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Minimum Cut Off for this English Section Test is: 14
[WpProQuiz 2518]
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Directions (1-10): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it.
Stanley and Sidney Goldstein would scarcely recognise their creation. In 1963 the brothers opened a humble storefront in Lowell, Massachusetts, selling health and beauty products. Determined to put customers first, they named their enterprise Consumer Value Stores. Today the Goldsteins’ startup, soon afterwards sold to a bigger firm, is nothing short of a health-care Goliath. Revenues at CVS Health reached $177bn last year, riches which come from 9,700 retail pharmacies and from its operations in mail-order drugs and sales of more expensive speciality medicines. The firm commands nearly a quarter of the American market for prescription drug sales. It is also the biggest pharmacy-benefit manager (PBM) in America, a type of middleman that negotiates bulk discounts on drugs with large pharmaceutical firms on behalf of employers and insurers. Yet even that formidable position is not enough. CVS is reported to have made a bid for Aetna, a big American health insurer (both firms have refused to comment publicly). Aetna, which had revenues last year of about $63bn, is in a different business, serving mainly corporate clients by providing health insurance for their employees. The two companies already have a relationship, however, since CVS has a contract to serve as Aetna’s PBM. If consummated, the transaction would be one of the biggest ever in American health care (and a tie-up between the two would doubtless encourage other transactions of a similar nature). That raises two questions. Why would the two be contemplating a deal? And crucially, given the tendency of prior mergers to fatten profit margins rather than lower prices, would such consolidation yield benefits to consumers?
Start with the reasons for a deal. Health care is becoming increasingly unaffordable for American consumers. Since 2014, total health-care cost inflation has been 6-7%, owing to growth in the cost of everything from doctors and hospitals to medical devices and drugs. Such large rises cannot continue indefinitely. Drug retailers in particular fear the prospect of Amazon entering their business. The e-commerce titan was recently reported to have sought regulatory approval to distribute pharmaceutical products in a dozen or so states. That news, which broke in October, prompted sharp falls in the shares of several firms in the pharmaceutical supply chain. Selling drugs would be harder for Amazon than out-competing department stores, in part because consumers do not typically pay much of the cost of drugs (insurers do). If it has serious ambitions in health care, it might even be forced to build or buy a PBM. Even so, history suggests that the firm’s relentless focus on consumers and willingness to forgo profits for years make it a huge potential threat to incumbent pharmacies. PBMs, once seen as cash cows, also face an uncertain future. These middlemen took off in the 2000s by promising to cut drug prices through aggregating demand and negotiating discounts with Big Pharma. Pembroke, an industry consultancy, estimates that the total value of drug rebates and discounts soared from $39bn in 2008 to $125bn in 2015. Some PBMs used questionable practices, including secret rebates (in addition to the discounts negotiated upfront on drug prices, that were passed on to PBM customers), which allowed them to pocket much of the savings rather than pass them on to insurers and employers and in turn, to consumers. Anthem, a big health insurer, sued Express Scripts, which it fired as its PBM, for $15bn last year, alleging that the latter firm had withheld savings and overcharged it by huge sums (Express Scripts denies the allegations). In October Anthem unveiled plans to launch its own in-house PBM with help from CVS. UnitedHealth, another giant health insurer, acquired Catamaran, a big PBM, in 2015, and merged it into OptumRx, its in-house PBM.
- According to the passage from which resources revenue of CVS health comes from?
(i) Its revenues comes from retail pharmacies.
(ii) Revenues are also from mail order.
(iii) It comes from selling speciality medicine at cheap prices.
a) Only i
b) Only ii
c) i & iii
d) i & ii
e) All of the above
- Which of the following can be the suitable meaning of “Goliath” in the context of the passage?
a) Newcomer
b) Giant
c) Crook
d) Dacoit
e) None of the above
- What is true in the regarding pharmacy benefit manager?
(i) It is a middleman that negotiate bulk discount on drugs.
(ii) CVS is also a pharmacy benefit manager.
(iii) Pharmacy benefit manager negotiates for employers and insurers.
a) Only i
b) Only ii
c) i & iii
d) i & ii
e) All of the above
- What is true in the context of the passage?
(i) It is confirmed that CVS made a bid for Aetna.
(ii) Aetna serves mainly corporate client.
(iii) Aetna have served as pharmacy benefit manager to CVS.
a) Only i
b) Only ii
c) i & iii
d) i & ii
e) All of the above
- What is true regarding Amazon entering in pharmacy business?
(i) Drug retailers are in the particular fear due to Amazon.
(ii) There is fall in the shares of several pharmaceutical firms due to the above news.
(iii) Amazon have sought regulatory approval to distribute pharmaceutical products.
a) Only i
b) Only ii
c) Only iii
d) i & ii
e) All of the above
- Why it will be harder for Amazon in pharmaceutical sector?
(i) Because insurers buy pay for medicines of their client.
(ii) Amazon may need to build or buy pharmacy benefit manager.
