QP-IFSM-25-GENERAL-ENGLISH-241125

Indian Forest Services (Main) Examination-2025 DJSM-G-ENGH GENERAL ENGLISH Time Allowed : Three Hours Maximum Marks : 300 Question Paper Specific Instructions Please read each of the following instructions carefully before attempting questions. All the questions are to be attempted. The number of marks carried by a question/part is indicated against it. Word limit of the answers, if specified, should be adhered to. You must not disclose your identity in any of your answers. Answers must be written in ENGLISH only. Ql. Write an essay in about 800 - 1000 words on any one of the following : 100 (8) ` Childhood in conflict zones (b) Wildlife preservation and the development drive (૦) Freedom in the age of digital surveillance (0) Impact of Artificial Intelligence on employment sector Q2. (a) Expand the idea given in the following proverb in a paragraph of about 200 words : 25 ‘Grey hair is a sign of age, not of wisdom.’ (b) Write a newspaper report on the rise of young Indian grandmasters in chess in recent years. (Do not write your name or address or give any information revealing your identity. Use only ABC/XYZ for all proper nouns) 25 DJSM-G-ENGH 1 Q3. (nisi) 292 Write a precis of the following passage in about 165 words, one-third of the original length. Do not give it any title. Places are synthetic compositions of meaning, social relations, and nature. These elements often combine into a nearly seamless web in our experience of place, but a theoretical understanding of place requires that they be kept analytically separate in order to understand how each component contributes to the functioning of place in relation to human projects. Their origins as human constructions are often hidden by the mere fact that places are “always there”. It is during extreme and traumatic moments that their contingent nature becomes evident. To what kind of trauma does place destruction lead ? How does one narrate the trauma of what may be referred to as “place annihilation” ? What is the form of trauma that one can associate with the destruction of place in natural disasters ? Natural disaster fits within a category of events that would seem in, and of themselves, to be culturally traumatic; but, because cultural trauma is made, no events “qualify automatically”. However, certain aspects of natural disasters and their cultural interpretations make such events categorically distinct from other potentially traumatic occurrences and, to a certain extent, less likely candidates as sources of cultural trauma. One of the consequences of place annihilation is a sense of individual and collective insecurity in relation to an indifferent nature. Such a potential loss threatens in a manner that exposes the fragility and contingency of that which humans rarely question — that is, the continuity of the physical landscapes, built environments, social rules, and cultural meanings that give both visible and invisible order to the rhythms of everyday existence. Such situations would seemingly have consequences for individual and collective identity and thus would be an important part of cultural trauma. Indeed, in the specific circumstance in which place annihilation 15 interpreted broadly to include the usurpation of place of one group replacing another, the result can have immediate, dramatic, and lasting consequences for collective identity. DJSM-G-ENGH 2 50 When, however, the cause of the destruction is seen to be a natural process, or interpreted as if it were a natural process, its relation to collective identity is not as clear. Concomitantly, the likelihood of its becoming an element of cultural memory is relatively low. Natural events rarely touch on the collective sense of the sacred in ways similar to humanly caused events. Nor do they have the same connection to a strong negative affect, such as guilt or shame. In the modern era, the cultural value given to the remembrance of trauma created by natural catastrophes is relatively low. Another possible reason for this forgetfulness is that such events lack the hope of collective edification through remembering. There are indeed many lessons to be learned from such events, but these have become culturally categorized as lessons for political leaders, social managers, and experts — in other words, for those charged with protecting and manipulating the natural realm in the construction of places for communal projects. The emphasis is thus in the realm of the instrumental as opposed to the affective. (498 words) Q4. Read the following passage and answer the questions given below in your own words : 10x5=50 The process of urbanization (i.e., the evolution of towns) involves certain relationships between the unit of the town and the unit of the peasant society supporting it. A primary requisite is surplus food production. This involves an analysis in each case of how the surplus was transported to the urban centre — here again demography becomes crucial, apart from transport technology; and what was the mechanism by which the urban centre could extract the surplus — was it a tribute to a conqueror, or a political authority deriving