Directions (1-3): Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow based on the information given in the passage.
In the seventeenth-century Florentine textile industry, women were employed primarily in low-paying, low-skill jobs. To explain this segregation of labor by gender, economists have relied on the useful theory of human capital. According to this theory, investment in human capital – the acquisition of difficult job – related skills – generally benefits individuals by making them eligible to engage in well-paid occupations. Women’s role as child bearers, however, results in interruptions in their participation in the job market (as compared with men’s) and thus reduces their opportunities to acquire training for highly skilled work. In addition, the human capital theory explains why there was high concentration of women workers in certain low-skill jobs, such as weaving, but not in others, such as combing or carding, by positing that because of their primary responsibility in child rearing women took occupations that could be carried out in the home.
There were, however, differences in pay scales that cannot be explained by the human capital theory. For example, male construction workers were paid significantly higher wages than female taffeta weavers. The wage difference between these two low-skill occupations stems from the segregation of labor by gender: because a limited number of occupations were open to women, there was a large supply of workers in their fields, and this “overcrowding” resulted in women receiving lower wages and men receiving higher wages.
Q1. The passage suggests that combing and carding differ from weaving in that combing and carding were
(a) low-skill jobs performed primarily by women employees
(b) low-skill jobs that were not performed in the home
(c) low-skill jobs performed by both male and female employees
(d) high-skill jobs performed outside the home
(e) high-skill jobs performed by both male and female employees
Q2. Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the explanation provided by the human capital theory for women’s concentration in certain occupations in seventeenth-century Florence?
(a) Women were unlikely to work outside the home even in occupations whose hours were flexible enough to allow women to accommodate domestic tasks as well as paid labor
(b) Parents were less likely to teach occupational skills to their daughters than they were to their sons.
(c) Women’s participation in the Florentine paid labor force grew steadily throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
(d) The vast majority of female weavers in the Florentine wool industry had children.
(e) Few women worked as weavers in the Florentine silk industry, which was devoted to making cloths that required a high degree of skill to produce.
Q3. The author of the passage would be most likely to describe the explanation provided by human capital theory for the high concentration of women in certain occupations in the seventeenth-century Florentine textile industry as
(a) well founded though incomplete
(b) difficult to articulate
(c) plausible but poorly substantiated
(d) seriously flawed
(e) contrary to recent research
Directions (4-8): Five statements are given below. Among these, four statements are in logical order and form a coherent paragraph/passage. From the given options, choose the option that does not fit into the theme of the passage.
Q4.
(a) Keeping the earth healthy is as important as keeping it peaceful. Overexploitation of its resources has already impaired the human existence on planet earth.
(b) The U.N. is doing its best to prevent a third World War.
(c) Emission of the so-called greenhouse gases has raised the Earth’s temperature to levels that are already radically altering global climate pattern.
(d) Temperature rise could cause the sea rise by several meters swallowing island countries.
(e) By the year 2020, the European Union has promised to cut overall greenhouse gas emissions by 20% over the 1990 levels.
Q5.
(a) In the modern era of globalization, information is power. IT has an enormous influence on today’s global economy.
(b) After the great Industrial Revolution, it is the IT revolution that has swept the world.
(c) The primary and secondary sectors are more important than the tertiary sector.
(d) Knowledge-based services sector has emerged as one of the most important segments in the modern economies.
(e) Information such as sound, pictures and video can be quickly transmitted through the internet.
Q6.
(a) The Cauvery water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu is not a new phenomenon. The dispute first surfaced in 1910.
(b) The Cauvery is one of the sacred rivers of India.
(c) Tamil Nadu feels its centuries old agricultural practices are not threatened by developments upstream in Karnataka.
(d) Talks and negotiations have taken place but a solution has proved abortive.
(e) The river has its origin in Karnataka and hence the people of Karnataka feel the river and its water is all theirs.
Q7.
(a) Although the World Cup is only weeks away, the contract dispute between the B.C.C.I. and I.C.C. remains unresolved. The players signed the contract and at the same time reportedly refused to accept two clauses.
(b) The President of B.C.C.I, seems well disposed for the matter to be settled by the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Switzerland.
