Directions (1-6): Read the paragraphs given in each
question and choose a suitable summary from the given options:
Q1. The liberal democracies of the west
benefited from the end of the Soviet bloc, but it is hard to argue that low oil
prices in the Arab and Muslim world led to much peace and stability. One safe
observation today is that the slump in global oil prices has notably dimmed
hopes that emerging powers might continue their growth and modernization,
simultaneously becoming solid stakeholders in a stable international order.
(a) The stagnating growth of emerging
markets and conflict in the Middle East which is a disadvantage far outweighs
the advantages accruing to the west from the oil price slump.
(b) Recessionary trends refuse to let
up as growth in emerging markets remains sluggish limiting their ability to
demand oil. Slow demand in turn has created problems for the Soviet bloc and
the Arab world.
(c) The slump in oil prices has proved
advantageous to the liberal West but has compounded the problems for the rest
of the world resulting in conflict in the Arab world and deceleration in growth
of emerging markets.
(d) The dismantling of the Soviet Bloc
has helped liberal democracies in the west. This has been made possible through
low global oil prices.
(e) None of the above is correct
Q2. Today we know much more about how
and why HIV the virus that leads to AIDS has become a global pandemic.
Unsurprisingly, sex workers unwillingly played a part. But no less important
were the roles of trade, the collapse of colonialism, and 20th Century
sociopolitical reform.
(a) Diseases do no assume epidemic
proportions without the aid of sociopolitical and economic factors.
(b) Trade and commerce, among other
factors, played an important role in the spread of the HIV virus which causes
AIDS.
(c) The AIDS epidemic was also fanned
by the decline of colonialism and trade and commerce along with social and
political changes effected in the 20th century.
(d) The chief reason for the spread of
the AIDS causing HIV virus was sex workers and post colonial reform measures of
the 20th century.
(e) None of the above is correct
Q3. Surprisingly, it works. Repeating
myself afterwards minus the cups I sound even more convincing about the
specifics of my fish-and-chip dinner than I did the first time round. The cups
device is just one of the many exercises taught in City Academy’s ‘How to Get
Heard in Meetings’ course, which, while open to anyone, is being marketed as an
especially female-friendly way to apply performance techniques to everyday
scenarios. Women have long struggled to make themselves heard in the workplace.
In 2014, Harvard Business Review reported that “we have consistently heard
women say that they feel less effective in meetings than they do in other
business situations. Some say that their voices are ignored or drowned out.
Others tell us that they can’t find a way into the conversation … In fact,
several men reported seeing a female colleague get rattled or remain silent
even when she was the expert at the table.”
(a) Executives with poor communication
skills often struggle to get themselves heard at meetings. Female executives
have been noted to get rattled and drowned out at such meetings.
(b) Male executives in modern business
organizations do not allow their female counterparts the space to voice their
thoughts in discussions. This causes women executives to feel less effective in
meetings.
(c) Women often struggle to make their points
in official meetings perhaps because they are outnumbered by their male
colleagues or ignored. Communication exercises have become a popular method to
set right this state of affairs.
(d) Female executives usually opt for
performance techniques to improve their communication skills at meetings.
(e) None of the above is correct
Q4. In a commentary, the Vatican daily
Osservatore Romano said treatment of this kind towards religion “is not new”
and stressed that religious figures have repeatedly condemned violence in the
name of God. “Behind the deceptive flag of uncompromising secularism, the
weekly is forgetting once more what religious leaders of every faith
unceasingly repeat to reject violence in the name of religion using God to
justify hatred is a genuine blasphemy, as pope Francis has said several times,”
it said. The commentary added: “In Charlie Hebdo’s choice, there is the sad
paradox of a world which is more and more sensitive about being politically
correct, almost to the point of
ridicule, yet does not wish to
acknowledge or to respect believes’ faith in God, regardless of the religion.”
(a) Religion has recently been deemed
the promoter of bloodshed because of the element of fanaticism without
considering the ample examples of situations wherein religion has been the
messiah of peace. Believers respect this power of God and religion, and this
notion should be acknowledged.
(b) Religious leaders cite religion as
the chief means of ensuring peace by evoking the name of God to stop violence. Yet
the secular movement deceives people.
(c) We live in times where the greatest
virtue among people is to be politically correct. Yet the media refuses to
respect peoples’ faith in God.
(d) The Charlie Hebdo incident has
revealed the potential of religion to turn into a divisive force which permits
violence to curb dissent. However, religious leaders continue to reject
violence in the name of God and label it blasphemy.
(e) None of the above is correct
Q5. University of Oregon’s Lundquist
College of Business and his co-authors compared the effective tax rates paid by
a sample of American firms between 2002 and 2011 with a measure of those
companies’ CSR programmes compiled by MSCI, an index provider. It found that
the companies which do the most CSR also make the most strenuous efforts to
avoid paying tax – and that those which a high CSR score also spend more
lobbying on tax. The most obvious explanation for this inverse relationship is
hypocrisy. Surely CSR depends on the idea that firms have an obligation to
society, not just to shareholders? And surely the most basic obligation to
society is to pay the taxes that support the poor and vulnerable? Another
explanation is that firms are not monoliths but collections of rival fiefs with
different priorities. The department that oversees the CSR programmes, and thus
has an interest in boosting their budgets, may never talk to those in the
finance department who are paid to minimize the tax bill.
(a) A recent study by researchers at
the University of Oregon has revealed that companies that do the most CSR also
indulge in tax avoidance strategies, thereby exposing the hypocrisy of these
corporate giants.
