Directions (1-10): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
What do we mean by fear? Fear of what? There are various types of fear and we need not analyse every type. But we can see that fear comes into being when our comprehension of relationship is not complete. Relationship is not only between people but between ourselves and nature, between ourselves and property, between ourselves and ideas; as long as that relationship is not fully understood, there must be fear. Life is relationship. To be is to be related and without relationship there is no life. Nothing can exist in isolation; so long as the mind is seeking isolation, there must be fear. Fear is not an abstraction; it exists only in relation to something.
The question is, how to be rid of fear? First of all, anything that is overcome has to be conquered again and again. No problem can be finally overcome, conquered; it can be understood but not conquered. They are two completely different processes and the conquering process leads to further confusion, further fear. To resist, to dominate, to do battle with a problem or to build a defence against it is only to create further conflict, whereas if we can understand fear, go into it fully step by step, explore the whole content of it, then fear will never return in any form.
As I said, fear is not an abstraction; it exists only in relationship. What do we mean by fear? Ultimately we are afraid, are we not, of not being, of not becoming. Now, when there is fear of not being, of not advancing, or fear of the unknown, of death, can that fear be overcome by determination, by a conclusion, by any choice? Obviously not. Mere suppression, sublimation, or substitution, creates further resistance, does it not? Therefore fear can never by overcome through any form of discipline, through any form of resistance. That fact must be clearly seen, felt and experienced: fear cannot be overcome through any form of defence or resistance nor can there be freedom from fear through the search for an answer or through mere intellectual or verbal explanation.
Now what are we afraid of? Are we afraid of a fact or of an idea about the fact? Are we afraid of the thing as it is, or are we afraid of what we think it is? Take death, for example. Are we afraid of the fact of death or of the idea of death? The fact is one thing and the idea about the fact is another. Am I afraid of the word ‘death’ or of the fact itself? Because I am afraid of the word, of the idea, I never understand the fact, I never look at the fact, I am never in direct relation with the fact. It is only when I am in complete communion with the fact that there is no fear. If I am not in communion with the fact, then there is fear, and there is no communion with the fact so long as I have an idea, an opinion, a theory, about the fact, so I have to be very clear whether I am afraid of the word, the idea or of the fact. If I am face to face with the fact, there is nothing to understand about it: the fact is there, and I can deal with it. If I am afraid of the word, then I must understand the word, go into the whole process of what the word, the term, implies.
For example, one is afraid of loneliness, afraid of the ache, the pain of loneliness. Surely that fear exists because one has never really looked at loneliness, one has never been in complete communion with it. The moment one is completely open to the fact of loneliness one can understand what it is, but one has an idea, an opinion about it, based on previous knowledge; it is this idea, opinion, this previous knowledge about the fact that creates fear. Fear is obviously the outcome of naming, of terming, of projecting a symbol to represent the fact; that is fear is not independent of the word, of the term.
I have a reaction, say, to loneliness; that is I say I am afraid of being nothing. Am I afraid of the fact itself or is that fear awakened because I have previous knowledge of the fact, knowledge being the word, the symbol, the image? How can there be fear of a fact? When I am face to face with a fact, in direct communion with it, I can look at it, observe it; therefore there is no fear of the fact. What causes fear is my apprehension about the fact, what the fact might be or do.
It is my opinion, my idea, my experience, my knowledge about the fact that creates fear. So long as there is verbalization of the fact, giving the fact a name and therefore identifying or condemning it, so long as thought is judging the fact as an observer, there must be fear. Thought is the product of the past, it can only exist through verbalization, through symbols, through images; so long as thought is regarding or translating the fact, there must be fear.
