Q1) Select the word or phrase that is most nearly OPPOSITE to the given word.
Audacious
A. Dim
B. Gloomy
C. Sad
D. Cowardly
Answer : Option D
Explanation: Audacious meaning is willing to take risks.
Since we need opposite meaning, the answer is cowardly (lacking courage).
Q2) Re-arrange the jumbled parts which are labelled as P, Q, R and S to produce a coherent passage. The first (S1) and the last (S6) sentences have been given to you.
S1: Jawaharlal Nehru was born in Allahabad on 14th November, 1889.
P: Nehru met Mahatma Gandhi in February, 1920.
Q: In 1905, he was sent to London to study at a school called Harrow.
R: He became the first Prime Minister of Independent India on 15th August, 1947.
S: He married Kamla Kaul in 1915.
S6: He died on 27th May, 1964.
A. SQRP
B. RPQS
C. QSPR
D. QRPS
Answer : Option C
Explanation: According to chronological order of arrangement, the right order is
S1 QSPR S6, which is option C.
Q3) Fill in the blank with a suitable option.
The new technology has the potential to provide handsome returns, even though it is at a ____ stage in India.
A. Unknown
B. Turbulent
C. Peculiar
D. Nascent
Answer : Option D
Explanation: Unknown = not known
Turbulent = not stable or calm
Peculiar = strange
Nascent = developing or in the beginning stage.
The meaning of the sentence is, ‘Even though the technology is in developing stage, it has potential to provide good returns.
Q4) Find the word which is OPPOSITE to the meaning of the given word.
Jaunty
A. Ruddy
B. Youthful
C. Sedate
D. Strong
Answer : Option C
Explanation: Jaunty means happy.
As opposite meaning is required, the correct answer is sedate, which means dull.
Q5) Select the correct option that fills the blank(s) to make the sentence meaningfully correct.
In any case, it seems like a travesty to reduce Gandhian values to a ________ ban on liquor.
A. Outdated
B. Imaginative
C. Prosaic
D. Characterless
Answer : Option C
Explanation: A ____ ban, with this options A and B can be eliminated, since Outdated and Imaginative are vowel sounded words but we need a consonant sounded word.
Option D – ‘Characterless’ does not fit in the blank.
Travesty means false or misrepresentation.
Prosaic means ‘ordinary’
So, the statement says.
It looks false to reduce Gandhian values to an ordinary ban on liquor.
So, option C is the answer.
Q6) Find the closest MEANING for the given word.
Monotonous
A.Tedious
B.Mixed
C.Spirited
D.Assorted
Answer - Option A
Explanation: The meaning of the word monotonous = tedious.
Assorted is mixed.
Spirited is full of energy.
So, the closest meaning is Tedious, option A.
Passage For Q7-Q10) :
The impressive recent growth of certain sectors of the Indian economy is a necessary but insufficient condition for the elimination of extreme poverty.
In order to ensure that the poorest benefit from this growth, and also contribute to it, the expansion and improvement of the microfinance sector should be a national priority. Studies suggest that the impact of microfinance on the poorest is greater than on the poor, and yet another that non-participating members of communities where microfinance operates experience socio-economic gains — suggesting strong spillover effects. Moreover, well-managed microfinance institutions (MFIs) have shown a capacity to wean themselves off of subsidies and become sustainable within a few years.
Microfinance is powerful, but it is clearly no panacea. Microfinance does not directly address some structural problems facing Indian society and the economy, and it is not yet as efficient as it will be when economies of scale are realized and a more supportive policy environment is created.
Loan products are still too inflexible, and savings and insurance services that the poor also need are not widely available due to regulatory barriers.
Still, microfinance is one of the few market-based, scalable anti-poverty solutions that is in place in India today, and the argument to scale it up to meet the overwhelming need is compelling. According to Sa-Dhan, the overall outreach is 6.5 million families and the sector-wide loan portfolio is Rs 2,500 crore.
However, this is meeting only 10% of the estimated demand. Importantly, new initiatives are expanding this success story to the some of the country's poorest regions, such as eastern and central Uttar Pradesh.
The local and national governments have an important role to play in ensuring the growth and improvement of microfinance. First and foremost, the market should be left to set interest rates, not the state. Ensuring transparency and full disclosure of rates including fees is something the government should ensure, and something that new technologies as well as reporting and data standards are already enabling.
Furthermore, government regulators should set clear criteria for allowing MFIs to mobilize savings for on-lending to the poor; this would allow for a large measure of financial independence amongst well-managed MFIs. Each Indian state could consider forming a multi-party working group to meet with microfinance leaders and have a dialogue with them about how the policy environment could be made more supportive and to clear up misperceptions.
There is an opportunity to make a real dent in hard-core poverty through microfinance. By unleashing the entrepreneurial talent of the poor, we will slowly but surely transform India in ways we can only begin to imagine today.
Q7) What could be the meaning of the word ‘panacea’ in the passage?
A.Sustainable solution
B.Solution to all problems
C.Problem
D.Solution
Answer - Option B
Explanation: The meaning of the word panacea means universal cure which according to this passage context means, solution to all problems.
Even in the 3rd paragraph, it is clear that. Microfinance is powerful but not panacea (which means even though it is powerful but it is not the solution to all problems).
Q8) Why, according to the author, should microfinance be scaled up in India?
A.It is a market-based anti-poverty solution.
B.The demand for microfinance is high.
C.Both A and B
D.It is sustainable.
Answer - Option C
Explanation: Still, microfinance is one of the few market-based, scalable anti-poverty solutions that is in place in India today, and the argument to scale it up to meet the overwhelming need is compelling. According to Sa-Dhan, the overall outreach is 6.5 million families and the sector-wide loan portfolio is Rs 2,500 crore.