(iii) Because Amazon know departmental stores in a better way.
a) Only i
b) Only ii
c) i & iii
d) i & ii
e) All of the above
- Which of the following can be the most suitable synonyms of “tendency”?
a) Inclination
b) Bias
c) Bent
d) Movement
e) None of the above
- Which of the following can be the most suitable meaning of “contemplating”?
a) Aiming
b) Expecting
c) Avoiding
d) Moving from
e) None of the above
- What is the meaning of “unaffordable” in the context of the passage?
a) Costly
b) Pricey
c) Premium
d) Cheap
e) None of the above
- What is the synonym of “determined”?
a) Purposeful
b) Firmed
c) Fixed
d) Set
e) None of the above
Directions (11-20): In below questions each sentence have four part in which one of the following is wrong. Wrong part will be your answer, if there is no wrong part than mark (e) as your answer.
- Thanks to Nirav, Hollywood celebrities who (a)/ would have difficulty locating India on (b)/ the map is wearing diamonds designed by an Indian who (c)/ cut his teeth and diamonds in a tough, Third World city like Mumbai. (d)/ No Error (e)
a) a
b) b
c) c
d) d
e) e
- As the meeting progressed, with international experts (a)/ highlighting the action needed in various fields, (b)/ I began to feel uncomfortable, much like a diner (c)/ at a sumptuous buffet searching desperately to that missing ingredient — a pinch of salt. (d)/ No Error (e)
a) a
b) b
c) c
d) d
e) e
- While references in our Puranas to the Pushpak Viman, (a)/ Vishwamitra’s counter heaven in mid air, (b)/ and weapons such as the Brahmastra and Indra’s Shakti (c)/ look persuasive, they does not have the details that would stand the test of scientific scrutiny. (d)/ No Error (e)
a) a
b) b
c) c
d) d
e) e
- And, if the Brahmastra was a nuclear device, (a)/ which would indicate a knowledge of nuclear physics, (b)/ why are there no references to the forces of electricity and magnetism, (c)/ knowledge of which would be necessary to understanding nuclear physics? (d)/ No Error (e)
a) a
b) b
c) c
d) d
e) e
- What is scientific temper? Let me cite a quote from Jawaharlal Nehru’s book, (a)/ The Discovery of India: “The impact of science and the modern world (b)/ has brought a greater appreciation of facts, a more critical faculty, (c)/ a weighing of evidence, a refusal to accept tradition just because it is tradition…”(d)/ No Error(e)
a) a
b) b
c) c
d) d
e) e
- He then went on to say: “But even today, it is strange, (a)/ how we suddenly became overwhelmed by tradition, (b)/ and the critical faculties of even intelligent men cease to function…” (c)/ Nehru concludes with the hope that, “Only when we are politically and economically free, will the mind function normally and critically.” (d)/ No Error (e)
a) a
b) b
c) c
d) d
e) e
- Evidence from RSBY and Aarogyasri show (a)/ that as distance from empanelled hospitals grew in (b)/ Andhra and Gujarat, fewer people benefited from them (c)/ — most empanelled hospitals are private and urban. (d)/ No Error (e)
a) a
b) b
c) c
d) d
e) e
- The only real way to judge the potential (a)/ of the NHPS are to review the empirical evidence pertaining (b)/ to some of the existing publicly-funded health insurance schemes, (c)/ particularly the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY). (d)/ No Error (e)
a) a
b) b
c) c
d) d
e) e
- As economist Samir Amin notes, this (a)/ were the logical result of the “concomitance of the U.S. deficit (b)/ (leading to an excess of dollars available on the market) and the crisis of productive (c)/ investment” which had produced “a mass of floating capital with no place to go.” (d)/ No Error (e)
a) a
b) b
c) c
d) d
e) e
- Finance capital does not really need humans(a)/ — apart from the 1% that own most of it, (b)/ and another 30% or so of necessary service providers, including IT ones, (c)/ whose numbers should be expected to steadily shrinking. (d)/ No Error (e)
a) a
b) b
c) c
d) d
e) e
Directions (21-30): In the passage given below there is a question given with two blanks. Below the sentence, Five options are given with various combinations of the words. You have to choose the combination with the correct set of words which can fit in the given sentence.
