Reading

i. Read the passage given below.

The basic concept of photography has been around since about the 5th century BCE. It wasn’t until an
Iraqi scientist developed something called the camera obscura in the 11th century that the art was born.

Photography, as we know it today, began in the late 1830s in France. Joseph Nicéphore Niépce used a
portable camera obscura to expose a pewter plate coated with bitumen to light. This is the first
recorded image that did not fade quickly. Niépce’s success led to a number of other experiments, and
photography progressed very rapidly. Daguerreotypes, emulsion plates, and wet plates were developed
almost simultaneously in the midto-late 1800s.

In the 1870s, photography took another huge leap forward. Richard Maddox improved on a previous
invention to make dry gelatine plates that were nearly equal to wet plates in speed and quality.
Photography was only for professionals and the very rich until George Eastman started a company called
Kodak in the 1880s.

Eastman created a flexible roll film that did not require constantly changing the solid plates. This
allowed him to develop a self-contained box camera that held 100 film exposures. The camera had a
small single lens with no focusing adjustment. The consumer would take pictures and send the camera
back to the factory for the film to be developed and prints made, much like modern disposable cameras.
This was the first camera inexpensive enough for the average person to afford. The film was still large in
comparison to today’s 35mm film. It was not until the late 1940s that 35mm film became cheap enough
for the majority of consumers to use.

Around 1930, Henri-Cartier Bresson and other photographers began to use small 35mm cameras to
capture images of life as it occurred rather than staged portraits. When World War II started in 1939,
many photojournalists adopted this style. At the same time, 35mm cameras were becoming popular;
Polaroid introduced the Model 95. Model 95 used a secret chemical process to develop the film inside
the camera in less than a minute. This new camera was fairly expensive, but the novelty of instant
images caught the public’s attention.

In the 1950s, Asahi (which later became Pentax) introduced the Asahiflex and Nikon introduced its
Nikon F camera. These were both Single-Lens Reflex (SLR)-type cameras, and the Nikon F allowed for
interchangeable lenses and other accessories. For the next 30 years, SLR-style cameras remained the
camera of choice. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, compact cameras that were capable of making
image control decisions on their own were introduced. These “point and shoot” cameras calculated
shutter speed, aperture and focus, leaving photographers free to concentrate on composition.

The automatic cameras became immensely popular with casual photographers. Professionals and
serious amateurs continued to prefer to make their own adjustments and enjoyed the image control
available with SLR cameras.

Based on your understanding of the passage, answer any eight out of the ten questions by choosing
the correct option:

1. “Something called camera obscura was developed around 11th century” was NOT made by
(a) an Indian scientist. (b) an English scientist.

(c) an Iraqi scientist. (d) both (a) and (b)

2. “…but the novelty of instant images caught the public’s attention.” Pick the option in which the
meaning of ‘novelty’ is NOT the same as it is in the passage.

(a) It came from the days when a vintage car was a novelty.

(b) He bought chocolate novelties for Christmas.

(c) The movie included a few novelty songs.

(d) The shop sells gifts and other novelties.

3. Based on your understanding of the passage, choose the option that lists the correct sequence of the
beginning and the progression of the first Modern photography.

1. 1830 in France

2. Company Kodak in 1880’s

3. Mid-to-late 1800s

4. Took huge leap in 1870s

(a) 1, 4, 3, 2 (b) 3, 4, 2, 1

(c) 1, 3, 4, 2 (d) 2, 4, 1, 3

4. In the passage, it is written, “These point and shoot cameras calculated shutter speed, aperture and
focus…” What would have been if it had been the opposite and the camera was NOT COMPACT?

(a) It would have been loose.

(b) It would be free of lenses.

(c) It would have been auto focus.

(d) It would have a flash unit.

5. Which option represents the correct combination according to the passage?

(a) Iraqi scientist and Kodak

(b) Joseph Nicéphore Niépce and portable camera obscura

(d) George Eastman and Kodak

6. What did the creation of the flexible roll film lead to?

(a) Development of Daguerreotypes

(b) Change in the history of computers

(c) Development of a self-contained box camera

(d) Development of cameramen

7. According to the passage, the fact that Model 95 was a fairly expensive camera yet it

attracted the public was

(a) a worthy invention.

(b) a useless attempt.

(c) just a waste of time and money.

(d) a genuine buy.

8. Pick the option showing the CORRECT use of the word “expose.”

(a) Political scandals exposed the family in the newspapers today.

(b) The scientist experimented on the upper part of the shelf to expose the stains.

(c) He worked hard to expose him as a traitor.

Goyal

(d) He damaged his arm so badly in the accident that the bone was exposed.

9. Pick the option that correctly states what DID NOT happen in the world of photography.

(a) It did not happen after the 5th century.

(b) It did not happen until an Iraqi scientist developed a camera.

(c) It wasn’t accepted in many countries.

(d) It happened before the 5th century.

(a) proved fatal in the world of photography.

(b) was appreciated by all.

(c) was revolutionary in the world of photography.

(d) was a useless attempt.