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English Language, , , , Directions (Q. 1-9); 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. ., , As India’s water crisis gets visibly worse with every, passing summer, it is clear that the bureaucracy and, policymakers are not working to find immediate and longterm solutions. This time, the apathy seems to have worsened, due to the ongoing elections. In Maharashtra and Kerala, for, instance, the administrations have taken refuge in the ‘model, code of conduct’ for not taking steps to arrange for drinking, water or fodder camps. Despite the fact that Maharashtra,, Gujarat, Karnataka, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan, have declared many of their districts as drought-hit, the, requisite steps such as providing drinking water and work, under MGNREGA have yet to pick up. It hasn’t helped that, the Centre altered the drought manual in 2016, making the (A), for declaring drought more stringent. This has reduced the, scope for Central assistance. Surprisingly, the NITI Aayog,, which brought out its ‘Composite Water Management Index’, last June and flagged the calamitous situation with respect, to water, has not intervened in the interest of ‘cooperative, federalism’., , After having rightly identified that “600 million people, face high-to-extreme water stress; 75 per cent of households, do not have drinking water on premises; and 70 per cent of, our water is contaminated”, it could have initiated an action, plan — instead of being content with merely ranking States, , on their performance in water management. With wellendowed States such as Himachal Pradesh and Kerala facing, water scarcity, it is obvious that the current apathy cannot, continue. It must be realised that while droughts bring upon, 4 water crisis, floods do not necessarily mitigate it. The last, four years have seen deficit monsoon and post-monsoon, (October-December) rainfall. Erratic rainfall, in terms of spatial, and temporal distribution, must be accepted as a norm., , In rural areas, the emphasis on large dams, often, Promoted by vested interests as is evident in the case of, , _ Maharashtra, has not yielded commensurate benefits., Instead, a shift towards micro-irrigation projects must be, Prioritised. States such as Telangana have shown the way,, , having implemented a large scheme to rejuvenate its tanks. A, , Shift towards drought-resistant crop varieties of millets and

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chickpea must be promoted, besides discouraging paddy and, sugarcane in rain-fed areas. Deforestation needs to be, reversed, so that floods don’t devastate landscapes and, people, but instead lead to recharge of groundwater levels., The ‘development’ of the Western Ghats, in complete, disregard of scientific advice, worsened the floods impact in, Kerala and Karnataka last year — yet the State governments, have not shown any inclination to change course., Construction that regulates cement use can reduce run-offs., The fact that Chennai should be reduced to hoping for a, cyclone to deliver it from its water woes shows up the city’s, administration in poor light. Apart from rainwater harvesting,, investment in waste water recycling cannot be put off for, longer, at least for non-potable use. If Singapore and even, Windhoek (Namibia) can do it, there’s no reason why Indian, cities cannot., 1. What efforts have been made by the bureaucracy and, policymakers to solve India’s water crisis immediately?, , (A) Several steps to provide drinking water and work, under MGNREGA have been taken up., , (B) No step has been taken by the bureaucracy and, policymakers in this regard., , (C) The Ministry of Water Resources has studied and, prepared reports on 14 river inter-linking projects., , 1) Only (A) 2) Only (B) 3) Only (C), , 4) Both (A) and (C) 5) None of these, , 2. Which of the following statements is’ not true in the, context of the given passage?, , I. In Maharashtra and Kerala the administrations, following the ‘model code of conduct’ took several, steps to arrange drinking water or fodder camps., , Il. Both rainwater harvesting and investment in waste, water recycling, if necessary, can be deferred for, longer, at least for non-potable use., , Ill. The current apathy cannot continue with wellendowed states such as Himachal Pradesh and, Kerala facing water scarcity., , 1) Only I 2) Only 3) Only Il, , 4)BothlandIl 5)AII1, Jl and II, , 3. Which of the following words can be used to fill up the, blank marked as (A) in bold letter to make the sentence, grammatically correct and contextually meaningful?, , 1) restriction 2) constant 3) limitation, , 4) parameters 5) expanse, , 4. What, according to the author, should be done to get, the optimum benefit in the present situation of water, crisis?, , (A) Growing paddy and sugarcane in rain-fed areas

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should be discouraged., , (B) Drought-resistant crop varieties of millets and, chickpea must be promoted. ‘, , (C) Deforestation should be reversed., , 1) Only (A) . 2) Only (B), , 3) Only (C) 4) Both (A) and (C), , 5) All (A), (B) and (C), , What was/were the reason(s) for the deluge in Kerala, , and Karnataka last year?, , (A) Though efforts are on to find out the exact reasons, for the deluge in the said states no satisfactory, reasons have been found yet., , (B) The development of the Western Ghats at the cost, , of scientific advice, (C) The geographical locations of both the states, 1) Only (A) 2) Only (B), 3) Only (C) 4) Both (A) and (C), 5) All (A), (B) and (C), , Directions (Q. 6-7): Choose the word which is most, , nearly the SAME in meaning as the word printed in bold as, , used in the passage., 6. Devastate, 1) build 2) construct 3) conform, 4) ravage 5) compromise, 7. Commensurate, 1) unacceptable 2) proportionate, 3) incompatible " 4) inadequate, 5) inappropriate, , Directions (Q. 8-9): Choose the word which is most, , nearly the OPPOSITE in meaning as the word printed in, , bold as used in the passage., , 8 Mitigate 4, 1) alleviate 2) assuage 3) intensify, 4) blunt 5) lessen, , 9. Calamitous, , 1) fortunate 2)cataclysmic 3) devastating, 4) catastrophic 5) adverse, Directions (Q. 10-15): Read each sentence to find out, , whether there is any grammatical or idiomatic crror in it., The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence, The, alphabet corresponding to that part is your answer, If there, is ‘No error’, the answer is (E). (Ignore errors of punctuation,, ifany.), , 10. The revamp of the income tax return (ITR) forms (A) /, , 11., , has become an annual ritual and over the years, (B) /, with the salaried class bearing (C) / some brunt of the, changes. (D)/ No Error (E), , NA. 2)B 3c, , 4)D S)E, , Why, even the photograph of Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the ., mastermind behind (A) / the Pulwama attack — published, by reputed newspapers (B) / and TV channels — was, later discovered to be a(C)/ photoshop image of rock

