PASSAGE
The impact of technical advancement in armaments on man, needs to be analyzed with a rational mind, and heart free from prejudices of any kind towards modernisation. The most noticeable impact of this development certainly has been the loss of immunity from violence for successive generations ever since the invention of gunpowder. In modern times, the presence of technically advanced arms, not only at the fronts but also among the civilian population, has vastly undermined the value of human life, and endangered the very entity of those virtues of self-restraint and discretion, on which. a peaceful and amiable society rests. However, an unbiased view of the present scenario, would refrain one from attributing the rising trends of violence to the availability of technically superior weapons, for one must not overlook the fact that Necessity is the mother of invention. Every stage in the development of armaments has been marked by its distinct impact on society. When man fought with stones and his bare hands, the society was not yet compact. The discovery of metal and the use of spears, knives and arrows indicate the stage of the formation of small kingdoms. Fire continued to be an effective weapon of destruction. When man introduced the cavalry into the army and improved the strategies of making war, some small kingdoms gave away to form empires, but with no revolutionary advances in armaments forthcoming, the political structure of society remained mare or less stagnant for the many coming centuries. The next significant development was the use of gunpowder, which could be used to perform acts which were then thought to be impossible. Gunpowder was used to form the ammunition of several guns and canons. This sudden advances in weaponry not only facilitated the control of a large mass of people by relatively few armed men that helping to form strong empires, but the availability of the new technology to a select few nations enabled the formation of colonies in continents which did not have access to the modernized technologies of warfare. Modern technological advances in armaments aided the formation of nation states in Europe. The extensive use of the fire-power lent a lethal edge to the naval power which proved to be the greatest asset to any nation in the 19th century. Small United Nations States of Europe with strong navies, modern arms and disciplined men gained control of lands in foreign continents far greater in areas than the parent countries.
Q.1 Necessity is the mother of invention means
A) where there is mother there IS invention
B) when necessity arises invention IS done
C) most of the invention are preplanned
D) nothing happens without creating congenial environment
Q.2 The invention of modern weapons have resulted into
A) loss of immunity from war in the society
B) successive wars for the last two centuries.
C) arms race among the nations
D) loss of life and property every now and then
Q.3 Small kingdoms turned into big empires, after
A) the invention of cavalry and canons and its introduction into the army
B) the introduction of nuclear arms into the army
C) the end of the use of knives, arrows and swords
D) the end of the 19th century
Q.4 The style of the passage is
A) informative
B) analytical
C) retrospective
D) provocative
B
A
A
C