DPM 99

A to E
A. Words along with their meaning, Pronunciation and usage

Kneejerk (nee-jurk) adj

- of or relating to a knee-jerk.

- reacting according to a certain habitual manner; unthinking.

In a kneejerk reaction, they cancelled their tour when they were blamed for misappropriation
of funds.

Kamikaze (kah-mi-kah-zee) noun

- (during World War II) a member of a special corps in the Japanese air force charged with the
suicidal mission of crashing an aircraft laden with explosives into an enemy target, especially a
warship.

an airplane used for this purpose.

a person or thing that behaves in a wildly reckless or destructive manner.
His motorcycle stunt was akin to a kamikaze act.

Killjoy( kil-joi ) noun

- a person who spoils the joy or pleasure of others; spoilsport.

His lack of enthusiasm acted as the killjoy during the picnic.

Knave(neyv) noun

- an unprincipled, untrustworthy, or dishonest person.

 -a male servant.
a man of humble position.
The helpless knave stood quietly as the master reprimanded him harshly.

Knapsack (nap-sak ) noun

- a canvas, nylon, or leather bag for clothes, food, and other supplies, carried on the back
by soldiers, hikers.
A knapsack is an essential piece of luggage when you go on a long trek.

Kinsfolk (kinz-fohk) noun

- relatives or kindred.
The kinsfolk of the accident victim were informed by the police about the tragic event.

Kinship (kin-ship) noun

- the state or fact of being of kin; family relationship.

-relationship by nature, qualities, affinity.

I felt a certain kinship with the little girl and tried to soothe her and allay her fears.

Kibbutz (ki-boo ts, -boots) noun

- (in Israel) a community settlement, usually agricultural, organized under collectivist

principles.
The kibbutz were unanimous in their opposition to the new taxes levied by the
government.
Kitsch (kich) noun

- something of tawdry design, appearance, or content created to appeal to popular or

undiscriminating taste.
The murals on the walls were more kitsch than aesthetic art.

Knobble( nob-uh l) verb

- to knob (excess stone).

- to treat (semi refined puddled iron) on a hearth before shingling to produce wrought iron.

The school children , on a visit to the steel plant, were fascinated to watch the process of how
iron was knobbled in the hearth.
B. RC Passage (with Link)

Article 1: https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/the-rs-20-lakh-crore-economic-
relief-package-coronavirus-india-economy-migrants-6413392/

Summary : This article, authored by a former finance minister, warns that the recently
announced Rs 20 lakh crore economic stimulus package could end up as another ‘jumla’ (empty
rhetoric) if it is not backed by plans for additional government borrowings. The author critiques
the government for its lack of clarity about expenditure cuts, and notes that the so-called fiscal
stimulus is mere gap filling in the budgeted fiscal deficit target. The article comes down heavily
on the government for confusing liquidity with expenditure, and emphasises that what the
country needs now is fiscal stimulus on the demand side, which can be possible only through
additional borrowings.

Article 2: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/coronavirus-package-will-migrant-workers-
benefit-from-the-centres-measures/article31603590.ece

Summary : This article raises concerns about the implementability of the measures announced
by the Centre for the benefit of migrant workers. It wonders how the National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme would help the migrants who have returned to their native states in large
numbers, and whether state governments are clear about the role they would play in providing
relief measures. The article also expresses concern about implementation issues of schemes
such as the One Nation One Ration Card, in terms of availability of adequate ration in the shops
to allow for distribution to the migrant workers.

Article 3: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-need-for-a-million-worksites-
now/article31665949.ece

Summary : This article emphasises the need for an explosion of NREGA work in the coming few
weeks if India is to cope with the dire economic crisis caused by the coronavirus lockdown. The
author notes that the demand for NREGA work is stronger than ever, and even though wages
are low, it is the best among the available options at the present. The article goes on to describe
the present situation as a ‘life and death’ matter for millions of migrant workers and urges the
government to ‘provide work aplenty and pay wages at speed’ so as to avert a humanitarian
disaster.

