Directions (1-5): In the following questions, a sentence is given in bold. Then three paragraphs are given. From the given paragraphs you need to choose those that help us to infer the given bold sentence.
Q1. Business growth of the entities is thwacked due to liquidity crisis
(I) Bank lending for most housing finance companies has dried up and as a result, cost of funds for these lenders have gone up substantially. Some of the home loan companies have either defaulted on repayment or have deferred payment due to the liquidity crisis. According to a study by rating agency Crisil, growth of asset under management of housing finance companies halved in the second half of the 201819.
(II) The liquidity crisis post the IL&FS default has hit the assets under management (AUM) of Housing Finance Companies (HFC) and also curtailed their disbursements, a report by rating agency Crisil said, adding that it expects growth to revive to 12 per cent to 14 per cent for these companies in the current and next fiscal.
(III) Housing finance companies are expecting higher refinance limits from the National Housing Bank, in the Budget, to tide over the current liquidity crisis they are facing. Some of the mortgage lenders and business leaders have written to the Finance Ministry requesting that their proposal be considered, the chief executive officer of a housing finance company
(a) only II
(b) only I
(c) both II and III
(d) both I and III
(e) all I, II, III
Q2. Only traditional aid and government finance are not enough for the scale of the developmental challenge
(I) Traditional aid is often provided by means of supporting local development aid projects. In these projects, it sometimes occurs that no strict code of conduct is in force. In some projects, the development aid workers do not respect the local code of conduct. For example, the local dress code as well as social interaction. In developing countries, these matters are regarded highly important.
(II) Britain’s statements around severing of aid to middle-income countries including China and India created the impression that it had stopped all funding to the countries, when in fact the government is still giving both nations millions of pounds. Critics of UK aid often point out that India and China, which receive some UK aid, have active space exploration programmes. The government maintains that developing countries still need help to combat extreme poverty and that the majority of the British public support traditional aid.
(III) An estimated $7 billion has been spent under corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes run by government in the last four years until March 2019 in India. That is a substantial sum spent for development. Recently, Wipro’s Azim Premji also committed $7.5 billion to charity. The estimated investment gap that requires to be bridged to achieve our sustainable development goals (SDGs) worldwide is $2.5-3 trillion annually. This makes it imperative to unlock new funding sources, debt and equity, for development. It is in this context that one should look at the emergence and increasing use of social impact and development impact bonds (SIBs/DIBs).
(a) only II
(b) only III
(c) both II and III
(d) only I
(e) None of these
Q3. Cooperation between the centre and state is a must for agricultural reforms
(I) Nearly 70pc of subsidies, taxes and other financial transfers involving farmers come from policies that heavily distort markets, notably by creating an artificial gap between domestic and world prices, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said in an annual survey of agriculture policy. After significant steps in the early 2000s to reduce subsidies supporting production and prices, which the OECD sees as wasteful and preventing structural investments in farming, reform progress “has largely stalled” in the past decade, it said in the report published this week.
(II) An expert committee on land leasing constituted by the NITI Aayog had come out with the Model Agricultural Land Leasing Act, 2016. Land leasing reforms, if carried out by state governments, will contribute immensely towards inclusive growth. However, it has been adopted fully in only a few states of India so far. Agriculture being a state subject, the central government formulates policy guidelines, advises, and allocates funds. Cooperation between the Centre and the states is a sine qua non for the expeditious implementation of reforms in the agriculture sector. Hence, a structured mechanism based on the philosophy of cooperative federalism is the need of the hour.
(III) The ‘Agriculture Export Policy, 2018’ seeks to double farm exports to $60 billion by 2022 from $30 billion last year, and will invest INR 1,400 crore to set up specialised clusters in different states for different produce to push exports. It also pushes for marketing reforms for doubling agricultural exports to $60+ billion by 2022.
