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Directions (1-5): Rearrange the following five sentences (A), (B), (C), (D), (E) in the proper sequence to form a meaningful paragraph then answer the questions given below them.
(A). Imran Khan, a former cricket star turned politician, is jubilant. His party’s candidate, Yasmin Rashid, a gynaecologist came a creditable second after roundly condemning the Sharif family for their aloofness, their lack of respect for the army and their cronyism.
(B). Her husband, Nawaz Sharif, was Pakistan’s prime minister until July, when the Supreme Court sacked him—hence the by-election for his parliamentary seat on September17th. Mr Sharif’s supporters dismiss the ruling as politically motivated. (He was banned from office for failing to declare a salary to which he was entitled as a director ofa family firm.)
(C). Kulsoom Nawaz Sharif, the former first lady of Pakistan, was in London undergoing cancer treatment. She did not campaign at all, leaving that job to her more charismatic daughter, Maryam Nawaz. She won anyway, but in a manner that augurs yet more political turmoil for her country.
(D). At a pre-election rally, a procession of cars and pick-up trucks squeezed through the narrow streets of Lahore. The crowd sweated, cheered, trod on each other’s feet and rained rose petals on the parade. All that was missing was the candidate.
(E). Mr Sharif hoped that voters would elect his wife to his old seat by a huge margin, thus repudiating the Supreme Court’s verdict. She won, but by a much smaller margin than Mr Sharif had managed in 2013. For Pakistan’s most prominent political family, on its home turf, in a province governed by Mr Sharif’s brother, that is a bad omen, less than a year before the next national elections.
1. Which is the third sentence of the paragraph?
a) E
b) C
c) B
d) A
e) D
2. Which is the first sentence of the paragraph?
a) D
b) E
c) A
d) B
e) C
3. Which is the second sentence of the paragraph?
a) A
b) C
c) B
d) D
e) E
4. Which is the fifth sentence of the paragraph?
a) C
b) A
c) D
d) B
e) E
5. Which is the fourth sentence of the paragraph?
a) A
b) B
c) C
d) D
e) E
Directions (6-15): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below.
American President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), popularly called the Iran nuclear deal, is bound to have serious __(6)__ for the international system, and for India. To be sure, the least affected will be the U.S.; European Union countries will be moderately affected due to the business ties with Iran; and the most affected will be countries closer to the region, in particular India. Moreover, for a U.S. administration that has made it a habit of __(7)__other countries of “undermining the rules-based order”, this action has severely undermined the rules-based global order. Washington’s decision is unjustified and unreasonable for several reasons. For one, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has consistently maintained that Tehran has __(8)__with the strictures of the JCPOA without fail. Moreover, Iran has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which prohibits it from developing nuclear weapons, and has agreed to ratify the IAEA’s Additional Protocol five years from now which will grant IAEA inspectors wide-ranging access to monitor nuclear-related activities in Iran. And yet Mr. Trump has thoughtlessly undone the outcome of negotiations that went on for close to two years. Second, the argument that since the provisions of the JCPOA will become less strict over the years enabling Iran to move towards nuclear-weapon capability is not a credible __(9)__for undoing the deal. In fact, if indeed there are concerns about Iran potentially moving towards a nuclear option, efforts should be made to engage Tehran in negotiations rather than undo what has already been achieved. This is a classic case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. With regard to Iran’s involvement in the various West Asian conflicts and “promotion of terrorism”, Iran is not the only country __(10)__in them. And in any case the way out, again, is diplomatic engagement rather than further unsettle an already volatile region. The global non-proliferation regime has taken a direct hit from the U.S.’s decision to __(11)__on the Iran deal. It is important to understand that norms, rules, persuasion and good faith make up the moral foundation of the non-proliferation regime, and the inability of the great powers to abide by them will __(12)__non-nuclear weapons states from signing on to or abiding by new or existing agreements, protocols or regimes. Second, even though Mr. Trump might think that playing hardball with Tehran will help him to extract concessions from Pyongyang, it is equally possible that the North Koreans will think twice before entering into any agreement with the untrustworthy Trump administration. Third, Washington’s unilateral and dictatorial withdrawal from the deal would create deep __(13)__in the time-tested but increasingly shaky trans-Atlantic security partnership. Not least because it implies potential secondary sanctions against those European companies which are engaged in business deals with Iran. Here again, the U.S. does not have much to lose given its almost non-existent business contacts with Iran. Besides, Mr. Trump’s Iran decision follows a pattern of similar unilateral steps — such as the withdrawal from the Paris climate accord and formal recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Let alone the loss of face suffered by European leaders and the financial losses by their countries’ firms, U.S. unilateralism has deep-running implications for the global security and governance architecture, and other multilateral arrangements and regimes. It is in this context that what French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said becomes significant: “The deal is not dead. There’s an American withdrawal from the deal, but the deal is still there.” The argument has found support in several global capitals. Hassan Rouhani, the moderate President of Iran, who negotiated the nuclear deal, might lose his standing in the country as hardliners __(14)__for more aggressive steps, including developing a nuclear weapon capability and more military engagement in the neighbourhood. The chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, has said that the “Iranian people never favoured the nuclear deal”. This is an indication of the hardline Iranian responses in the __(15)__as and when sanctions are reimposed.