Article 4: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/failing-to-perform-as-a-constitutional-
court/article31665557.ece

Summary : This article criticises the Supreme Court for having failed in its constitutional duty by
ignoring the interests of migrant workers at a time when they most needed protection amidst the
current coronavirus lockdown crisis. The author, a former Chief Justice, pulls up the highest
court in the land for failing to display ‘constitutional propriety’ by not protecting the interests of
migrant workers at a time when the state needed to ensure that the adverse consequences of
the pandemic are minimised. The author notes that the conduct of the High Courts, in contrast,
has been characterised by ‘rationality, courage and compassion’.

Article 5: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191108074852.htm

Summary : New research comprehensively examined the brain development of young boys and
girls. Their research shows no gender difference in brain function or math ability.
C. RC Passage (with Questions)

Like other democratic mechanisms, the institutional rules and organisations of a civil society are
deeply contingent. They presuppose the emotional willingness of actors to get involved with
others, to talk with them, to form groups, to change or pluralize their loyalties. Especially in a
civil society, the propensity of women and men to associate freely and to interact fearlessly with
others is not and should not be linked to any one particular identity or group whether based on
blood, geography, class, tradition or religion. Contrary to Marx and others, the middle classes
are not the ‘natural’ carriers of the sentiments of civil society. Pacification, ending the pathos of
uncivil war, requires that support and encouragement be given to any group or project capable
of engendering the spirit of pluralism and free association. Civil sentiments best hatch and grow
in a compact milieu like urban areas, through a variety of apparently ‘non-political’ strategies:
architectural design and landscaping schemes; local health and environmental and
archaeological programmes; and through a whole range of cultural initiatives, from the
performing arts o competitive sports and university seminars. The qualities produced by such
initiatives can never be the offspring of ideological groups, movements and parties driven by
nationalism or xenophobic racism or re-tribalisation . A civil society rather supposes that women
and men can be mavericks – makari – who can live with a variety of others in complex ways. It
demands. In other ways, that they can control their vengeful impulses, that they are capable of
sociability and therefore have in their hearts the ability to trust and be loyal to others – to be so
loyal, in fact, that they feel strong enough to stand up to others and to organize against them.

Why are civil society institutions so difficult to build or rebuild in the aftermath of uncivil war, we
may ask. There are various reasons. Business firms are often reluctant to play the role of
economic wizards by taking risks and investing in the social and economic infrastructure
wrecked by uncivil violence. When they do invest, quick profits often result in kitsch. The Hard
Rock Café and Pizza Hut nestle among the public monuments, mosques and shops ruined by
bazookas and cluster bombs, but the resulting bourgeois culture of conspicuous consumption is
often paper thin. In the absence of genuine markets and a vibrant middle class, business has no
genuinely socializing effects. It merely reinforces the public mood of lethargy and
disengagement. And when those requirements are satisfied, business investment often tears at
the shreds of the social fabric that somehow survived the cruelty of uncivil war. Fashionable
hotels, luxury apartments and other high-rise global hang-outs to stand side-by-side with squalid
backyards and dilapidated homes; threatened by gentrification, poor squatters are forced to
defend their ground against rich speculators and squads of police wielding truncheons, tear gas
and water cannon, or much more lethal weapons.

Meanwhile, in matters of post-war relief and rehabilitation, non-governmental organisations

(NGOs) can and do have mixed effects. Compared with governments, NGOs are often flexible
and innovative , low cost and responsive to grass roots pressures. But their ‘civilizing’ effects do
not happen spontaneously or automatically. For one thing, the task of rebuilding a civil society
from the ground upwards is no substitute for the parallel task of building effective and legitimate
governmental structures, which is why – as the fate of tiny Lebanon in the hands of inter-Arab
and super power rivalries so tragically shows – relief and development work is frequently
scuppered by local warlords and armed gangs, private armies and occupying forces. The
Washington style invaders’ new method of minimizing their own casualties in part by using
Gurkhas – native auxiliaries like the Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army or the Afghan Northern
alliance – is also no solution. It succours military force and warlords at the expense of civilian
government.

Then there are the socially distorting effects of NGO programmes. Observers usually pay too
little attention to this, but a careful examination of many post-war reconstruction efforts clearly
highlights another rule : to the extent that the sustained development of civil society relies upon
NGOs as conduits for aid money and technical support, it often turns them into hostages of
fortune, with mixed dividends. Donor funding can ( but always) overwhelm or distort the goal of
creating a civil society. It tends to create local organizations tnat are self-centered and blessed
with power that is publicly unaccountable, partly because they are so heavily dependent on their
donors, and partly because of the staff of the NGOs ( as the South African joke has it) En-J-Oy
all sorts of privileges otherwise denied to those living in misery around them.