Thus it is the mind that creates fear, the mind being the process of thinking. Thinking is verbalization. You cannot think without words, without symbols, images; these images, which are the prejudices, the previous knowledge, the apprehensions of the mind, are projected upon the fact, and out of that there arises fear. There is freedom from fear only when the mind is capable of looking at the fact without translating it, without giving it a name, a label. This is quite difficult, because the feelings, the reactions, the anxieties that we have, are promptly identified by the mind and given a word. The feeling of jealousy is identified by that word. Is it possible not to identify a feeling, to look at that feeling without naming it? It is the naming of the feeling that gives it continuity, that gives it strength. The moment you give a name to that which you call fear, you strengthen it; but if you can look at that feeling without terming it, you will see that it withers away. Therefore if one would be completely free of fear it is essential to understand this whole process of terming, of projecting symbols, images, giving names to facts.
Q1. Which statement best expresses the meaning of fear as explained in the passage?
(a) Fear is experienced because we do not form and understand relationships.
(b) Fear occurs in the mind and needs to be confronted.
(c) Fear is caused when we engage more closely with ideas about a fact, than with trying to understand the fact.
(d) Fear is an act of suppression of understanding of facts.
(e) None of the above
Q2. Human beings are victims of ………….. because of which they experience fear. (Choose an option to fill the blank)
(a) Conditioning
(b) Deconditioning
(c) Suppression
(d) Isolation
(e) Intelligibility
Q3. We can eradicate fear if we do any one of the following:
(a) Verbalize and think about the fact that causes fear
(b) Look at the fact that causes fear and experience it fully
(c) Withhold judgements about a fact or situation while experiencing it
(d) All of the above
(e) None of the above
Q4. Which set of key words, when put to practice will help us overcome fear?
(a) Minimise: suppression, sublimation, substitution
(b) Avoid: naming, terming, projecting facts
(c) Build: relationships, understanding, judgement of facts
(d) Engage in: communion, experiencing facts, withholding judgement
(e) None of the above
Q5. Which of the following can be concluded from the passage?
(a) As long as there is any relationship, there must be fear of losing it.
(b) As long as our thoughts can identify and judge a fact as an observer, there would be no fear.
(c) Previous knowledge about a fact hinders dealing with the fact when it arrives.
(d) Fear can be best diminished by fighting it and building a defence against it.
(e) None of the above
Q6. Which of the following can be concluded from the passage?
(a) If one is in complete communion with a fact, there is little chance of fear.
(b) Ideas of a fact aid us in making a communion with the fact.
(c) Fear is a feeling that is independent of the tag or the symbol representing the fact.
(d) All of the above
(e) None of the above
Q7. Which of the following can be concluded from the passage?
(a) Fear can be overcome by conquering it once and for all.
(b) Fear of unknown can be overcome by determined resistance.
(c) Freedom of fear can be achieved by a simple intellectual explanation of the phenomenon.
(d) All of the above
(e) None of the above
Directions (8 – 9): Choose the word/group of words which is MOST SIMILAR in meaning to the word/ group of words printed in bold as used in the passage.
Q8. Conquered
(a) liberate
(b) extricate
(c) disencumber
(d) emancipate
(e) vanquish
Q9. Sublimation
(a) plebeian
(b) proletarian
(c) utter
(d) obscure
(e) inferior
Directions (10): Choose the word/group of words which is MOST OPPOSITE in meaning to the word/ group of words printed in bold as used in the passage.
Q10. Apprehensions
(a) credence
(b) trepidation
(c) dread
(d) cognizance
(e) angst
Directions (11-15): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help out locate them while answering some of the questions.
When times are hard, doomsayers are aplenty. The problem is that if you listen to them too carefully, you tend to overlook the most obvious signs of change. 2011 was a bad year. Can 2012 be any worse? Doomsday forecasts are the easiest to make these days. So let’s try a contrarian’s forecast instead.