However, this is meeting only 10% of the estimated demand. Importantly, new initiatives are expanding this success story to the some of the country's poorest regions, such as eastern and central Uttar Pradesh.
According to the above-mentioned points in the passage, A and B are the reasons for microfinance to be scaled up in India.
Q9) Why are saving products not available?
A.Saving products are not available
B.Since insurance services are not available
C.Due to regulatory restrictions
D.Due to inflexibility of loan products
Answer - Option C
Explanation: Loan products are still too inflexible, and savings and insurance services that the poor also need are not widely available due to regulatory barriers.
According to this point, Due to regulatory restrictions, saving products are not available.
Q10) Why does the author talk about the 'entrepreneurial talent of poor' in the concluding paragraph?
A.Entrepreneurship among poor is an alternate to microfinance.
B.Entrepreneurship among poor is discouraged by microfinance.
C.Entrepreneurship among poor is encouraged by microfinance.
D.None of the above
Answer - Option C
Explanation: There is an opportunity to make a real dent in hard-core poverty through microfinance. By unleashing the entrepreneurial talent of the poor, we will slowly but surely transform India in ways we can only begin to imagine today.
Since microfinance can do improvement in hard-core poverty, the author talked about this point in concluding the paragraph.
Q11) Re-arrange the jumbled parts which are labelled as P, Q, R and S to produce a coherent passage. The first (S1) and the last (S6) sentences are given. Choose the correct option.
S1: I keep on flapping my big ears all day.
P: They also fear that I will flap them all away.
Q: But children wonder why I flap them so.
R: I flap them so to make sure they are safely there on either side of my head.
S: But I know what I am doing.
S6: Am I not a smart, intelligent elephant?
A.PSRQ
B.QPRS
C.QPSR
D.SRQP
Answer - Option C
Explanation: QP is a link. ‘They’ in P is about “Children” in Q.
In between option C and D.
SR6 forms the correct link. So, option C is the answer.
Q12) Arrange the fragments A, B, C, D and E to form a meaningful sentence.
A-was the recipient
B-of
C-Mother Teresa
D-1979 Nobel Peace Prize
E-the
A.ECABD
B.EDABC
C.DABEC
D.CABED
Answer - Option
Explanation: The sentence must start with ‘Mother Teresa (C)’ The only option with C at start is option D.
The sentence when fragments arranged into a meaningful order is, ‘Mother Teresa was the recipient of the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize’.
Q13) Select the grammatically correct alternative to the words or phrase given in bold.
As soon as I turn the ignition key, the engine caught fire.
A.No change
B.I was turning the ignition key
C.I turned the ignition key
D.I turn an ignition key
Answer - Option C
Explanation: The engine caught fire after the ignition key was turned. So turning the key should be in the past tense.
The correct sentence is - As soon as I turned the ignition key, the engine caught fire.
Passage For Q14) :
China's massive subsidization of its steel industry is having consequences that are truly global. By expanding its steel industry by Government fiat, rather than in response to the demands of the market, China has skewed the entire world market in steel and in the inputs used to make steel. In doing so, it has directly injured both foreign steel producers and steel consuming industries in other countries.
China's explosive growth between 2000 and the present required massive amounts of steel, and indeed, during much of this period China was the world's leading steel importer. By building up its steel industry to artificial levels, though, China deprived steel producers in other countries of valuable sales. This is significant, because steel is a highly cyclical industry.
Not surprisingly, the rapid expansion of steel making capacity in China led first to the replacement of imports, and then to a boom in exports. In product line after product line, Chinese exports have flooded world markets, driving down prices.
The world in many ways constitutes an integrated market for steel. Through a dramatic expansion in capacity fueled largely by subsidies and Government-directed lending, the Chinese steel industry is destabilizing that market. Foreign steel producers are not the only ones harmed by the subsidized expansion of the Chinese steel industry. Foreign steel consumers have also been injured. The expansion of the steel industry is only part of the Chinese Government's plan for the development of the Chinese economy. The Chinese Government is also encouraging the development of manufacturing industries that use steel.
Manufacturers of products that are steel-intensive, such as automotive parts and appliances, are seeing increasing competition from Chinese producers who have access to subsidized domestic steel. Subsidized steel is going to manufacture components in China that ultimately end up in the United States and replace American steel. Indeed, American consumers report that they can import finished parts cheaper from China than they can buy the steel here. At the same time that U.S. steel producers are seeing increased imports caused, directly and indirectly, by increased Chinese production, we are also seeing many of our domestic customers move production to China, or go out of business altogether.
Q14) Which of the options most closely describe the meaning of 'by Government fiat'?
A.In keeping with Government intuition
B.With the help of Chinese owned fiat company
C.Before the Chinese Government ordered
D.In response to Government order
Answer - Option D
Explanation: By expanding its steel industry by Government fiat, rather than in response to the demands of the market, China has skewed the entire world market in steel and in the inputs used to make steel. In doing so, it has directly injured both foreign steel producers and steel consuming industries in other countries.
Fiat means ‘order’.
Because of the order there is a damage happened to the foreign steel producers and steel consuming countries.
So, option D is the correct answer.
Q15) Improve the sentence by selecting the correct alternative to the italizised part of the sentence.
Suraj tipped the policeman to avoid legal implications of breaking the traffic rules.
A.Bribed
B.Fooled
C.Begged
D.Cheated
Answer - Option A
Explanation: Suraj tried to get rid of legal implications of breaking the traffic rules by giving money to the policeman. So, this is very clear that he is giving bribe to the policeman.
So, according to this context, tipped = bribed.
So, option A is the correct answer.
