Directions (1-15): In the following passage, there are blanks each of which has been numbered. For each blank five words have been suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case. (Source- The Economist)
SQUEEGEE merchants of the seas”: that is the nickname shipping companies have …(1)… on the pilots who guide ships into Brazilian ports. Their legal monopoly and unregulated fees place them …(2)… the country’s highest earners: 150,000 reais ($73,500) a month, estimates the ship owners’ association. It costs twice the OECD average to import a container to Brazil, says the World Bank—and since that …(3)… bribes and fees for go-betweens, the true figure is surely greater. Lack of …(4)… and investment add to the …(5)….
Brazil’s government has …(6)… to the urgent need to improve the country’s infrastructure. It is auctioning road, railway and airport concessions. Last month it added ports to the list, promising to spend 54 billion reais to expand and dredge public ports and to improve landside access over the next five years.
Operating contracts for port terminals that have …(7)… will be put out for tender, rather than rolled over. Contracts will go to whomever can ship the largest volume at the lowest price. Private ports will be able to …(8)… with public ones (only companies with enough cargo to merit a dedicated port can build their own ports now). The government wants to soften the pilots’ monopoly by training more of them.
Fixing the ports matters if Brazil is to …(9)… anaemic growth. Agriculture is one of the few bits of the economy still doing well. But high transport costs for farmers’ exports are …(10)… their profits.
Q1.
(a) constructed
(b) suggested
(c) bestowed
(d) placed
(e) made
Q2.
(a) among
(b) with
(c) in
(d) into
(e) along
Q3.
(a) refuses
(b) collects
(c) includes
(d) excludes
(e) assures
Q4.
(a) keep
(b) keen
(c) upkeep
(d) kin
(e) upbringing
Q5.
(a) issue
(b) misery
(c) belief
(d) gain
(e) profit
Q6.
(a) raised up
(b) wake up
(c) awake up
(d) woken up
(e) made up
Q7.
(a) expired
(b) renewed
(c) allotted
(d) inspired
(e) resumed
Q8.
(a) subsidise
(b) compete
(c) construct
(d) work
(e) supply
Q9.
(a) cease
(b) bring
(c) elaborate
(d) assume
(e) boost
Q10.
(a) making
(b) fabricating
(c) eroding
(d) abrade
(e) dissolving
Directions (11-15): Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning to the word printed in bold.
Q11. Delayed
(a) Perturbed
(b) Popularised
(c) Expedited
(d) Stabilised
(e) Repressed
Q12. Dormant
(a) Emaciated
(b) Pertinent
(c) Cornered
(d) Rejected
(e) Active
Q13. Subversion
(a) Compliance
(b) Sanity
(c) Popularity
(d) Destabilisation
(e) Clarity
Q14. Embrace
(a) Contradict
(b) Disobey
(c) Curtail
(d) Reject
(e) Obscure
Q15. Myriad
(a) Trivial
(b) Difficult
(c) Few
(d) Effortless
(e) Countless
English Quiz For NIACL AO Mains 2024 Exa...
