SBI Clerk English Daily Mock Reading Comprehension 27th January 2020

Directions (1-8): Read the passage carefully and answer the questions based on the passage. Some of the words have been highlighted which will be required to answer some of the questions.

There is a fairly universal sentiment that the use of nuclear weapons is clearly contrary to morality and that its production probably so, does not go far enough. These activities are not only opposed to morality but also to law if the legal objection can be added to the moral, the argument against the use and the manufacture of these weapons will considerably be reinforced. Now the time is ripe to evaluate the responsibility of scientists who knowingly use their expertise for the construction of such weapons, which has deleterious effect on mankind. 

To this must be added the fact that more than 50 percent of the skilled scientific manpower in the world is now engaged in the armaments industry. How appropriate it is that all this valuable skill should be devoted to the manufacture of weapons of death in a world of poverty is a question that must touch the scientific conscience.

A meeting of biologists on the Long-Term Worldwide Biological consequences of nuclear war added frightening dimension to those forecasts. Its report suggested that the long biological effects resulting from climatic changes may at least be as serious as the immediate ones. 

Sub-freezing temperatures, low light levels, and high doses of ionizing and ultraviolet radiation extending for many months after a large-scale nuclear war could destroy the biological support system of civilization, at least in the Northern Hemisphere. Productivity in natural and agricultural ecosystems could be severely restricted for a year or more. Post war survivors would face starvation as well as freezing conditions in the dark and be exposed to near lethal doses of radiation. If, as now seems possible, the Southern Hemisphere were affected also, global disruption of the biosphere could ensue. In any event, there would be severe consequences, even in the areas not affected directly, because of the interdependence of the world economy. In either case the extinction of a large fraction of the earth’s animals, plants and microorganism seems possible. The population size of Homo sapiens conceivably could be reduced to prehistoric levels or below, and extinction of the human species itself cannot be excluded.

Q1. According to the passage, the argument against use and manufacture of nuclear weapons

(a) Does not stand the test of legality

(b) Possesses legal strength although it does not have moral standing

(c) Is acceptable only on moral grounds

(d) Becomes stronger if legal and moral considerations are combined

(e) All the given options are incorrect.

Q2. The scientists possessing expertise in manufacturing destructive weapons are

(a) Very few in number

(b) Irresponsible and incompetent

(c) More than half of the total number

(d) Engaged in the armaments industry against their desire

(e) not conscious of the repercussions of their actions.

Q3. The author’s most important objective of writing the above passage seems to

(a) Highlight the use of nuclear weapons as an effective population control measures.

(b) Illustrate the devastating effects of use of nuclear weapons on mankind.

(c) Duly highlight the supremacy of the nations which possess nuclear weapons.

(d) Summarise the long biological effects of use of nuclear weapons.

(e) Explain scientifically the climatic changes resulting from use of nuclear weapons.

Q4. The author of the passage seems to be of the view that

(a) Utilization of scientific skills in manufacture of weapons is appropriate.

(b) Manufacture of weapons of death would help eradication of poverty.

(c) Spending money on manufacture of weapons may be justifiable subject to the availability of funds.

(d) Utilization of valuable knowledge for manufacture of lethal weapons is inhuman.

(e) The evaluation of the scientific skills in manufacture of weapons is appropriate.

Q5. Which of the following is one of the consequences of nuclear war?

(a) Fertility of land will last for a year or more.

(b) Post-war survivors being very few will have abundant food.

(c) Lights would be cooler and more comfortable.

(d) Southern Hemisphere would remain quite safe in the post-war period.

(e) None of these.

Q6. The biological consequences of nuclear war as given in the passage include all the following, except

(a) Fall in temperature below zero degree Celsius.

(b) Ultraviolet radiation

(c) High does of ionizing

(d) Low light levels

(e) None of these.

Directions (7-8): Choose the word from the given alternatives which is most similar in the meaning of the given word in bold.

Q7. DEVOTED

(a) apathetic

(b) habituated

(c) articulated

(d) committed 

(e) toughen

Q8. DIMENSION

(a) empirical

(b) cognizance

(c) idiosyncrasy

(d) embezzlement

(e) debonair

Directions (9- 15): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below them. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.

Agriculture forms the problematic nucleus of the macroeconomic knot which ties us up. It called out for attention even before the pressing necessity of having to cope with a 10-day farmers’ agitation starting 1 June. Agriculture (along with agricultural taxation) is on the state list of the Constitution. Strictly speaking, there should never have been a Union ministry of agriculture at the Centre. After the egregious neglect of agriculture by the Nehruvian focus on big industry, which was transmitted to the states, we hit the wall of foodgrain insufficiency in the 1960s. It was the Centre’s trespassing on to agricultural territory that solved the cereal sufficiency problem, even if the problem itself was largely a result of priorities set at the Centre. Cereal anxiety led the Centre to offer minimum support prices (MSPs) for the major cereals, which distorted cropping patterns into the “cerealization” of agriculture, as it is called.

