Solved MCQs of English Literature 8

501)Which of the following writers would be an appropriate subject for a class on “The Literature of the British Empire”?
a)Rudyard Kipling
b)Edward Fitzgerald
c)Charlotte Bronte
d)Any of these

502)World War I affected the writing of many authors. Which of the following poets would not have been touched by that event?
a)T.S. Eliot
b)Siegfried Sassoon
c)Wilfred Owen
d)Oscar Wilde

503)The period of maturation, intellectual growth and social graces during the Renaissance is called the:A) aristocracy
B) New Age
C) Reformation
D) Enlightenment
504)The most popular French playwright, Jean Baptiste Poquelin, is known as:
A) Caleron
B) Corneille
C) Couperin
D) Moliere

505)The first Englishwoman to earn her living as a playwright was:
A) Nell Gwynn
B) Aphra Behn
C) Lady Teazle
D) Ann Hathaway

The Life Of John Milton(Caroline Period-The Renaissance)
(1608-1674)
506.In which city was Milton?
a)Norwich
b)York
c)London
d)Canterbury

507. When was John Milton born?
a) 22 April 1600
b) 19 August 1604
c) 6 June 1606
d) 9 December 1608

508. Which school did Milton attend?
a)St Paul’s
b)Christ’s Hospital
c)Merchant Taylors’
d)Westminster

509. Milton continued his studies at Cambridge. Which college of the university did he attend?
a) Pembroke College
b) Trinity College
c) Christ’s College
d) St. Xavier’s College

510. Edward King, a minor poet and a contemporary of Milton’s at Cambridge, was drowned at sea in 1637. Milton wrote an elegy for him. What was the title of this poem?
a)lycidas
b)Paradise Lost
c)Il penseroso

511. In 1638 and 1639 Milton traveled abroad. In which country did he spend most of the time?
a)Germany
b)France
c)Italy
d)Spain

512. How many times did Milton marry?
a)2
b)0
c)1
d)3

513. John Milton was 34 when he married Mary Powell. How old was she?
a) 48
b) 34
c) 22
d) 17

514. Milton was a royalist? 

True or False

515. Which of the following works was NOT written by John Milton?

a)’L'Allegro’
b)’Lycidas’
c)’Il Penseroso’
d)’Absolom and Achitophel’

516. In 1634 Milton wrote a masque. What’s the name of that masque?
a)’Il Penseroso’
b)’Lycidas’
c)’Comus’
d)’The Masque of Blackness’

517. Which of these words or usages did Milton NOT coin?
a)Space – used to mean “outer space”
b)Unaccountable
c)Pandemonium
d)Blatant

518. Following parliament’s victory in the civil war, Milton was appointed to a position in Cromwell’s government in 1649. What was his title?
a)Heresy tsar
b)Poet laureate
c)Secretary to the Admiralty
d)Secretary for Foreign Tongues

519. As well as poetry, Milton published extensively on politics, philosophy and religion. Which of the following was NOT one of his works?

a)Of Prelatical Episcopacy
b)The Likeliest Means to Remove Hirelings from the Church
c)Of Practical Exorcisme
d)Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce
520. When did John Milton die?

a) 4 February 1702
b) 2 June 1700
c) 17 April 1688
d) 8 November 1674

521. ”Milton, thou should’st be living at this hour. England hath need of thee.” Indeed. But who was it, summoning his ghost?
a)Horatio Herbert Kitchener
b)William Blake
c)William Wordsworth
d)John Keats

522. The 20th century has been less kind to his memory. TS Eliot found his imagery distracting, and considered his work “not serious poetry”, but it was another critic who accused him of “callousness to the intrinsic nature of English”. Who?
a)FR Leavis
b)Harold Bloom
c)William Empson
d)Mariella Frostrup

Paradise Lost By John Milton

523. When was Paradise Lost published?
a) 1660
b) 1667
c) 1658
d) 1654

524. ”Paradise Lost” is considered a:
a) First Person Narrative
b)Short Story
c)Epic Poem
d)Novel

525. Satan’s name before he fell from heaven was:
a)Beezlebub
b)Michael
c)Lucifer
d)Belial
526. ’Book 1′ of ‘Paradise Lost’ presents Satan with his angels fallen into Hell. When recovered, Satan awakens all his legions and speaks to them. The first he addresses is described as ‘one next to himself in power, and next in crime, long after known in Palestine’. What’s the name of this fallen angel?
a)Mammon
b)Moloch
c)Beelzebub
d)Ashtaroth