6).
a) implications
b) retributions
c) reprimand
d) occurrences
e) None of these.
7.
a) accruing
b) accusing
c) denying
d) manipulating
e) None of these.
8).
a) besieged
b) compiled
c) belonged
d) stated
e) None of these.
9).
a) spooky
b) entire
c) long
d) rationale
e) None of these.
10).
a) jamming
b) liability
c) engaging
d) truth
e) None of these.
11).
a) renege
b) relegated
c) enforce
d) forefront
e) None of these.
12).
a) fix
b) dissuade
c) diversify
d) neglecting
e) None of these.
13).
a) flail
b) measures
c) dearth
d) fissures
e) None of these.
14).
a) pitch
b) hum
c) hop
d) parking
e) None of these.
15).
a) coffing
b) offing
c) coughing
d) creeping
e) None of these.
Direction (16-20): Five sentences denoted by A, B, C, D and E have been given. Identify the odd sentence and arrange rest of the four sentences in such a way that they make a meaningful paragraph.
16).
A) The move is meant to streamline the new indirect tax regime and improve the cash flow of exporters who have been complaining that refund delays make them less competitive, CBIC has been trying to reduce refund delays but mismatches in the returns filed by exporters are a key hurdle.
B) A statement from the finance ministry said refund claims to the tune of Rs14,000 crore are pending with the government as on date, which includes both input tax credit claims as well as IGST refund claims.
C) The move will especially help exporters who were not getting refunds because of mismatches in goods and service tax returns, a circular issued by CBIC to field officers specified the procedures to be followed for processing the refund claims of exporters under different scenarios.
D) Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has launched a tax refund drive and issued instructions to swiftly settle refund claims of exporters that are held up because of mismatches in the returns filed by them.
E) It noted that exporters have inadvertently erred in declaring the integrated GST paid on exports as IGST paid on interstate domestic supplies while filing their summary tax returns, some exporters also short paid taxes against the liability declared in their sales returns.
a) DACE
b) BCAE
c) ADBE
d) BACD
e) CABD
17).
A) As part of its efforts to expand its social base before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP leadership has also asked its public representatives to explain initiatives like the Ujjwala Yojana to Dalits and other socially backward communities.
B) The large-scale benefits of MGNREGS and Ujjwala Yojana draw easy parallels, MGNREGS, the rural employment guarantee scheme, is the biggest public works programme in the world that brought the Congress-led UPA tremendous electoral advantage, it assures 100 days of manual work a year to at least one member of every village household.
C) The implementation is so well-tuned that it is now on auto-mode, launched on 1 May 2016, the Ujjwala Yojana aims to safeguard the health of women and children while the clean fuel protects them from the hazards of inhaling smoke, it also helps the poor avoid going to unsafe areas to collect firewood.
D) Under Ujjwala Yojana, the centre has provided free cooking gas connections to around 40 million poor families till now, the scheme’s ambit has been expanded to include 80 million poor families as the countdown to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections begins.
E) In the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the government has been highlighting the success of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, the scheme that provides free cooking gas connections to poor families and the scheme provides financial support of Rs1,600 for each cooking gas connection to poor households.
a) DEBC
b) ACDE
c) EBDC
d) BADE
e) CBAD
18).
A) Usually durable investments do increase with GDP, but that is not necessarily true for natural capital, in fact GDP can increase dramatically by exploiting natural capital, given the absence of asset valuation in GDP calculations, debt is irrelevant.