(a) only II
(b) only I
(c) both II and III
(d) both I and III
(e) None of these
Q4: A blow-hot-blow-cold pattern marks almost all of Trump’s relations with countries the US is at odds with
(I) The trouble is not just Trump’s brazen disregard for international rules and past agreements, it is also the volatility that markets are made to suffer by all the frequent shifting of America’s stance. Financial markets around the world have been roiled on several occasions by a statement from Trump, only to find their assumptions outdated shortly afterwards.
(II) President Trump’s first steps on the global stage have sent shivers through the world. He is openly arguing with autocrats, while fighting a trade war with China and Europe and pulling out of international treaties. To many, his decisions are severely damaging the global standing of the US.
(III) Trumps talks with North Korea have bounced in every direction possible, and nobody knows if a deal is on its way to being struck or coming apart. On China, US trade negotiations had collapsed not long ago. Now Trump is ready to talk again, with the threat of slapping a 25% tariff on some $300 billion worth of imports from the People’s Republic kept aside—for the moment.
(a) only II
(b) only III
(c) both II and III
(d) both I and III
(e) None of these
Q5: Humans have lost the ability to press the correct action button owing to the usage of machines
(I) Automated systems are improving so rapidly that they will soon be able to do everything we can and more. Despite this, we still feel the need to always have a human in the loop—to take over in case something untoward happens. We do this because we believe that humans will always be able to apply some instinctual intelligence to find solutions where machines can’t.
(II) Reliance on automation has led to disaster in many situations. There have been people who have trusted their navigation systems so implicitly that, despite the evidence of their eyes, they have driven their cars off cliffs or into inhospitable deserts without so much as a raised eyebrow. We are so accustomed to turn-by-turn navigation that we’ve lost the art of finding our way by looking for waypoints and landmarks along the way.
(III) The pilots, in accordance with standard procedure, switched the flight to autopilot within four minutes of take-off. The computer, which had been programmed to hand over control to human pilots when it didn’t have enough data to safely fly the plane, disengaged itself from the controls after telling the pilots that they would have to fly it like a conventional aircraft. Which is why, a pilot who, until now had rarely ever flown the plane at any time other than take-off and landing, had to suddenly take control of the aircraft mid-flight. Based on flight recorder evidence, his inexperience began to show almost immediately: The plane began rocking from side to side and then inexplicably went into a steep climb and crashed.
(a) only II
(b) only I
(c) both II and III
(d) both I and III
(e) None of these
Q6. The following questions consist of four sentences. One of these may or may not contain some error. Choose the one which has error as your answer. If all the given sentences are correct, choose (e), i.e., “None of these” as your answer.
(a) RBI will hold a reverse repo auction of 250 billion rupees of 63-day duration on Wednesday.
(b) Business activity in India’s manufacturing sector slowed in June as expansion in new orders and output eased in spite of companies reducing prices.
(c) According to government data, more than 460 e-cigarette brands are available in India, with various configurations of nicotine delivery.
(d) In a circular, DGCA asked the airlines to make available sufficient experienced crew in the cockpit during severe weather conditions.
(e) None of these.
Q7. The following questions consist of four sentences. One of these may or may not contain some error. Choose the one which has error as your answer. If all the given sentences are correct, choose (e), i.e., “None of these” as your answer.
(a) China on Tuesday condemned violent protests in Hong Kong as an “undisguised challenge” to the formula under which the city is ruled.
(b) Indian bond traders who were expecting the central bank to keep the cash spigot open may have to rework their calculations.
(c) Air India had already incurred a debt of ₹59,000 crore, out of which the Centre had proposed to retire ₹29,000 crore in special purpose vehicles.
(d) Amid uncertainty about global economic growth, investors are looking for markets that are driven by domestic demand.
(e) None of these.
Q8. The following questions consist of four sentences. One of these may or may not contain some error. Choose the one which has error as your answer. If all the given sentences are correct, choose (e), i.e., “None of these” as your answer.
(a) Intermittent rain with isolated heavy shower is expected to continue in Mumbai, predicts India Meteorological Department (IMD).
