General English Practice Question and Answer
8 Q:Direction : Read the following passage carefully and answer the question given below it. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the question.
Governments have traditionally equated economic progress with steel mills and cement factories. While urban centers thrive and city dwellers get rich, hundreds of millions of farmers remain mired in poverty. However fears of food shortages, a rethinking of anti-poverty priorities and the crushing recession in 2008 are causing a dramatic shift in world economic policy in favour of greater support for agriculture.
The last time when the world’s farmer felt such love was in the 1970s. At that time, as food prices spiked, there was real concern that the world was facing a crisis in which the planet was simply unable to produce enough grain and meat for an expanding population. Government across the developing world and international aid organisations plowed investment into agriculture in the early 1970s, while technological breakthroughs, like high-yield strains of important food crops, boosted production. The result was the Green Revolution and food production exploded. But the Green Revolution became a victim of its own success. Food prices plunged by some 60% by the late 1980s from their peak in the mid-1970s. Policy makers and aid workers turned their attention to the poor’s other pressing needs such as health care and education. Farming got starved of resources and investment. By 2004 aid directed at agriculture sank to 3.5 % and Agriculture lost its glitter. Also as consumer in high-growth giants such as China and India became wealthier they began eating more meat so grain once used for human consumption got diverted to beef up livestock. By early 2008 panicked buying by importing countries and restrictions slapped on grain exports by some big producers helped drive prices upto heights not seen for three decades. Making matters worse land and resources got reallocated to produce cash crops such as biofuels and the result was that voluminous reserves of grain evaporated. Protests broke out across the emerging world and fierce food riots toppled governments. This spurred global leaders into action. This made them aware that food security is one of the fundamental issues in the world that has to be dealt with in order to maintain administrative and political stability. This also spurred the US which traditionally provisioned food aid from American grain surpluses to help needy nations to move towards investing in farm sectors around the globe to boost productive for themselves and be in a better position to feed their own people.
Africa, which missed out on the first Green Revolution due to poor policy and limited resources, also witnessed a 'change'. Swayed by the success of East Asia the primary poverty-fighting method favoured by many policy-makers in Africa was to get farmers off their farms and into modern jobs in factories and urban centers. But that strategy proved to be highly insufficient. Income levels in the countryside badly trailed those in cities while the FAO estimated that the number of poor going hungry in 2009 reached an all time high at more than one billion. In India on the other hand with only 40% of its farmland irrigated, entire economic boom currently underway is held hostage by the unpredictable monsoon. With much of India’s farming areas suffering from drought this year, the government will have a tough time meeting its economic growth targets. In a report Goldman Sachs, predicted that if this year, too receives weak rains it could cause agriculture to contract by 2 % this fiscal year making the government 7%GDP growth target look "a bit rich". Another green revolution is the need of the hour and to make it a reality, the global community still has much backbreaking farm work to do.
What motivated the US to focus on investing in agriculture across the globe?
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5ea6a260fb6adc33ce5bfaeaGovernments have traditionally equated economic progress with steel mills and cement factories. While urban centers thrive and city dwellers get rich, hundreds of millions of farmers remain mired in poverty. However fears of food shortages, a rethinking of anti-poverty priorities and the crushing recession in 2008 are causing a dramatic shift in world economic policy in favour of greater support for agriculture.
The last time when the world’s farmer felt such love was in the 1970s. At that time, as food prices spiked, there was real concern that the world was facing a crisis in which the planet was simply unable to produce enough grain and meat for an expanding population. Government across the developing world and international aid organisations plowed investment into agriculture in the early 1970s, while technological breakthroughs, like high-yield strains of important food crops, boosted production. The result was the Green Revolution and food production exploded. But the Green Revolution became a victim of its own success. Food prices plunged by some 60% by the late 1980s from their peak in the mid-1970s. Policy makers and aid workers turned their attention to the poor’s other pressing needs such as health care and education. Farming got starved of resources and investment. By 2004 aid directed at agriculture sank to 3.5 % and Agriculture lost its glitter. Also as consumer in high-growth giants such as China and India became wealthier they began eating more meat so grain once used for human consumption got diverted to beef up livestock. By early 2008 panicked buying by importing countries and restrictions slapped on grain exports by some big producers helped drive prices upto heights not seen for three decades. Making matters worse land and resources got reallocated to produce cash crops such as biofuels and the result was that voluminous reserves of grain evaporated. Protests broke out across the emerging world and fierce food riots toppled governments. This spurred global leaders into action. This made them aware that food security is one of the fundamental issues in the world that has to be dealt with in order to maintain administrative and political stability. This also spurred the US which traditionally provisioned food aid from American grain surpluses to help needy nations to move towards investing in farm sectors around the globe to boost productive for themselves and be in a better position to feed their own people.
