Read each of the passages given below and answer the question that follows it.
| 1. In a recent report the gross enrolment ratios at the primary level that is the number of children enrolled in classes 1 to 5 as a proportion of all children aged 6 to 10 were shown to be very high for most states in many cases, they were way above hundred percent. These figures are not worth anything since they are based on the official enrolment data compiled from school records. They might as well stand for a gross exaggeration ratios.
Which one of the following options best supports the claim that the ratios are exaggerated? |
Easy |
| A. A school attendant study found that many children enrolled in the school records were not meeting a minimum attendance requirement of 80%. B. The definition of gross enrolment ratio does not exclude, in its numerator, children below 6 years or above 10 years enrolled in classes 1 to 5. C. Demographic surveys show shifts in the population profile which indicate that the number of children in the age group 6 to 10 years is declining. D. A study estimated that close to 22% of children enrolled in the class 1 records were below 6 years of age and still to start going to school. |
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Answer: Option D
Explanation:
Option D is correct because it says that 22% of children who were younger than 6 years of age were also enrolled in class1 even when they should not have been, thus swelling the enrolment ratio.
| 2. Szymanski suggests that the problem of racism in football may be present even today. He begins by verifying an earlier hypothesis that clubs’ wage bills explain 90% of their performance. Thus, if players’ salaries were to be only based on their abilities, clubs that spent more should finish higher. If there is paid discrimination against some group of players-fewer teams bidding for black players thus lowering the salaries for blacks with the same ability as whites – that neat relation may no longer hold. He concludes that certain clubs seem to have achieved much less than what they would have by not recruiting Black players.
Which one of the following findings would best support Szymanski’s conclusion? |
Easy |
| A. Clubs hired white players at relatively high wages and did not show proportionately good performance. B. Certain clubs took advantage of the situation by hiring above-average shares of black players. C. During the study period, clubs in towns with a history of discrimination against blacks, underperformed relative to their wage bills. D. Clubs in one region which had higher proportions of black players had significantly lower wage bills than their counterparts in another region which had predominantly white players. |
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Answer: Option A
Explanation:
According to the given text, clubs that spend more should finish higher if players’ salaries were to be only based on their abilities. But this is not true which supports Szymanski’s conclusion as white players hired at higher salaries did not show good performance.
| 3. Developed countries have made adequate provisions for social security for senior citizens. State insurers (as well as private ones) offer medicare and pension benefits to people who can no longer earn. In India, with the collapse of the joint family system, the traditional shelter of the elderly has disappeared. And the state faced with a financial crunch is not in a position to provide a social security. So, it is advisable that the working population give serious thought to building a financial base for itself.
Which one of the following, if it were to happen, weaken the conclusions drawn in the above passage the most? |
Easy |
| A. The investable income of the working population, as a proportion of its total income, will grow in the future. B. The insurance sector is underdeveloped and trends indicate that it will be extensively privatised in the future. C. If the working population builds a stronger financial base, there will be a revival of the joint family system. D. India is on a path of development that will take it to a developed country status, with all its positive and negative implications. |
Answer: Option D
Explanation:
According to the given text, India is not a developed country and because of a financial crunch, it cannot provide social security to senior citizens.
If India becomes a developed country, it will be able to satisfy the needs of the elderly as there will be no financial crunch. This weakens the given conclusion.
| 4. Cigarettes constitute a mere 20% of tobacco consumption in India, and fewer than 15% of the 200 million tobacco users who consume cigarettes. Yet these 15% contribute nearly 90% of the tax revenues to the exchequer from the tobacco sector. The punitive cigarette taxation regime has kept the tax base narrow and reducing taxes will expand this base.
Which of the following best bolsters the conclusion that reducing duties will expand the tax base? |
Easy |
| A. There is a likelihood that tobacco consumers will shift to cigarette smoking if cigarette prices were to reduce. B. The cigarette manufacturers association has decided to indulge in aggressive promotion. C. The cigarette manufacturers are lobbying for a reduction on duties. D. An increase in duties on non-cigarette tobacco may lead to a shift in favour of cigarette smoking. |
View Answer
Answer: Option A
Explanation:
Options B & C can be eliminated since they discuss manufacturers.
Option D talks about increasing the duties which is in direct contradiction with the conclusion presented in the given text.
Option A is correct because according to it, less prices will attract make more people consume cigarettes. More consumers will expand the tax base.
| 5. Thomas Malthus, the British clergyman turned economist predicted that the planet would not be able to support the human population for long. His explanation was the human population grows at a geometric rate, while the food supply grows only at an arithmetic rate.
Which one of the following, if true, would not undermine the thesis offered by Malthus? |
Easy |
| A. Population growth can be slowed down by the voluntary choices of individuals and not just by natural disasters. B. The capacity of the planet to feed a growing human population can be enhanced through biotechnological means. C. Human beings can colonise other planetary systems on a regular and ongoing basis to accommodate a growing population. D. Human systems and natural systems like food supply, follow natural laws of growth which have remained constant, and will remain unchanged. |
View Answer
Answer: Option D
Explanation:
Options A, B & C can be eliminated since they discuss measures for dealing with human population. Hence, they do not support the given conclusion which is that the chances of the survival of human population are slim.
Only Option D describes the theory in support of the thesis offered by Malthus because the underlying assumption is that what has been the case till now will continue in the future.
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| 6. The pressure on Italy’s 257 jails has been increasing rapidly. These jails are old and overcrowded. They are supposed to hold up 43,000 people-9000 fewer than now. San Vittore in Milan which has 1800 inmates is designed for 800. The number of foreigners inside jails has also been increasing. The minister in charge of prisons feels that tensions may snap and so has recommended to the government an amnesty policy.
