READING COMPREHENSION
Kenneth Arrow, died February 21, can be said to have shaped the modern discipline of economics, along with late brother-in-law Paul Samuelson. It all began with his pioneering, densely mathematical Impossibility Theorem, which proved that no ranked voting system can produce a result consistent with some seemingly innocuous features such as non-dictatorship, taking into account everyone’s preferences, these being consistent at the collective level and independent of irrelevant alternatives. The implications of this work, published 1951, were vast: it opened up the field of social choice theory, which kept some of the finest economists, including Amartya Sen, engaged for the next 30 years. Arrow won the Nobel Prize, in 1972, the third and youngest recipient, for what came to be known as the Arrow-Debreau model, which incorporated competitive markets, with price taking players, functioning with full information: the basis of market economics. No sooner was this done, Arrow broke down each of the founding assumptions of the model, to demonstrate how markets could deliver suboptimal outcomes if, say, uncertainty or asymmetric information was at play. Thus, he founded the field of information economics that still dominates analysis of financial and other markets. He also spawned endogenous growth theory.Son of Romanian-Jewish immigrants, Arrow’s concerns about social and economic discrimination pioneered the analytics of affirmative action. It was his insight that public perception of a group (Blacks, Muslims or Dalits, say) would be formed on how the statistical aggregate of each group was ‘supposed’ to behave, rather than on tests of individual talent or ability. He was prescient: the toxicity of discrimination will continue, without affirmative action.
(Source – The Economic Times)
Ques 1. Which of the following sentences show that Kenneth arrow was Prescient?
(a) It all began with his pioneering, densely mathematical Impossibility Theorem
(b) Arrow broke down each of the founding assumptions of the model
(c) the toxicity of discrimination will continue, without affirmative action.
(d) he founded the field of information economics
(e) None of these
Ques 2. Choose a suitable title for the given passage.
(a) Development of Economics
(b) Arrow-Debreau model
(c) Kenneth Arrow’s teachings for world
(d) Field of information economics
(e) None of these
Ques 3. Choose the word which has the same meaning as the word given in bold in the passage.
Innocuous
(a) Wicked
(b) Banal
(c) Sinful
(d) Malicious
(e) None of these
Ques 4. What kept Amartya Sen engaged for 30 years?
(a) Arrow-Debreau model
(b) Information Economics
(c) None of these
(d) Statistical investigation
(e) Social choice theory
Ques 5. Choose the word which does not have the same meaning as the word given in bold in the passage.
Spawned
(a) Destroy
(b) Procreate
(c) Fabricate
(d) None of these
(e) Engender
(4)______ , both New Delhi and Dhaka would be aware of the possible bumps in the road ahead. Some of these involve the Centre and the affected Indian States. For instance, water-sharing is a highly emotive subject, and movement on Teesta water-sharing has been held up largely because of West Bengal’s reservations. To address them, the Central government needs to reach out to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Similarly Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has raked up the Farakka Barrage project. For Ms. Hasina, the political worries are greater. She (5)_____ an election in 2018, and with the opposition accusing her of being soft on India, she cannot be seen to be returning home empty-handed on the water question. Also, while the border issue has been resolved, border firing has not ceased, an issue Ms. Hasina’s rivals use to target her. Meanwhile, she faces the task of addressing India’s mistrust over Chinese investment in Bangladesh, with $38 billion pledged in infrastructure cooperation and joint ventures during President Xi Jinping’s visit last year. Ms. Hasina has sought to address this by arguing that India will also benefit from Bangladesh’s enhanced prosperity if all these projects go through. Yet, Dhaka may (6)______ to be more aware of India’s anxiety as Bangladesh and other neighbours become more heavily invested in China’s One Belt One Road project, that India has opted to stay out of for now.
(Source – The Hindu)
Innocuous
(a) Wicked
(b) Banal
(c) Sinful
(d) Malicious
(e) None of these
Ques 4. What kept Amartya Sen engaged for 30 years?
(a) Arrow-Debreau model
(b) Information Economics
(c) None of these
(d) Statistical investigation
(e) Social choice theory
Ques 5. Choose the word which does not have the same meaning as the word given in bold in the passage.
Spawned
(a) Destroy
(b) Procreate
(c) Fabricate
(d) None of these
(e) Engender
CLOZE TEST
India’s decision to allow its border roads in Mizoram and Tripura to (1) _______ by Bangladeshi forces as they construct border outposts in the inhospitable terrain of the Chittagong Hill Tracts shows just how far the two countries have come to bridging their trust deficit. The decision, conveyed last week in Dhaka during the meeting of Home Ministry and security officials working on closer border management cooperation, (2)______ as Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar flew into Bangladesh to begin preparations for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India in early April. If the visit goes as planned, it will be her first bilateral trip to India since 2010, when the MoU for the Land Boundary Agreement was originally signed. The terms of that agreement have now been fully implemented, and Ms. Hasina’s visit will build on the boost that relations received from the historic agreement that was signed in 2015 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Dhaka. Ms. Hasina has long made it clear that she would only return the visit when there are ‘substantive outcomes’ on the table, and the fact that officials are now (3)______ a visit in two months’ time indicates that several important announcements can be expected. There is speculation about a defence partnership agreement, movement on the Teesta water- agreement, the Ganga water barrage project, and other energy and connectivity projects. Any of these would go a long way in cementing ties that are increasingly described as a “win-win” for both neighbours.(4)______ , both New Delhi and Dhaka would be aware of the possible bumps in the road ahead. Some of these involve the Centre and the affected Indian States. For instance, water-sharing is a highly emotive subject, and movement on Teesta water-sharing has been held up largely because of West Bengal’s reservations. To address them, the Central government needs to reach out to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Similarly Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has raked up the Farakka Barrage project. For Ms. Hasina, the political worries are greater. She (5)_____ an election in 2018, and with the opposition accusing her of being soft on India, she cannot be seen to be returning home empty-handed on the water question. Also, while the border issue has been resolved, border firing has not ceased, an issue Ms. Hasina’s rivals use to target her. Meanwhile, she faces the task of addressing India’s mistrust over Chinese investment in Bangladesh, with $38 billion pledged in infrastructure cooperation and joint ventures during President Xi Jinping’s visit last year. Ms. Hasina has sought to address this by arguing that India will also benefit from Bangladesh’s enhanced prosperity if all these projects go through. Yet, Dhaka may (6)______ to be more aware of India’s anxiety as Bangladesh and other neighbours become more heavily invested in China’s One Belt One Road project, that India has opted to stay out of for now.
