Directions (1-15): In the following questions, a passage is followed by five options. Find the option which correctly expresses the conclusion of the given paragraph(completes the paragraph). If none of the options applies, select option E as your correct answer.
Q1. The Assad regime depends on its patrons in Iran and the Iranian-backed Hezbollahmilitia in neighboring Lebanon. The Sunni-led opposition is similarly turning to its regional patrons. These regional players, with their own agendas, will keep pulling Syria apart until a functioning national government can be reestablished.
(a) The resolution must be political – but grounded in a realistic assessment of the difficulty in putting the pieces of Syria back together.
(b) The regime has seemed equally bent on division.
(c) What’s happening in Syria isn’t an insurgency now but a sectarian civil war.
(d) The country should enter what is similar to quarantine until it is cured from the sectarian disease.
(e) None of the above
Q2. Naseeruddin Shah is undoubtedly one of the best performers on the Indian screen. Despite his atypical looks, he managed to make a mark for himself in both parallel and commercial films, but gives credit to Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan for paving the way for unconventional looking heroes in the Hindi filmdom.
(a) Naseeruddin’s own achievements are no mean feat, but despite three National Awards, international honour and acclaim, the seasoned actor wonders why he isn’t seen as a commercially viable artist by filmmakers.
(b) Nowadays unconventional-looking actors like NawazuddinSiddiqui and Irfan among others have raised the bar in filmdom, but Naseeruddin feels the real credit goes to Amitabh Bachchan.
(c) Mentality has not changed. It’s just that the audience has always appreciated good acting.
(d) But the tendency has not changed. Still the chocolate face is acceptable.
(e) None of the above
Q3. Given that all three major parties – Congress, BJP and AAP – have declared that they would not enter into any post-poll alliances, the chances of President’s Rule seem higher, especially if the largest party is way short of the majority mark. Since President’s Rule cannot last beyond six months,
(a) Experts, however, also feel a huge voter-turn out usually suggests a decisive and clear mandate.
(b) However, absence of a formal government can slow down functioning of the departments.
(c) Experts look at the scenarios as an ‘unfortunate’ one for the city as it hurts the functioning of the government in a significant way.
(d) The fresh election to the Delhi assembly may well be held along with the Lok Sabha election in the summer of 2014.
(e) None of the above
Q4. Most voters respond to the liberal and conservative frames on most issues. Not all issues – most of us have a few things we care strongly about, whether it’s guns, abortion, minimum wage, Afghanistan or whatever. Very few of us have a strong belief in a particular “ideology” in the sense of strongly adhering to a particular set of first principles that attentive political actors would recognize as “liberal” or “conservative” (or socialist, libertarian, green or whatever).
(a) Instead, most voters seem to appreciate arguments from multiple sides – we might think it sounds right that people should make it on their own and that too much government assistance would make us dependent, but we might also think it sounds right that we should pitch in collectively to help the needy and also that there are things we can do collectively to ensure a fairer chance for all.
(b) In practical terms, believing both of those things might be wildly inconsistent, but it’s also true, in practical terms, that most of us never have to resolve that inconsistency – so we don’t.
(c) Picking an ideology, for most of us, doesn’t accomplish anything.
(d) That turns out to make for a very effective democracy.
(e) None of the above
Q5. Mourn the statesman and the revolutionary and the terrorist and the neoliberal and the ethicist and the pragmatist and the saint and don’t you dare try to discard or remove any part of that whole.
(a) He had a compliment to give to everybody, including my housekeeper and doorman. It was amazing. A gentle giant, he was.
(b) Celebrate him? Sure, but then make sure you’re willing to consider emulating him.
(c) Mandela faced, the hypocrisy of many who praise his life.
(d) He showed us how liberating it is to forgive.