527. In ‘Paradise Lost’, which angel is ordered by God to drive Adam and Eve out of Paradise? Before he does so, he shows Adam a number of visions about the future of the human race, beginning with Cain murdering Abel and ending with the redemption of mankind through Christ. Who is this angel that has a large role in the finishing chapters of ‘Paradise Lost’?
a)Michael
b)Abdiel
c)Rafael
d)Gabriel

528. Milton’s “unholy trinity” of characters includes:
a)Error, Temptation, and Satan
b)Sin, Death and Temptation
c)Sin, Temptation, and Satan
d)Satan, Sin, and Death

529. The battle between God’s army and Satan’s rebels in heaven lasted:
a)One day
b)Three days
c)Seven days
d)One hour

530. In the phrase, “thy seed shall bruise our foe,” the “seed” refers to:
a)The Tree of Knowledge
b)Adam
c)Cane and Abel
d)Jesus Christ

531. In the phrase, “thy seed shall bruise our foe,” “thy” refers to:
a)Sin
b)Eden
c)Satan
d)Eve

532. The two archangels who serve as generals in God’s army are:
a)Michael and Gabriel
b)Michael and Raphael
c)Raphael and Gabriel
d)Michael and Lucifer

533. For inspiration in writing the poem, Milton says he depends on:
a)Wine
b)The Holy Spirit
c)His favorite pen
d)The Son

534. Earth is described as being connected to heaven by a:
a)”stepping stones of clouds
b)Golden rope
c)Golden chain
d)Ladder

535. Sin was born out of Satan’s:
a)Head
b)Lust
c)Anger
d)Rib

535. Eve before the Fall might best be described as:
a)a feminist
b)uncomfortable with Adam
c)detailed oriented
d)a docile, vain creature

536. Throughout the poem, Satan transforms himself into many creatures. Which creature does Satan not turn into?
a)a mouse
b)a cherub
c)a toad
d)a serpent

537. Who might be considered the friendliest and most sociable of all God’s angels?
a)Adam
b)Michael
c)Raphael
d)Lucifer

538. Everyday before the Fall Adam and Eve went out to work. What did their work consist of?
a)Hunting and gathering food
b)Tending to the Garden of Eden
c)Building shelter to live in
d)Naming all God’s creatures and plants

539. The reason for Satan’s fall might best be described as:

a)incest
b)lust
c)greed
d)pride

540. The reason for Eve’s fall might best be described as:
a)vanity
b)lust
c)greed
d)pride

541. On the second day of battle in heaven, what does Satan use that surprises God’s forces?
a)Catapults
b)Artillery
c)Illusions
d)The Holy Sepulcher

542. Adam, Satan, and Eve herself are all dazzled by Eve’s:
a)Wit
b)Beauty
c)Intelligence
d)Hard work and spirituality

543. The main reason for Adam’s fall might best be described as:
a)lust
b)love for Eve
c)pride
d)money

544. When God sees that Adam and Eve have disobeyed him, who does he send to “judge” them and the snake?
a)The Son
b)The Holy Ghost
c)Michael
d)Raphael

545. Inspired by Satan’s victory over man, Sin and Death construct:

a)a bridge from hell to heaven
b)a temple to welcome Satan back
c)a bridge from hell to earth
d)a funnel from Eden to the gates of hell

546. After they have both eaten from the Tree of Knowledge, the first thing Adam and Eve do is:
a)Ask forgiveness from God
b)Put some clothes on
c)Satisfy their sexual desire for each other
d)Blame each other for their Fall

547. The Archangel Michael might best be described as:
a)Jealous and envious
b)Bombastic
c)Firm and militant
d)Kind and caring

548. When Michael tells Adam what will become of mankind after the Fall, he is actually narrating stories taken directly from:
a)The New Testament
b)Homer’s epic poems
c)The Hebrew Bible
d)The Koran

549. What are the best words to describe the Garden of Eden, the weather, and nature in general, before the Fall of Adam and Eve?
a)Ordered and rational
b)Chaotic
c)Wild and unmanageable
d)Comfortable

550. Which angel does Satan trick by disguising himself as a cherub?
(A) Michael
(B) Uriel
(C) Raphael
(D) Abdiel

551. In what book does the fall take place?
(A) Book VIII
(B) Book X
(C) Book IX
(D) Book VII

552. In which book of the Bible does the story of Adam and Eve occur?
(A) Leviticus
(B) Exodus
(C) Genesis
(D) Deuteronomy