Which one of the following, if true, would have most influenced the recommendation of the Minister? |
Medium |
| A. Opinion polls have indicated that many Italians favour a general pardon. B. The opposition may be persuaded to help since amnesties must be approved by a two-third majority in Parliament. C. During a recent visit to a large prison the Pope whose pronouncements are taken seriously appealed for “a gesture of clemency”. D. Shortly before the recommendation was made 58 prisons reported disturbances in a period of two weeks. |
View Answer
Answer: Option D
Explanation:
Option A, B & C can be eliminated because they do not tell us why some entities favour general pardon, amnesty and clemency.
According to Option D, the problem of tensions rising due to over crowdedness in jails persists and is causing disturbances frequently. This most influences the recommendation of the Minister.
| 7. The offer of the government to make iodised salt available at a low price of one rupee per kilo is welcome especially since the government seems to be so concerned about the ill effects of non-iodised salt. But it is doubtful whether the offer will actually be implemented. Way back in 1994, the government in an earlier effort had prepared reports outlining three new and simple but experimental methods for reducing the costs of iodisation to about five paise per kilogram. But these reports have remained just those-reports on paper.
Which one of the following, if true, most weaken the author’s contention that it is doubtful whether the offer will be actually implemented? |
Medium |
| A. The government proposes to save on costs by using the three methods it has already devised for iodisation. B. The chain of fair price distribution outlets now covers all the districts of the state. C. Many small scale and joint sector units have completed trials to use the three iodisation methods for regular production. D. The government which initiated the earlier effort is in place even today and has more information on the effects of non-iodised salt. |
View Answer
Answer: Option C
Explanation:
Only Option C tells that trials have been completed for regular production. This means that there is evidence that unlike in 1994, this time a proposal has been put into practice and has not just remained a proposal on paper. In other words, the government seems serious and might actually be able to implement the offer this time.
This most weakens the author’s contention that it is doubtful whether the offer will be actually implemented
| 8. Argentina’s beef cattle herd has dropped to under 50 million from 57 million ten years ago in 1990. The animals are worthless too: fell by over a third last year, before recovering slightly. Most local meat packers and processors are in financial trouble and recent years have been a string of plant closures. The Beef Producers Association has now come up with a massive advertisement campaign calling upon Argentines to eat more beef-their juicy, healthy, rotund, plate-filling steaks.
Which one of the following, if true, would contribute most to a failure of the campaign? |
Medium |
| A. There has been a change in consumer preference towards eating lean meats like chicken and fish. B. Prices of imported beef have been increasing thus making locally grown beef more competitive in terms of pricing. C. The inability to cross breed native cattle with improved varieties has not increased production to adequate levels. D. Animal rights pressure groups have come up rapidly demanding better and humane treatment of farmyard animals like beef cattle. |
View Answer
Answer: Option A
Explanation:
Option B would support the campaign because more people will likely consume beef if it became cheaper. Therefore, this option is eliminated.
Option C is irrelevant because nowhere in the given text does it say that there is a problem due to inadequate production. It is rather due to inadequate demand. Hence, this option is eliminated.
According to Option A, consumers are shifting towards eating meats with lower calories and fat content like chicken and fish instead of beef.
Hence, out of Option A & D, Option A will contribute the most towards the failure of the campaign.
| 9. The problem of traffic congestion in Athens has been testing the ingenuity of politicians and town planners for years. But the measures adopted to date have not succeeded in decreasing the number of cars on the road in the city centre. In 1980, an odds and even number plate legislation was introduced under which odd and even plates were banned in the city centre on alternate days thereby expecting to half the number of cars in the city centre. Then in 1993 it was decreed that all cars in use in the city centre must be fitted with catalytic converters; a regulation had just then been introduced substantially reducing import taxes on cars with catalytic converters, the only condition being that the buyer of such a “clean” car offered for destruction a car at least 15 years old.
Which one of the following options if true, would best support the claim that the measures adopted to date have not succeeded? |
Difficult |
| A. In the 1980s, many families purchased second cars with the requisite odd or even numberplate. B. In the mid-1990s, many families found it feasible to become first-time car owners by buying a car more than 15 years old and turning it in for a new car with catalytic converters. C. Post-1993, many families seized the opportunity to sell their more than 15 years old cars and buy “clean” cars from the open market, even if it meant foregoing the import tax subsidy. D. All of the above |
View Answer
Answer: Option D
Explanation:
All options have led to an increase in the number of cars in Athens. Therefore, the government’s attempts at reducing the number of cars in the city have not succeeded.
| 10. Although in the limited sense of freedom regarding appointments and internal working, the independence of the central bank in unequivocally ensured, the same cannot be said of its right to pursue monitory policy without coordination with the central government. The role of the central bank has turned out to be subordinate and advisory in nature.
Which one of the following best supports the conclusion drawn in the passage? |
Difficult |
| A. A decision of the chairman of the central bank to increase the bank rate by two percentage points sent shockwaves in industry, academic and government circles alike. B. Government has repeatedly resorted to monetisation of the debt despite the reservations of the central bank. C. The central bank does not need the Central government’s nod for replacing soiled currency notes. D. The inability to remove coin shortage was a major shortcoming of this government. |
View Answer
Answer: Option B
Explanation:
Option B highlights a clash between the ideology of the Central Bank and the ideology of the Government. Hence, it’s the correct answer because it supports the author’s conclusion that the role of the Central Bank is advisory in nature when it comes to pursuing monetary policies.