Directions (1-5): Each of the following questions has a paragraph from which one sentence has been deleted. From the given options, choose the one that completes the paragraph in the most appropriate/coherent way.

Q1. Suffering is part of the natural order of the universe. At all levels in nature we see the struggle for survival, growth and decay, emergence of new life and a return to earth of what is biodegradable. Lacking the machinations of a mind, the order of creation just below humans does not cry out in anguish at its loss and destruction. Its passing away or transformation when it occurs, takes place often unnoticed, but always without complaint. _______________________________________

(a) Death and destruction is never “avenged”.

(b) Suffering came to be seen as punishment, sickness was often considered to be a consequence of sin.

(c) It has been aptly said that suffering not transformed, is suffering transmitted.

(d) The energy locked in our victimhood is released for our own good and that of others.

(e) None of these

Q2. Floodplains are formed over millions of years by the flooding of rivers and deposition of sand on riverbanks. These sandy floodplains are exceptional aquifers where any withdrawal is compensated by gravity flow from a large surrounding area. Some floodplains such as those of Himalayan rivers contain up to 20 times more water than the virgin flow in rivers in a year. __________________________________If we conserve and use the floodplain, it can be a self-sustaining aquifer wherein every year, the river and floodplain are preserved in the same healthy condition as the year before.

(a) It would also generate substantial revenue for the cities.

(b) This is the philosophy of “conserve and use”.

(c) Preserving the floodplain in its entirety is critical for this scheme to work.

(d) Since recharge is by rainfall and during late floods, the water quality is good.

(e) None of these

Q3. As search engines and algorithms replace encyclopaedias and libraries, tools like Elias are bound to become a more salient part of teaching. After all, memory has been outsourced since the written word came into place and an android is merely an engaging vessel through which children can access AI and internet-based learning software. _________________________________________________. Freed from the dissemination of knowledge, assisted in assessing students, teachers can direct their attention to individual students who need it, and provide perspective rather than facts.

(a)Teaching, as a profession, can conceivably be enhanced by the use of such protocols.

(b)In Finland, efforts are on to provide teachers with a prosthetic for patience.

(c)Elias is also a robot.

(d)It is worrying because it reflects an increasing alienation between North and South in political discourse.

(e)Resistance to this will take the form of greater regional assertion.

Q4. Renegotiating balance of power and new forms of cultural identity are all routine activities in politics. But they acquire more explosive potential when this negotiation takes place under three conditions: The political existence of a project of cultural hegemony, a fluid party system at the state level, and greater state centralisation. Right now this discontent seems only fleeting. But it would be a mistake to reduce it to the mere technicalities of a Finance Commission mandate. ____________________________________________________. And it would be a mistake to underestimate how quickly cultural anxieties can snowball into a potent political force, in an age marked by fragile and uncertain identities on the one hand, and mean and ungenerous leaders on the other.

(a)It is worrying because it reflects an increasing alienation between North and South in political discourse.

(b)The discontent may not seem significant now.

(c)There is more psychological and cultural anxiety fueling it.

(d)The southern gauntlet is just an opening salvo.

(e)Southern politics has itself been stuck in a rut.

Q5. When banks insure a farmer, they go by his declaration at the time of making the KCC and insure accordingly. There is no attempt to verify which crop has been actually planted and there is no system of asking the farmer to fill some form for crop insurance. As a result, when a crop loss is reported, there is a dispute between the farmer and the insurance company. It is catch 22 situation. On the one hand, the banker cannot name any other crop other than declared in the KCC, for a change would cause the invalidation of the card. On the other, on the farm there is some other crop which needs to be insured for the claims to be processed by the insurer. ____________________________________________________

(a)This brings me to DBT in fertiliser subsidy.

(b)The KCC is necessary to procure good quality inputs to raise productivity and production.

(c)This will ensure better targeting and encourage digital transactions.

(d)Some fear the farmers may misuse the crop loan if it is not linked to the scale of finance.

(e)The result is that the farmer refuses to get his crop insured.

Answers:

S1. Ans. (a)

Sol. Option (a) is the correct choice. The paragraph is describing various stages of life forms. The loss or death or destruction is a part of life and will occur inevitably.  Thus, the next sentence that shall complete the paragraph should further elaborate to conclude the thought on death and destruction. Except for option (a) all the other statements fail to adhere to the theme of the paragraph. Therefore, the paragraph can be completed using the statement “Death and destruction can never be “avenged”.”

S2. Ans. (d)

Sol. Option (d) is the most suitable choice. The paragraph is describing the floodplains and the water accumulated in rivers. The sentence before the blank has described the water accumulated in Himalayan rivers. The next sentence that should provide coherence to the paragraph must describe the way through which this water is collected. This is mentioned only in option (d) [Since recharge is by rainfall and during late floods, the water quality is good]. All the other given options cannot be interlinked with the paragraph and are befitting to the blank provided.

S3. Ans. (a)

Sol. The given paragraph is about the role of AI and internet-based learning software in the field of teaching. Read the sentences prior to the blank space, it cites certain protocols which can make the medium of teaching quite easier. Among the given options, only sentence (a) fits perfectly into the theme of the paragraph. Other sentences given as options are unsuitable and irrelevant in the context of the paragraph. Hence option (a) is the correct choice.

S4. Ans. (c)

Sol. The first line of the paragraph itself generates the theme of the paragraph. Read the sentence just following the blank space, it talks about the existence of cultural anxieties in politics. Thus, the sentence which can fill up the blank coherently is an option (c). Other statements given as options are irrelevant to the given blank as they all are out of the context. Hence option (c) is the correct choice.

S5. Ans. (e)

Sol. The given paragraph is about the policies and terms and conditions related to crop insurance. Read the sentences prior to the blank space, it mentions that there are a catch 22 situations between the farmer and the insurance company. Among the given options, only statement (e) gives the befitting conclusion to the paragraph. Other options, though sound similar to the theme of the paragraph, cannot be used as an appropriate conclusion. Hence option (e) is the correct choice.