553. Which devil advocates a renewal of all-out war against God?
(A) Belial
(B) Moloch
(C) Mammon
(D) Beelzebub

554. What is Milton’s stated purpose in Paradise Lost?
(A) To assert his superiority to other poets
(B) To argue against the doctrine of predestination
(C) To justify the ways of God to men
(D) To make his story hard to understand

555. Which of the following is not a character in Paradise Lost?
(A) Night
(B) Agony
(C) Discord
(D) Death

556. Which angel wields a large sword in the battle and wounds Satan?
(A) Michael
(B) Abdiel
(C) Uriel
(D) Satan is not injured

557. When Satan leaps over the fence into Paradise, what does Milton liken him to?
(A) A snake slithering up a tree
(B) A germ infecting a body
(C) A wolf leaping into a sheep’s pen
(D) A fish leaping out of water

558. Which angel tells Adam about the future in Books XI and XII?
(A) Raphael
(B) Uriel
(C) Michael
(D) None of the above

559. Which of the following is not found in Hell?
(A) Gems
(B) Gold
(C) Oil
(D) Minerals

560. Which statement about the Earth is asserted as true in Paradise Lost?

(A) It was created before God the Son
(B) Earth hangs from Heaven by a chain
(C) The Earth is a lotus flower
(D) The Earth revolves around the sun

561. Which devil is the main architect of Pandemonium?
(A) Mulciber
(B) Mammon
(C) Moloch
(D) Belial

562. How many times does Milton invoke a muse?
(A) One
(B) Two
(C) Three
(D) Four

563. Which of the following poets does Milton emulate?
(A) Virgil
(B) Homer
(C) Both Virgil and Homer
(D) Neither Virgil or Homer

564. What is the stated subject of Paradise Lost?

(A) The fight between good and evil
(B) Heaven’s battle and Satan’s tragic fall
(C) The creation of the universe
(D) Adam and Eve’s disobedience

565. Which devil is Satan’s second-in-command?

(A) Mammon
(B) Sin
(C) Moloch
(D) Beezelbub

566. Who discusses cosmology and the battle of Heaven with Adam?
(A) God
(B) Eve
(C) Raphael
(D) Michael

567. Which scene happens first chronologically?

(A) Satan and the devils rise up from the lake in Hell
(B) The Son is chosen as God’s second-in-command
(C) God and the Son create the universe
(D) The angels battle in Heaven

568. Which of the angels is considered a hero for arguing against Satan?
(A) Abdiel
(B) Uriel
(C) Michael
(D) Raphael

569. In an attempt to defeat God and his angels, what do the rebel angels make?
(A) A fortress
(B) A catapult
(C) A large sword
(D) A cannon

570. According to Paradise Lost, which of the following does God not create?
(A) The Son
(B) Adam and Eve
(C) Computers
(D) He creates everything

571. Who does Milton name as his heavenly muse?
(A) Titania
(B) Urania
(C) Virgil
(D) Michael

572. What does Eve do when she first becomes conscious?
(A) Go in search of her mate
(B) Talk to the animals
(C) Look at her reflection in a stream
(D) Eat of the Tree of Knowledge 

573.Who is the main protagonist of Paradise Lost?
a)Satan
b)Adam
c)Eve
d)God

574.In how many books is Paradise Lost divided?

a)Nine
b)Twelve
c)Eighteen
d)Fourteen

575.Which is the longest book?
a)Book X
b)Book VIII
c)Book IX
d)Book I

576.In Books I-II, the rebels of Satan build the Pandemonium. What is it?
a)The forbidden fruit
b)The capital of Heaven
c)A beautiful garden
d)The capital of Hell

577.The fruit of which tree were Adam and Eve forbidden to eat?
a)Tree of Life
b)Tree of God
c)Tree of Sin
d)Tree of Knowledge

578.Which is the shortest book?
a)Book VII
b)Book III
c)Book VIII
d)Book V

579.Who was sent to Earth to warn Man of the dangers he was facing?
a)Raphael
b)Uriel
c)Abdiel
d)Beelzebub

580.Who was the first to eat the forbidden fruit?
a)Adam
b)Eve
c)Satan
d)Snake

581.Which of the following is not a character in Paradise Lost?
a)Eve
b)God
c)Satan
d)Jonah