(b) A recent survey supports the public
opinion that companies that do the most CSR also indulge heavily in aggressive
tax planning to please shareholders. This state of affairs could be a result of
double standards or lack of coordination in departmental goals.
(c) A recent study by researchers at
the University of Oregon reveals an inverse relationship between expenditure on
CSR and lobbying on tax. These findings are highly suggestive of conflicting
interdepartmental goals in business firms and hypocrisy of the corporate class.
(d) The findings of recent research
suggest that companies with high expenditure on CSR also engage in greater tax
lobbying. This could result from double standards or conflicting
interdepartmental goals.
(e) None of the above is correct
Q6. The concept of the modern, open
democracy that embraces freedom, diversity and human rights, is under threat.
We live in a time of conflict unlike any other. A war is underway that is not
just being fought out on conventional battlefields among state powers, but on
the internet and the streets of our towns and cities, as the citizens of Paris
found to a shocking cost in November.
(a) The concept of modern society and
freedom of speech are under threat due to the rise of modern forms of warfare.
(b) The ideals of democracy are at war
with an emerging threat. Unlike previous wars, this war is not confined to
secluded battlefields and has spread over the internet and our homes.
(c) Cybercrimes have now taken
precedence over conventional methods of warfare. This has restricted freedom
and liberty.
(d) Terrorism, armed with modern
technology and modern forms of warfare, has emerged as the greatest threat to
the ideals of liberty.
(e) None of the above is correct
S1. Ans.(c)
Sol. The passage does not mention anything about the disadvantages outweighing the advantages. This is an additional conclusion. (b) deviates from the passage. (c) is the main idea of the passage. (d) does not capture the essence of the passage.
S2. Ans.(c)
Sol. (a) is too general. (b) is too narrow and does not include the other factors. (c) does not include the sex workers but covers all important reasons apart from sex workers. This is the main idea of the passage. (d) does not contain enough information.
S3. Ans.(c)
Sol. (a) is incorrect because it talks of executives with poor communication skills which is not the issue here. (b) is incorrect because it only considers the problem of females being ‘drowned out’ and not of their opinions being ignored. It also does not mention the communication techniques being taught to remedy that. (d) is wrong because it partially captures the essence of the text.
S4. Ans.(a)
Sol. (b) is incorrect because it takes not extreme a stance against secularism. (c) is incorrect because it deviates from the main idea and focuses primarily on political correctness. (d) is incorrect because Charlie Hebdo has not been mentioned in that context in the passage.
S5. Ans.(d)
Sol. (a) only mentions the hypocrisy of companies but not the other reason i.e. interdepartmental conflict. (b) talks about public opinion, however the passage does not mention public opinion anywhere. (c) states that there is an inverse relationship between spending on CSR and tax lobbying whereas the passage points to a direct relationship i.e. higher the CSR spending higher the tax lobbying. (d) captures the relationship between CSR expenditure and Tax avoidance correctly and also the two reasons for the same provided in the passage.
S6. Ans.(b)
Sol. According to the passage, freedom, diversity and human rights form the essence or concept of modern democracy. Certain forces, by threatening these ideals also threaten democracy. The passage also speaks of troubled times and that we are currently in a state of war against such forces, however this was is being fought in a new battleground, namely the internet and the streets of cities such as Paris.
(a) is incorrect because it cites forms of modern warfare as the chief problem. (b) best captures the essence of the passage. (c) is too specific and off the main idea. (d) talks about terrorism which can be inferred from the passage but has not been specifically mentioned. It also only mentions a threat to liberty whereas the ideals of democracy are much broader in scope.
Solutions
S1. Ans.(c)
Sol. The passage does not mention anything about the disadvantages outweighing the advantages. This is an additional conclusion. (b) deviates from the passage. (c) is the main idea of the passage. (d) does not capture the essence of the passage.
S2. Ans.(c)
Sol. (a) is too general. (b) is too narrow and does not include the other factors. (c) does not include the sex workers but covers all important reasons apart from sex workers. This is the main idea of the passage. (d) does not contain enough information.
S3. Ans.(c)
Sol. (a) is incorrect because it talks of executives with poor communication skills which is not the issue here. (b) is incorrect because it only considers the problem of females being ‘drowned out’ and not of their opinions being ignored. It also does not mention the communication techniques being taught to remedy that. (d) is wrong because it partially captures the essence of the text.
S4. Ans.(a)
Sol. (b) is incorrect because it takes not extreme a stance against secularism. (c) is incorrect because it deviates from the main idea and focuses primarily on political correctness. (d) is incorrect because Charlie Hebdo has not been mentioned in that context in the passage.
S5. Ans.(d)
Sol. (a) only mentions the hypocrisy of companies but not the other reason i.e. interdepartmental conflict. (b) talks about public opinion, however the passage does not mention public opinion anywhere. (c) states that there is an inverse relationship between spending on CSR and tax lobbying whereas the passage points to a direct relationship i.e. higher the CSR spending higher the tax lobbying. (d) captures the relationship between CSR expenditure and Tax avoidance correctly and also the two reasons for the same provided in the passage.
S6. Ans.(b)
Sol. According to the passage, freedom, diversity and human rights form the essence or concept of modern democracy. Certain forces, by threatening these ideals also threaten democracy. The passage also speaks of troubled times and that we are currently in a state of war against such forces, however this was is being fought in a new battleground, namely the internet and the streets of cities such as Paris.
(a) is incorrect because it cites forms of modern warfare as the chief problem. (b) best captures the essence of the passage. (c) is too specific and off the main idea. (d) talks about terrorism which can be inferred from the passage but has not been specifically mentioned. It also only mentions a threat to liberty whereas the ideals of democracy are much broader in scope.