Africa, which missed out on the first Green Revolution due to poor policy and limited resources, also witnessed a 'change'. Swayed by the success of East Asia the primary poverty-fighting method favoured by many policy-makers in Africa was to get farmers off their farms and into modern jobs in factories and urban centers. But that strategy proved to be highly insufficient. Income levels in the countryside badly trailed those in cities while the FAO estimated that the number of poor going hungry in 2009 reached an all time high at more than one billion. In India on the other hand with only 40% of its farmland irrigated, entire economic boom currently underway is held hostage by the unpredictable monsoon. With much of India’s farming areas suffering from drought this year, the government will have a tough time meeting its economic growth targets. In a report Goldman Sachs, predicted that if this year, too receives weak rains it could cause agriculture to contract by 2 % this fiscal year making the government 7%GDP growth target look "a bit rich". Another green revolution is the need of the hour and to make it a reality, the global community still has much backbreaking farm work to do.
- 1To make developing countries become more reliant on US aidfalse
- 2To ensure grain surpluses so that the US had no need to import foodfalse
- 3To make those countries more self-sufficient to whom it previously provided foodtrue
- 4To establish itself in the market before the high growth giants such as India and China could establish themselvesfalse
- 5None of thesefalse
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Answer : 3. "To make those countries more self-sufficient to whom it previously provided food"
Q:In the question a sentence has been given in Direct/Indirect. Out of the four alternatives suggested, select the one which best expresses the same sentence in Indirect/Direct and mark your answer in the Answer Sheet.
The porter respectfully assured the lady that he would take care of her baggage while she bought her ticket.
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5f3638bcdcc35408331501d2- 1The porter said, “I would take care of your baggage while you buy your ticket, Madam.”false
- 2The porter said, “ I will take care of your baggage while you buy your ticket, Madam”.true
- 3The porter said, “I would take care of your baggage while you bought your ticket, Madam”.false
- 4The pThe porter said to the lady, “ I would take care of your baggage while you bought your ticket.”orter said to the lady, “ I would take care of your baggage while you bought your ticket.”false
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Answer : 2. "The porter said, “ I will take care of your baggage while you buy your ticket, Madam”."
Q:Directions: Read the following passage and answer the questions as directed.
Start-ups troubled by the so-called angel tax may soon receive some (A)______from the government. On Monday, the Centre set up a five-member working committee to look into revising the (B)norms of the angel tax imposed on start-ups. The tax, which was first introduced in 2012 to curb money-laundering through the (i) at bloated prices, has caused a lot of anguish among start-up investors in the country. Start-up owners have complained that income tax officials have asked many start-ups to cough up money when they try to attract capital into their entities by issuing new shares. For its part, the IT department fears that start-ups may be used as convenient tools to launder illegally acquired money, so a tax on investments beyond a certain threshold is (ii). (C) But while the (1) unintended of such an angel tax may be (2) benefits, the arbitrary nature of it means the cost of (3) intent consequences could be larger than the supposed (4) justifiable. In trying to curb money-laundering, Section 56(2)(viib) of the Indian Income Tax Act, 1961 gives income tax officials a free hand to harass even genuine start-ups looking to raise investments for their growth. Under the Act, the IT department is free to arbitrarily decide the fair value of a company’s share and tax start-ups if the price at which their new shares are sold to investors is higher than the fair value of these shares. The broad-brush tax on all investments means an unnecessary cost is (iii)community simply because of the lack of better means at the government’s disposal to tackle black money.