B) With growing population and rising incomes, the challenge of the second half of the century will likely be sustainability, not poverty, about a billion people still live in poverty and improving their lives is of paramount importance.
C) The contract with future generations, thus is that greater future wealth will finance this debt, the future growth that is assumed however, depends on the sustainability of natural capital which is threatened due to the myopic pursuit of GDP growth.
D) But the pace of environmental damage today is such that scientists think 50% of species are facing extinction. This should make even those who are sceptical about obligations to future generations think about sustainability.
E) It is increasingly becoming clear that a focus on growth in gross domestic product to the exclusion of all else can sacrifice the interests of future generations, the problem with such a single-minded focus is that it fixates on aggregate demand, irrespective of whether it is due to greater consumption or investment.
a) DBEC
b) EDAC
c) DABC
d) BEAC
e) CBDE
19).
A) Farm distress too has led to a sharp rise in agrarian riots prompting the government to announce an expansion and hike in farm support prices, which could stoke the fires of inflation once again, although there is some evidence to suggest that rural fortunes may be reviving now, it is not clear whether the revival will sustain
B) But as it nears the finishing line, the government’s key achievement of taming inflation seems to be under threat as crude oil prices have risen sharply over the past few months, raising concerns about the twin deficits once again.
C) With two cylinders of India’s growth engine failing to fire, the Indian economy has largely depended on the other two consumption and government expenditure to power growth.
D) The government’s decision to keep farm support prices in check has helped lower inflation, and inflationary expectations, also fall in global commodity prices helped tame inflation even as it allowed the government to raise fuel taxes to finance its expenditure.
E) The other notable achievement of the Indian economy over the past few years has been the remarkable rise in foreign flows, and in particular, in foreign direct investment, the Indian economy has emerged as a top investment destination, with a ratings upgrade from Moody’s Investor Services last year.
a) EBCD
b) DBAE
c) ABDC
d) BCDE
e) CDEA
20).
A) Sectors that witnessed faster growth in quality of labour also generally saw higher growth in labour productivity, measured in terms of real value added per worker, for instance trade business services and transport and storage services witnessed relatively higher growth in both labour quality and labour productivity.
B) It is not a surprise therefore that a 2015 survey of 41,700 hiring managers in 42 countries found that Indian managers were most hard-pressed to find workers who matched their requirements.
C) While the quality of labour measured in terms of education and experience of workers has improved across most sectors, the pace of change has been considerably slower in sectors that employ the most number of workers, the services sector has witnessed the biggest gains in labour quality since the turn of the 21st century.
D) Even as the Indian economy struggles to create new jobs, employers in the country find it increasingly difficult to find employable workers, one reason behind this paradox could be the low quality of labour in the economy, new data from the KLEMS India database suggests.
E) However, sectors which have seen high growth in labour quality and productivity have failed to create many new jobs, several manufacturing sectors such as textiles and leather, food products and beverages, and non-metallic mineral products which witnessed a sharp rise in labour quality and productivity over the past three decades did not see a sharp growth in jobs over the same period.
a) DCAE
b) CABE
c) ABED
d) BDAE
e) EACD
Direction (21– 24): Choose the correct option for the following sentence fillers.
a) That is unfortunate, as Mama Yuli needs the donations that came with it. The shelter is home to six transgender women, though many more come and go.
b) That is unfortunate, as Mama Yuli needs the donations that came along and with it. The shelter is home to six transgender women, though many more come and go.
c) That is unfortunate, as Mama Yuli needs the donations that came in with it. The shelter is home to six transgender women, though many more come and go.
d) That is unfortunate, as Mama Yuli needs the donations that came on with it. The shelter is home to six transgender women, though many more come and go.
e) None of these.
a) In 2015 an official in one of the country’s four regions reporting forcibly removing the beards of 13,000 men
b) In 2015 an official in one of the country’s four regions reported that forcibly removing the beards of 13,000 men
c) In 2015 an official in one of the country’s four regions reported that all of forcibly removing the beards of 13,000 men
d) In 2015 an official in one of the country’s four regions reported forcibly removing the beards of 13,000 men
e) None of these.
a) New Zealand, wonderfully far from anywhere, really does seem to have it all: glaciers and jagged peaks, charismatic fauna, vineyards, lusty rivers for fly-fishing or rafting, dive sites and thousands of miles of glorious coastline—not to mention the cosmopolitan, foodie cities of Auckland and Wellington.
