Q. The demographic dividend, which has begun in India and is expected to last another few decades, is a great window of opportunity.

The demographic dividend is basically a swelling in the working age population, which conversely means that the relative ratio of very young and very old will, for a while, be on the decline. From the experience of Ireland and China, we know that this can be a source of energy and an engine of economic growth. The demographic dividend tends to raise a nation’s savings rate since in any nation, it is the working age population that is the main saver. And since the savings rate is an important driver of growth, this should help elevate our growth rate. However, the benefits of demographic dividend depend on the quality of the working age population. And this implies bringing back the importance of education, acquisition of skills and human capital.

Q. 1. Which of the following would invariably happen in a country, when the demographic dividend has begun to operate?
1. The number of illiterate people will decrease.
2. The ratio of very old and very young will decrease for a while
3. Population growth rate will quickly stabilize.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.

• a.  1 and 2 only
• b. 2 only
• c.  1 and 3 only
• d. 1, 2 and 3

Q. 2. With reference to the passage, which of the following inferenaces can be drawn?
1. Demographic dividend is an essential condition for a country to rapidly increase its economic growth rate.
2. Promotion of higher education is an essential condition for a country for its rapid economic growth.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.

• a.  1 only
• b. 2 only
• c.  Both 1 and 2
• d.  Neither 1 nor 2

Q. For two or three generations past, ever- increasing numbers of individuals have been living as workers merely, not as human beings.

An excessive amount of labour is rule today in every circle of society, with the result that man’s spiritual element cannot thrive. He finds it very difficult to spend his little leisure in serious activities. He does not want to think; or he cannot even if he wants to. He seeks not self-improvement, but entertainment which would enable him to be mentally idle and to forget his usual activities. Therefore, the so-called culture of cur age is dependent more on cinema than on theatre, more on newspapers, magazines and crime stories than on serious literature.

Q. 1. The passage is based on the idea that

• a.    man should not work hard
• b.   the great evil of our age us overstrain
• c.    man cannot think well
• d.   man cannot care for his spiritual welfare

Q. 2. Man does not seek self-improvement because he

• a.    is not intellectually capable
• b.   has no time to do so
• c.    is distracted by materialism
• d.   loves amusement and is mentally idle

Q. If presents bring less thrill now that we are grown up, perhaps it is because we have too much already; or perhaps it is because we have lost the fullness of the joy of giving, and with it the fullness of the joy of receiving.

Children’s fears are poignant, their miseries are acute, but they do not look too forward nor too far backward. Their joys are clear and complete. because they have not yet learnt always to add ‘but’ to every proposition. Perhaps we are too cautious, too anxious, too sceptical. Perhaps. some of our cares would shrink if we thought less about them and entered with more single-minded enjoyment into the happiness that come our way.

Q. 1. With reference to the passage, which one of the following statements is correct?

a.  It is not possible for adults to feel thrilled by presents.
b. There can be more than one reason why adults feel less thrilled by presents.
c.  The author does not know why adults feel less thrilled by presents.
d. Adults have less capacity to feel the joy of loving or being loved.

Q. 2. The author of the passage is against

a. worrying too much about the past and future
b. being in the habit of thinking about presents
c.  not being thrilled by new things
d. giving and receiving joy only partially

Q. In an economic organization, allowing mankind to benefit by the productivity of machines should lead to a very good life of leisure, and much leisure is apt to be tedious except to those who have intelligent activities and interests. If a leisured population is to be happy, it must be an educated population. and must be educated with a view to enjoyment as well as to the direct usefulness of technical knowledge.

Q. 1. Which of the following statements best reflects the underlying tone of the passage?

a. Only an educated population can best make use of the benefits of economic progress.
b. All economic development should be aimed at the creation of leisure.
c. An increase in the educated population of a country leads to an increase in the happiness of its people.
d. Use of machines should be encouraged in order to create a large leisured population.

Q. The social order is a sacred right which is the basis of all other rights. Nevertheless, this right does not come from nature, and must therefore be founded on conventions.

Q. 1. With reference to the above passage, which of the following statements is/are correct?
1.  Conventions are the sources of rights of man.
2.  Rights of man can be exercised only when there is a social order.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.

• a.  1 only
• b.  2 only
• c.  Both 1 and 2
• d.  Neither 1 nor 2

Q. The majority of people who fail to accumulate money sufficient for their needs, are generally, easily influenced by the opinions of others.

