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Directions (1-10): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it
Since May 2014, growth has accelerated but at a much slower rate than that it already had commenced upon in 2013-14. India today is the world’s fastest growing economy but this we owe to the fact that China has slowed more than India has. India has not exactly surged to number one position. But more importantly, the government has not so far been able to achieve the substantial quickening of the economy. The government has on occasion extolled its record in maintaining macroeconomic stability. Inflation has declined but this only reflects a downward trend that had started in 2013-14. The government would also no doubt like to take credit for sticking to the pre-announced fiscal consolidation path. The fiscal deficit has steadily declined since May 2014. The Finance Minister’s public statements suggest that he treats this as a significant achievement of his government. The truth is that this government had inherited an economy with quite rapidly accelerating growth and steadily declining inflation. It is with respect to investment that the government’s record is uninspiring. Far from having been able to instil confidence among private investors, the government has been unable to stem a decline in capital formation as a share of output in progress for at least half a decade. On its part the government takes recourse to the figures on foreign direct investment to signal the effectiveness of its policies. Data from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion show that in the year just passed, the economy attracted increased FDI up to 29 per cent in dollar terms. In the year 2014-15, FDI amounted to a mere 4 per cent of total capital formation in India. So, while FDI is to be encouraged, its ability to make a significant contribution to growth is limited. On the other hand, over 75 per cent of capital formation is undertaken by the domestic private sector.
Right now private investment is very likely being restrained by the weak balance sheet of firms. The flip side of this is the high level of non-performing assets of the public commercial banks. Forcing these banks to lend would be poor policy. But it is not clear whether everything that can be done to lower the lending rate is being done. After all, consumer price index inflation, the Reserve Bank of India’s preferred inflation index, is trending downward and there is a case for lowering lending rates. But the RBI has now been put into the straitjacket of inflation targeting and can no longer respond to considerations of output. The government, however, is reluctant to use it to increase aggregate demand for fear of deviating from its fiscal consolidation path. It is of course possible to step up public investment by trimming subsidies. Here the National Democratic Alliance government’s approach is cravenly political, and no different from that of its predecessor, the United Progressive Alliance. It is reluctant to be seen as cutting subsidies even when it is clear that a rupee-for-rupee swap in certain subsidies for public capital formation is likely to be beneficial for both growth and welfare. The fertilizer subsidy presents the most obvious instance. It has done little to stem the rise in food prices while continuing to take up precious fiscal space. Well-designed empirical research alone can settle the matter of its desirability, and one hopes the government will provide this in time for its third annual Budget. An object of this government’s admiration has been revealed to us in the choice of speaker for the first NITI Aayog Lecture on Transforming India. It chose Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore who was earlier its Finance Minister for close to a decade.
A trained economist with considerable international exposure, Mr. Shanmugaratnam typifies the Singapore model, which recognises the value of high human capital in its leadership, something that India has not seen since the time of Jawaharlal Nehru. There is one specific area in which our own government may learn from the Singapore experience. The government there had instituted a provident fund to which all workers and employees have had to contribute. These contributions ensured a rise in the saving rate which in turn was a source of funding for public investment. In the muddled discourse on fiscal policy in India today, the reigning argument appears to be that a fixed private saving rate sets the limit for the attainable fiscal deficit. This overlooks the possibility of raising the private saving rate, which is precisely what the Singapore government had done early in its history, enabling it to achieve a scale of public capital formation that truly distinguishes it from India. In the Budget for 2016-17 the increase in the allocation for capital expenditure amounted to a mere 2.3 per cent, with inflation running at around 4 per cent per annum. A sector that is unlikely to be well served by the philosophy than an economy left to its own devices will achieve its potential is agriculture. Three of the past five years in India have been years of poor agricultural performance, reflected in persistent food price inflation. We are very likely witnessing creeping climate change with direct consequences for production. The advisory from most funds in the financial sector is that the economic outlook this year will depend upon the monsoon. It is surprising that the imperative of drought-proofing an increasingly vulnerable Indian agriculture hardly figures in the public discourse on the economy when it is of no less importance than rolling out the Goods and Services Tax. Nothing short of a transformation akin to the Green Revolution can achieve this, and the States would have to be on board. The present government has had little to say on the matter so far. By disbanding the Planning Commission, the Centre has lost a long-standing conduit to the States whose planning boards did have at least a titular connection to the former.
1) According to the passage which of the following statement is correct regarding the data released by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion?
i.The economy captivated increased FDI up to 29 per cent in dollar terms.
ii. FDI totaled to a mere 4 per cent of total capital formation in the year 2014-15.
iii. Consumer price index inflation is shifting downward
a) i and ii
b) ii and iii
c) Only i
d) i and iii
e) None of these
2) According to the passage which is that one specific area that our government may learn from the Singapore experience.
- To overlook on the possibilities of increasing of raising the public saving rate
- To institute a provident fund to which all workers and employees have had to contribute and these contributions in turn will act as a source of funding for public investment.