(b) With the Union Budget just a couple of day away, a recent study has shown that the turnover ratio of the Indian stock market has fallen significantly in the last 10 years.
(c) Issues related to the overall economy and fiscal policy decisions taken by the government will be taken up during the meeting.
(d) India last year failed in its attempt to sell 76% stake in Air India due to lack of interest from bidders.
(e) None of these.
Q9. The following questions consist of four sentences. One of these may or may not contain some error. Choose the one which has error as your answer. If all the given sentences are correct, choose (e), i.e., “None of these” as your answer.
(a) Recognizing the harmful effects, the health ministry has decided to ban the nicotine inhalers, also known as electronic nicotine delivery systems.
(b) In the financials space, the top deals include Bandhan Bank Ltd’s pending merger with Gruh Finance Ltd for $3.2 billion in a stock swap transaction.
(c) Monday’s fire was one of the most deadliest submarine accidents since August 2000, when the nuclear-powered Kursk sank to the floor.
(d) Following weak growth in May, business activity in India’s services sector contracted in June.
(e) None of these.
Q10. The following questions consist of four sentences. One of these may or may not contain some error. Choose the one which has error as your answer. If all the given sentences are correct, choose (e), i.e., “None of these” as your answer.
(a) No wonder that unlike their counterparts in the manufacturing sector, service providers have raised selling prices in June to make up for increased operating costs.
(b) As China faces uncertainty after the trade war, money now needs to find a market which is large and growing, and India is among them.
(c) Manulife is also eyeing businesses that stand to benefit from government measures on affordable housing.
(d) To push the adoption of electric mobility in the country, government think-tank NITI Aayog has proposed the establishment of giga factories in India for the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries.
(e) None of these.
Directions (11-15): Rearrange the following sentences in the proper sequence to form a meaningful paragraph and then answer the questions given below.
(A)The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) introduced the framework in December — primarily triggered by the IL&FS fiasco — after it emerged
(B)In the form of downgrade of a debt or money market instrument to ‘below investment grade’ or subsequent downgrades from such levels
(C)Simply put, side pocketing is a framework that allows mutual funds to segregate the bad assets in a separate portfolio within their debt schemes
(D)The changes are based on recommendations made by the mutual fund advisory committee constituted by SEBI to limit liquid fund exposure to a single sector
(E)That many fund houses have huge exposure to the beleaguered entity and could potentially take a huge hit on their net asset value thereby affecting investor returns
(F)The capital markets regulator has laid down that such a portfolio can be created only if there is a credit event at the issuer level
(G)In other words, if a debt instrument is downgraded to default rating by credit rating agencies, then the fund house has the option to create a side pocket so that good assets can be ring-fenced
Q11. From the given options, which of the statement does not fit in the passage after rearrangement to make a coherent and meaningful paragraph?
(a) E
(b) B
(c) D
(d) C
(e) None of these.
Q12. From the given options, which of the following can fit the above passage after rearrangement to make a coherent and meaningful paragraph?
(a) Once the security falls below the investment grade, fund managers end up writing off papers as per their discretion.
(b) All existing investors in the scheme are allotted equal number of units in the segregated portfolio as held in the main portfolio and no redemption or subscription is allowed in the segregated portfolio.
(c) As a liquidity crisis engulfed India’s shadow banking industry following payment defaults by Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd, mutual funds that had lent heavily to the non-bank lenders raced to cut their exposure.
(d) Industry experts said that a sizeable number of mutual funds have voluntarily adopted the changes that were introduced on Thursday.
(e) None of the above.
Q13. Which of the following would be the third sentence after rearrangement?
(a) E
(b) A
(c) F
(d) D
(e) None of these.
Q14. Among the following pairs which one of them is formed with two consecutive statements after the rearrangement?
(a) CA
(b) AD
(c) CD
(d) EG
(e) None of these.
Q15. Which of the following would be the penultimate sentence after rearrangement?
(a) E
(b) A
(c) F
(d) B
(e) None of these.
