Directions (1-5): Read the following passage and answer the questions as directed. There are some blanks given in the passage based on which some questions are framed, and some words are highlighted as well to help you answer some of the questions.
Once again, relations between India and Nepal have taken a turn for the worse. The immediate (A) ……………………………. is the long-standing territorial issue surrounding Kalapani, a patch of land near the India-Nepal border, close to the Lipulekh Pass on the India-China border, which is one of the approved points for border trade and the route for the Kailash-Mansarovar yatra in Tibet. However, the underlying reasons are far more complex. (B) Yet, Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s reset (1) of the matter, by raising the banner of Nepali nationalism and painting India as a indicates (2), is part of a frequent pattern that hegemon (3) that relations between the two countries need a fundamental exploitation (4).
(C) India inherited the boundary with Nepal, establish between Nepal and the East India Company in the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816. Kali river constituted the boundary, and the territory to its east was Nepal. The dispute relates to the origin of Kali. Near Garbyang village in Dharchula Tehsil of the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand, there is a (D) ………………….. of different streams coming from north-east from Kalapani and north-west from Limpiyadhura. The early British survey maps identified the north-west stream, Kuti Yangti, from Limpiyadhura as the origin, but after 1857 changed the (E) ………………… to Lipu Gad, and in 1879 to Pankha Gad, the north-east streams, thus defining the origin as just below Kalapani. Nepal accepted the change and India inherited this boundary in 1947.
The Maoist revolution in China in 1949, followed by the takeover of Tibet, (F)………………………………………, and India was ‘invited’ to set up 18 border posts along the Nepal-Tibet border. The westernmost post was at Tinkar Pass, about 6 km further east of Lipulekh. In 1953, India and China identified Lipulekh Pass for both pilgrims and border trade. After the 1962 war, pilgrimage through Lipulekh resumed in 1981, and border trade, in 1991. In 1961, King Mahendra visited Beijing to sign the China-Nepal Boundary Treaty that defines the zero point in the west, just north of Tinkar Pass. By 1969, India had withdrawn its border posts from Nepali territory. The base camp for Lipulekh remained at Kalapani, less than 10 km west of Lipulekh. (G) In their respective (1) maps, both countries territory (2) Kalapani as the origin (3) of Kali river and as part of their showed (4). After 1979, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police has manned the Lipulekh Pass. In actual practice, life for the locals (Byansis) remained unchanged given the open border and free movement of people and goods. (H) After the 1996 Treaty of Mahakali that envisaged the Pancheshwar multipurpose hydel project, the issue of the origin of Kali river were first raised in 1997. The matter was referred to the Joint Technical Level Boundary Committee that had been set up in 1981 to re-identify and replace the old and damaged boundary pillars along the India-Nepal border. The Committee clarified 98% of the boundary, leaving behind the unresolved issues of Kalapani and Susta (in the Terai) when it was dissolved in 2008. It was subsequently agreed that the matter would be discussed at the Foreign Secretary level. Meanwhile, the project to convert the 80-km track from Ghatibagar to Lipulekh into a hardtop road began in 2009 without any objections from Nepal.
Q1. Which of the following word given in the options should come at the place marked as (A) in the above passage to make it grammatically correct and meaningful? Also, the word should fill the blanks of the two sentences given below to make them contextually correct and meaningful.
(I) A polite tongue provided a shield of tactful silence and banal pleasantries that staved off needless …………………………….. and harm.
(II) The decision of city authorities to grant the neo-Nazis permission to march in North Toledo was a clear ……………………….
(a)Battered
(b)Provocation
(c)Marauding
(d)Testimony
(e)None of these
Q2. The sentence given in (B) has four words given in bold. Amongst the given bold words which of the followings must replace each other to make the sentence contextually correct and meaningful?
(a) Both 2-1 and 3-4
(b) Both 1-4 and 2-3
(c) Both 2-4 and 1-3
(d) 1-3
(e) 2-4
Q3. In the above passage, sentence (C) is italicized. There may or may not be error in one part of the sentence, select the part having the error.
(C) India inherited the boundary with Nepal, establish between Nepal and the East India Company in the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816. Kali river constituted the boundary, and the territory to its east was Nepal.
(a) India inherited the boundary
(b) with Nepal, establish between Nepal
(c) and the East India Company in the
(d) Treaty of Sugauli in 1816
(e) Both (a) and (c)
Q4. Which of the following should fill the blank given in (D) to make it contextually correct and meaningful?
(a) Paucity
(b)Estranged
(c)Envisage
(d)Confluence
(e)None of the above
Q5. Which of the following word given in the options should come at the place marked as (E) in the given passage to make it grammatically correct and meaningful? Also, the word should fill in the two sentences given below to make them contextually correct and meaningful.
(I) I came here out of sheer chance, out of luck, destiny, fate or the ……………. of the stars.
(II) Axis ………………. does not specify the direction of polarity, only the relationship between the axis and some external reference.
(a)Alignment
(b)Arcane
(c)Noxious
(d)Antiquated
(e)Conducive
Solutions:
S1. Ans. (b)
Sol. Provocation fits in the blank (A) as well as in the given two sentences to make them contextually correct and meaningful.
Provocation- action or speech that makes someone angry, especially deliberately.
Battered- Injured by repeated blows or punishment.
Marauding- Going about in search of things to steal or people to attack.
Testimony- something presented in support of the truth or accuracy of a claim.
S2. Ans. (b)
Sol. 1-4 and 2-3 must replace each other to make the sentence contextually correct and meaningful. The sentence after replacement is,
Yet, Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s exploitation of the matter, by raising the banner of Nepali nationalism and painting India as a hegemon, is part of a frequent pattern that indicates that relations between the two countries need a fundamental reset.
S3. Ans. (b)
Sol. Error lies in the part “with Nepal, establish between Nepal”, where “establish” will be replaced by “established”.
S4. Ans. (d)
Sol. “Confluence” should fill in the blank given in (D) to make it contextually correct and meaningful.
Confluence- the junction of two rivers, especially rivers of approximately equal width.
Paucity- the presence of something in only small or insufficient quantities or amounts.
Envisage- contemplate or conceive of as a possibility or a desirable future event.
Estranged- (of a person) no longer close or affectionate to someone; alienated.
S5. Ans. (a)
Sol. “Alignment” should come at the place marked as (E) in the given passage to make it grammatically correct and meaningful. Also, the word can fill in the two sentences given to make them contextually correct and meaningful.
Conducive– Making a certain situation or outcome likely or possible.
Facilitative
Arcane– Understood by few.
Mysterious or secret.
Secret, Hidden, Concealed, Abstruse,
Deep, Esoteric, Hermetic
Noxious– Harmful, poisonous, or very unpleasant.
Poisonous, Toxic
Antiquated– Old-fashioned or outdated.
. .
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