Section – II

Directions for questions 32 to 35: Read the passage that follow and answer the questions given at the end of each passage.

Number of words in this passage : 1,343

As the Mongol empire of conquest expanded into an even larger empire of commerce, it became increasingly important for the Mongols to have a smoothly functioning calendar that operated according to the same principles throughout the empire. With the need to coordinate activities and regulate social life in places with such varied ways of marking time, the Mongols, almost as soon as they conquered an area, created observatories to accurately measure the movement of planets and stars for both practical and religious reasons. They built one immediately near Tabriz, but China needed a series of observatories erected across the land because it was so large. Mongol authorities had specific instructions from the central government to seek out astronomers and astronomical instruments and charts in each newly conquered land. Hulegu sent many of the astronomers captured in the Persian and Arab cities back to his homeland in Mongoli(A) These included Jamal-ad-Din, who was one of the most brilliant astronomers of the era; he brought with him the blueprints for major astronomical devices and new means of scientific measurement unknown in Chin(A)

On a scale that surpassed prior civilizations, the Mongols needed to process and record massive amounts of numerical information in the censuses of people, animals, and buildings. Each year they had to settle the accounts for all the goods sent back and forth, as well as for the movement of herds, soldiers, and merchants. The new forms of agriculture, the demands of astronomy, the system of censuses, and myriad other issues of administration taxed the numerical knowledge and ability of the er(A) They necessitated new approaches to the handling of numbers. To make the needed calculations quickly and efficiently, the clerks working for the Mongols relied on the abacus, which, with the movement of a few beads, allowed them to calculate large sums mechanically with less mental effort than making the calculations mentally or through writing.

Always fastidious about numerical information and with hundreds of millions of people across the vast Mongol Empire, the Mongols searched for simpler methods, shortcuts, and ways of calculating ever-larger quantities and processing them in ever more complex sequences. The larger numbers of calculations required new ways of preserving information through the compilation of complex charts and the coordination of the number systems used in different countries. Mongol, administrators found both European and Chinese mathematics too simple and impractical, but they adopted many useful innovations from Arabic and Indian mathematics. The cities of the Khwarizm empire had been a particularly important center for mathematic scholarship; the word algorithm was derived from al Khwarizm. The Mongols transported knowledge of these innovations throughout their empire. They quickly discerned the advantages of utilizing columns of numbers or place numbers in the style of Arabic numerals, and they introduced the use of zero, negative numbers, and algebra in Chin(A)

Not just in numbers and calendars, but on many levels, life itself in various parts of the empire had to be coordinated in a way that prior history had not required. The writing of history proved too important to allow each civilization to proceed in its own manner and according to the conventions developed in their literary traditions. To control the way that they themselves were presented to their subjects, the Mongols had to make the local standards on writing history correlate and articulate with the Mongol story. Written history was much more than a means of recording information; it served as a tool to legitimize the ruling dynasty and spread propaganda about its great conquests and achievements. For the Mongols, written history also became an important tool in learning about other nations in order to conquer and rule them more effectively. Khubilai Khan established the National History Office in the 1260s. In keeping with Chinese practices, he commissioned the compilation of complete histories of the Jurched and Khitan kingdoms, as well as the Sung dynasty. The project was probably the most massive history project ever commissioned and took nearly eighty years, until the 1340s, to complete. In Mongol Persia, the Ilkhan Gazan commissioned the first history of the world from Rashid - al - Din, a successor of Juvaini. Rashid - al - Din orchestrated a massive undertaking that employed many different scholars and translators in order to create histories of the Chinese, Turks, and Franks, as the Mongols called the Europeans.

The volume of information produced in the Mongol Empire required new forms of dissemination. Scribes could no longer hand the flow by laboriously hand copying everything that needed to be written. They complied the records, wrote letters, and sent information to those who needed it, but they did not have time to copy agricultural manuals, medical treaties, atlases, and astronomical tables. Information had to be mass produced for mass dissemination, and for this task, the Mongols turned again to technology, to printing.

The Mongols adopted printing technology very early. Printing with movable letters probably began in China in the middle of the twelfth century, but it was the Mongols who employed it on a massive scale and harnessed its potential power to the needs of state administration. Instead of the printing with thousands of characters, as the Chinese did, the Mongols used an alphabet in which the same letters were used repeatedly. Under the Mongols, printers carved out many copies of each letter that could then be arranged into whatever word was needed. Each time the printer wanted a new page of print, instead of carving the whole text, he needed to merely place the right sequence of already carved letters into position, use them, and then wait until the next printing job, when they would be rearranged and then used again.

General literacy increased during the Mongol dynasty, and the volume of literary material grew proportionately. In 1269, Khubilai Khan established a printing office to make government decisions more widely disseminated throughout the population, and he encouraged widespread printing in general by nongovernmental groups as well. This included religious books and novels in addition to government publications. The number of books in print increased so dramatically that their price fell constantly throughout the era of Mongol rule. Presses throughout the Mongol empire were soon printing agriculture pamphlets, almanacs, scriptures, laws, histories, medical treatises, new mathematical theories, songs, and poetry in many different languages.

In conquering their empire, not only had the Mongols revolutionized warfare, they also created the nucleus of a universal culture and world system. Although never ruled by the Mongols, in many ways Europe gained the most from their world system. The Europeans received all the benefits of trade, technology transfer, and the global awakening without paying the cost of Mongol conquest. The Mongols had killed off the knights in Hungary and Germany, but they had not destroyed or occupied the cities.

