New Pattern English Quiz - Sentence Completion
Direction (Q.1-Q.15): The Last Sentence has been deleted from the paragraphs given below. From the given options, choose the one that completes the paragraph in the most appropriate way.
QUESTION 1.
Criminal negligence is not some vicarious reflex. If a mishap occurred because senior management failed to allocate resources, either human or financial, that were needed in a systemic sense to prevent it, the misguided senior management would, indeed, be culpable. But if such resources were, in fact, available to operational functionaries and laxity on their part resulted in tragedy, accountability must stop at the level of the errant functionaries. ___________________
A.Fixing this is crucial for effective governance.
B.Law enforcement and justice mechanisms should scrupulously follow this maxim and this must happen in the government as well.
C.whether intended or otherwise, and rewards inertia on par with proactive achievement, with no system to hold to account either administrative positions or those who fill them, for errors of omission
D.Key to unleashing the power of imagination is the education system.
E.India needs to move beyond this if it is to emerge as a leader and create value.
QUESTION 2.
There tends to be scandalous asymmetry in locating accountability for errors of omission between the private and the public sector. When a flyover collapses, for example, the media works up a frenzy over the presumed failure of the private firm responsible for its construction and the police arrest its senior-most officials, with the judiciary, more often than not, nodding in approval. When a major accident happens because an arm of the government that was supposed to take preventive action failed to, there is little more than resigned rolling of eyes at the ways of the Sarkar. ________________
A.Both responses err by veering to the extreme: of fixing criminal culpability right at the top of the administrative hierarchy in the private sector and by holding accountability to be so diffuse in the government as to not exist for all practical purposes.
B.Success would facilitate Indo-Chinese cooperation as well.
C.Law enforcement and justice mechanisms should scrupulously follow this maxim.
D.But it would not be individual projects that catch the Chinese eye.
E.In India, the officialdom is governed by an incentive structure that penalises errors of commission, whether intended or otherwise, and rewards inertia on par with proactive achievement
QUESTION 3.
Compared to the Sensex’s three-month slump of 4%, energy and bank stocks are down 4.7% and 4.8%, IT 5%, industrials 5.4% and power 5.8% over the same period. But capital goods are down 6.9%, hit by a sharp fall in investment, and real estate, a large employer, has taken a 7.6% dive due to demonetisation and slowdown. But the worst hit sector, down 7.8% in three months, is telecom, hobbled by extortionate government charges for spectrum, Reliance Jio’s disruptive tactics and the spread of technologies like WhatsApp. ____________
A.The festive season of Dussehra-Diwali is supposed to herald a new year of prosperity.
B.This got over after Janet Yellen, chair of America’s Federal Reserve, called an end to QE on September 20, bringing the curtains down on an unprecedented nine years of easy global money.
C.But the mines allocated were all very much for captive use, and several of them are yet to be worked.
D.The government has to spur investment, even at the cost of running a higher deficit, clear policy clutter and stop taxmen and petty regulators from intruding on normal business activity.
E.Local factors, like poor governance in many states, an overstretched fisc, declining margins across corporate India, stagnant rural markets and a slowdown in most transactions after demonetisation and the introduction of a needlessly complex GST regime
QUESTION 4.
Shell companies that have been struck off from the Registrar of Companies include ones that have not filed tax returns for three or more years. Default, by design, and under the watch of independent directors is unacceptable. However, the notion that all shell companies have a nefarious intent is misplaced. Some of these companies could also be set up for legitimate purposes __________
A.must separate the wheat from the chaff. Investigation must be completed swiftly to ensure that legitimate businesses are spared.
B.such as to hold stock or intangible assets of another business entity or to aid domestic and cross-border asset transfers and corporate mergers.
C.Creating more and better-paying jobs is the solution.
D.The government has now hinted at making a rule to address the appeals of disqualified directors.
E.With so few jobs, men grab the few available opportunities, closing the door further on women.
QUESTION 5.
The government is right to crack down on directors of shell companies with no apparent operational business. Illegality must be penalised. Reportedly, directors of the two lakh-odd shell companies — that have been struck off by the Registrar of Companies — will also be barred from taking similar board positions elsewhere or getting reappointed. This is in line with regulation. However, there could be a spate of disputes if many disqualified directors also run legitimate businesses. ________
A.These directors can be given one more chance, forewarned that there is no room for future errant conduct.
B.The government has now hinted at making a rule to address the appeals of disqualified directors which is pragmatic.
C.The reform will kill shell companies that anonymise undesirable transactions.
D.More needs to be done, both to accelerate growth and broaden participation.
E.The question is, what should be done about it ?
QUESTION 6.
