Directions for the following 7 (seven) items: Read the following six passages and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only.
Passage – 1
Climate change is already making many people hungry all over the world, by disrupting crop yields and pushing up prices. And it is not just food but nutrients that are becoming scarcer as the climate changes. It is the poorest communities that will suffer the worst effects of climate change, including increased hunger and malnutrition as crop production and livelihoods are threatened. On the other hand, poverty is a driver of climate change, as desperate communities resort to unsustainable use of resources to meet current needs.
1. Which among the following is the most logical corollary to the above passage ?
(a) Government should allocate more funds to poverty alleviation programmes and increase food subsidies to the poor communities.
(b) Poverty and climate impacts reinforce each other and therefore we have to re-imagine our food systems.
(c) All the countries of the world must unite in fighting poverty and malnutrition and treat poverty as a global problem.
(d) We must stop unsustainable agricultural practices immediately and control food prices.
Passage – 2
The Global Financial Stability Report finds that the share of portfolio investments from advanced economies in the total debt and equity investments in emerging economies has doubled in the past decade to 12 percent. The phenomenon has implications for Indian policy makers as foreign portfolio investments in the debt and equity markets have been on the rise. The phenomenon is also flagged as a threat that could compromise global financial stability in a chain reaction, in the event of United States Federal Reserve’s imminent reversal of its “Quantitative Easing” policy.
2. Which among the following is the most rational and critical inference that can be made from the above passage ?
(a) Foreign portfolio investments are not good for emerging economies.
(b) Advanced economies undermine the global financial stability.
(c) India should desist from accepting foreign portfolio investments in the future.
(d) Emerging economies are at a risk of shock from advancedeconomies.
Passage – 3
Open defecation is disastrous when practised in very densely populated areas, where it is impossible to keep away human faeces from crops, wells, food and children’s hands. Groundwater is also contaminated by open defecation. Many ingested germs and worms spread diseases. They prevent the body from absorbing calories and nutrients. Nearly one-half of India’s children remain malnourished. Lakhs of them die from preventable conditions. Diarrhoea leaves Indians’ bodies smaller on average than those of people in some poorer countries where people eat fewer calories. Underweight mothers produce stunted babies prone to sickness who may fail to develop their full cognitive potential. The germs released into environment harm rich and poor alike, even those who use latrines.
3. Which among the following is the most critical inference that can be made from the above passage ?
(a) The Central and State governments in India do not have enough resources to afford a latrine for each household.
(b) Open defecation is the most important public health problem of India.
(c) Open defecation reduces the human capital of India’s workforce.
(d) Open defecation is a public health problem in all developing countries.
Passage – 4
We generally talk about democracy but when it comes to any particular thing, we prefer a belonging to our caste or community or religion. So long as we have this kind of temptation, our democracy will remain a phoney kind of democracy. We must be in a position to respect a man as a man and to extend opportunites for development to those who deserve them and not to those who happen to belong to our community or race. This fact of favouritism has been responsible for much discontent and ill-will in our country.
4. Which one of the following statements best sums up the above passage ?
(a) Our country has a lot of diversity with its many castes, communities and religions.
(b) True democracy could be established by providing equal opportunities to all.
(c) So far none of us have actually understood the meaning of democracy.
(d) It will never be possible for us to establish truly democratic governance in our country.
Passage – 5
The existence/establishment of formal financial institutions that offer safe, reliable, and alternative financial instruments is fundamental in mobilising savings. To save, individuals need access to safe and reliable financial institutions, such as banks, and to appropriate financial instruments and reasonable financial incentives. Such access is not always available to all people in developing countries like India and more so, in rural areas. Savings help poor households manage volatility in cash flow, smoothen consumption, and build working capital. Poor households without access to a formal savings mechanism encourage immediate spending temptations.
5. With reference to the above passage, consider the following statements:
1. Indian financial institutions do not offer any financial instruments to rural households to mobilise their savings.
2. Poor households tend to spend their earnings/savings due to lack of access to appropriate financial instruments.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
6. What is the crucial message conveyed in the passage ?
(a) Establish more banks
(b) Increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate
(c) Increase the interest rate of bank deposits
(d) Promote financial inclusion
Passage - 6
Governments may have to take steps which would otherwise be an infringement on the Fundamental Rights of individuals, such as acquiring a person’s land against his will, or refusing permission for putting up a building, but the larger public interest for which these are done must be authorized by the people (Parliament). Discretionary powers to the administration can be done away with. It is becoming more and more difficult to keep this power within limits as the government has many number of tasks to perform. Where discretion has to be used, there must be rules and safeguards to prevent misuse of that power. Systems have to be devised which minimise, if not prevent, the abuse of discretionary power. Government work must be conducted within a framework of recognised rules and principles, and decisions should be similar and predictable.
7. Which among the following is the most logical assumption that can be made from the above passage ?
(a) Government should always be given wide discretionary power in all matters of administration.
(b) The supremacy of rules and safeguards should prevail as opposed to the influence of exclusive discretion of authority.
(c) Parliamentary democracy is possible only if the Government has wider discretionary power.
(d) None of the above statements is a logical assumption that can be made from this passage.
Answers :
2.(d) Emerging economies are at a risk of shock from advanced economies.
3.(b) Open defecation is the most important public health problem of India.
4.(c) So far none of us have actually understood the meaning of democracy.
5.(b) 2 only
6.(d) Promote financial inclusion
7.(d) None of the above statements is a logical assumption that can be made from this passage.
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