(e) None of the above
Q6. Freedom of the Press, the Ark of the Covenant of Democracy”, as proudly proclaimed by our Supreme Court, is not in good shape. A document published by The Free Speech Hub, an initiative of the Media Foundation, records how journalists in Kashmir have been beaten and shot at by the security forces. Journalist AmulyaPani was assaulted when he went to cover the police firing on villagers in Kalinga-nagar in Orissa, and journalists Moirangthem Romeo and Atom Lukhoi were arrested by the Imphal East commandos in Jirabam in Manipur, for no apparent reason. Attacks on freedom of the press and journalists are not the monopoly of the security forces. Attacks on and vandalizing M F Husain’s paintings, threats against writer Arundhati Roy for her article about Maoists and the onslaught on Bollywood film My Name is Khan emanated from intolerant social and political groups.
(a) We have not learnt to accord freedom to the thought we hate or to a movie of which we disapprove.
(b) Regrettably, law enforcement authorities look the other way when powerful political personalities and organizations are involved.
(c) We have not learnt to given freedom to the thought we dislike.
(d) The root cause is the inability to stomach anything which is unconventional or opposed to one’s idea of truth and morality.
(e) None of the above
Q7. 1967 Border: At the start of the Six Day War in 1967, Gaza was held by Egypt, the Golan Heights by Syria, and the West Bank by Jordan; after the Six Day War, Israel had pushed its Arab neighbors to the Sinai Peninsula to the West, to the Jordan River to the East, and out of the Golan, and its occupation of these new territories has continued since (except for Gaza, from which Israel withdrew but has since subjected to a military blockade to isolate the Strip’s Hamas-led government). The two-state solution is premised on a Palestinian state established in the Gazan and West Bank territory held by Egypt and Jordan at the start of the Six Day War.
(a) The compromise, then, is to exchange territory – Palestinian negotiators will concede settlement blocs in the West Bank to Israel in exchange for territorial additions to the Palestinian state.
(b) The last round of direct talks fell apart when Palestinian negotiators reportedly would not concede that Israel is a “Jewish state” in exchange for a settlement freeze.
(c) Israeli negotiators have consistently resisted the resettlement of Palestinian refugees to Israel, arguing that it is logistically not feasible and would alter the fundamental identity of the Israeli state.
(d) But those exact borders, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has argued, have become indefensible, and Israeli negotiators are pushing to retain settler-held territory in the West Bank.
(e) None of the above
Q8. In July this year, Twitter introduced “Promoted Products”, a paid service that highlights advertiser’s tweets, handles or trends, to India. As it edges ever closer to the traditional model of a content-driven media company through such advertising efforts and new content partnerships, Twitter’s India initiatives can be seen as a clear – but cautious – part of a larger, less organic growth strategy for its global future.
(a) Indian brands could also create “promoted tweets”, which would also be sold through a cost-per-engagement model.
(b) Twitter hinted that it intended to launch this service in “selected international markets”, but did not name India specifically.
(c) There are many people on Twitter who actually take the brand’s promotion and do it in their own way.
(d) Twitter was still growing in the US, its home country, but that it already has a larger user base in some other countries.
(e) None of the above
Q9. India return to the trajectory of growth? It was not “will” India return, but “when”. Underlying this question has been disappointment and hope. There is the perception that India’s current economic woes are of its own making. This disappoints, because India did so well to withstand the Great Recession of 2008. There is also the view, however, that these problems can be remedied with stronger leadership.
(a) The hope is that this leadership will be forthcoming and that a resurgent India will counter an ambitious China.
(b) There were, of course, supplementary questions – is corruption an endemic feature of our polity? Who will best whom in the presidential tussle between Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi? What is the nature and consequence of the strengthening tide of federalism? – but they all flowed from this interest in the future prospects of the economy.
(c) We focus on the trees and lose sight of the forest. The challenge of responding to interested, non-partisan and well-meaning critics of the India story on foreign soil compels analytical realignment.
(d) Most of us who live in large cities and circle the opinion formers in government, politics and journalism tend to get bogged down in the minutiae of anecdotal analysis.