sanction from either secular or religious demands or an economic exchange ? Once again, the relationship between the town and the peasant community can be better grasped by a DJSM-G-ENGH 3 comprehension of the function of towns and villages rather than by a description of cultural assemblages alone. A further prerequisite for urbanization is trade. This involves more than a listing of the items produced in a particular town and presumably traded. It involves the placing of a town within an entire trading network, the latter being constituted of areas of production, areas of distribution and the means of contact and transportation. Each item of trade would have to be discussed in these terms. Ceramic industries, metals, beads and precious stones are useful criteria for this kind of analysis. Is it true, as it has been maintained by some, that trade develops in areas which are the meeting point of contrasting ecologies and contrasting cultures ? This would relate not only to the choice of sites for towns, but would also explain the rationale for the production and exchange of goods. Is there a deliberate production of particular items solely for trading purposes ? The latter would suggest a more sophisticated trading network. In assessing the source and distribution of artifacts, methods of quantification can be used, provided the variables are accounted for. An understanding of the processes of urbanization affords ৪ better explanation for the decline of cities as well. The pre-industrial city is dependent on the coming together of various factors — a favourable ecological base, cross-cultural contacts in goods and ideas, advanced technology relating particularly to food-production and metallurgy, social organization involving specialized skills, a power structure with the control of the city in the hands of an elite and communication with the environs. The decline of cities is due to the malfunctioning of these factors either jointly or individually on an appreciably massive scale. Invasions alone rarely lead to the decline of cities although they generally result in temporary dislocation. Only the systematic destruction of a city by invaders can lead to its decline through invasion. DJSM-G-ENGH 4 The settlement pattern of towns can indicate social organization. Much of the history of a town is contained in its pattern of growth. Population estimates would help explain the agrarian environment and the trading network. The existence and organization of markets, either as arbitrary centres of exchange or as control points, would provide evidence on the role of the elite. Concern for the nature of the market again means, essentially, a detailed study of the area surrounding the urban centre and its relationship with this area. Material and cultural differences occurring consistently in distinctive sections of the town may suggest a variation of social groups, though the central factor here would be the precise nature of the differences. (a) What role does surplus food production play in the process of urbanization ? (b) | What does the author mean by the term ‘trade’ in the given passage 7 (০) | What are the factors that contribute to the growth of a city 7 (1) 61૪૯ the reasons responsible for the decline of a city. (€) Howis the history of a town reflected in its pattern of growth 7 Q5. (a) Rewrite the following sentences after correcting the grammatical errors in each : 1x10=10 (1) The chief guest gave out prizes to the meritorious students. (ii) You love singing, aren’t you ? (iii) Last month, I bought a lot of furnitures for my new home. (iv) The Indian wrestler knocked down her opponent from the contest. യ | One should perform his duties. (vi) Shubhman Gill has scored a century in his last innings. (vii) Neither of them were invited to the party. (viii) He insisted to leave immediately. (ix) What beautiful image ! (x) India is heading fastly towards a phase of high economic growth. DJSM-G-ENGH 5 യ) Write the adjective forms of the following words : 1x5=5 (1) Mortality (ii) Modification (1) Sensibility (iv) Providence (ए) Prophecy (c) Make one sentence with each of the following idiomatic expressions bringing out their meanings clearly : 2x5=10 (1) Smell a rat (ii) Hit the nail on the head (iii) Split hairs (iv) Keep one’s head above water (੮) ୮, sleeping dogs lie (d) Rewrite the following sentences as directed without changing their meaning : 2x5=10 0) He was obstinate. He was punished. (Combine into one sentence using ‘as’) (1) भाट said to him, “Please wait here till I return.” (Change into Indirect Speech) (iii) | He is too ignorant to be a postman. (Rewrite the sentence omitting ‘too’ and ‘to’) (iv) Are they not praising me ? (Change into Passive Voice) ) (٦ہ‎ building in the city is as tall as Ushakiran. (Rewrite using the Superlative Degree) DJSM-G-ENGH 6 (e) | Change the Gender of the following words : 1x5=5 0) एण्ड 01) Nun (iii) Sorceress (iv) Stag യ Abbot (f) Make one sentence with each of the following words to make the meaning clear : 2x5=10 (1) Accede, Exceed (11) Ascent, Assent (11) ` Corporal, Corporeal (1೪) Extant, Extent (v) Feat, Feet DJSM-G-ENGH 7 = ६ रै હ ४ woe 1 7 ‏یٹ‎ ‎ക लि