582.What is the name of the sequel to Paradise Lost?
a)Paradise Found
b)Paradise Lost Twice
c)Paradise Regained
d)Paradise Lost Again

583.who was the companion of Adam in paradise?
a)satan
b)eve
c)rapheal
d)god

584.Who is “till wand’ring o’er the earth”?
a)Satan’s associates
b)Satan
c)Adam
d)Eve

585. Who will fall through his own “fault”?
a)Satan
b)God
c)Adam
d)Noah

586.Who “headlong themselves they threw Down from the verge of Heav’n”?
a)Adam and Eve
b)Noah and the elephant
c)Rebel angels
d)Benjamin and Joseph

587. Who pondered, “How such united force of gods, how such As stood like these, could ever know repulse?”?

a)Adam
b)Moses
c)Joseph
d)Satan

588.Who is described? “For dignity composed and high exploit: But all was false and hollow”
a)Lot
b)Belial
c)Satan
d)Moses

589. When was Paradise Lost published?
a) 1660
b) 1667
c) 1658
d) 1654

590.When was Paradise Regained published?
a) 1671
b) 1656
c) 1669
d) 1652
591.In what country did the Renaissance begin?
a.Italy
b.France
c.England
d.Germany 

592.who is considered as the model of the people during the renaissance?
a.greek and austrian
b.roman and french
c.roman and greek
d.french and greek 

593.the word renaissance means
a.the rebirth of learning or knowledge
b.reading of books
c.the time of astronauts
d.the study of art 

594.Which of the following techniques was NOT used in the Renaissance art?
a.realism
b.perspective
c.individualism
d.abstractioin

595.what sparked the Renaissance?
a.The Feudal system was collapsing
b.the “95 theses”
c.the Crusades
d.the Black Plague 

596.who lost the most power during the renaissance?
a.Italian merchants
b.catholic church
c.black people
d.king and queen of Spain 

597.Utopia was written by:
a) Cervantes
b) Machiavelli
c) Poliziano
d) Thomas More

598.The Prince was written to gain favor of the:
a) Pazzi
b) Republic
c) Medici
d) Inquisition

599.Who translated the New Testament into German for the first time?
a) Poliziano
b) Cervantes
c) Martin Luther
d) Alexander VI

600.The “father of humanism” was
a)Petrarch
b)Dante
c)Boccaccio
d)Pico della Mirandola

601.Renaissance thinkers argued that women should be educated
a)just the same as men
b)with emphasis on science and mathematics
c)not at all
d)confined solely to music, dancing, and knitting

602.An important feature of the Renaissance was an emphasis on
a)alchemy and magic
b)the literature of Greece and Rome
c)chivalry of the Middle Ages
d)the teaching of St. Thomas Acquinas

603.Which was NOT a characteristic of the Renaissance?

a)emphasis on individuality
b)confidence in human rationality
c)the emergence of merchant oligarchies
d)the development of social insurance programs

604.The northern Renaissance differed from the Italian Renaissance
a)growth of religious activity among common people
b)earlier occurrence
c)greater appreciation of pagan writers
d)decline in the use of Latin

605.For ordinary women, the Renaissance
a)had very little impact
b)greatly improved the material conditions of their lives
c)worsened their social status
d)allowed them access to education for the first time

606.Thomas More’s Utopia placed the blame for society’s problems on
a)human nature
b)God’s will
c)society itself
d)the Church

Solved MCQs of English Literature 7 (Jacobean Era)

GREEN SPACES AND GOVERNANCE

The year was 2005 and General Pervez Musharraf’s government was at the peak of its power. To gain political legitimacy, the general had instituted a local government system across the country. Apart from the general and his political ambitions, however, the new system stood to benefit one city in particular: Karachi.

Karachi had become a chaotic, ungovernable mess with a dilapidated infrastructure at the time. A city with a high demand of resources, it was in dire need of an overhaul. Slowly but surely, the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI)-backed nazim [administrator] of the city, Naimatullah Khan, and subsequently the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)-backed Mustafa Kamal would reverse the trend. Despite the ideological polarity, both nazims had one thing in common: a renewed focus on the environment.

The showpiece of this new priority was the Jahangir Kothari Parade, a colonial-era construction that boasted two structures, the Promenade Pavilion and the Lady Lloyd Pier. As with other constructions in the city, the Jahangir Kothari Parade had fallen in disrepair as bureaucrats running the city’s administration till then had not bothered to invest any money into the upkeep of the park.