(e) None of the above
Q10. The House of Lords has been replaced by the UK Supreme Court which is now the highest court of appeal in the United Kingdom. It was established by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. The Court is housed in a building opposite the Big Ben. The atmosphere in Court is genial, not forbidding. The court rooms are spacious and brightly lit. There is pin drop silence in the Court. Counsel respectfully answer occasional polite queries from the Bench without loud interruptions from counsel on the other side. The day I visited the Court it delivered an important judgment in which by a majority of 6 to 3 it ruled that the Human Rights Act 1998 did not apply to British armed forces on foreign soil, viz. Iraq. A noteworthy feature is that a concise press summary outlining the facts of the case, the legal issues involved and the reasons for the judgment is issued at the same time by the registry with the approval of the Court to “assist in understanding the Court’s decision”. Judgments of the Court are available on the same day.
(a) A shameful blot on our criminal justice system is the phenomenon of under-trials rotting in jails for periods longer than the maximum punishment imposable upon conviction.
(b) If this be judicial activism, it is most welcome because it enforces the right of under-trials to a speedy trial guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution.
(c) Adoption of this practice in our Supreme Court is worth consideration.
(d) In this context, the anguished observations of a Bench of the Delhi High Court, Comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Manmohan, were most timely.
(e) None of the above
Q11. A crisis in Indo-US relations has long been in the making. There is, of course, the massive shift in perceptions of India that frames the reception of events. India’s new economy used to be the darling of The New York Times, now its old society is subject to yawningly relentless indictment. India was the maturing great power, now it has become an infantile wannabe. It had a strong government, now it is flailing.
(a) The case has become a marker of our confusions over our relationship with the US.
(b) Our self-esteem is shaped by what others think of us.
(c) The Ugly Indian and Ugly American have rediscovered each other.
(d) The American liberal establishment has suddenly rediscovered an India that is reactionary, exploitative, deceitful, feudal and incapable of the rule of law.
(e) None of the above
Q12. Currently, India has more than 7 lakh teachers who are untrained and teaching in classrooms across the country. A further 5 lakh are expected to be recruited to fill in teacher vacancies. The DIET is able to cater to only 40% of the teachers in the country. In this context, distance education offers an opportunity for large-scale upgradation of teacher skills and qualifications.
(a) Currently, India has more than 7 lakh teachers who are untrained and teaching in classrooms across the country. A further 5 lakh are expected to be recruited to fill in teacher vacancies.
(b) The Government should scale up operations of IGNOU’s distance education program for teacher education, which is already collaborating with states to provide pre-service and in-service training to government teachers.
(c) Implementing a work-based curriculum will involve designing a textbook that has activities finely interwoven into the theory.
(d) If distance training is to be provided to all the untrained teachers, the capacity of the current distance education program will have to be increased.
(e) None of the above
Q13. It is a vicious circle. Girls are being discriminated against and hence, there are less girls being born. The lesser the number of girls the more in the society the higher the crime against them for sexual desires are not a taboo but a condition that needs to be taken into account in any society. Rapes are the most common occurrence in a society where not each man finds at least one woman for himself. The more the crime, the more women do not want girls to be born to “save” them from this life leading to lesser number of girls. We need to educate and make aware the root cause.
(a) Why I ask in this country, which has in his history held women in high regard, which prays to goddesses for SHAKTI, DHAN and PEACE are we so distant from ground realities of women who live amongst us.
(b) Even when the girls survive, we as a society in India have always given priority to the need of the men and boys in the house.
(c) It’s unnerving to think how women can do this to girls. How the educated, learned and aware women can commit such brutality.
(d) Yet rather than understanding the reason all the women who have been subject to these crimes either by family or fate do not want their girls to be born to avoid such a life for them.
(e) None of the above
Q14. While several feminists demand death penalty for rapists, even right-wing conservatives would also ask for the same. Why this convergence of interests? Extremist positions seem to create this problem quite frequently. While feminists would base it on the absolute right of a woman over her sexuality, the conservatives come from where a woman’s sexual ‘purity’ or ‘impurity’ defines her identity and place. Here India and Bharat (if such a demarcation exists) want the same, but one looks forward, while the other is regressive. Legitimacy for an argument drawn from cultural past is always problematic. Culture has, for the most part, evolved in ways in which a group is held inferior through elaborate myths and mythologies, it sustains status quo, it works through complicity of the group held inferior through incentives.
(a) Sacrifice is a woman’s test to greatness, not her mental acumen or control of her agency.