(Source – The Hindu)
Ques 6. Fill in the blank (1)
(a). Uses
(b). Be used
(c). Its use
(d). Using
Ques 7. Fill in the blank (2)
(a). Came
(b). Comes
(c). Coming
(d). Come
Ques 8. Fill in the blank (3)
(a). Speak of
(b). Speaks of
(c). Speaking of
(d). Speaked of
Ques 9. Fill in the blank (4)
(a). Because
(b). However
(c). Although
(d). But
Ques 10. Fill in the blank (5)
(a). Faces
(b). Faced
(c). Facing
(d). Face
Ques 11. Fill in the blank (6)
(a). Want
(b) Need
(c). Let
(d). Judge
(a) The latter comes in the wake of the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (Lemoa), followed by the master ship repair agreement, between India and the US.
(b) Consider two recent pronouncements: First, admiral Harry Harris, the commander of the Hawaii-based Pacific Command (Pacom), revealed, that both navies are engaged in “sharing. . . information regarding Chinese maritime movement in the Indian Ocean,” especially submarines.
(c) On January 13, 2017, a damning report on ‘ghost’ doctors, fake patients, life-saving equipment on loan by dubious vendors in 32 medical colleges across India, authored by the MCI, was submitted to the Health Ministry.
(d) Both these developments underline a degree of mutual trust, confidence and growing cooperation on shore and at sea, which was previously unimaginable.
(e) Second, Reliance Defence and Engineering Ltd announced that it had won a contract to service ships of the US Seventh Fleet.
Ques 13. Choose the sentence which represents different theme or story than the other four sentences.
(a) Eyewitness reports confirming that the killer yelled, “Get out of my country,” moments before unleashing a hail of bullets on the two Indians, also injuring a white man who sought to intervene on their behalf, suggests a xenophobic racism.
(b) During preliminary hearings, the Supreme Court has suggested that it isn’t entirely convinced of the merits of Mr. Ramesh’s petition.
(c) News of the killing of Indian national Srinivas Kuchibhotla in Kansas has shocked India, and raised fears about the safety of foreigners and immigrants in America.
(d) That prior to the attack the shooter, U. S. military veteran Adam Purinton, reportedly asked Kuchibhotla and his co-worker and fellow Indian, Alok Madasani, whether they were residing in the U. S. illegally hints at the possible motivation for the violent encounter.
(e) The term “hate crime” is writ large in the minds of the Indian Diaspora in the U. S. and their anxious families back home, even as law enforcement officials piece together the tragic events at a bar in Kansas City.
ERROR DETECTION
Ques 12. Choose the sentence which represents different theme or story than the other four sentences.(a) The latter comes in the wake of the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (Lemoa), followed by the master ship repair agreement, between India and the US.
(b) Consider two recent pronouncements: First, admiral Harry Harris, the commander of the Hawaii-based Pacific Command (Pacom), revealed, that both navies are engaged in “sharing. . . information regarding Chinese maritime movement in the Indian Ocean,” especially submarines.
(c) On January 13, 2017, a damning report on ‘ghost’ doctors, fake patients, life-saving equipment on loan by dubious vendors in 32 medical colleges across India, authored by the MCI, was submitted to the Health Ministry.
(d) Both these developments underline a degree of mutual trust, confidence and growing cooperation on shore and at sea, which was previously unimaginable.
(e) Second, Reliance Defence and Engineering Ltd announced that it had won a contract to service ships of the US Seventh Fleet.
Ques 13. Choose the sentence which represents different theme or story than the other four sentences.
(a) Eyewitness reports confirming that the killer yelled, “Get out of my country,” moments before unleashing a hail of bullets on the two Indians, also injuring a white man who sought to intervene on their behalf, suggests a xenophobic racism.
(b) During preliminary hearings, the Supreme Court has suggested that it isn’t entirely convinced of the merits of Mr. Ramesh’s petition.
(c) News of the killing of Indian national Srinivas Kuchibhotla in Kansas has shocked India, and raised fears about the safety of foreigners and immigrants in America.
(d) That prior to the attack the shooter, U. S. military veteran Adam Purinton, reportedly asked Kuchibhotla and his co-worker and fellow Indian, Alok Madasani, whether they were residing in the U. S. illegally hints at the possible motivation for the violent encounter.
(e) The term “hate crime” is writ large in the minds of the Indian Diaspora in the U. S. and their anxious families back home, even as law enforcement officials piece together the tragic events at a bar in Kansas City.
Answer Key
1. (c)
2. (c)
3. (b)
4. (e)
5. (a)
6. (b)
7. (a)
8. (c)
9. (b)
10. (a)
11. (b)
12. (c)
13. (b)