The city is often a jungle of concrete and the metropolis of Karachi is no exception to the rule. What is the link between local government and greenery in the city?

In June 2005, Musharraf would instruct Kamal’s city government to begin extensive renovation work of the promenade pavilion and pier. And after some planning, construction work began on what would eventually become Pakistan’s largest park, Bagh Ibne Qasim. It covered 130 acres of land around the pier, with lush gardens covering the length of the park.

In a city that was being suffocated on many counts, Bagh Ibne Qasim became a point of relief.

More than a decade has passed since. The bagh fell into disrepair once again after the last local government system was wrapped up and administration handed over to bureaucrats. It has been resuscitated once again by an elected local government.

This begs the question: is there a relationship between local governance and vibrant open green spaces?

RUB OF THE GREEN

The ‘city’ is often a jungle of concrete and the metropolis of Karachi is no exception to the rule. Considered among the cities with the highest population density ratios anywhere in the world, Karachi’s need for open green spaces is immense. In recent times, the city has been struck by heat waves. There have been discussion around heat islands in the city and the natural flow of wind that has been disrupted with more construction.

But what often gets ignored is the state of vegetation spaces for recreation and relief in the city — what has happened to them ever since 2010, when the all-powerful local government system was running the city?

We set out to discover how governance systems help in building ecologically sustainable spaces in the city, which simultaneously provide relief as well as entertainment and even healthy interactions. And we began studying greenery in all open green spaces in Karachi that are three acres or more in size.

We decided to look into satellites images from September 2006, 2010 and 2017 — Septembers tend to be greener than other months in Karachi as it is the post-monsoon season. And we looked into data from both civilian-run localities as well as those run by cantonment boards.

Data from these points in time captured Karachi during and after both the Naimatullah Khan-led and the Mustafa Kamal-led local governments, the period when there was no elected local government, and the period after power had been handed over to the Wasim Akhtar-led local government.

What emerged is a trend — a functioning local government sees the city’s open green spaces improve but bureaucratic rule sees green spaces shrink and shrivel.

WHAT DOES THE IMAGERY SAY?

One lens to understand the discontents of the city is the environment.

A space marked as a ‘park’ on official papers may not resemble a park in reality. It could well be an abandoned lot or a plaza. This obviously has ramifications for the quality of life in the city. It is for this reason that researchers typically employ the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), which relies on sunlight to tell us about the density of green on a patch of land.

Put simply, when sunlight strikes a plant, certain wavelengths are absorbed and others are reflected. Chlorophyll soaks up visible light but the cell structure of leaves strongly reflects near-infrared light. To determine the density of green, researchers typically observe both visible and near-infrared sunlight reflected by plants. This is captured on satellite imagery and processed accordingly. Greater difference between near-infrared and the red reflectance means that there is more vegetation in the area being studied.

Satellite imagery reveals that in times when the city’s administration was being run by bureaucrats, open green spaces have withered. Meanwhile, tremendous improvement of greenery was observed in almost all open green spaces in cantonment areas, even in 2010, in part because cantonment boards did not want to lag behind the towns that were being run by the elected local government.

But while the local government system collapsed in 2010, cantonment boards have managed to keep up the good work. Greenery was not only maintained but also improved from about 0.84 to 1.08 percent in 2016-2017. This positive trend was also possible because residential establishments administered by cantonment boards do not fall within the ambit of the civilian municipal administration and are not subject to their policy or monetary constraints.

Governing the environment as a centrepiece of how to run the city is a concept that remains alien to those in the corridors of power. And therefore, Karachi has been suffering the wrath of heat waves with greater frequency over the past five years.

On average, the greatest improvement of greenery in open green spaces in 2010, among all towns and cantonments, was observed in Manora Cantonment — 71 percent. This was followed by Faisal Cantonment with 31 percent, Malir Cantonment with 29 percent, Baldia Town 24 percent, DHA Cantonment 23 percent, Karachi and Korangi Cantonments 14 percent each, Bin Qasim and Gadap towns 12 percent and 10 percent respectively.

The remaining towns improved greenery in their open green spaces from one to seven percent on average, while the low- and middle-income Shah Faisal Town has shown no improvement of greenery in its open green spaces and their condition is deplorable because their maintenance has been seriously neglected.

By 2016 and 2017, not only had the condition of greenery in open green spaces in almost all towns become dismal, but, in comparison with 2006, open green spaces seem to have withered away.