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12,, , 14., , 15., , singer Bon Jovi! (D) / No Error (E), , IA 2)B 3)c, , 4)D 5)E, , Capital goods are carecrs of (A) / embodied technologyenabling diffusion (B)'/ of innovation and thus, enhancement of productivity across user industries (C), / both in the manufacturing and non-manufacturing, sectors. (D) /No Error (E), , IA 2)B 3)c, , 4)D 5)E, , The Central government has come up with measures (A), / like National Capital Goods policy and ‘Make in India’, to (B) / enhance the productivity and competitiveness, of (C) / the capital goods sector. (D) / No Error (E), , IA 2)B 3)Cc, , 4)D 5)E ., , From the import side, while the government is (A) /, pushing-up MFN rates to incentivise domestic value, addition and Make in India, (B) / liberalising vis-a-vis, the RCEP countries, specially China, (C) / does not, , ’ sound like a consistent policy. (D) / No Error (E), , DA 2)B 3)C, , 4)D S)E, , As the price of the fuelling rises, therefore, (A) / you, must be prepared to pay more for (B) / the compressed, natural gas (CNG) you fill in your car and (C) / for the, piped natural gas (PNG) you receive in your kitchen. (D), ‘No Error (E), , IA 2B 3)Cc, , 4)D SJE, , Directions (Q. 16-20): In each question below some, , sentences are given which are divided into five parts. The, first part of the sentence (1) is correct and is given in bold, followed by four parts named A, B, C and D. Rearrange the, four parts of the sentence to make a coherent paragraph., The rearranged sequence of the parts will be your answer. If, the given sentence is correct as it is then choose option (5)., , 16., , 17., , 18., , To emerge as a globally (1) smart manufacturing and, swiftly changing technologies, (A) / competitive capital, goods producer in the cra of (B) / it is imperative that, India promotes (C) / technological upgradation of, domestic producers of capital goods (D), , 1)DCAB 2)ABCD 3)BACD, , 4)CABD * 5) No arrangement required, Thousands of students (1) where she addressed both, members of Extinction Rebellion as well as MPs in the, UK Parliament (A)/ across Europe took part in the global, student strike (B) / on climate change in March, while, Thunberg herself (C) / has joined protests in different, countries — this week in the UK (D), , 1)BCDA 2)ABCD 3)BCAD, , 4)CABD 5) No arrangement required, , Much of the natural gas (1) does not command a market

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determined price —. that is, it is (A) / not determined by, buyers and sellers (B) / being produced in the country, (C) / based on demand-supply dynamics in the market, (D), , I) BADC 2)CABD 3)BCAD, , 4)DABC 5) No arrangement required, , 19. Supporters of the movement (1) have ranged from the, author Philip Pullman to (A) /to join the group's protests,, (B)/ which have ratcheted up a Jevel since early April (C), /actress Emma Thompson who this week flew to London, (D), 1)BADC 2)CABD 3)BCAD, 4)ADBC 5) No arrangement required, , 20. Over the weekend, business leaders, including the (1), support for XR Business — an initiative set up by (A) /, Extinction Rebellion aimed at engaging with industry,, investors and advisors (B) / and partners at a number of, asset managers, wrote to the Jimes expressing their (C) /, former CEO of Unilever Paul Polman (D), 1)BADC 2)CABD 3)DCAB, 4)ADCB 5) No arrangement required, Directions (Q. 21-25): Given below are sentences, , consisting of a blank in each, Identify the most suitable, , alternative among the five given ones that fits into the blank, to make the sentence logical and meaningful., , 21. With the number of reliable publications, TV channels, and news websites dwindling by the day, readers and, viewers have had to to fact-checking to, separate truth from half-lies., l)accustom ‘ 2)move 3)rely, 4) resort 5) affirm, , 2. Over the years, India’s import dependency has steadily, risen and now is towards 50 per cent., , 1) coming 2) inching 3) forwarding, 4) hanging 5) reaching, , 23. Among the misinformation from the fake, , news factory that went viral on social media during this, , election season these examples stand out: Rahul Gandhi, admitting to the Supreme Court that he had lied about, the Rafale deal; Narendra Modi using a four-letter word, , 4 @ public meeting; Mamata Banerjee throwing in the, , towel and urging people to vote BJP ata rally., , !) releasing 2) extending 3) emanating, , 4)percolating 5) perforating, , — public discontent in Europe with the action, , of individual nations and the EU itself to take sufficient, , action to tackle climate change, public action across the, , Continent has been growing., , IAs 2) Nevertheless 3) However, , 4) Besides 5) Amid, , The number of stories on the Pulwama terrorist attack, , 2nd India’s subsequent air strike on a militant camp, , 8ctoss the LoC which have proved to be inaccurate are