Solutions
S1. Ans. (e)
Sol. Thwacked means “strike forcefully with a sharp blow; hit”, so, the sentence given becomes, “Business growth of the entities is hit due to liquidity crisis”. The statement (I) clearly tells that the banks lending for housing financing companies has been vanished and the cost of funds for these businesses have gone up. These home financing businesses have defaulted away. All this happened because of the liquidity crisis. So, statement (I) is correct.
As, for the statement (II), it is given that the IL&FS crisis led to liquidity crisis which impacted the growth of HFCs. Therefore, the given inference can be driven from the paragraph (II).
In the statement (III), the housing finance companies are hit by liquidity crisis. They are asking the finance minister to increase the refinance limits from the NHB. Thus, this paragraph can be used to infer the given sentence.
Hence, option (e) is the correct answer choice.
S2. Ans. (b)
Sol. From the given paragraphs, only the (III) paragraph can be used to infer the given sentence. About $14.5 billion are spent for development but still there is about $2.5-3 trillion required to achieve the SDGs. So, to achieve this target new funding sources are required like SIBs/DIBs.
As for the other two paragraphs, the (II) paragraph tells that the UK government has stopped the aid to middle income countries. Nothing is mentioned about the insufficiency of the traditional aid to achieve the development. So, this paragraph is irrelevant as per the given sentence.
For the (I) paragraph the information given is about traditional aid and the problem with it. But nothing is mentioned about development goals. Therefore, this paragraph can’t be used as well.
Thus, option (b) is correct answer choice.
S3. Ans. (a)
Sol. Federalism means “the mixed or compound mode of government, combining a general government with regional governments in a single political system.” So, the sentence given means that central and state governments should together work to bring reforms in agriculture sector.
In the (I) paragraph the survey information of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is given which is irrelevant as per the given sentence.
The paragraph (II) discusses about the relief benefits provided by the Indian government for crop losses and damages caused by natural calamities. The state governments should work with centre to provide the benefits to the farmers. The given sentence can be easily inferred from the given paragraph (II).
As for paragraph (III) the Agri Export Policy is discussed and nothing is discussed about reforms.
Thus, paragraph (II) is correct and hence, option (a) is correct answer choice.
S4. Ans. (b)
Sol. The idiom “blow-hot-blow-cold” means “to be sometimes interested in something and sometimes not”. And “at odds with” means “quarrelling or not agreeing with.” So, the given sentence means that Trump is acting in a blow hot and cold way with the various countries. Only the paragraph (III) can be used to infer the given sentence. The deal with North Korea is uncertain. As well, the trade negotiations between China and US had collapsed not long ago, but now Trump is ready to talk again.
The paragraph (II) discusses about the various steps of trump that are damaging the relations of US with the world.
The paragraph (I) explains that because of the actions of Trump the markets are suffering.
Hence, option (b) is correct answer choice
S5. Ans. (c)
Sol. The paragraph (I) discusses about the need of human in spite of automation.
The paragraph (II) tells us that human rely on automated systems unnecessarily. Sometimes, this technology oriented approach leads to disastrous situations. So, humans must know when to use these automated systems.
For paragraph (III), a situation is given about a crash that happened because of the automation errors. The automation system of the plane shifted the controls to the pilots. And pilots didn’t have the knowledge to fly the plane. Hence, the plane crashed. In normal situation, autopilot used to fly the plan. So, pilots didn’t have the knowledge to fly the plane and relied on the autopilot. Which, in this case resulted in a disaster.
Therefore, paragraphs (II) and (III) can be used to infer the given sentence. Hence, option (c) is correct answer choice.