(c) It remains to be seen whether the I.C.C will be prepared to refer the dispute for adjudication.
(d) Whether the dispute gets resolved or not, the world cup will be held as per schedule.
(e) All the living knight of cricket will be present during the World Cup cricket match.
Q8.
(a) Hopefully the government will be able to reconcile conflicting commercial interests and simultaneously uphold consumer’s interests.
(b) In India, for the newly opened telecom sector, technology has been the denominator differentiating the various service providers. The cellular operators use the global system for mobile communication (G.S.M.).
(c) The newer wireless in local loop (W.L.L.) use the codified division multiple access (C.D.M.A.).
(d) Technology is also stretching the scope and jurisdiction of the telecom regulator, (TRAI).
(e) The mobile tariffs in India have also become lowest in the world.
Directions (9-15): In each of the following questions five options are given, of which one word is most nearly the same or opposite in meaning to the given word in the question. Find the correct option having either same or opposite meaning.
Q.9 Coalesce
(a)profitable
(b)disordered
(c) amalgamation
(d) ridiculous
(e)intrepid
Q.10 Sycophantic
(a)Moisture
(b)parallel
(c)malediction
(d) servile
(e)Qualm
Q.11 Capricious
(a) apocalypse
(b)authentic
(c)proletariat
(d) braggart
(e) steady
Q.12 braggart
(a) unpretentious
(b) transcendent
(c)diffident
(d)tremulous
(e)repudiate
Q.13 Gluttonous
(a) indenture
(b) diffidence
(c) abstemious
(d) consanguinity
(e) oblivion
Q.14 bamboozle
(a)coexist
(b)appoint
(c)cheat
(d)dispensation
(e)harbinger
Q.15 cantankerous
(a) gregarious
(b) mercurial
(c) pliable
(d) pernicious
(e) jingoistic
Solutions
S1. Ans.(b)
Sol. low-skill jobs that were not performed in the home
S2. Ans.(a)
Sol. Women were unlikely to work outside the home even in occupations whose hours were flexible enough to allow women to accommodate domestic tasks as well as paid labor
S3. Ans.(a)
Sol. well founded though incomplete
S4. Ans.(b)
Sol. The sentence “The U.N. is doing its best to prevent a third World War.” Does not fit in the context of the paragraph.
S5. Ans.(c)
Sol. The sentence “The primary and secondary sectors are more important than the tertiary sector.” Does not fit in the context of the paragraph.
S6. Ans.(b)
Sol. The sentence “The Cauvery is one of the sacred rivers of India.” Does not fit in the context of the paragraph.
S7. Ans.(e)
Sol. The sentence “All the living knight of cricket will be present during the World Cup cricket match.” Does not fit in the context of the paragraph.
S8. Ans.(a)
Sol. The sentence “Hopefully the government will be able to reconcile conflicting commercial interests and simultaneously uphold consumer’s interests.” Does not fit in the context of the paragraph.
S9. Ans.(c)
Sol. Coalesce-come together to form one mass or whole.
amalgamation-the action, process, or result of combining or uniting.
amalgamation and Coalesce are synonyms.
S10. Ans.(d)
Sol. Sycophantic- behaving or done in an obsequious way in order to gain advantage.
servile- having or showing an excessive willingness to serve or please others.
Sycophantic and servile are synonyms.
S11. Ans.(e)
Sol. capricious-given to sudden and unaccountable changes of mood or behaviour.
steady and capricious are antonyms.
S12. Ans.(a)
Sol. braggart- a person who boasts about their achievements or possessions.
unpretentious-not attempting to impress others with an appearance of greater importance, talent, or culture than is actually possessed.
braggart and unpretentious are Antonyms.
S13. Ans.(c)
Sol. gluttonous-excessively greedy.
abstemious- indulging only very moderately in something, especially food and drink.
gluttonous and abstemious are antonyms.
S14. Ans.(c)
Sol. bamboozle- cheat or fool.
cheat and bamboozle are synonyms.
S15. Ans.(a)
Sol. cantankerous- bad-tempered, argumentative, and uncooperative.
gregarious- (of a person) fond of company; sociable.
cantankerous and gregarious are Antonyms.
