Q. Six lectures A, B, C, D, E and F, each of one hour duration, are scheduled between 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

Consider the Question and two Statements given below:
Question : Which lecture is in the third period?
Statement-1 : Lecture F is preceded by A and followed by C.
Statcment-2 : There is no lecture after lecture B.

Which one of the following is correct in respect of the Question and the Statements?
a. Statement-1 alone is sufficient to answer the Question
b. Statement-2 alone is sufficient to answer the Question
c. Both Statement-1 and Statemcnt-2 are sufficient to answer the Question
d. Both Statement-1 and Statement-2 are not sufficient to answer the Question
Correct Answer: d. Both Statement-1 and Statement-2 are not sufficient to answer the Question

Q. Consider the Question and two Statements given below:

Question: What is the age of Manisha?

Statement-1: Manisha is 24 years younger than her mother.
Statement-2 : 5 years later, the ages of Manisha and her mother will be in the ratio 3:5.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the Question and the Statements?
a. Statement-1 alone is sufficient to answer the Question
b. Statement-2 alone is sufficient to answer the Question
c. Both Statement-1 and Statement-2 are sufficient to answer the Question
d. Both Statement-1 and Statcment-2 are not sufficient to answer the Question
Correct Answer: c.  Both Statement-1 and Statement-2 are sufficient to answer the Question

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

Q. The poverty line is quite unsatisfactory when it comes to grasping the extent of poverty in India.

It is not only because of its extremely narrow definition of who is poor and the debatable methodology used to count the poor, but also because of a more fundamental assumption underlying it. It exclusively relies on the notion of poverty as insufficient income or insufficient purchasing power. One can better categorize it by calling it income poverty. If poverty is ultimately about deprivations affecting human well-being, then income poverty is only one aspect of it. Poverty of a life, in our view. lies not merely in the impoverished state in which the person actually lives, but also in the lack of real opportunity given by social constraints as well as personal circumstances—to choose other types of living. Even the relevance of low incomes, meagre possessions, and other aspects of what are standardly seen as economic poverty relate ultimately to their role in curtailing capabilities, i.e., their role in severely restricting the choices people have to lead variable and valued lives.

Q. 1. Why is the methodology adopted in India to count the “poor* debatable?

a. There is some confusion regarding what should constitute the ‘poverty line’.

b. There are wide diversities in the condition of the rural and urban poor.

c. There is no uniform global standard for measuring income poverty.

d. It is based on the proposition of poverty as meagre income or buying capacity.

Q. 2. Why is income poverty only one measure of counting the ‘poor’?

a. It talks of only one kind of deprivation ignoring all others.
b. Other deprivations in a human life have nothing to do with lack of purchasing power.
c. Income poverty is not a permanent condition, it changes from time to time.
d. Income poverty restricts human choices only at a point of time.

Q. 3. What does the author mean by “poverty of a life?

a. All deprivations in a human life which stem not only from lack of income but lack of real opportunities
b.Impoverished state of poor people in rural and urban areas
c. Missed opportunities in diverse personal circumstances
d. Material as well as non-material deprivations in a human life which restrict human choices permanently

Q. In simple matters like shoe-making, we think only a specially trained person will serve our purpose, but in politics, we presume that everyone who knows how to get votes knows how to administer a State.

When we are ill, we call for a trained physician, whose degree is a guarantee of specific preparation and technical competence—we do not ask for the handsomest physician, or the most eloquent one : well then, when the whole State is ill should we not look for the service and guidance of the wisest and the best?

Q. 1. Which one of the following statements best reflects the message of the author of the passage?

a. We assume that in a democracy, any politician is qualified to administer a State
b. Politicians should be selected from those trained in administration.
c. We need to devise a method of barring incompetence from public office.
d. As voters select their administrators, the eligibility of politicians to administer a State cannot be questioned.

Q. With steady economic growth, higher literacy and increasing skill levels, the number of Indian middle-class families has gone up exponentially.

Direct results of the affluence have been changes in dietary patterns and energy consumption levels. People have moved to a higher protein-based diet like milk products, fish and meat, all of which need significantly more water to produce than cereal- based diets. Increasing use of electronic and electric machines/gadgets and motor vehicles needs more and more energy and generation of energy needs water.

Q. 1. Which one of the following statements best reflects the crux of the passage?

• a.    People should be persuaded to continue with the mainly Indian traditional cereal-based diets.
• b.   India needs to focus on developing agricultural productivity and capacity for more energy generation in the coming years.
• c.    Modem technological developments result in the change of cultural and social behaviour of the people.
• d.   Water management practices in India need to change dramatically in the coining years.