Meanwhile, cantonment areas showed improvements in greenery of open green spaces ranging from 0.84 to 1.08 percent in 2016 in comparison to that of 2010. The greatest improvement of greenery in open green spaces — 1.08 percent — was noted in DHA, followed by Faisal Cantonment (1.02 percent) while Malir and Karachi cantonments showed only 0.98 percent improvement each. Manora Cantonment, the smallest of all cantonments, has shown improvement in greenery to the tune of around 0.92 percent while Korangi Cantonment only 0.84 percent.

Towns have shown notable deterioration of greenery in their open green spaces ranging from -1 percent to -23 percent. The highest deterioration in greenery was noted in Baldia Town, at -23 percent. This is because some of the well maintained open green spaces of Saeedabad (UC5), Islam Nagar (UC3) and Nai Abadi (UC4) of this town have lost highest quantum of greenery.

Gadap, Malir, Orangi, Site, Korangi, New Karachi, Landhi, Lyari, Jamshed, North Nazimabad, Gulberg, Saddar, Liaquatabad Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Keamari towns have lost the greenery of their open green spaces to the tune of -1.5 to -9.0 percent, while Shah Faisal Town showed least deterioration in greenery of its open green spaces, around -0.1 percent, because the condition of open green spaces in the UCs of this town were already miserable.

Satellite images for the years 2006 and 2010 also showed that three UCs of the low-income Baldia Town, Saeedabad (UC5), Islam Nagar (UC3) and Nai Abadi (UC4), showed incredible improvement of greenery in their open green spaces by 75 percent, 44 percent and 40 percent respectively. Similarly, Maymarabad of the low- and middle-income Gadap Town (UC7) has also shown remarkable improvement of 35 percent, while a noticeable improvement of greenery in open green spaces of other UCs of the megapolis was also recorded between one to 30 percent.

Unfortunately, however, many UCs of the megalopolis revealed a remarkable deterioration of greenery in their open green spaces. The low-income Morio Khan Goth and Pak Sadat Colony of Shah Faisal Town have lost their greenery to the tune of 10 percent and four percent, respectively; UC9 Buffer Zone II and UC10 Buffer Zone I of North Nazimabad and UC1 Pak Colony of SITE Town (minus five percent) each, Gabopat i.e. UC8 of Kiamari Town (minus three percent), Sharafi Goth (UC5) of Landhi Town and Bandhani Colony (UC6) of Liaquatabad Town (minus two percent each), because of lack of maintenance of open green spaces in these UCs (Fig. 4).

Similarly, a comparison of satellite images for the years 2010 and 2016 has revealed a terrible condition of open green spaces in civilian-run localities.

The UCs of Baldia Town, which had shown the highest improvement in the greenery of their open green spaces, are now in miserable state. A shocking deterioration of greenery i.e. -72 percent, -42 percent and -38 percent for the same UCs of Baldia Town, respectively, was also been noted. Ibrahim Hyderi (UCI) and Ghaghar (UC7) of Bin Qasim Town and Iqbal Baloch (UC9) of Orangi Town revealed -21 percent, -20 percent and -19 percent greenery respectively in their open green spaces, while the other UCs of towns have lost greenery in their open green spaces ranging between -16.8 percent to zero percent.

INTERPRETING SATELLITE IMAGERY

In theory, the more green spaces, the better can the high temperature in the city’s surface and air temperatures be managed.

Through our data, we can deduce that there was tremendous improvement in greenery of open green spaces (three acres and above), by about 44 percent, in the year 2010 as compared to that in 2006. But in the year 2016, a deplorable state of greenery in open green spaces of all towns becomes distinctly noticeable. Only two percent improvement as compared to that in 2006 has been noted which is wholly due to the efforts of the administrators of the cantonments. It can thus be concluded that 42 percent of greenery from open green spaces of towns has been compromised due to a lack of care and maintenance.

A decade is a long time when it comes to creating a cover of trees, or in the case of Karachi, shrinking it. The two maps above compare how open green spaces seem to have withered away after the local government system was done away with in 2010.

The map on the right shows overall vegetation cover in present-day Karachi.

The reasons for improvement in greenery of open green spaces in 2010 was due to the presence of an elected local government and their interest in developing and maintaining the infrastructure of the megalopolis. Construction and renovation of open green spaces was one of its major priorities. More than 350 open green spaces were maintained and renovated for improvement of the urban environment, thereby facilitating in reduction of air pollution whereby citizens’ quality of recreational facilities was markedly improved.