- To step up public investment by trimming subsidies.
a) ii and iii
b) Only i
c) i and iii
d) Only ii
e) None of these
3) According to the passage which of the following statements have been mentioned correct related to the agriculture sector?
i. There are high chances to perceive creeping climate change with direct consequences for production
ii. Three of the past five years in India have been years of poor agricultural performance, contemplated in constant food price inflation.
iii. The government had inherited the sector with rapidly accelerating growth and steadily declining inflation
a) ii and iii
b) i and iii
c) i and ii
d) Only i
e) None of these
4) Which of the following is not true in the context of the passage?
i. Over 75 per cent of capital formation is commenced by the domestic private sector.
ii. T. Shanmugaratnam, who was once the Prime Minister of Singapore was earlier the county’s Finance Minister
iii. Inflation has declined but this only review a downward trend that had started in 2014-15.
a) i and ii
b) ii and iii
c) i and iii
d) Only ii
e) None of these
5) According to the passage which of the following has been mentioned correct regarding fertilizer subsidy?
i. It has done little to stem the rise in food prices while continuing to take up precious fiscal space.
ii. These subsidies commonly reduce the price of goods and services to the consumer.
iii. These Subsidies are as much an economic tool as are taxes to facilitate smooth functioning of the economy.
a) ii and iii
b) i and iii
c) Only i
d) Only ii
e) None of these
6) Which of the following is true in the context of the passage?
i. In the Budget for 2016-17 the increase in the allocation for capital expenditure amounted to a mere 2.3 per cent
ii. Currently public investment is very likely being restrained by the weak balance sheet of firms.
iii. The fiscal deficit has steadily declined since May 2014.
a) ii and iii
b) i and ii
c) Only ii
d) i and iii
e) All are correct
7) Choose the word which is most nearly the same in meaning as the word “reluctant” printed in bold as used in the passage
a) Amenable
b) Circumspect
c) Inclined
d) Deliberate
e) Consenting
8) Choose the word which is most nearly the same in meaning as the word “extolled” printed in bold as used in the passage.
a) Castigate
b) Debase
c) Diatribe
d) Eulogize
e) Rebuke
9) Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning of the word “creeping” in bold as used in the passage.
a) Perpetual
b) Shambling
c) Groveling
d) Wriggle
e) Slither
10) Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning of the word “conduit” in bold as used in the passage.
a) Aqueduct
b) Abeyance
c) Spout
d) Trough
e) Culvert
Directions (11-15): Each sentence below has one or two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Below the sentence are five sets of words. Choose the set of words for each blank that best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole
11) The _______introduction of the new returns would enable businesses to prepare for the same and make changes to their systems, businesses are ______that they would no longer be penalised for their vendors’ omissions.
a) Wavered, alleviate
b) Vacillating, pacified
c) Staggered, relieved
d) Faltered, reassure
e) Dithered, distraught
12) There are concerns that a durable recovery may remain _________by factors such as the persistence of low productivity and debt _______ problems in advanced economies as well as in some emerging market economies and the slow pace of structural reforms.
a) Concussed, impend
b) Inhibited, projecting
c) Necessitate, loomed
d) Immured, portending
e) Constrained, overhang
13) _________ at the heartstrings does little to allay the doubts of economists sceptical about the _________ of charity.
a) Tugging, efficacy
b) Wrenched, virtue
c) Heaving, paucity
d) Alleviating, potency
e) Strained, competence
14) ________ altruism can be a hard sell, even for the rationally minded, silicon Valley-types have been keener to ________the philosophy than those working on Wall Street, for instance.
a) Compelling, entwined
b) Emphatic, cradled
c) Effective, embrace
d) Yielded, fondled
e) Potent, liberate
15) Curators could likewise encourage more ________ interpretations of collections by ________ canonical works, where appropriate, with arte facts and ephemera.
a) Implicate, apposing
b) Nuanced, juxtaposing
c) Suspicion, consociate
d) Calibrate, bridging
e) Patched, collocating
Directions (16-20): In each of the following questions on phrase has been given and it has been followed by four sentences. You have to find out on which sentences phrase has been used properly according to its meaning and mark your answer from the options denoted a), b), c), d) Mark e) as your answer of you find that the phrase has been applied properly in all sentences
16) Wear off
i. I was annoyed at first, but my anger wore off.
ii. The lecture seemed to wear off for hours.
iii. It wore off until I went to sleep.
iv. The snow wore the shine off my car.
a) ii and iii
b) i and ii
c) i and iv
d) ii and iv
e) All are correct
17) Send around
i. I sent my secretary around to look for the missing book
ii. Please send a quick message around by e-mail if you can’t come to the party.
iii. Rita will send around some papers for you to sign.
iv. He sent around my payment but it didn’t reach yet
a) iii and iv
b) ii and iii
c) i and iv
d) All except ii
e) All are correct
18) Call over
i. The matter of kidnapping is scheduled for call-over on Monday when a trial date is expected to be set.
ii. When I insulted his friend, he called me over.
iii. I will call her over to us, and you can ask her what you want to know.
iv.The conductor called the station name over as we pulled up.
a) i and iii
b) iii and iv
c) i and ii
d) ii and iv
e) All are correct
19) Drop behind
i. The slow runner dropped behind the others.