b) New Zealand, wonderfully far from everywhere, really don’t seem to have it all: glaciers and jagged peaks, charismatic fauna, vineyards, lusty rivers for fly-fishing or rafting, dive sites and thousands of miles of glorious coastline—not to mention the cosmopolitan, foodie cities of Auckland and Wellington.
c) New Zealand, wonderfully far off from anywhere, really does seem to have it all: glaciers and jagged peaks, charismatic fauna, vineyards, lusty rivers for fly-fishing or rafting, dive sites and thousands of miles of glorious coastline—not to mention the cosmopolitan, foodie cities of Auckland and Wellington.
d) New Zealand, wonderfully far away from anywhere, really does seem to have it all: glaciers and jagged peaks, charismatic fauna, vineyards, lusty rivers for fly-fishing or rafting, dive sites and thousands of miles of glorious coastline—not to mention the cosmopolitan, foodie cities of Auckland and Wellington.
e) None of these.
a) As a whole, China has the few young adults relative to the size of older generations, meaning it will not have enough workers to support its pensioners (or children) properly in the future.
b) As a whole, China has too few young adults relative to the size of older generations, meaning it will not have enough workers to support its pensioners (or children) properly in the future.
c) As a whole, China has a few young adults relative to the size of older generations, meaning it will not have enough workers to support its pensioners (or children) properly in the future.
d) As a whole, China has too many few young adults relative to the size of older generations, meaning it will not have enough workers to support its pensioners (or children) properly around the future.
e) None of these.
Directions (25-30): Find out the error, if any. If there is no error, the answer is (e), i.e. No error. (Ignore the errors of punctuation, if any.)
a) A
b) B
c) C
d) D
e) E
a) A
b) B
c) C
d) D
e) E
a) A
b) B
c) C
d) D
e) E
a) A
b) B
c) C
d) D
e) E
a) A
b) B
c) C
d) D
e) E
a) A
b) B
c) C
d) D
e) E
Answers:
1). Correct Answer is: c)
DCBEA is the correct order of sentences.
2). Correct Answer is: a)
DCBEA is the correct order of sentences.
3). Correct Answer is: b)
DCBEA is the correct order of sentences.
4). Correct Answer is: b)
DCBEA is the correct order of sentences.
5). Correct Answer is: e)
DCBEA is the correct order of sentences.
Direction (6-10)
6) Correct Answer is: a)
Implications – hints
7). Correct Answer is: b)
Accusing – blaming
8). Correct Answer is: b)
Compiled – collected
9). Correct Answer is: d)
Rationale – reason
10). Correct Answer is: c)
Engaging – attractive
11). Correct Answer is: a)
Renege – revoke
12). Correct Answer is: b)
Dissuade – discourage
13). Correct Answer is: d)
Fissures – breaks
14). Correct Answer is: a)
Pitch – cast
15). Correct Answer is: b)
Offing – background
Direction (16-20)
16). D) Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has launched a tax refund drive and issued instructions to swiftly settle refund claims of exporters that are held up because of mismatches in the returns filed by them.
A) The move is meant to streamline the new indirect tax regime and improve the cash flow of exporters who have been complaining that refund delays make them less competitive, CBIC has been trying to reduce refund delays but mismatches in the returns filed by exporters are a key hurdle.
C) The move will especially help exporters who were not getting refunds because of mismatches in goods and service tax returns, a circular issued by CBIC to field officers specified the procedures to be followed for processing the refund claims of exporters under different scenarios.
E) It noted that exporters have inadvertently erred in declaring the integrated GST paid on exports as IGST paid on interstate domestic supplies while filing their summary tax returns, some exporters also short paid taxes against the liability declared in their sales returns.
Explanation- the passage is about tax refund drive. According to the passage CBIC has launched a tax refund drive and along with this it issued instructions in order to resolve refund cases of exporters rapidly. Since there were lot of complaints regarding refund delays CBIC has took this move which is meant to simplify the new indirect tax regime and improve the cash flow of exporters.
Correct Answer is: a)
17). E) In the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the government has been highlighting the success of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, the scheme that provides free cooking gas connections to poor families and the scheme provides financial support of Rs1,600 for each cooking gas connection to poor households.
B) The large-scale benefits of MGNREGS and Ujjwala Yojana draw easy parallels, MGNREGS, the rural employment guarantee scheme, is the biggest public works programme in the world that brought the Congress-led UPA tremendous electoral advantage, it assures 100 days of manual work a year to at least one member of every village household.