The committee set up by the government will, among other things, consider raising the threshold beyond which new investments into start-ups will be taxed. It is expected that start-ups with aggregate paid-up share capital and share premium of less than ₹25 crore, against the previous threshold of only ₹10 crore, will not be taxed while attracting new investment. This would definitely make life easier to a certain extent for angel investors and start-ups. But it will not address the real problem with the angel tax, which has to do with the unbridled power that it vests in the hands of the income tax authorities. Investors, foreign or domestic, may become wary of investing in new ideas when they are taxed while risking money on untested ventures. So the government should look to withdraw the angel tax and focus instead on building the capability to better identify and rein in illegal wealth. Otherwise it risks killing the nascent start-up ecosystem in the country.
As per the information given in the passage, out of the following options which option does best explain the term “angel investor”?
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5fd07dbc1ebe713f9401eb49- 1Angel investors are those who don’t look for the low risk investment that might yield a more reliable return, because those start-ups fail too.false
- 2Angel investors are those who own shares in the business, not revenue, and not profitsfalse
- 3An angel investor is an affluent individual who provides capital for a business start-up.true
- 4Angel investors are often retired entrepreneurs or executives, who may be interested in angel investing for reasons that go beyond pure monetary return.false
- 5None of the abovefalse
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Answer : 3. "An angel investor is an affluent individual who provides capital for a business start-up."
Q:Comprehension: In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.
Memory loss, with aging, is (1)_______ a natural and normal (2)_______. The symptoms range from forgetting simple daily life activities and (3)_______ familiar tasks such as driving or baking. However, there can be several other factors (4)_______ for it and these vary from person to person. Memory loss can be (5)______ or total depending upon the condition.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 5.
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64803c9ea33e0f47b7713850Memory loss, with aging, is (1)_______ a natural and normal (2)_______. The symptoms range from forgetting simple daily life activities and (3)_______ familiar tasks such as driving or baking. However, there can be several other factors (4)_______ for it and these vary from person to person. Memory loss can be (5)______ or total depending upon the condition.
- 1partialtrue
- 2partiallyfalse
- 3completelyfalse
- 4incompletefalse
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Answer : 1. "partial"
Q:Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands consist of mainly two groups of islands, with distinctive features of the original residents - Negroid and Mongolese. It is strange to see how these two different groups migrated to these islands so far from the mainland - from India and Myanmar. The aboriginals found in these islands are the Jarawas, Sentinelese, Onges, Shompenites, mainly found in Andaman and the Nicobarese in Nicobar. Of these the Nicobarese in general, and some of the Onges, have accepted that so-called modern civilization and learned the use of modern tools and facilities. They can be seen frequently in the Port Blair market. The aboriginals are looked after by the Anthropological Department of the Government, who make regular visits to their islands and supply them with food and other necessities.
These aboriginals still do not know how to use a matchbox and prepare fire by rubbing two pieces of wood; they also do not know the use of cloth. If the people from the Anthropological Department offer them clothes, they use them only as turbans and not to wrap their bodies
The aboriginals are looked after by
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614de0b13d83ba3ae6120b03- 1the Tourism Departmentfalse
- 2some NGOsfalse
- 3the Government of Indiafalse
- 4the Anthropological Department of the Governmenttrue
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Answer : 4. "the Anthropological Department of the Government"
Q:Directions: In question four alternatives are given for the Idiom/Phrase underlined in the sentences. Choose the alternative which best expresses the meaning of the Idiom/Phrase and mark it is the Answer Sheet.
Rohit argued well to drive home his point to the jury.
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5f47705c9d816875be4819c0- 1Exhibitfalse
- 2Emphasisetrue
- 3Validatefalse
- 4Deliverfalse
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Answer : 2. "Emphasise"
Q: Out of the four alternatives, choose the one which can be substituted for the given words/sentences and click the button corresponding to it.
To make atonement for one's sins
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60af797ef0fca47be6c3fda8To make atonement for one's sins
- 1Remonstratefalse
- 2Recantfalse
- 3Expiatetrue
- 4Renouncefalse
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Answer : 3. "Expiate "
Q: The opposite of ‘attractive’ is:
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60b0db5f3f7fb454b9dd15f8- 1Tidyfalse
- 2Repulsivetrue
- 3Alluringfalse
- 4Seductivefalse
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