The number of trains has gone up, and so, naturally, has the number of people who get on to and off trains at the station, and use the foot overbridge to emerge from it to pursue life and livelihood in the city. The bridge ceased to be sufficient to accommodate the commuter volume it had to bear. There just was no effort to replace it with a larger facility or to supplement it with others. The same story underlines track augmentation and repairs that are called for but do not happen. ____________
A.It is tragic that 27 people have died and at least 39 others have been hurt in a stampede at a foot overbridge
B.The rail minister has called for a high-level inquiry but the explanation is quite elementary and obvious.
C.Its cost must be factored in, and the source of finance identified.
D.The excessive dependence on bulk drug imports clearly makes no sense.
E.India can be the pharmacy of the world, but merely specializing in formulations and importing API and intermediates is plain unhealthy.
QUESTION 7.
Sanctity of contracts cannot become an albatross around the nation’s neck. There has been a paradigm shift in the field of transport and in the global energy outlook. The deal with GE, signed in 2015, would set up a manufacturing unit that would have the capacity of producing 1,000 diesel locomotives over 10 years. The government seeks 100% rail electrification by 2022, making possible a 30% cut in the fuel bill. It would also mean that Indian trains run on domestically available fuels rather than on imported oil. Steady advances in renewable energy and the imperative of containing climate change, ____________
A.Preliminary action should be followed up by a speedy and time-bound investigation to separate wrongdoers from the rest.
B.It makes more sense for the government to invest in capacities that would manufacture electric locomotives.
C.Railway minister Piyush Goyal has offered various options, including manufacture of electric locos, with another company, if needed.
D.However, many shell companies are also created and operated for legitimate purposes, and such companies must not be penalized.
E.apart from the macroeconomic gain of fuel substitution in the Railways, makes the diesel locomotive engine increasingly unviable.
QUESTION 8.
High-resolution images — medical scans of all kinds, engineering drawings, all kinds of configurations of data generated from the output of the Internet of Things, say, a jet engine part that needs to be evaluated for maintenance, instructional videos from massive open online courses (MOOC) essential for professionals to stay relevant in the job market, apart from other things — will suffuse data networks. Economies in which citizens can access such data seamlessly will have a competitive edge over the rest. ____________
A.Russia’s sensibilities find reflection in the approach on Syria and Yemen.
B.Telecom, in other words, will have even bigger positive externalities for the economy than it has at present.
C.Once auctions set in, and telecom operators began to buy up their spectrum with huge,
D.Similarly, the declaration does not mention Pakistan and its support for terror networks.
E.The rest of the world will move to a new standard of superfast mobile communications dubbed 5G and the Indian economy cannot really afford to fall behind.
QUESTION 9.
Partnering with Merkel to form a government will lead to further erosion of SPD’s support base and leave AfD to play the Opposition. Merkel will need to stitch a coalition with the Eurosceptic Free Democratic Party and the Greens. This combine, the first three-party coalition for Germany, has divergences on key issues such as eurozone reform and environment/energy policies.To win back voter support for centrist politics, Merkel must address domestic issues such as the auto industry crisis, deteriorating infrastructure, digitisation, ageing demographics and integrating refugees.
_____________
A.This is essential to safely shepherd Europe’s most successful economy into the post-populist era
B.All this at a time when the EU is on the recovery path, weakening Germany’s economic advantage.
C.There has been acceleration in the periodicityand intensity of extreme weather events over the last decade.
D.This is not to take attention away from the criminal negligence of routine maintenance
E.AfD secured 13% of votes, while Die Linke secured 9%. One in five German voters has chosen an extreme option.
QUESTION 10.
Exporters will reportedly be exempt from paying integrated goods and services tax (IGST) on imported inputs. An outright exemption to perk up exports is a bad idea. It will lead to diversion of goods, and mess up GST that makes production efficient. Countries do not export local taxes charged on their products. So, exporters can claim credit for the IGST paid on inputs. Delays in settling the claims of input tax credit were not unanticipated.These teething troubles must be tackled to provide working capital for exporters, given that India needs exports to grow. _________
A.Interest rates have fallen, and the government will not find it too expensive to assist exporters to meet their additional capital needs.
B.As banks are flush with funds, they can rope in institutions such as Exim Bank, to give extra credit to exporters to tide over the delay in refunds.
C.Refunds must be swift — given within a month at the most — now that the goods and services tax network is up and running.
D.And if proactive business regulation in laggard states can improve the overall business climate.
E.Alternatively, they can export after payment of IGST and then claim the refund.
QUESTION 11.
If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well it were done quickly. The only problem with this line from Macbeth is that the object of its temporal disquisition is murder, making the squeamish ignore its validity in things more sanguine, including disinvestment: stake sales and privatisation. If there is a time to complete the privatisation of Air India, it is now. The sooner, the better. That the markets are at historic highs has little to do with the need to move fast. The mood of the markets depends on how much liquidity it has imbibed, and that has its own ebb and flow. _____________
A.The government dithered, and is still stuck with that unappealing lender.
B.Air India has valuable bilateral rights and slots in most prized markets around the world, besides its assets by way of fleet, experienced pilots and engineers and real estate.
