Directions: For passages 1 to 4, each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A., B., C. and D. Decide on the best choice and write the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.

Passage 2

Urban life has always involved a balancing of opportunities and rewards against dangers and stress; its motivating force is, in the broadest sense, money. Opportunities to make money mean competition and competition is stressful; it is often at its most intense in the largest cities, where opportunities are greatest. The presence of large numbers of people inevitably involves more conflict, more traveling, the overloading of public services and exposure to those deviants and criminals who are drawn to the rich pickings of great cities. Crime has always flourished in the relative anonymity of urban life. But today’s ease of movement makes its control more difficult than ever; there is much evidence that its extent has a direct relationship to the size of communities. City dwellers may become trapped in their homes by the fear of crime around them.

As a defense against these developments, city dwellers tend to use various strategies to try and reduce the pressures upon themselves: contacts with other people are generally made brief and impersonal; doors are kept locked; telephone numbers may be ex-directory; journeys outside the home are usually hurried, rather than a source of pleasure. There are other strategies too, which are positively harmful to the individual; for example, reducing awareness through drugs or alcohol. Furthermore, all these defensive forms of behaviour are harmful to society in general; they cause widespread loneliness and destroy the community’s concern for its members. Lack of informal social contact and indifference to the misfortunes of others, if they are not personally known to oneself, are amongst the major causes of urban crime.