D) Under Ujjwala Yojana, the centre has provided free cooking gas connections to around 40 million poor families till now, the scheme’s ambit has been expanded to include 80 million poor families as the countdown to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections begins.
C) The implementation is so well-tuned that it is now on auto-mode, launched on 1 May 2016, the Ujjwala Yojana aims to safeguard the health of women and children while the clean fuel protects them from the hazards of inhaling smoke, it also helps the poor avoid going to unsafe areas to collect firewood.
Explanation- the passage is about the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. According to the passage the government launched a new scheme on 1 May 2016 named as the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. The scheme is meant to impart free cooking gas connections to poor families and the scheme deliver financial assistance for each cooking gas connection to poor households of about Rs1,600. Also it is stated that till the centre has provided free cooking gas connections to around 40 million poor families under the scheme.
Correct Answer is: c)
18). Correct Answer is: d)
B) With growing population and rising incomes, the challenge of the second half of the century will likely be sustainability, not poverty, about a billion people still live in poverty and improving their lives is of paramount importance.
E) it is increasingly becoming clear that a focus on growth in gross domestic product to the exclusion of all else can sacrifice the interests of future generations, the problem with such a single-minded focus is that it fixates on aggregate demand, irrespective of whether it is due to greater consumption or investment.
A) Usually durable investments do increase with GDP, but that is not necessarily true for natural capital, in fact GDP can increase dramatically by exploiting natural capital, given the absence of asset valuation in GDP calculations, debt is irrelevant.
C) The contract with future generations, thus is that greater future wealth will finance this debt, the future growth that is assumed however, depends on the sustainability of natural capital which is threatened due to the myopic pursuit of GDP growth
Explanation- the passage is about putting sustainable development into practice. According to the passage it high time for the government to overcome the major challenge that is sustainability and ensuring sustainable development will need recalibration of our current understanding of progress. GDP growth needs to be complemented with a valuation of assets, including natural capital. The growth in future depends on the sustainability of natural capital which is threatened due to the myopic pursuit of GDP growth
19). Correct Answer is: a)
D) Even as the Indian economy struggles to create new jobs, employers in the country find it increasingly difficult to find employable workers, one reason behind this paradox could be the low quality of labour in the economy, new data from the KLEMS India database suggests.
C) While the quality of labour measured in terms of education and experience of workers has improved across most sectors, the pace of change has been considerably slower in sectors that employ the most number of workers, the services sector has witnessed the biggest gains in labour quality since the turn of the 21st century.
A) Sectors that witnessed faster growth in quality of labour also generally saw higher growth in labour productivity, measured in terms of real value added per worker, for instance trade business services and transport and storage services witnessed relatively higher growth in both labour quality and labour productivity.
E) However, sectors which have seen high growth in labour quality and productivity have failed to create many new jobs, several manufacturing sectors such as textiles and leather, food products and beverages, and non-metallic mineral products which witnessed a sharp rise in labour quality and productivity over the past three decades did not see a sharp growth in jobs over the same period.
Explanation- the passage is about the data released regarding job challenges in the country. According to the data released from the KLEMS India database -India’s jobs challenge lies as much in creating new jobs as it does in creating employable workers. The data shows that the pace has been substantially moderate in sectors that employ the most number of workers however the services sector has spotted the massive progress in labour quality. Also data states that sectors which have observed excessive growth in labour quality and productivity have failed to create many new jobs.
Direction (21-24)
21) Correct Answer is: a)
Explanation – Usage done in option a is correct.
22). Correct Answer is: d)
Explanation – Usage done in option d is correct
23). Correct Answer is: a)
Explanation – Usage done in option a is correct.
24). Correct Answer is: b)
Explanation – Usage done in option b is correct.
Direction (25-30)
25). Correct Answer is: e)
Explanation – Usage done in given sentence is correct
26). Correct Answer is: c)
Explanation – ‘matches for financial gain’ is correct usage.
27). Correct Answer is: d)
Explanation – ‘gas that comes out’ is correct usage.
28). Correct Answer is: e)
Explanation – Usage done in given sentence is correct
29). Correct Answer is: c)
Explanation – ‘owing to pilot shortage’ is correct usage.
30). Correct Answer is: e)
Explanation – Usage done in given sentence is correct