Question ID - 83952 | SaraNextGen Top Answer

Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.                                                                                                 PASSAGE The Printing Press has made knowledge available to the vast multitude of people-Pray, what kind of knowledge is it? Is it of any permanent character? Books have become common and, when we say that books like the Sexton Blake series sell like hot cakes, we have an index of the nature of knowledge which a typical person in a vast multitude seeks. Let me tell you of an incident that took place in America a few years ago. An American publisher printed a million copies of the works of Charles Dickens in the hope that he could easily sell them on the name of the author. But to his disappointment, not even the widest publicity and advertisement could enable him to sell the books. Being sorely tired, he hit on a plan. He tore off the cover pages, substituted covers containing sensational love headings for the titles and again advertised the new books. In a week, all the books were sold out. We are not concerned here with the moral of the bookseller’s action. What we have to note is that only books of a sensational type are really sought for by the ordinary folk who have a great aversion to serious study. So, you will see that the grand argument that the Printing Press has made knowledge available even to the masses is certainly fallacious and quite misleading. To put it correctly, it has created a taste for low order of books.
Sexton Blake series are big sellers because they
(a)	disseminate knowledge.	(b)	are informative.
(c)	satisfy a typically serious reader.	(d)	are sensational.
The American publisher had chosen the works of Charles Dickens to
(a)	give wide publicity of Dickens’ works.	(b)	offer the readers what best he could.
(c)	counter the trash.	(d)	make money easily.
What is the main contention of the passage?
(a)	To stress the popularity of the printing press.	(b)	To point out the disappointment of serious readers.
(c)	To shed light on the morale of the publishers.	(d)	To bring out the evil impacts of the printing press.
The author’s contention makes us feel that he
(a)	is unilateral in his argument.	(b)	is balanced.
(c)	is a typical critic.	(d)	argues convincingly.
Who is Charles Dickens?
(a)	A playwright.	(b)	An epic poet.
(c)	A short story writer.	(d)	A novelist.