Let’s start with the global economy. We have seen a steady flow of good news from the US. The employment situation seems to be improving rapidly and consumer sentiment, reflected in retail expenditures on discretionary items like electronics and clothes, has picked up. If these trends sustain, the US might post better growth numbers for 2012 than the 1.5–1.8 per cent being forecast currently. Japan is likely to pull out of a recession in 2012 as post earthquake reconstruction efforts gather momentum and the fiscal stimulus announced in 2011 beings to pay off. The consensus estimate for growth in Japan is a respectable 2 per cent for 2012. The ‘hard-landing’ scenario for China remains and will remain a myth. Growth might decelerate further from the 9 per cent that it expected to clock in 2011 but is unlikely to drop below 8 – 8.5 per cent in 2012.
Europe is certainly in a spot of trouble. It is perhaps already in recession and for 2012 it is likely to post mildly negative growth. The risk of implosion had dwindled over the last few months-peripheral economies like Greece, Italy and Spain have new government in place and have made progress towards genuine economic reform. Even with some of these positive factors in place we have to accept the fact the global growth in 2012 will be tepid. But there is a flipside to this, Softer growth means lower demand for commodities and this is likely to drive a correction in commodity prices. Lower commodity inflation will enable emerging market central banks to reverse its stance and has pared its reserve ratio twice. The RBI also seems poised for a reversal in its rate cycle as headline inflation seems well on its way to target of 7 per cent for March 2012. That said, oil might be an exception to the general trend in commodities. Rising geopolitical tensions, particularly the continuing face-off between Iran and the US, might lead to a spurt in prices. It might make sense for our oil companies to hedge this risk instead of buying oil in to spot market. As inflation fears abate and emerging market central banks being to cut rates, two things could happen. Lower commodity inflation would mean lower interest rates and better and better credit availability. This could set a floor to growth and slowly reverse the business cycle within these economies second, as the fear of untamed, runaway inflation in these economies abates, the global investor’s comfort levels with their markets will increase.
Which of the emerging markets will out performed who will get left behind? In an environment in which global growth is likely to be weak, economies like India that have a powerful domestic consumption dynamic should lead; those dependent on exports should, prima facie, fall behind. Specifically for India, fall behind. Specifically for India, a fall in the exchange rate could not have come at a better time. It will help Indian exporters gain market share even if global trade remains depressed. More importantly, it could lead to massive import substitution that favors domestic producers.
Let’s now focus on India and start with a caveat. It is important not to confuse a short-run cyclical dip with a permanent de-rating of its long-term structural potential. The arithmetic is simple. Our growth rate can be in the range of 7-10 per cent depending on policy action. Ten per cent if we get everything right, 7 per cent if we get it will all wrong. Which policies and reforms are critical to taking us to our 10 per cent potential? In judging this, let’s again be careful. Let’s not go by the laundry list of reforms that fills like to wave: increase in foreign equity limits in foreign shareholding, greater voting rights for institutional shareholders in banks, FDI in retail, etc. These can have an impact only at the margin. We need not bend over backwards to appease the fills through these reforms-they will invest in our markets when momentum picks up and will be the first to exit when the momentum flags. Reforms or not.
The reforms that we need are the ones that can actually raise out sustainable long-term growth rate. These have to come in area like better targeting of subsidies, making projects in infrastructure viable so that they draw capital, raising the productivity of agriculture, improving healthcare and education, bringing the parallel economy under the tax net, implementing fundamental reforms in taxation like GST and the direct tax code and finally easing the myriad rules and regulation that make doing business in India such a nightmare. A number of these things do not require new legislation and can be done through executive order.
Q11. Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?
(a) China’s economic growth is likely to decline below 8 per cent in the year 2012.
(b) The European economy is not doing very well.
(c) Greece is on the verge of bringing about economic reforms.
(d) In the year 2012, Japan may post a positive growth and thus pull out of recession.
(e) All are true.
Q12. Which of the following will possibly be a result of softer growth estimated for the year 2012?
(A) Prices of oil will not increase
(B) Credit availability would be better
(C) Commodity inflation would be lesser
(a) Only (B)
(b) Only (A) and (B)
(c) Only (B) and (C)
(d) Only (C)
(e) All (A), (B), and (C)
Q13. Which of the following can be said about the present status of the US economy?
