Below a passage is given with ten blanks labelled (A)-(J). Below the passage, five options are given for each blank. Choose the word that fits each blank most appropriately in the context of the passage, and mark the corresponding answer.
Mahathir Mohamad, who __(A)__ off a stunning general election win, will not be sworn in as the new prime minister of Malaysia on Thursday, a spokesman for the King’s palace said, but gave no reason for the change in schedule. Mr. Mohamad had said shortly after declaring __(B)__ that the King would sign his letter of appointment as Prime Minister of Malaysia’s constitutional __(C)__ during a ceremony at the royal palace in the capital, Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. But palace authorities said there would be no such event and a spokesman for Mr. Mohamad, the 92-yer-old veteran former Prime Minister, said he had not heard from the palace and had no plan to go there. Mr. Mohamad’s opposition __(D)__ won the simple majority it required to form a new government in Wednesday’s polls, a stunning result that will end six decades of rule by a __(E)__ he once led. Malaysians celebrated Mr. Mohamad’s unexpected victory over Prime Minister Najib Razak, whose popularity had __(F)__ over rising living costs and in the wake of a multi-billion-dollar graft scandal at 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Mr. Mohamad led the Southeast Asian nation for 22 years and his unexpected return to the prime ministership ends the previously unbroken rule of Barisan Nasional (BN), the coalition that had governed Malaysia __(G)__ independence from Britain in 1957. “We are not seeking revenge, what we want is to restore the rule of law,” Mr. Mohamad said of Najib’s scandal-plagued rule. He appeared jubilant and __(H)__ at a news conference claiming victory overnight. Mr. Razak began an address to media in the late morning. A member of his cabinet said they would accept the will of the people. The stunning election outcome was expected to __(I)__ financial markets that were expecting a comfortable win for Mr. Najib and the BN. Malaysia’s currency __(J)__ in offshore trading on Thursday, with the ringgit one-month non-deliverable forward falling 1.7 pct. The U.S.-traded iShares MSCI Malaysia ETF fell 6 percent.
Which of the following words most appropriately fits the blank labelled (D)?
reminiscence
conveyance
defiance
reliance
The passage is filled with blanks which are numbered.Choose the correct word to fill up each of these blanks.
A rise in crude beyond $100 per barrel will __(A)__out all the duty benefits and we will be back to square one even if prices are cut by Rs 25 per litre. This is exactly what happened in 2004-08 during the time of the first UPA. There was a __(B)__ for duty cuts as the government did not want to increase pump prices, but it was unable to __(C)__ and had to give in to __(D)__ demands from both within the party and in the coalition. When crude continued to rise, and duties could not be cut further, the government __(E)__ upon the __(F)__ scheme of subsidy, oil bonds which wrecked the fisc and __(G)__ inflation. The rest was history. There is a limit to how much you can cut duties. This belief that the common man will benefit doesn’t really __(H)__ as it does not take into account the international price scenario. If crude rises due to geopolitical tensions, there is very little that any government can do. Too many people argue about duty cuts without realising the damaging impact on government finances. Cutting duties blindly may actually do more harm than good. Sometimes it is best to let markets take their course without __(I)__ handed government __(J)__.
In the following passage some of the words have been left out. Read the passage carefully and select the correct answer for the given blank out of the five alternatives.
Thakur Dada’s poor lodging was much too small for his position, and we used to __(A)__ him about it. His friends would __(B)__ him that they quite understood his difficulties: it was next to impossible to get a decent house in Calcutta. Indeed, they had all been looking for years for a house to suit him. Thakur Dada used to say, with a sigh of __(C)__: "Well, well, I suppose I shall have to put up with this house after all." Then he would add with a __(D)__ smile: "But, you know, I could never bear to be away from my friends. I must be near you. That really ___(E)__ for everything."
In the passage given below, there are 8 blanks, each followed by a word given in bold. Each blank has four alternative words given in options (1), (2), (3) and (4). You have to tell which word will best suit the respective blank. Mark (5) as your answer if the word given in bold after the blank is your answer. i.e. No Change Required.
In Forces of Production, David Noble examines the ___(A)___ [translocation] of the machine-tool industry as the industry moved from reliance on skilled artisans to automation. Noble writes from a Marxist ___(B)___ [respective], and his central argument is that management, in its decisions to automate, conspired against labor: the power that the skilled machinists wielded in the industry was intolerable to management. Noble fails to ___(C)___ [subscribe] this claim, although his argument is impressive when he applies the Marxist concept of “de-skilling”—the use of technology to replace skilled labor—to the ___(D)___ [modification] of the machine-tool industry. In automating, the industry moved to computer-based, digitized “numerical-control” technology, rather than to artisan-generated “record-playback” technology. Although both systems reduced ___(E)___ [compliance] on skilled labor, Noble clearly prefers R/P, with its ___(F)___ [inherent] acknowledgment of workers’ skills: unlike N/C, its programs were produced not by engineers at their computers, but by skilled machinists, who recorded their own movements to “teach” machines to duplicate those movements. However, Noble’s only ___(G)___ [provision] of conspiracy is that, although the two approaches were roughly equal in technical merit, management chose N/C. From this he concludes that automation is undertaken not because efficiency demands it or scientific advances allow it, but because it is a tool in the ___(H)___ [ceaseless] war of capitalists against labor.
Fill in the blank(s) with the correct word(s).
Her disappearance is an _______ that has given rise to much speculation.