S6. Ans. (d)
Sol. There is error in option (d), the use of ‘sufficient’ is incorrect as “sufficient” is an adjective. Instead adverb should be used. Thus, “sufficiently” should be used. Hence, the correct answer choice would be option (d)
S7. Ans. (e)
Sol. There is no error in the given options. Hence, the correct answer choice would be option (e)
S8. Ans. (b)
Sol. There is grammatical error in option (b). The use of ‘day’ here is incorrect, instead it should be ‘days’ because ‘a couple of’ generally means more than one, so the noun should be in its plural form. Hence, the correct answer choice would be option (b)
S9. Ans. (c)
Sol. There is an error in option (c). The use of “most deadliest” is incorrect. This is the case of double superlative. So, only “deadliest” should be used. Hence, the correct answer choice would be option (c).
S10. Ans. (d)
Sol. There is grammatical error in option (d). The use of ‘manufacture’ here is incorrect, instead it should be ‘manufacturing’ because as per the sentence structure the correct part of speech here would be Noun instead of Verb. Hence, the correct answer choice is option (d)
S11. Ans. (c)
Sol. Reading through the given sentences it can be clearly seen that (E) and (G) cannot be the first sentence in arrangement because of the use of conjunction From sentence (A) we can infer that SEBI introduced a framework. But the name of the framework is not given. And sentence (C) tells us the name of the framework i.e. Side Pocketing. The sentence (E) tells us why the framework was put forward. So after (A), (E) should come. The sentence (F) explains that the portfolio can be created only if there is a credit event at the issuer level. (B) Further follows (F). Sentence (G) is the final sentence for the given information. (B) provides the information about when the side pocket can be created. The sentence (D) is not going according to the theme of the formed passage. Hence, the correct arrangement is CAEFBG. So, the correct option is (c).
S12. Ans. (b)
Sol. The option (a) is nowhere linked to the given passage. It tells about the fund managers which is not in connection with the given passage. Option (c) is about the liquidity crisis. Option (d) is discussing the increase in the number of mutual funds. Only option (b) discusses about the scheme. So, option (b) is correct answer choice.
S13. Ans. (a)
Sol. Reading through the given sentences it can be clearly seen that (E) and (G) cannot be the first sentence in arrangement because of the use of conjunction From sentence (A) we can infer that SEBI introduced a framework. But the name of the framework is not given. And sentence (C) tells us the name of the framework i.e. Side Pocketing. The sentence (E) tells us why the framework was put forward. So after (A), (E) should come. The sentence (F) explains that the portfolio can be created only if there is a credit event at the issuer level. (B) further follows (B). Sentence (G) is the final sentence for the given information. (B) provides the information about when the side pocket can be created. The sentence (D) is not going according to the theme of the formed passage. Hence, the correct arrangement is CAEFBG. So, the correct option is (a).
S14. Ans. (a)
Sol. Reading through the given sentences it can be clearly seen that (E) and (G) cannot be the first sentence in arrangement because of the use of conjunction From sentence (A) we can infer that SEBI introduced a framework. But the name of the framework is not given. And sentence (C) tells us the name of the framework i.e. Side Pocketing. The sentence (E) tells us why the framework was put forward. So after (A), (E) should come. The sentence (F) explains that the portfolio can be created only if there is a credit event at the issuer level. (B) further follows (B). Sentence (G) is the final sentence for the given information. (B) provides the information about when the side pocket can be created. The sentence (D) is not going according to the theme of the formed passage. Hence, the correct arrangement is CAEFBG. So, the correct option is (a).
S15. Ans. (d)
Sol. Reading through the given sentences it can be clearly seen that (E) and (G) cannot be the first sentence in arrangement because of the use of conjunction From sentence (A) we can infer that SEBI introduced a framework. But the name of the framework is not given. And sentence (C) tells us the name of the framework i.e. Side Pocketing. The sentence (E) tells us why the framework was put forward. So after (A), (E) should come. The sentence (F) explains that the portfolio can be created only if there is a credit event at the issuer level. (B) further follows (B). Sentence (G) is the final sentence for the given information. (B) provides the information about when the side pocket can be created. The sentence (D) is not going according to the theme of the formed passage. Hence, the correct arrangement is CAEFBG. So, the correct option is (d).
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