Unfortunately, after 2010, the condition of greenery of open green spaces in this city could not be maintained as the local body government tenure expired in 2010 and only 2 percent greenery of open green spaces of cantonments could be maintained in the period 2016-2017. After 2010, districts were rules by bureaucratic administrators appointed by the provincial government. As satellite data suggests, maintaining or improving vegetation cover in the city was not high on their priority list.

POLITICS OF THE ENVIRONMENT

Open green spaces, by virtue of its nomenclature, should not only be ‘open’ but ‘green’ as well. But in Karachi, one is at a total loss on the use of this term for its parks and playgrounds. Recent times have seen open spaces being relegated to dumping yards for trash. In some localities, playgrounds have been taken over by encroachments of various kinds. And in others, open green spaces have been entirely abandoned or shut down because there is nobody to maintain them.

It follows, therefore, that the improvement, or conversely, deterioration, in the condition of open green spaces tells us a story about governance and environmental policy. More care and attention given to open green spaces would entail that not only has the city kept environment in the well-being of its society and culture, but also that it has ensured that its citizens have a better quality of life.

A park in the upscale locatilty of DHA Phase VII | Photos by Faysal Mujeeb/White Star

Contrary to popular perception, governing the environment is a lucrative undertaking. In Karachi, many local officials in the past have utilised their yearly budgets on planting trees that grow to a certain height at tremendous pace. Once these plants started interfering with electricity and communication lines, they had to be chopped. And once they were chopped, more of the same were planted with the next yearly budget.

This unending cycle is what makes governing the environment lucrative as there is money involved in all stages. And perhaps it is this aspect that keeps the bureaucrats away. This attitude, too, is short-sighted and reflects an insular policy.

While the planting and chopping of trees on main arteries plays out in the open, what has happened to open green spaces has stayed away from the limelight. Governing the environment as a centrepiece of how to run the city is a concept that remains alien to those in the corridors of power. And therefore, Karachi has been suffering the wrath of heat waves with greater frequency over the past five years.

Bureaucrats in Karachi point to water and sanitation as the most pressing needs of the city, but this is also at odds with the real estate boom from 2013 onwards and the aggressive construction of multi-storeyed building in the city. In fact while licenses have been approved in the city to construct in areas with extremely high population densities, protection for green spaces has been hard to come by.

A park in the middle-income locality of Allama Iqbal Road

After the 2016 local government assumed charge, open green spaces in some localities have seen an upturn in fortunes. But the great tragedy is that even the incumbent local government has been hampered by a funds crunch in redeveloping parks across the city.

There is also a class element at play. Cantonments are typically located in more privileged localities of the city. And their financial state remains healthy. Local governments tend to govern the city’s low-income and middle-income localities, which not only have a high density of population but also have the greatest demands of resources such as water. Environment encompasses many different layers of populations and resources; the prevalent thinking being that there needs to be more focus on resources such as water than the environment per se.

But water is also used to ensure the upkeep of open green spaces. A well-thought out policy would ensure how to supply potable water to households but, also, how to recycle water to maintain open green spaces in the city. Karachi’s experience from 2010 onwards reflects that not only do civilian areas need the same kind of emphasis on open green spaces that is being granted by cantonment authorities, they also need to ensure how best to utilise limited resources for many different tasks.

Governing the environment is a careful and meticulous undertaking but its impacts go beyond just one area. No or little vegetation in one area of the city will ultimately impact the temperature of the air, and by extension, all citizens of the city

Solved MCQs of English Literature 7 (Jacobean Era)

Jacobean Era

472)In literature, some of Shakespeare’s most powerful plays were written in that period (for example The Tempest, King Lear, and Macbeth), as well as powerful works by John Webster and ________.
a)William Shakespeare
b)Ben Jonson
c)Ben Jonson folios
d)English Renaissance theatre

473)What proceeded Jacobean era?
a)Elizabethan Era
b)Caroline era
c)Victorian era
d)Jacobean Era

474)The Jacobean era ended with a severe economic depression in 1620–1626, complicated by a serious outbreak of ________ in London in 1625.
a)Cholera
b)Tuberculosis
c)Bubonic plague
d)Plague (disease)

