20 multiple-choice (MCQ / objective) questions from this chapter, in the common exam-style shapes. Every question comes with an explanation along with the answer, so you remember why the option is correct, not just which one it is.
1 Direct Questions
Direct Questions
- 1 markAccording to the author, which of these women “must have used” pancake make-up?
(A) Meena Kumari(B) Waheeda Rehman(C) Nutan(D) Greta Garbo - 1 markThe make-up department was in the upstairs of a building believed to have been whose stables?
(A) S.S. Vasan’s(B) Robert Clive’s(C) Warren Hastings’(D) Lord Cornwallis’s - 1 markWho first headed the make-up department?
(A) An Andhra(B) A Maharashtrian(C) A Tamil(D) A Bengali - 1 markWhat advantage does the author, ironically, attribute to Subbu over the office boy?
(A) Being born a Brahmin(B) Family wealth(C) A university education(D) An early stroke of luck in films - 1 markHow did everybody at Gemini Studios refer to the legal adviser?
(A) As “the poet”(B) As “the opposite” of his title(C) As “the Boss”(D) As “the Captain” - 1 markWhat happened after the lawyer played back the actress’s recorded outburst?
(A) She was struck dumb and never quite recovered(B) She thanked him for his honesty(C) Nothing changed for her(D) She complained to The Boss - 1 markIn which year did the Moral Re-Armament (MRA) army visit Madras?
(A) 1940(B) 1947(C) 1960(D) 1952 - 1 markWhat was the visiting Englishman’s actual profession, as clarified to the Gemini staff?
(A) He was an editor, not a poet(B) He was a poet, not an editor(C) He was a film director(D) He was a lawyer
2 Assertion-Reason
Assertion-Reason
- 1 markAssertion (A): The author calls the make-up department’s mixed staff an example of “national integration.”
Reason (R): The government had specifically trained the make-up staff for a national-integration programme.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A(B) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true - 1 markAssertion (A): The Story Department stopped existing partway through the events of the chapter.
Reason (R): The lawyer’s own attempt at producing a film was not very successful.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A(B) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true - 1 markAssertion (A): The Gemini audience clearly understood the English visitor’s talk.
Reason (R): The visitor’s accent defeated any attempt to understand what he was saying.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A(B) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true
3 Match the Following
Match the Following
- 1 markMatch the work in Column A with the person connected to it in Column B, and choose the correct combination.
Column A: 1) My Years with Boss 2) Thillana Mohanambal 3) The God That Failed 4) Ananda Vikatan
Column B: (i) Weekly magazine edited by Vasan (ii) Book of six essays on disillusionment with Communism (iii) Asokamitran’s own book (iv) Novel written by Subbu
(A) 1-ii, 2-i, 3-iv, 4-iii(B) 1-i, 2-ii, 3-iii, 4-iv(C) 1-iv, 2-iii, 3-i, 4-ii(D) 1-iii, 2-iv, 3-ii, 4-i
4 Statement-Based Questions
Statement-Based Questions
- 1 markStatement I: The author states with certainty exactly why Subbu had enemies.
Statement II: Subbu was, in the author’s words, “charitable and improvident.”
(A) Both I and II are false(B) I is false, II is true(C) I is true, II is false(D) Both I and II are true - 1 markStatement I: The Gemini staff understood most of what the English visitor said.
Statement II: The visit is called an “unexplained mystery” in the text.
(A) I is true, II is false(B) Both I and II are true(C) I is false, II is true(D) Both I and II are false
5 Arrange in the Correct Order
Arrange in the Correct Order
- 1 markArrange the following anecdotes in the order they appear in the chapter.
1) The Moral Re-Armament visit
2) The make-up department and the office boy
3) Kothamangalam Subbu’s portrait
4) The unnamed English visitor
(A) 3, 2, 4, 1(B) 4, 3, 2, 1(C) 2, 3, 1, 4(D) 2, 1, 3, 4 - 1 markArrange the following in the order they occur.
1) Someone calls the MRA group “an international circus”
2) MRA presents Jotham Valley and The Forgotten Factor
3) For some years, almost all Tamil plays have a sunrise-and-sunset scene in the manner of Jotham Valley
4) MRA visits Madras in 1952 and finds Gemini Studios its warmest host
(A) 4, 2, 1, 3(B) 1, 4, 2, 3(C) 2, 4, 1, 3(D) 4, 1, 2, 3
6 Fill in the Blanks
Fill in the Blanks
- 1 markGemini Studios, founded by S.S. Vasan, was set up in the year ______.
