Quiz: Reading Comprehension

Directions (Q.1-10): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them.

Last week, when nine well-known media houses began publishing directly to Facebook, allowing the social media giant’s 1.4 billion users to read stories then and there, those in the embattled media industry would have felt relieved and uneasy at the same time. Relieved, because of what, on the face of it, seems to be a sweet deal for all the nine publishers that are part of Facebook’s direct publishing feature, Instant Articles. The New York Times, National Geographic, BuzzFeed, NBC, The Atlantic, The Guardian, BBC, Spiegel Online, and Bild can sell advertisements on their own and keep all of those revenues. Alternatively, they can allow Facebook to sell and still keep 70 per cent of the proceeds. For an industry that is struggling with the aftermath of the digital disruption, this is a welcome revenue-raising opportunity. According to the Pew Research Center’s State of the News Media 2015 report, revenues from print advertising fell in 2014 over the previous year while revenues from digital advertising grew. The catch: the good showing of digital wasn’t even nearly good enough to make up for print’s shortfall. In the U.S., print advertising dollars fell by nearly a billion while digital dollars just about managed a growth of 100 million.

Still, it is difficult not to feel uncomfortable about Facebook’s growing clout as a distributor of news. Top publishers are already on board Instant Articles, and more are itching to follow suit. Their websites could increasingly become less relevant. As more and more publishers join it, each of them individually will need Facebook more than it needs them. But avoiding a partnership with Facebook, as some publishers have suggested they would, isn’t a wise thing to do. As the Pew Research Center’s report put it, nearly half of those surveyed said they had accessed news on politics and government on Facebook in the week before. Also, the platform attracts roughly a fourth of the display advertisement revenues and more than a third of mobile display advertisement revenues. This is in sharp contrast to the experience of news organisations in garnering digital revenues. Befriending Facebook now is a no-brainer, especially given that publishing houses long ago ceded control of news distribution to technology firms. They have only themselves to blame. What they ought to ensure now is not to become too dependent on any one platform, even as they continue to build their identities both online and offline. Fortunately for the publishers, the likes of Snapchat, Facebook’s promising rival which has managed to woo the youth, do seem to give the hope that the publisher-distributor relationship wouldn’t be one-sided.

-Source The Hindu, Delhi Edition, 23^rd May

Q.1.Choose an appropriate title for the passage.

1) With Knowledge-Facebook

2) News at Express speed

3) The News From Facebook

4) Its all about Revenues

5) A late Step

Q.2.Which of the following social networking sites is mentioned in the passage?

A) Facebook

B) Twitter

C) Snapchat

1) Only A and B

2) Only B and C

3) Only C and A

4) All A, B and C

5) None

Q.3.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A) The platform attracts roughly a fourth of the display advertisement revenues and more than a third of mobile display advertisement revenues.

B) According to the Pew Research Center’s State of the News Media 2015 report, revenues from print advertising rose in 2014 over the previous year

C) Top publishers are already on board Instant Articles, and more are itching to follow suit.

1) Only A and C

2) Only B and C

3) Only B and A

4) All A, B and C

5) None

Q.4.What does the author suggest to the news publishing firms and urge them to ensure?

1) He want them to make association for healthy competition.

2) He want them to not become completely dependent on the Facebook.

3) He want them to weigh their chances and proceed accordingly

4) He want them to make all stuff free so that people can learn

5) None of the above.

Q.5.What does the author mean by the phrase “Befriending Facebook now is a no-brainer”?

1) Having a rival like facebook is no brainer.

2) The Decision of being friend with facebook is a wise decision at the right time.

3) The decision of being friend with facebook at this point of time is crucial for all.

4) It means that being friend with facebook at this point of time is not a wise decision.

5) None of these

Q.6. Which of the following is not the synonym of the word “Ceded”?

1) Gain

2) Abate

3) Deviate

4) Depart

5) Moderate

Q.7. Which of the following is the synonym of the word “Clout”?

1) Secret

2) Formal

3) Sway

4) Fond

5) Similar

Q.8. Which of the following is the synonym of the word “accessed”?

1) Unclear

2) Improve

3) Willingness

4) Allay

5) Acquire

Q.9. Which of the following is the synonym of the word “embattled”?

1) Compare

2) Highest

3) Calm

4) Fortified

5) Relevant

Q.10. Which of the following is not the synonym of the word “uneasy”?

1) Shelter

2) Calm

3) Weaken

4) Bold

5) Grant

1. (3)

2. (3)

3. (1)

4. (2)

5. (4)

6. (1)

7. (3)

8. (5)

9. (4)

10. (2)