They permit the newspapers and the gossiping neighbours to do their thinking for them. Opinions are the cheapest commodities on the earth. Everyone has a flock of opinions ready to be wished upon by anyone who will accept them. If you are influenced by opinions when you reach decisions, you will not succeed in any undertaking.

Q. 1. Which one of the following is implied by the passage?

a. Most of the people do not accumulate money for their needs.
b. Most of the people never fail to accumulate money for their needs.
c. There are people who fail to accumulate money for their needs.
d. There is no need to accumulate money.

Q. 2. What is the main idea of the passage?

a. People should not be influenced by the opinions of others.
b. People should accumulate as much money as they can
c. People should neither give nor accept the opinions.
d. People will succeed in any undertaking if they do not accept any opinion at all.

Q. How best can the problems of floods and droughts be addressed so that the losses are minimal and the system becomes resilient?

In this context, one important point that needs to be noted is that India gets too much’ water (about 75% of annual precipitation) during 120 days (June to September) and too little’ for the remaining 245 days. This skewed water availability has to be managed and regulated for its consumption throughout the year.

Q. Which one of the following best reflects the practical, rational and lasting solution?

a. Constructing huge concrete storage tanks and canals across the country
b. Changing the cropping patterns and farming practices
c. Interlinking of rivers across the country
d. Buffer stocking of water through dams and recharging aquifers

Q. To encourage research is one of the functions of a university.

Contemporary universities have encouraged research, not only in those cases where research is necessary, but on all sorts of entirely unprofitable subjects as well. Scientific research is probably never completely valueless. However silly and insignificant it may seem, however mechanical and unintelligent the labours of the researchers, there is always a chance that the results may be of value to the investigator of talent, who can use the facts collected for him by uninspired but industrious researchers as the basis of some fruitful generalization. But where research is not original, but consists in the mere rearrangement of existing materials, where its object is not scientific but literary or historical, then there is a risk of the whole business becoming merely futile.

Q. 1. The author’s assumption about scientific research is that

• a. it is never very valuable
• b. it is sometimes very valuable
• c. it is never without some value
• d.it is always very valuable

Q. 2. According to the author

• a. not many research results can be of value to an intelligent investigator
• b. a research result is always valuable to an intelligent investigator
• c. any research result can be of value to an intelligent investigator
• d. a research result must always be of some value to an intelligent investigator

Q. Unless the forces and tendencies which are responsible for destroying the country’s environment are checked in the near future and afforestation of denuded areas is taken up on a massive scale, the harshness of the climatic conditions and soil erosion by wind and water will increase to such an extent that agriculture, which is the mainstay of our people, will gradually become impossible.

The desert countries of the world and our own desert areas in Rajasthan are a grim reminder of the consequences of large-scale deforestation. Pockets of desert-like landscape are now appearing in other parts of the country including the Sutlej-Ganga Plains and the Deccan Plateau. Where only a few decades back there used to be lush green forests with perennial streams and springs, there is only brown earth, bare of vegetation, without any water in the streams and springs except in the rainy season.

Q. 1. According to the passage given above, deforestation and denudation will ultimately lead to which of the following?
1.    Depletion of soil resource
2.    Shortage of land for the common man
3.    Lack of water for cultivation
Select the correct answer using the code given below.

• a.    1 and 2 only
• b.   2 and 3 only
• c.    1 and 3 only
• d.   1, 2 and 3

Q. The main threat to maintaining progress in human development comes from the increasingly evident unsustainability of production and consumption patterns.

Current production models rely heavily on fossil fuels. We now know that this is unsustainable because the resources are finite. The close link between economic growth and greenhouse gas emissions needs to be severed for human development to become truly sustainable. Some developed countries have begun to alleviate the worst effects by expanding recycling and investing in public transport and infrastructure. But most developing countries are hampered by the high costs and low availability of clean energy sources. Developed countries need to support developing countries’ transition to sustainable human development.

Q. 1. Unsustainability in production pattern is due to which of the following?
1.  Heavy dependence on fossil fuels
2.  Limited availability of resources
3.  Expansion of recycling
Select the correct answer using the code given below.

• a.  1 and 2 only
• b.  2 only
• c.  1 and 3 only
• d. 1, 2 and 3

Q. 2. Consider the following statements:
Developed countries can support developing countries’ transition to sustainable human development by
1. making clean energy sources available at low cost
2. providing loans for improving their public transport at nominal interest rates
3. encouraging them to change their production and consumption patterns
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• a.  1 only
• b. 1 and 2 only
• c.  2 and 3 only
• d. 1, 2 and 3