(21). Across the hinterlands of the country, a silent revolution is _________. Each time a farmer _________ fertilizers from a dealer. (22). He/she______ his or her thumb at a point-of-sale (PoS) device and an authenticated receipt comes out giving details of the purchase and subsidy to be paid by the government directly to the manufacturer. The records of dealers are automatically _________ and payment is made digitally or in cash. (23). Farmers, especially those______ urea, who were facing constraints of availability and occasionally _________in the past, now receive it at a printed price with complete transparency. (24). Welcome to the world of direct benefit transfer (DBT) in fertilizers. Unlike DBT in LPG where subsidy is directly _______to the consumer’s bank, and in food where pilot projects of DBT___________ physical delivery of rations have taken place, DBT in fertilizer envisages transfer of subsidy to manufacturers upon authentication of purchase by farmers. This restricts diversion, prevents leakages, and brings about greater transparency, accountability and efficiency. Given the complex nature of fertilizer subsidies, with multiple producers and varying cost structures, this was perhaps the best option to begin with. (25). The Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilizers (2016-17), in its 36th Action Taken Report, has recently _______that while implementing DBTs, subsidy should be disbursed directly to the farmer’s bank account. This requires serious consideration while Phase-I is ________and stabilised. (26). It’s a little over one year since the committee set up by NITI Aayog _________to roll out the pilot on DBT in fertilizers in 16 districts. Since then DBT in fertilizers has been _______ in 19 States and Union Territories and, (27). 12 States are______ to come on board this month. In another three months, DBT in fertilizers is expected to expand its footprint in the entire country. These initiatives have been _______with allied processes set in motion by the Department of Fertilizers including appointment of 24 State DBT co-coordinators, and organising about 4,500 training sessions across India. (28). Training videos are also ________on YouTube, and the comprehensive redress system in place is being _______to a multilingual help desk. DBT in fertilizers has had its challenges. (29). An important issue has been connectivity, like other IT-based initiatives, especially in rural areas. While this has been ________through flexibility in choosing the connectivity option (Wifi, LAN, PSTN) or use of external antenna to improve signal strength, other options have also been ________ . (30). Developing the systems and sensitising all stakeholders ____________ to the new system was an arduous task but it was successfully___________. A major concern is of some deal0er attrition, which is probably on account of declining margins and reduced possibility of diversion or sale at a higher price. This would need to be addressed on priority, if necessary, by revising the dealer margins.
21.
a) Appearing, gains
b) Showing up, buys
c) Taking place, purchases
d) Attaining, acquisitions
e) None of the above
22.
a) Squeezes, renewed
b) Touches, revised
c) Levels, amended
d) Presses, updated
e) None of the above
23.
a) Purchasing, overcharged
b) Investing, overburdened
c) Gaining, nicked
d) Acquiring, costly
e) None of the above
24.
a) Shifted, changing
b) Transferred, replacing
c) Assigned, patching
d) Relocated, restoring
e) None of the above
25.
a) Asserted, applied
b) Emphasized, implemented
c) Forced, enabled
d) Marked, invoked
e) None of the above
26.
a) Decided, rolled out
b) Fixed, showed
c) Planned, held out
d) Agreed, layed
e) None of the above
27.
a) Likely, filled
b) Expected, supplemented
c) Predicted, increased
d) Envisioned, boosted
e) None of the above
28.
a) Uploaded, developed
b) Placed, expanded
c) Installed, enlarged
d) Shown, extended
e) None of the above
29.
a) Resolved, regarded
b) Forwarded, advised
c) Marked, treated
d) Addressed, considered
e) None of the above
30.
a) Migrate, implemented
b) Shift, executed
c) Transfer, played
d) Drift, performed
e) None of the above
Answers:
Direction (1-10)
1. Correct Answer is: e), all of the above are the resources of revenue.
2. Correct Answer is: b), goliath means “giant”.
3. Correct Answer is: e), all of the above true regarding pharmacy benefit manager.
4. Correct Answer is: b), Aetna’s main focus is on corporate client.
5. Correct Answer is: e), all of the above true regarding Amazon entering in pharmacy business.
6. Correct Answer is: d), i & ii will be the harder things for Amazon in pharmaceutical sector.
7. Correct Answer is: a), tendency means “inclination”.
8. Correct Answer is: a), aiming will be the correct option.
9. Correct Answer is: a), unaffordable means “costly” in the context of the passage.
10. Correct Answer is: a), determined means “purposeful”.
Direction (11-20)
11. Correct Answer is: c), part c is wrong because helping verb “is” is wrong, “are” will be used here according to the subject.
12. Correct Answer is: d), preposition “to” is wrong here, “for” will be used here.
13. Correct Answer is: d), part d is wrong “do not” will be used in place of “does”.
14. Correct Answer is: e), whole sentence is correct.
15. Correct Answer is: c), helping verb “has” is wrong here according to the subject. So “have” will be used here.
16. Correct Answer is: b), here “become” will be used in place of “became”.
17. Correct Answer is: a), “shows” will be used in place of “show” according to the subject of the sentence.
18. Correct Answer is: b), helping verb “are” is wrong here “is” will be used here.
19. Correct Answer is: b), helping verb “were” is wrong here “was” will be used here according to the subject.
20. Correct Answer is: d), “shrinking” is wrong here so shrink will be used here.
Direction (21-30)
21. Correct Answer is: c), taking place and purchases will be used here according to the sentence.
22. Correct Answer is: d), presses will be used for thumb impression and according to the meaning updated will be the correct option.
23. Correct Answer is: a), purchasing and overcharged will be used here according to the meaning of the sentence.
24. Correct Answer is: b), transferred will be used in case of money to any account and replacing will be more accurate in case of changing anything.
25. Correct Answer is: b), emphasized will be used for forcing anything and implemented will be used to execute.
26. Correct Answer is: a), here decided and rolled out will be more accurate.
27. Correct Answer is: b), expected and supplemented will be the correct option according to the sentences.
28. Correct Answer is: b), placed and expanded will be used here according to the sentence.
29. Correct Answer is: d), addressed and considered will be used here where addressed means to resolve.
30. Correct Answer is: a), migrate and implemented will be used here according to the meaning of sentence.