Fast forward to the present time. The cost of food is an ever present threat to the acceptable inflation limits (4% with a 2% band on either side) adopted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and even without that, runs up against the low inflation tolerance of the Indian consuming public. We continue to follow the long-standing policy of trying to keep down the price of foodstuffs by subsidizing agricultural inputs. Zero pricing of power for agriculture has indeed led to enhanced land productivity, but at the expense of over-mining ground water and seriously threatening our survival in the not too distant future. The burden of zero-priced power for farmers was meanwhile borne by the state power sector utilities, leading to a build-up of power sector debt and default to the banking sector. The problem was finally sought to be resolved by shifting the debt build-up to state governments under the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme formulated by the Centre in 2015. State governments which have opted for it are mandated to absorb a stated percentage of annual losses of power utilities, to incentivize them into right pricing of power for farmers. The evidence so far suggests that states prefer to shoulder the fiscal costs rather than charge farmers a non-zero price for power.

In the Union Budget 2018, for the first time, there was a national commitment to MSPs across the board for all crops. Disregarding the debate over how cultivation costs will be configured, this was for the first time a national policy of crop neutrality in agriculture, although the responsibility for actually delivering on the MSP promise is split in a confusing way between Centre and states, depending on the crop. The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) posts MSPs on its website for foodgrains, oilseeds, sugarcane and some non-food commercial crops (23 in all, not counting variants). State governments can optionally announce a further enhancement to the MSP for their farmers for these crops. The whole picture is muddied by the fact that the open-ended commitment to absorb all produce at the announced price, implicit in an MSP, is most usually not honoured, on account of either fiscal or warehousing limits. There is the further problem that the MSP is payable to owners and not to tenants actually cultivating the land. 

When the price of onions in Madhya Pradesh crashed at the time of the rabi harvest in 2017 to 50 paise per kg, there were farmer riots, which were quelled by police firing. The state government re-constituted price support into a Bhavantar (price differential) scheme—the Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana—with a commitment to top up the farm gate price in case it fell below a threshold level. This year, the farm gate price of the onion harvest is reported to have fallen further, to a low of 30 paise per kg. The announced threshold price for onions was Rs8 per kg.

With that kind of a market price crash, Bhavantar has basically morphed into a full-fledged MSP, the only difference being that there is no government procurement, and therefore no need for public warehousing. Before onions this year, there was the garlic price crash. Both onions and garlic are storable crops which have been bought by traders at throwaway prices for slow release later. 

Q9. According to the passage, what had led to the terrible state of farmers?

(a) Negligence in agriculture sector by the government. 

(b) insufficient food grains 

(c) Excessive fall in prices of food grains

(d) distorted cropping pattern 

(e) All of the above

Q10. According to the passage, Zero pricing power leads to?

(I) increase in costs of the crops productivity.

(II) increase in land productivity

(III) increase in power sector debt

(a) Only (I)

(b) Only (III)

(c) Both (I) and (II) 

(d) Both (II) and (III)

(e) All are correct

Q11. How is it correct to say that the MSP structure of the CACP is fairly ragged at the margins?

(a) As it leads to cereal anxiety among the farmers.

(b) As MSP is payable to owners not to tenants.

(c) The prices of crops set by the government is not obeyed by all.

(d) both (b) and (c)

(e) All are correct

Q12. Which of the following sentences is/ are correct for Minimum support prices in context of the passage?

(I) It is announced first time in Union budget 2018 to set the prices for all crops.

(II) Minimum support prices can uplift the condition of farmers.

(III) It is decided by the central government only. 

(IV) It is defined as the rise in the cost of production of all the crops.

(a) Only (I) and (II)

(b) Only (II) and (III)

(c) Only (I), (II) and (IV)

(d) Only (II), (III) and (IV)

(e) All are correct

Q13. The appropriate title of the passage is 

(a) The cereal sufficiency problem

(b) Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices

(c) The Union Budget announcement 2018

(d) The Minimum support prices for farmers.

(e) Agricultural core of macroeconomic problem

Directions (14- 15): Which of the following alternatives among the five provides the most similar meaning(s) of the word given in BOLD as used in the passage?

