If we look at the world around us and all that is happening therein,

If we look at the world around us and all that is happening therein, we would be tempted to believe that either nature has made great difference between men and women or that past civilisations have been extremely partial towards men. In every sphere of life, women are routinely discriminated against and treated as inferior to men. While men are spoken about for their intellect and leadership, women are only spoken about for their beauty. What makes matters worse is that it is women themselves who are partly to be blamed for this state of affairs because they pay too much attention to their external appearance and too little attention to what lies within their heads. The myriad books authored by men, which portray women as beguiling mistresses rather than as devoted wives, have only fuelled this perception. Thanks to the specious impression created by these books, women (with the exception of a select few) become intoxicated by all the attention being showered on them and end up believing that their purpose in life is to win the love and approval of men, when they should actually be devoting their lives to more noble pursuits in order to earn the respect of the society.

While I don’t intend to vigorously fght the people who view women as inferior to them, I defnitely want to make my stand on the issue clear. There is no denying the fact that nature has made women inferior to men, at least physically. Men have always been the protectors whereas women have been simply expected to yield, in no small measure due to them being physical weaker. This is the way nature made things and I am fne with it. What I have a problem with is that men have taken this physical inferiority much further and ordained women as the overall weaker sex who are merely objects of allure. This is simply not correct as women can often be mentally much stronger than men. Women also have a much greater capacity for bearing pain, as any woman who has been through labour will testify. I only request my fellow women to not get taken in by all the attention men shower on them for their beauty and try to rise above such superfcial concerns and make their mark on this world.

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to:

(A) question male writers for not focusing on the issues of women in their literary works.
(B) reconcile two contrasting opinions about the role of women in our society.
(C) describe how parents and schools are making women weak by encouraging them to focus only on superfcial beauty.
(D) argue that women are meant to and should be encouraged to serve a higher purpose in society than just look attractive.
(E) propose a restructuring of the roles of women in society by shifting the focus from attractiveness to more noble ambitions.

2. According to the passage, who among the following is responsible for the current state of women in the society?

i. The parents of women
ii. The women themselves
iii. Books by some male writers

(A) i only
(B) ii only
(C) ii and iii only
(D) i and iii only
(E) i, ii and iii only

3. What is the meaning of ‘specious’, as used in the passage?

(A) large
(B) deceptive
(C) accommodating
(D) unconvincing
(E) malicious

4. Which of the following assertions would the author of the passage most likely agree with?

i. Men are physically superior to women.
ii. Women enjoy the attention lavished on them by men.
iii. Women should rebel against the injustices meted out to them by men.

(A) i only
(B) iii only
(C) ii and iii only
(D) i and ii only
(E) i, ii and iii only