ii. She dropped behind the rest of the class during her illness
iii. I dropped behind the speeding pack of cars and drove a little slower.
iv. I stayed later at work to keep from dropping behind.
a) i and ii
b) iii and iv
c) ii and iii
d) All except i
e) All are correct
20) Bow down
i. The singer bowed down of the talent show at the last minute.
ii. I think I will bow down and leave this job to someone else.
iii. The rebels refused to bow down to a corrupt government.
iv. The autocratic CEO all but makes his employees bow down to him.
a) iii and iv
b) i and ii
c) ii and iii
d) All except iv
e) All are correct
Answers:
1.Correct Answer is: a)
It is clearly mentioned in para 1-Data from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion show that in the year just passed, the economy attracted increased FDI up to 29 per cent in dollar terms. In the year 2014-15, FDI amounted to a mere 4 per cent of total capital formation in India.
2.Correct Answer is: d)
It is clearly mentioned in para 3-There is one specific area in which our own government may learn from the Singapore experience. The government there had instituted a provident fund to which all workers and employees have had to contribute. These contributions ensured a rise in the saving rate which in turn was a source of funding for public investment.
3.Correct Answer is: c)
It is mentioned in para 3-Three of the past five years in India have been years of poor agricultural performance, reflected in persistent food price inflation. We are very likely witnessing creeping climate change with direct consequences for production
4. Correct Answer is: b)
It is clearly mentioned in para 1&2-It chose Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore who was earlier its Finance Minister for close to a decade, On the other hand, over 75 per cent of capital formation is undertaken by the domestic private sector. Inflation has declined but this only reflects a downward trend that had started in 2013-14.
5.Correct Answer is: c)
It is mentioned in para 2-The fertilizer subsidy presents the most obvious instance. It has done little to stem the rise in food prices while continuing to take up precious fiscal space.
6. Correct Answer is: d)
It is clearly mentioned in para 1&2-The fiscal deficit has steadily declined since May 2014, In the Budget for 2016-17 the increase in the allocation for capital expenditure amounted to a mere 2.3 per cent, with inflation running at around 4 per cent per annum.
7. Correct Answer is: b)
The meaning of reluctant is not in favour of or unwilling
8. Correct Answer is: d)
The meaning of extolled is to praise or express delight over something
9. Correct Answer is: d)
The meaning of creeping is to occur or develop gradually and almost subtle
10.Correct Answer is: b)
The meaning of conduit is a passage or channel
11.Correct Answer is: c)
The meaning of “staggered” is “amazed or stunned” and it is suitable for i blanks and the meaning of “relieved” is “to no longer feel distress or anxious” so it is appropriate for ii blank
12.Correct Answer is: e)
The meaning of “constrained” is “severely restrict the scope or activity of something” and it is suitable for i blanks and the meaning of “overhang” is “to extend over” so it is appropriate for ii blank
13.Correct Answer is: a)
The meaning of “tugging” is “to pull something hard” and it is suitable for i blanks and the meaning of “efficacy” is “the ability to produce a desired result” so it is appropriate for ii blank
14.Correct Answer is: c)
The meaning of “effective” is “beneficial or productive” and it is suitable for i blanks and the meaning of “embrace” is “to accept a belief or theory willingly” so it is appropriate for ii blank
15.Correct Answer is: b)
The meaning of “nuanced” is “fine distinction or variation” and it is suitable for i blanks and the meaning of “juxtaposing” is “place close to one another” so it is appropriate for ii blank
16.Correct Answer is: c)
The meaning of “wear off” is “to gradually remove something or to become less effective” and the phrase has been applied properly in i and iv sentences.
17.Correct Answer is: d)
The meaning of “send around” is “to cause someone or something to go from place to place” and the phrase has been applied properly in i, iii and iv sentences.
18.Correct Answer is: a)
The meaning of “call over” is “to ask one to come to a particular place or a preliminary hearing” and the phrase has been applied properly in i and iii sentences
19. Correct Answer is: e)
The meaning of “drop behind” is “to fail to keep up a pace or fall behind” and the phrase has been applied properly in all the sentences.
20. Correct Answer is: a)
The meaning of “bow down” is “to submit to someone’s orders without offering resistance or to obey” and the phrase has been applied properly in iii and iv sentences.
Daily Practice Test Schedule | Good Luck
| Topic | Daily Publishing Time |
| Daily News Papers & Editorials | 8.00 AM |
| Current Affairs Quiz | 9.00 AM |
| Quantitative Aptitude “20-20” | 11.00 AM |
| Vocabulary (Based on The Hindu) | 12.00 PM |
| General Awareness “20-20” | 1.00 PM |
| English Language “20-20” | 2.00 PM |
| Reasoning Puzzles & Seating | 4.00 PM |
| Daily Current Affairs Updates | 5.00 PM |
| Data Interpretation / Application Sums (Topic Wise) | 6.00 PM |
| Reasoning Ability “20-20” | 7.00 PM |
| English Language (New Pattern Questions) | 8.00 PM |