Q14. Egregious

(I) flagrant

(II) heinous

(III) nefarious

(IV) atrocious

(a) Only (I) and (II)

(b) Only (II) and (III)

(c) Only (I), (II) and (IV)

(d) Only (II), (III) and (IV)

(e) All are correct

Q15. Quell

(I) rile

(II) thwart

(III) quench

(IV) annihilate

(a) Only (I) and (II)

(b) Only (II) and (III)

(c) Only (I), (II) and (IV)

(d) Only (II), (III) and (IV)

(e) All are correct

Solutions

S1. Ans. (d)

Sol. Refer the second sentence of the passage, “These activities are not only opposed to morality ………… if the legal objection can be added to the moral, the argument against…………………. considerably be reinforced.”

S2. Ans. (c)

Sol. Refer the first sentence of the second paragraph of the passage, “To this must be added the fact that more than 50 percent of the skilled scientific manpower in the world is now engaged in the armaments industry.”

S3. Ans. (d)

Sol. The author has highlighted the effect of nuclear weapons biologically in the passage. Refer to the 1st sentence of the 3rd paragraph of the passage, “A meeting of biologists on the Long-Term Worldwide Biological consequences of nuclear war added frightening dimension to those forecasts.”

S4. Ans. (d)

Sol. Refer the last sentence of the second paragraph of the passage, “How appropriate it is that all this valuable skill should be devoted to the manufacture of weapons of death in a world of poverty is a question that must touch the scientific conscience.”

S5. Ans. (e)

Sol. All the options are incorrect. For option (d) refer the last few sentences of the last paragraph of the passage, “the Southern Hemisphere were affected also, global disruption of the biosphere could ensue. In any event, there would be severe consequences” 

S6. Ans. (e)

Sol. All the options gives the consequence that are highlighted in the passage. Therefore option (e) is the correct choice for the given question.

S7. Ans. (d)

Sol. Option (d) is the correct choice. ‘devoted’ means to give all or most of one’s time or resources to (a person or activity), while; ‘committed’ means pledge or bind (a person or an organization) to a certain course or policy. Hence, they both are similar in meaning.

Apathetic means showing or feeling no interest, enthusiasm, or concern.

Articulated means having two or more sections connected by a flexible joint.

S8. Ans. (c)

Sol. Option (c) is the correct choice. Dimension means an aspect or feature of a situation, while; idiosyncrasy means a distinctive or peculiar feature or characteristic of a place or thing.

Empirical means based on, concerned with, or verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic

Cognizance means knowledge or awareness.

Embezzlement means theft or misappropriation of funds placed in one’s trust or belonging to one’s employer.

Debonair means (of a man) confident, stylish, and charming.

S9. Ans. (e)

Sol. All the statements are correct. We can deduce our answer from first paragraph of the passage in which it has been mentioned the condition of agriculture sector and farmers in India.

Hence All the given sentences are correct.

S10. Ans. (d)

Sol. Refer the second paragraph of the passage in which it has been clearly mentioned the effects of Zero pricing power. Hence only statements (II) and (III) are correct.

Refer the lines “Zero pricing of power for agriculture has indeed led to enhanced land productivity, but at the expense of over-mining ground water and seriously threatening our survival in the not too distant future. “ 

“The burden of zero-priced power for farmers was meanwhile borne by the state power sector utilities, leading to a build-up of power sector debt and default to the banking sector.”

S11. Ans. (d)

Sol. Refer the third paragraph of the passage, from which we can deduce our answer as sentences (b) and (c). It has been clearly mentioned there the issues related to the MSP structure.

Sentence (a) is irrelevant in context of the passage.

Hence option (d) is the most appropriate choice.

Refer the lines “The whole picture is muddied by the fact that the open-ended commitment to absorb all produce at the announced price, implicit in an MSP, is most usually not honoured, on account of either fiscal or warehousing limits. There is the further problem that the MSP is payable to owners and not to tenants actually cultivating the land.”

S12. Ans. (c)

Sol. Only Sentences (I), (II) and (IV) are correct. With respect to the passage, we can conclude that Minimum support prices is the price which is set above the costs of production of all the crops by the central and state government considering the condition of farmers.

Sentence (III) is incorrect as state government can further make amendments to the prices.

Hence option (c) is the correct answer choice.

Refer the third paragraph of the passage.

S13. Ans. (e)

Sol. “Agricultural core of macroeconomic problem” is an appropriate title of the passage.

S14. Ans. (e)

Sol. Egregious means outstandingly bad; shocking. Hence all the words are similar in meaning to it.

S15. Ans. (d)

Sol. Quell meaning put an end to (a rebellion or other disorder), typically by the use of force. Hence it has same meaning as quench, thwart and annihilate.

Rile means make annoyed or irritated.