One technological innovation after another arrived in Europe. The most labor-intensive professions such as mining, milling, and metalwork had depended almost entirely on human and animal labor, but they quickly became more mechanized with the harnessing of water and wind power. The transmission of the technology for improving the blast furnace also arrived in Europe from Asia via the Mongol trade routes, and it allowed metalworkers to achieve higher temperatures and thereby improve the quality of metal, an increasingly important material in this new high-technology er(A) In Europe, as a result of the Mongol Global Awakening, carpenters used the general adze less and adapted more specialized tools for specific functions to make their work faster and more efficient; builders used new types of cranes and hoists. There was a quick spread of new crops that required less work to produce or less processing after production; carrots, turnips, cress, buck-wheat, and parsnips became common parts of the diet. Labor intensive cooking was improved by mechanizing the meat spit to be turned more easily. The new tools, machines, and mechanical devices helped to build everything, from ships and docks to warehouses and canals, faster and better, just as previously the improved Mongol technology of war helped to tear down and destroy quicker with improved cannons and firepower.

32. Mark all the incorrect statements

(A) The technique of printing with movable letters was introduced by the Mongols during the twelfth century.

(B) Numerical knowledge and ability were the main concerns of Mongols.

(C) According to the article, presses in Mongol days were printing almanacs, scriptures, histories, medical treatises, new astronomical theories, songs, and poetry in many different languages.

(D) The study of astrology and history during the Mongol period flourished because the Emperors wanted them to serve practical objectives of the ruling regime.

Explanatory Note:

A, B, C and D: The sixth paragraph, first two sentences, prove sentence A incorrect. It is not the Mongols, but the Chinese who introduced it. Sentence B is a categorical statement and thus incorrect, since it says”. . . were the main concerns of . .”. Even though, in the third sentence of the third paragraph the author does mention the concern of numerical knowledge and ability, the whole passage cannot be categorized according to this reference. Moving down to the fourth paragraph, the first line, it can be understood that they were interested in history too. Sentence C is incorrect since it says “new astronomical theories” (The seventh paragraph, last sentence says “new mathematical theories”) and distorts the information as given in the passage. The use of the word “astrology” makes sentence D wrong. “Astrology” is the study of the believed effects of the planets and stars on human lives while the passage refers to “astronomy” which is the study of the physical aspects of and properties of the planets and stars. Therefore all the four sentences are wrong. Choices (A), (B), (C) and (D)

33. Mark all the correct statements

(A) Khubilai Khan commissioned compilation of complete histories of Sung period.

(B) While the available Mongol inventions in Europe aided the advancement of several manufacturing sectors, the agriculture sector also benefited owing to cultivation of new crops.

(C) The works of Jamal-ad-Din and Rashid-al-Din did not contribute much in the creation of new knowledge during the Mongol regime.

(D) One of the major inspirations for the Mongols to start looking for advanced yet simpler methods of calculation was the need to effectively document and handle the available figures of military importance as well as those on trade and population.

Explanatory Note:

A, B and D: Sentence A can be proved correct from the sixth and seventh sentences of the fourth paragraph. Which says “In keeping with Chinese practices. . . the Sung dynasty”. Sentence B can be referred from the last paragraph of the passage, lines three to five. The last line of the first paragraph which says, “. . . one of the most brilliant astronomer. . . “ and the last line of the fourth paragraph which says. “Rashid-al-Din orchestrated a massive undertaking. . .” proves sentence C wrong. Sentence D can be found as correct from the fourth paragraph which talks about “the movement of herds, soldiers and merchants”. Therefore sentences A, B and D are correct. Choices (A), (B) and (D)

34. Mark all the options given below the Lists that correctly match List I items with List II items.

List I		List II
i	Astronomy	a	Clerk
ii	Abacus	b	Propaganda
iii	Literacy	c	Tabriz
iv	History	d	Almanac

(A) i c, ii a (B) i c, iii d (C) iii d, iv b (D) i d, ii a

Explanatory Note:

(i) goes with c, as to conduct astronomical observations (Para 1), ‘The Mongols. . . created observatories. . . They built one immediately near Tabriz”. So D can be eliminated.

(ii) goes with a as in para 2, it is mentioned that “the clerks working for the Mongols relied on the abacus”.

(iii) goes with d as the “literacy material” which “grew proportionately” (mentioned in para 7) included almanacs.

(iv) goes with b, para 4 “To control the way that they themselves were presented to their subjects . . . Mongol story”. Choices (A), (B) and (C)

35. Mark all the correct statements

(A) Religious and real world compulsions motivated the Mongols not to delay the construction of observatories in their occupied territories after winning the battle.

(B) While the Mongols were very impressed with Arabic and Indian mathematical tools and incorporated them in their calculating methods, they adopted Chinese technique for printing purpose.

(D) In the aftermath of introducing mass production of published materials, the volume of books, both from government and non-government sources, increased with a consequent decline in their price.

Explanatory Note:

A and D:

Sentence A can be understood as correct from the last part of the second sentence in the first paragraph while says,”. . . created observatories to accurately measure the movement of planets and stars for both practical and religious reasons”.

Sentence B uses the phrase “very impressed with” but the sentence that is referred to, i.e., the third sentence in the third paragraph does not indicate the same ide(A) It very plainly suggests that the Mongols adopted many useful innovations from Arabic and Indian mathematics.

In the eighth paragraph, second line, it is clearly mentioned that Mongols never conquered Europe. Therefore sentence C is incorrect. The seventh paragraph, sentences one to four, indicate that sentence D is correct. Therefore A and D are correct sentences. Choices (A) and (D)