475)The word “Jacobean” is derived from the ________ name Jacob, which is the original form of the English name James.
a)Samaritan Hebrew language
b)Biblical Hebrew
c)Mishnaic Hebrew
d)Hebrew language

476)The Jacobean era succeeds the ________ and precedes the Caroline era, and specifically denotes a style of architecture, visual arts, decorative arts, and literature that is predominant of that period.
a)Elizabethan era
b)English Reformation
c)England
d)Tudor period

477)Jonson was also an important innovator in the specialized literary sub-genre of the ________, which went through an intense development in the Jacobean era.
a)William Shakespeare
b)Ben Jonson
c)Masque
d)A Midsummer Night’s Dream
478)the first fire-breathing dragon in English literature occurs in which Old English epic poem.

a)Iliad
b)Odyssey
c)Beowulf
d)Canterbury Tales

479)What are the beginning and ending dates of the reign of James I ?
a)1592-1608
b)1603-1625
c)1607-1627
d)1608-1639

480)Famous satiric drama,Volpone,is written by?
a)Sir Walter Scot
b)Christopher Marlow
c)Ben Johnson
d)George Herbert

481)The foremost poet of Jacobean era was?
a)John Milton
b)Charles Bacon
c)John Donne
d)Herbert Spencer

482)“The Jacobean Era” refers to a period of time in the early 17th century in which of the following countries?
a) Jordan
b) England
c)Malaysia
d)Tunisia

English Literature(In General)

483) Literary divisions are not always exact, but we draw them because they are often convenient. The majority of English literary periods are named after:
a)The leading characteristic of the age
b)Monarchs or political events
c)The primary author of the age
d)The language of the age

484)Which period of literature came first?
a)Regency
b)Victorian
c)Romantic
d)Restoration

485)In what language did Shakespeare write?
a)Middle English
b)German
c)Old English
d)Modern English

486)Jane Austen wrote during this period.
a)Restoration

b)Victorian
c)Middle English
d)Regency

487)Which work was published first?
a)Blake’s “Songs of Innocence”
b)Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”
c)Lord Byron’s “Don Juan”
d)Sir Walter Scott’s “Ivanhoe”

488)Which of the following works was written before the all-important Battle of Hastings?
a)Beowulf
b)Canterbury Tales
c)The Domesday Book
d)Sons and Lovers

489)Who wrote first?

a)George Eliot
b)Christopher Marlowe
c)Howard, Earl of Surrey
d)William Shakespeare

490)Which work was completed last?
a)John Milton’s “Paradise Lost”
b)George Herbert’s “The Temple”
c)William Shakespeare’s “Tempest”
d)Ben Jonson’s “Volpone”

491)One of these men did NOT write during the Restoration period. Who?
a)John Milton
b)Thomas Otway
c)Sir Walter Scott
d)John Dryden

492)The Bronte sisters wrote during this period.
a)Regency
b)Restoration
c)Romantic
d)Victorian

493)Which of the following poets wrote during the Victorian period but was not published until the 20th century?
a)Christina Rossetti
b)Gerard Manley Hopkins
c)Elizabeth Barret Browning
d)Ted Hughes

494)This work was NOT originally published in the 20th Century.
a)Henry James’s “The Ambassadors”
b)Thomas Hardy’s “Tess of the D’Urbervilles”
c)E.M. Forster’s “A Room With A View”
d)Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway”

495)Which poet did NOT write during the 16th century?
a)John Skelton
b)William Shakespeare
c)Sir Thomas Wyatt
d)Thomas Carew

496)Historical events often influence literature. Which of the following did NOT occur during the Restoration period?

a)Charles II was restored to the throne
b)The French Revolution
c)The Great Fire of London
d)The Exclusion Bill Crisis

497)He was not a Renaissance writer.

a)William Shakespeare
b)Sir Philip Sidney
c)Christopher Marlowe
d)Sir Thomas Malory

498)Which of the following literary sub-periods does NOT fall under the Neoclassical Period?

a)The Restoration
b)Jacobean Age
c)The Augustan Age
d)The Age of Sensibility

499)Which of the following periods of English literature came last?

a)The Elizabethan Age
b)The Commonwealth Period
c)The Jacobean Age
d)The Middle English Period

500)This work was written before the other three choices.

a)Bede’s “An Ecclesiastical History of the English People”
b)Julian of Norwhich’s “Book of Showings”
c)Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales”
d)Sir Thomas More’s “Utopia”

Solved MCQs of English Literature 6 (Elizabethan Period)