(A) 1940(B) 1952(C) 1947(D) 1935
7 Odd One Out
Odd One Out
- 1 markWhich of the following is the odd one out?
(A) S.S. Vasan(B) S.D.S. Yogiar(C) Sangu Subramanyam(D) Krishna Sastry
8 Passage-Based Questions
Passage-Based Questions
Passage
Stephen Spender! Suddenly the book assumed tremendous significance. Stephen Spender, the poet who had visited Gemini Studios! In a moment I felt a dark chamber of my mind lit up by a hazy illumination. The reaction to Stephen Spender at Gemini Studios was no longer a mystery. The Boss of the Gemini Studios may not have much to do with Spender’s poetry. But not with his god that failed.
- 1 markAccording to the passage, what does the author now understand about the reaction to Spender at Gemini Studios?
(A) It was no longer a mystery: it had to do with Spender’s ‘god that failed’, not his poetry(B) It had been caused by Spender’s poetry(C) It had been arranged by the MRA(D) It still remained a complete mystery
9 True / False
True / False
- 1 markRead the following statements and choose how many of them are TRUE.
1) Gemini Studios was founded in 1940 by S.S. Vasan.
2) Asokamitran’s own job was to cut out and file newspaper clippings.
3) The make-up department was located above what were believed to be Robert Clive’s stables.
4) The Story Department had no lawyer among its members.
(A) One(B) Two(C) Three(D) Four
Answer Key and Explanations
Direct Questions
- (D) The author names Greta Garbo, Miss Gohar and Vyjayantimala as having “must have used” pancake.
- (B) The building was believed to have been Robert Clive’s stables; a dozen other Madras buildings are separately said to have been his residence.
- (D) It “was first headed by a Bengali who became too big for a studio and left.”
- (A) The author notes, with irony, that “by virtue of being born a Brahmin — a virtue, indeed! — he must have had exposure to more affluent situations and people.”
- (B) “The lawyer was also officially known as the legal adviser, but everybody referred to him as the opposite.”
- (A) Hearing her own voice again through the sound equipment left her “struck dumb”; “She never quite recovered from the terror she felt that day,” which ended “a brief and brilliant acting career.”
- (D) The chapter states the MRA army, about two hundred strong, visited Madras “sometime in 1952.”
- (A) “He is not a poet. He is an editor,” the staff are told, which is why The Boss gave him a big reception.
Assertion-Reason
- (C) A is true: the author does call it national integration. R is not supported by the text, so it is taken as false: the chapter mentions no such training, and the phrase is the author’s own ironic label.
- (B) Both statements are independently true: the Story Department did stop existing once The Boss closed it down, and the lawyer’s own film met with limited success. R does not explain A: the text leaves the department’s closure completely unexplained.
- (D) A is false: “He couldn’t have addressed a more dazed and silent audience — no one knew what he was talking about.” R is true: “his accent defeated any attempt to understand what he was saying.”
Match the Following
- (D) My Years with Boss is Asokamitran’s own book (iii), Thillana Mohanambal is Subbu’s novel (iv), The God That Failed is the essay collection (ii), and Ananda Vikatan is Vasan’s weekly (i).
Statement-Based Questions
- (B) Statement I is false: the author only speculates (closeness to The Boss, a sycophant-like demeanour, or excessive niceness) without settling on one reason. Statement II is true, quoted directly.
- (C) Statement I is false: the audience was “dazed and silent,” defeated by his accent. Statement II is true, quoted directly from the chapter’s closing line on the episode.
Arrange in the Correct Order
- (C) The chapter opens with the make-up department and office boy (2), moves to Subbu (3), then MRA’s 1952 visit (1), then the English visitor (4).
- (D) MRA visits Madras and is warmly hosted by Gemini Studios (4), someone calls the group an international circus (1), they present their two plays (2), and for some years Tamil plays have a sunrise-and-sunset scene in their manner (3).
Fill in the Blanks
- (A) The chapter states Gemini Studios “was set up in 1940.”
Odd One Out
- (A) Yogiar, Subramanyam and Krishna Sastry are all poets who frequented Gemini Studios. S.S. Vasan is the studio’s founder, “The Boss,” not one of the visiting poets.
Passage-Based Questions
- (A) The passage says “The reaction to Stephen Spender at Gemini Studios was no longer a mystery. The Boss of the Gemini Studios may not have much to do with Spender’s poetry. But not with his god that failed.”
True / False
- (C) Statements 1, 2 and 3 are true. Statement 4 is false: the Story Department did include a lawyer, the legal adviser whom everybody “referred to … as the opposite.”
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