C.But any investor’s decision to take majority control of a large company depends on strategic calculations that go far beyond the immediate valuations indicated by the stock market.
D.There was a time when multilateral lenders were interested in spearheading IDBI’s privatisation.
E.Dither leads to bad outcomes, in general. Ask Hamlet.
QUESTION 12.
Power flows from the barrel of the gun, said Mao Zedong. Prime Minister Narendra Modi would appear to believe that political power for a second term of his government would flow from the power grid. At the extended meeting of the BJP National Executive, Modi outlined a vision building a power sector that would light every lamp in every home in every hamlet, and fire up every hearth as well, and the country would turn power surplus, preferably from renewable sources, the sun in particular. The speech did not hold out any great promise of new investment that would reverse economic deceleration but did underline _____________________________
A.It would have been appropriate if the PM had also used the occasion to call upon the people to pay for the power they consume
B.transmission technology that allows China to generate power efficiently and far removed from its population centres.
C.He dwelt not only on new energy-saving products and technologies, and on the new thrust on renewable energy.
D.But he committed to make these sectors work more efficiently and transparently, as via coal auctions.
E.the PM’s commitment to the poor of the country and his efforts to alleviate their distress in sector after sector, focusing, in particular, on energy.
QUESTION 13.
India’s aspirations for a bigger role in the international community, it is time for New Delhi to broaden its world view. Over the years and successive administrations, Pakistan has come to dominate India’s UNGA address. In part, it is driven by the need to counter Pakistan’s efforts at the UN. That is unlikely to change. However, India needs to go beyond and use the opportunity accorded by the United Nations General Assembly speech to present its vision of the world and how a country sees and fulfills its role as a member of the international community. There is more to India’s world view and foreign policy than Pakistan. Swaraj spoke on critical challenges like climate change, migration. The UNGA is the forum for India to step up to shape the global dialogue. _____________
A.India needs to leverage the UNGA better So, it is rather unfortunate that political parties have chosen to use Swaraj’s speech as grist for the partisan mill. Political partisanship needs to stop at the water’s edge.
B.The media, too, needs to widen its attention beyond Islamabad.
C.Swaraj’s articulation of Pakistan as a state sponsor of terror was necessary
D.Convention on International Terrorism calling for countries to come to a consensus on a globally accepted definition of terrorism was noteworthy.
E.External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj’s nearly 22-minute speech at the United Nations General Assembly was a forceful articulation of key challenges before humanity.
QUESTION 14.
Companies pay advance tax in four instalments based on their estimated income.The estimate can vary from the outcome. So, the proposed rule to ask every company and a person covered under tax audit to disclose the estimate of income is restrictive and cannot factor in such changes. It also says that a taxpayer will have to specify reasons in case the advance tax liability of the current year is less than the preceding year. Fears that the rule could lead to harassment are not misplaced. __________
A.The goods and services tax will widen the tax base for corporate tax, as more companies come into the indirect tax net.
B.A steep penalty will deter companies from deferring their advance tax payments, and raise governments revenues.
C.The board says that the proposed rule would enable taxpayers to avoid paying extra interest for default or deferment of advance tax dues.
D.Companies must comply with the law and pay their due share of taxes, but a throwback to the pre-reform days is wholly avoidable.
E.The Central Board of Direct Taxes wants companies to voluntarily disclosure their estimated current income and advance tax liability.
QUESTION 15.
The most sensible way to raise women’s representation in elected legislatures is for political parties to put up more women candidates in seats they are confident of winning. After the 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution initiated by Rajiv Gandhi that mandated elections to rural and urban local bodies, complete with reservation of at least a third of the seats for women, a large group has emerged of women with experience of holding and running political office.This is so, even after discounting a great many women members of Panchayats who have held office as proxies for their male relations. ______________
A.Things have progressed from the time when parties claiming to champion subaltern groups dismissed women’s quota as a ploy to bring in more elite women.
B.The letter written by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to the Prime Minister, asking him to pass the long-pending Women’s Reservation Bill, is a clever political move.
C.The Bill could well pass, if the government tried.
D.The lack of enthusiasm for the Bill cuts across parties.
E.So, there is no scarcity of potential women leaders for parties to choose from. What holds them back is age-old patriarchy.
EXPLANATION
SOLUTION 1. B Option B is specifying about law and criminal according to the passage.
SOLUTION 2. A Option A clarifies the point given in the passage.
SOLUTION 3. D This statement specifies about economic activity and demonetization.
SOLUTION 4. B It perfectly completes the last sentence.
SOLUTION 5. B specifies about shell companies and it is perfectly ending the sentence.
SOLUTION 6. B specifies about rail problems.
SOLUTION 7. E ends the para completely as it talks about diesel production.
SOLUTION 8. B specifies about Telecom regulation.
SOLUTION 9. B This specifies about European Union.
SOLUTION 10.B is a perfect reason of the paragraph.
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