Para Jumbles:Test-23

1. Good literary magazines have always been good because of their editors.
A. Furthermore to edit by committee, as it were, would prevent any magazine from finding its own identity.
B. The more quirky and idiosyncratic they have been, the better the magazine is, at least as a general rule.
C. But the number of editors one can have for a magazine should also be determined by the number of contributions to it.
D. To have four editors for an issue that contains only seven contributions it is a bit silly to start with.
6. However, in spite of this anomaly, the magazine does acquire merit in its attempt to give a comprehensive view of the Indian literary scene as it is today.

1. It is the successful story of the Indian expatriate in the US which today hogs much of the media coverage in India.
A. East and West, the twain have met quite comfortably in their person, thank you.
B. Especially in its more recent romancing-the-NRI phase.
C. Seldom does the price of getting there – more like not getting there – or what’s going on behind those sunny smiles get so much media hype.
D. Well-groomed with their perfect Colgate smiles, and hair in place, they appear the picture of confidence which comes from having arrived.
6. The festival of feature films and documentaries made by Americans of Indian descent being screened this fortnight, goes a long way in filling those gaps.

1. A market for Indian art has existed ever since the international art scene sprang to life.
A. But interest in architectural conceits is an unanticipated fallout of the festivals of India of the 80s, which were designed to increase exports of Indian crafts.
B. Simultaneously, the Indian elite discarded their synthetic sarees and kitsch plastic furniture and a market came into being.
C. Western dealers, unhappy in a market afflicted by violent price fluctuations and unpredictable profit margins, began to look East, and found cheap antiques with irresistible appeal.
D. The fortunes of the Delhi supremos, the Jew Town dealers in Cochin and myriad others around the country were made.
6. A chain of command was established, from the local contacts to the provincial dealers and up to the big boys, who entertain the Italians and French, cutting deals worth lakhs in warehouse worth crores.

1. Making people laugh is tricky.
A. At times, the intended humour may simply not come off.
B. Making people laugh while trying to sell them something is a tougher challenge, since the commercial can fall flat on two grounds.
C. There are many advertisements which do not even begin to set the cash till ringing.
D. Again, it is rarely sufficient for an advertiser simply to assume the target audience in order to reap the sales benefit.
6. There are indications that in substituting the hard sell for a more entertaining approach, some agencies have rather thrown out the baby with the bath water.

1. Picture a termite colony, occupying a tall mud hump on an African plain.
A. Hungry predators often invade the colony and unsettle the balance.
B. The colony flourishes only if the proportion of soldiers to workers remains roughly the same, so that the queen and workers can be protected by the soldiers, and the queen and soldiers can be serviced by the workers.
C. But its fortunes are presently restored, because the immobile queen, walled in well below the ground level, lays eggs not only in large enough numbers, but also in the varying proportions required.
D. The hump is alive with worker termites and soldier termites going about their distinct kinds of business.
6. How can we account for mysterious ability to respond like this to events on the distant surface.