Q. There are two containers X and Y. X contains 100 ml of milk and y contains 100 ml of water. 20 ml of milk from X is transferred to Y. After mixing well, 20 ml of the mixture in y is transferred back to X. If m denotes the proportion of milk in X and n denotes the proportion of water in Y, then which one of the following is correct?

a. m = n
b. m>n
c. m < n
d. Cannot be determined due to insufficient data
Correct Answer: a. m = n

Q. Natural selection cannot anticipate future environments on the earth.

Therefore, the set of existing organisms can never be fully prepared for environmental catastrophes that await life. An outcome of this is the extinction of those species which cannot overcome environmental adversity. This failure to survive, in modem terms, can be attributed to the genomes which are unable to withstand geological vagaries or biological mishaps (infections, diseases and so on). In biological evolution on the earth, extinction of species has been a major feature. The earth may presently have up to ten million species, yet more than 90% of species that have ever lived on the earth are now extinct. Once again, the creationist doctrines fail to satisfactorily address why a divine creator will firstly bother to create millions of species and then allow them to perish. The Darwinian explanation for extinct life is once again simple, elegant and at once convincing—organisms go extinct as a function of environmental or biological assaults for which their inheritance deems them ill-equipped. Therefore, the so-called Darwinian theory of evolution is not a theory at all. Evolution happens—this is a fact. The mechanism of evolution (Darwin proposed natural selection) is amply supported by scientific data. Indeed, to date no single zoological, botanical, geological, paleontological, genetic or physical evidence has refuted either of the central two main Darwinian ideas. If religion is not taken into consideration, Darwinian laws are acceptable just like the laws proposed by Copernicus, Galileo, Newton and Einstein—sets of natural laws that explain natural phenomena in the universe.

Q. 1. According to the passage, natural selection cannot anticipate future environments on the earth as
1.  species not fully prepared to face the environmental changes that await them will face extinction
2.  all the existing species would get extinct as their genomes will not withstand biological mishaps
3.  inability of the genome to withstand environmental changes would result in extinction
4.  extinction of species is a common feature
Select the correct answer using the code given below.

a.  1, 2 and 3
b. 2. 3 and 4
c.  1, 3 and 4
d. 1, 2 and 4

Q. 2. The passage suggests that Darwinian theory of evolution is not a theory at all because

a.  it does not satisfy the creationist doctrine
b. extinction is a function of environment and biological assaults
c.  there are no evidences to refute it
d. existence of organisms is attributed to a creator

Q. 3. With reference to the passage, the following assumptions have been made:
1.  Only species that have fee ability to overcome environmental catastrophes will survive and perpetuate.
2.  More than 90% of the species on the earth are in the danger of getting extinct due to drastic changes in the environment.
3.  Darwin’s theory explains all the natural phenomena.
Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

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

Q. Consider the following statements:
1. Between 3:16 p.m. and 3:17 p.m., both hour hand and minute hand coincide.
2. Between 4:58 p.m. and 4:59 p.m., both minute hand and second hand coincide.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?
a. 1 only
b. 2 only
c. Both 1 and 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
Correct Answer: c. Both 1 and 2

Q. In some places in the world, the productivity of staples such as rice and wheat has reached a plateau.

Neither new strains nor fancy agrochemicals are raising the yields. Nor is there much unfarmed land left that is suitable to be brought under the plough. If global temperature continues to rise, some places will become unsuitable for farming. Application of technology can help overcome these problems. Agricultural technology is changing fast. Much of this change is brought about by affluent farmers in the West/Americas. Techniques developed in the West are being adapted in some places to make tropical crops more productive. Technology is of little use if it is not adapted. In the developing world, that applies as much to existing farming techniques as it does to the latest advances in genetic modification. Extending to the smallholders and subsistence farmers of Africa and Asia the best of today’s agricultural practices, in such simple matters as how much fertilizers to apply and when, would lead to a greatly increased availability of food for humanity. So would things like better roads and storage facilities, to allow for the carriage of surpluses to markets and reduce wastage.

Q. 1. Based on the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:
1.  Development of agricultural technology is confined to developed countries.
2. Agricultural technology is not adapted in developing countries.
Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?
a.  1 only
b. 2 only
c.  Both 1 and 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2

Q. 2. Based on the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:
1.  Poor countries need to bring about change in their existing fanning techniques.
2.  Developed countries have better infrastructure and they waste less food.
Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?
a.  1 only
b. 2 only
c.  Both 1 and 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2

Q. 3. Based on the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:
1.  Growing enough food for future generations will be a challenge.
2.  Corporate farming is a viable option for food security in poor countries.
Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?
a.  1 only
b. 2 only
c.  Both 1 and 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2