings
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Analyzing the Context:
The passage discusses installing detectors away from dead-air spaces, which are areas where stagnant air might prevent smoke from reaching the detector. It specifies that detectors be placed away from the corners where the wall meets the ceiling to avoid these spaces.
The passage implies that dead-air space is most likely to be found
- on a ceiling, between four and twelve inches from a wall
- close to where a wall meets a ceiling.
- near an open window.
- in kitchens and garages.
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Analyzing the Context:
The passage discusses installing detectors away from dead-air spaces, which are areas where stagnant air might prevent smoke from reaching the detector. It specifies that detectors be placed away from the corners where the wall meets the ceiling to avoid these spaces.
The passage states that, compared with people who do not have smoke detectors, persons who live in homes with smoke detectors have a
- 50\(\%\) better chance of surviving a fire.
- 50\(\%\) better chance of preventing a fire.
- 75\(\%\) better chance of detecting a hidden fire
- 100\(\%\) better chance of not being injured in a fire.
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Interpreting the Information:
The passage emphasizes the importance of smoke detectors in providing early warnings, which significantly increase the chances of surviving a fire by allowing for timely evacuation.
A smoke detector should NOT be installed near a window because
- outside fumes may trigger a false alarm.
- a draft may create dead-air space.
- a draft may pull smoke away from the detector.
- outside noises may muffle the sound of the detector.
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
Analyzing the Problem:
The passage explicitly warns against installing smoke detectors near windows or exterior doors because drafts in these areas could direct smoke away from the detector, preventing it from detecting smoke effectively.
The passage indicates that one responsibility of a fire fighter is to
- install smoke detectors in the homes of residents in the community.
- check homes to see if smoke detectors have been properly installed.
- develop fire safety programs for community leaders and school teachers.
- speak to school children about the importance of preventing fires.
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
Identifying the Firefighter’s Role:
The passage discusses firefighters visiting schools specifically to speak about fire safety, including the importance and installation of smoke detectors, indicating their role in educating young students about fire prevention.
A smoke detector must always be placed
- outside at least one of the bedrooms on any level of the home.
- outside all bedrooms in a home.
- in all hallways of a home.
- in kitchens where fires are most likely to start.
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Interpreting Placement Guidelines:
According to the fire safety guidelines mentioned in the passage, smoke detectors should be installed outside every sleeping area. This ensures optimal coverage for detecting smoke that may arise from any part of the home while people are sleeping, thereby enhancing safety for all occupants.
Top Questions on Reading Comprehension
From a very early age, I knew that when I grew up, I should be a writer. I had the lonely child's habit of making up stories and holding conversations with imaginary persons, and I think from the very start my literary ambitions were mixed up with the feeling of being isolated and undervalued. I knew that I had a facility with words and a power of facing unpleasant facts, and I felt that this created a sort of private world in which I could get my own back for my failure in everyday life. I wanted to write enormous naturalistic novels with unhappy endings, full of detailed descriptions and arresting similes, and also full of purple passages in which words were used partly for the sake of their sound. I give all this background information because I do not think one can assess a writer's motives without knowing something of his early development.
His subject-matter will be determined by the age he lives in — at least this is true in tumultuous, revolutionary ages like our own — but before he ever begins to write he will have acquired an emotional attitude from which he will never completely escape. It is his job to discipline his temperament, but if he escapes from his early influences altogether, he will have killed his impulse to write. I think there are four great motives for writing, at any rate for writing prose. They are: (i) Sheer egoism: Desire to seem clever, to be talked about, to be remembered after death, to get your own back on grown-ups who snubbed you in childhood; (ii) Aesthetic enthusiasm: Desire to share an experience which one feels is valuable and ought not to be missed (iii) Historical impulse: Desire to see things as they are, to find out true facts and store them up for the use of posterity (iv) Political purpose: Desire to push the world in a certain direction, to alter other people's idea of the kind of society that they should strive after.
[Extracted with edits from George Orwell's "Why I Write"]- CLAT - 2025
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