(b) So is it worthwhile for a woman to try to achieve the ideal in this scenario?
(c) A rational discussion on human rights requires freedom from the tendency of romanticization of culture, it needs to be peeled, its nuances understood, since it is very clear that an image of glorification of powerful women does not destroy or even nullify the more horrifying ground realities.
(d) Empowering though it may seem, this cultural representation is not very liberating.
(e) None of the above
Q15. The example set forth by Malala has helped bring the world’s focus on the very serious issue affecting the people in Malala’s country. Going against the odds, Malala had started to voice her defiance against the odds, Malala had started to voice her defiance against the Taliban for banning girls from going to school much before the world’s spotlight came to rest on her. She started blogging about the dismal situation of education for girls around her as early as in December 2009 and was also interviewed on local news channels. But her leap to international recognition after October 2012 gave her the platform to address the world, and on 12th July 2013 she stood at the UN calling out for worldwide access to education.
(a) Malala, in her show of defiance, has sparked a movement.
(b) She has emerged as a global leader who seems to have every intention to use the pedestal she has acquired for the cause of education.
(c) The words uttered by her during her interview in The Jon Stewart Show, “But then if I hit a Talib with a shoe, then there would be no difference between you and the Talib……” clearly portrays that age isn’t a basis to be a leader.
(d) This young girl has started on a path to bring on a much needed change and with the world willing to lead her its support, one can always aspire to see her dream turning into a reality in the near future.
(e) None of the above
Solutions
S1. Ans.(a)
Sol. Option (a) is the most suitable because it acts as an actual conclusion to the idea presented in the passage, offering a final thought on the resolution of this conflict. Option (d) is another close answer but does not finish the passage in what feels like a conclusive manner. Options (b) and (c) restate what is mentioned in the passage itself.
S2. Ans.(b)
Sol. Option (b) continues and ends the thought expressed in the passage in the best way, while options (a), (c) and (d) take off on a different tangent altogether. Hence, (b) is the right answer.
S3. Ans.(d)
Sol. Option (d) is an extension of the concept of the possibility of President’s Rule mentioned in the paragraph and explains it in further detail, making it the best conclusion to the passage concerned.
S4. Ans.(a)
Sol. Option (a) explores the explanation behind such voter-behavior and concludes the passage most effectively.
S5. Ans.(b)
Sol. From the given options, option (b) seems the most conclusive while the rest leave the thread loose, without providing a rounding off statement to the passage. Thus, (b) is the correct answer.
S6. Ans.(d)
Sol. Option (d) best ends the passage, while (a), (c) and (d) continue the line of though expressed in the passage without providing the final link.
S7. Ans.(d)
Sol. The crucial clue in the passage is provided by the direct mention of the border dispute. Option (d) is the only one that makes a direct reference to the same, providing the crucial link and conclusion to the passage.
S8. Ans.(b)
Sol. Option (b) best sums up the idea presented in the passage.
S9. Ans.(a)
Sol. Option (b), (c) and (d) are all sentences that could come before the paragraph, but not ideally conclude it. They leave the idea rather open-ended and incomplete, while A best puts forth a conclusion.
S10. Ans.(c)
Sol. Option (a), (b) and (D) bear no direct relation with the content of the passage, nor they extend the idea it presents. Option (b) is confusing because it does not directly allude to anything, but this also makes it a wrong option. Thus (c) is the best answer.
S11. Ans.(a)
Sol. Option (a) is a conclusion while (b), (c) and (d) either build up or paraphrase what’s been said in the passage.
S12. Ans.(b)
Sol. The passage’s contents are accurately summed up by option (b) while (a), (c) and (d) just reiterate parts of it.
S13. Ans.(a)
Sol. The author’s purpose and sentiment are expressed succinctly in option A’s forceful concluding question.
S14. Ans.(c)
Sol. The options (a). (b) and (d) can be eliminated on the basis that it does not add anything to the line of thought already being discussed in the passage. Option (c) is the only one that not only does that but goes a step further and provides an authoritative conclusion.
S15. Ans.(d)
Sol. Option (d) talks of the future scenario with a thought for the reader to ponder over. Thus, option (d) is the best answer.
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