Difficulty: Easy
Correct Answer: Industrial
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
This reading-comprehension question comes from a passage about the Madras Photographic Society and the Madras School of Arts, founded by Alexander Hunter. The passage describes how the school's syllabus was revised by Hunter and an eight-member committee. They introduced two streams and renamed the institution the Government School of Industrial Arts. The question specifically asks which course or stream was offered in addition to “Artistic”. To answer correctly, you must carefully recall or scan the relevant sentence in the passage and pay attention to the exact pair of streams mentioned.
Given Data / Assumptions:
Concept / Approach:
This is a straightforward factual question based on a specific line in the passage. The strategy is to remember or locate the sentence describing how the syllabus changed. The crucial phrase in the passage is something like “offering two streams, Industrial and Artistic.” Once you identify this phrase, it becomes clear that “Industrial” is the other stream alongside “Artistic.” The options “History”, “Journalism” and “Craft” are distractors that do not appear in the relevant part of the text. Reading carefully instead of relying on guesswork is key in such direct detail questions.
Step-by-Step Solution:
1. Recall the part of the passage where the syllabus of the Madras School of Arts was revised.
2. Identify the sentence that mentions the introduction of two streams.
3. Note that the passage explicitly lists the two streams as “Industrial and Artistic”.
4. The question asks for the course offered “besides Artistic”, so you must choose the other member of this pair.
5. Therefore, select “Industrial” as the correct answer.
Verification / Alternative check:
To verify, mentally reconstruct the relevant line: “There, he and an eight-member committee revised the syllabus, offering two streams, Industrial and Artistic.” This confirms that “Industrial” is directly paired with “Artistic” in the text. The distractor options—“History”, “Journalism” and “Craft”—are either not mentioned at all in the passage or are mentioned in different contexts, if at all. Because the reasoning depends only on careful reading of one clear sentence, there is no ambiguity: “Industrial” is the only answer that fits the question accurately.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
• “History” is not listed in the passage as one of the two streams introduced at the school.
• “Journalism” is not mentioned in the description of the Madras School of Arts and is unrelated to its original focus.
• “Craft” may sound relevant to an arts institution, but the passage specifically uses the terms “Industrial” and “Artistic”, not “Craft”.
Common Pitfalls:
A common mistake in reading comprehension is to rely on general knowledge or intuition instead of the exact wording of the passage. Because an arts school might commonly deal with history, crafts, or even media, some students may choose an option that “sounds right” rather than one that is actually stated in the text. To avoid this, always go back to the relevant lines and verify that the phrase in the option precisely matches what the passage says. Direct detail questions like this are designed to reward careful reading rather than guessing.
Final Answer:
The other course offered alongside “Artistic” was Industrial, so the correct answer is “Industrial”.
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