(a) There is not much improvement in the economic scenario of the country from the year 2011.
(b) The growth in the economy of the country, in the year 2012, would definitely be lesser than 1.8 per cent.
(c) The expenditure on clothes and electronic commodities by consumers is lesser than that in the year 2011.
(d) There is a chance that in 2012 the economy would do better than what has been forecast
(e) The pace of change in the employment scenario of the country is very slow.
Q14. According to the author, which of the following would characterize Indian growth scenario in 2012?
(A) Domestic producers will take a hit because of depressed global trade scenario.
(B) On account of its high domestic consumption, India will lead.
(C) Indian exporters will have a hard time in gaining market share.
(a) Only (B)
(b) Only (A) and (B)
(c) Only (B) and (C)
(d) Only (A)
(e) All (A) and (B) and (C)
Q15. Why does the author NOT recommend taking up the reforms suggested by Flls?
(a) These will bring about only minor growth.
(b) The reforms suggested will have no effect on the economy of our country, whereas will benefit the Flls significantly.
(c) The previous such recommendations had backfired.
(d) These reforms will be the sole reason for our country’s economic downfall.
(e) The reforms suggested by them are not to be trusted as they will not bring about any positive growth in India.
Solutions:
S1. Ans. (c)
Sol. Refer the fourth paragraph of the passage which best expresses the meaning of fear through the concepts of “ideas’ and ‘facts’.
S2. Ans. (d)
Sol. Refer the second-last sentence of the first paragraph, “Nothing can exist in isolation; so long as the mind is seeking isolation, there must be fear. Fear is not an abstraction; it exists only in relation to something”. Hence option (d) is the correct choice.
S3. Ans. (b)
Sol. Refer the last sentence of the second paragraph, “To resist, to dominate, to do battle with a problem or to build a defence against it is only to create further conflict, whereas if we can understand fear, go into it fully step by step, explore the whole content of it, then fear will never return in any form”. Hence option (b) is the correct choice.
S4. Ans. (d)
Sol. Engage in: communion, experiencing facts, withholding judgement is the one which will help us when put to practice overcome fear. Hence option (d) is the correct choice.
S5. Ans. (c)
Sol. Refer the fifth paragraph, “The moment one is completely open to the fact of loneliness one can understand what it is, but one has an idea, an opinion about it, based on previous knowledge; it is this idea, opinion, this previous knowledge about the fact that creates fear”.
S6. Ans. (a)
Sol. Stated directly in the fourth paragraph
S7. Ans. (e)
Sol. None of the given options is correct.
S8. Ans. (e)
Sol. Conquered means successfully overcome (a problem or weakness) and vanquish means defeat thoroughly.
S9. Ans. (c)
Sol. Sublimation means (of a person’s attitude or behaviour) extreme or unparalleled and utter means complete; absolute.
S10. Ans. (a)
Sol. Apprehensions means anxiety or fear that something bad or unpleasant will happen and credence means belief in or acceptance of something as true and something good.
S11. Ans. (a)
Sol. Refer to the last line of second paragraph, “Growth might decelerate……………..in 2012”. Hence statement (a) is not true in the context of the passage.
S12. Ans. (c)
Sol. Refer to the fourth sentence of third paragraph, “Softer growth …………. March 2012.”
Hence only options B and C are true in the context of the passage.
S13. Ans. (d)
Sol. Refer to fourth sentence of second paragraph. “U.S. might post………….. forecast currently.” Hence sentence (d) is true.
S14. Ans. (a)
Sol. Refer to the first few lines of second last paragraph, “In an environment ………… remains depressed.”
Hence only option B is true in the context of the passage.
S15. Ans. (a)
Sol. Refer to the seventh sentence of second last paragraph, “Let’s not go………… only at the margin.”
Hence sentence (a) is true.
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English Language Notes for Competitive E...