Q1) The word ‘ engendering’ which has been used in this passage is closest in meaning to

(A) Threatening (B) enervating

(C) Promoting (D) affecting

Q2) In the second para of the passage, the author explains how

(A) Business promotes bourgeois culture.

(B) Business threatens gentrification.
(C) Businesses promoted in the aftermath of civil wars fail miserably.
(D) Business sometimes leads to class conflicts in society.

Q3) According to the passage, civil sentiments cannot be nurtured by all the following except:

(A) Ideological forces (B) Jingoism

(C)Parochialism (D)political parties

Q4) What, according to the author, is a requirement for pacification?

(A) Support to individuals or groups to adopt pluralism.

(B) Support from the middle-classes.
(C) State support.
(D) All of the above.
D. Quantitative Aptitude

Q.1 In the given figure EF = 9 cm, FG =1 cm. AB is diameter of the largest circle an P, Q and R
are centers. Find area of shaded region below diameter AB.

182π 91π 179π

(A) (B) (C) (D) None of these
4 4 4

Q.2 PU, PV and ST are common tangents to the two circles. If PT = 6 cm, ST = 8 cm and PS =
10 cm, find the distance between the centers of circles.

(A) 4 5 (B) 4 3 (C) 3 4 (D) None of these

Directions for Q.3 and Q.4:

Mr. David manufactures and sells a single product at a fixed price in a niche market. The selling
price of each unit is Rs 30. On the other hand, the cost, in Rupees, of producing x units is 240 +
bx +cx2, where b and c are some constants. Mr. David noticed that doubling the daily
productions from 20 to 40 units increases the daily production cost by 66 2/3 %. However an
increase in daily production from 40 to 60 units results in an increase of only 50% in daily
production cost. Assume that demand is unlimited and that David can sell as much as he can
produce. His objective is to maximise the profit.

Q.3 How many units should Mr. David produce daily?

(A) 150 (B) 130 (C) 100 (D) 70

Q.4 What is the maximum daily profit, in Rupees, that Mr. David can realise from his business?
(A) 760 (B) 620 (C) 920 (D) 840

Q.5 The average weight of a class of 100 students is 45 kg. The class consist of two sections I
and II, each with 50 students. Average weight W 1 of the section I is smaller than the average
weight W 2 of section 2. W 2 -W 1 = 1. If the heaviest student, say, Deepak of section II is moved
to section I, and the lightest student, say, Poonam of section I is moved to section II, then the
average weights of the two sections are switched, i.e. , the average weight of the section I
become W 2 and the average weight of section II becomes W 1. What is the weight of the
Poonam?
(A) 20 (B) 30 (C) 70 (D) Cannot be determined

Q.6 ABC corporation is required to maintain at least 485 kiloliters of water at all times in its
factory, in order to meet safety and regulatory requirements. ABC is considering the suitability of
a spherical tank with uniform wall thickness for the purpose. The outer diameter of the tank is 10
m. The tank weights 30000 kg when empty. What can be the density of the material (in gm/cc)
of which tank is weight?
(A) 1 (B) 0.5 (C) 0.3 (D) None of these

Q.7 Suppose you have a currency name Miso, in three denominations- 1, 10 and 50. In how
many ways can you pay a bill of 107 Misos.

Q.8 A function f(x) satisfies f(1) = 3600 and f(1) +f(2) +f(3) + ...+f(n) = n 2f(n), for all positive
integers n>1. What is the value of f(9)?
(A) 120 (B) 80 (C) 240 (D) 200
Directions for Q.9 and Q.10:
An airline has a certain free luggage allowance and charges for excess luggage at a fixed rate
per kg. Two passengers, A and B have 60 kg of luggage between them, and are charged Rs.
1200 and Rs. 2400 respectively for excess luggage. Had the entire luggage belonged to one of
them, the excess luggage charge would have been Rs. 5400.

Q.9 What is weight of A's luggage?

(A) 20 kg (B) 25 kg (C) 30 kg (D) 35 kg

Q.10 What is the free luggage allowance?

(A) 10 kg (B) 5 kg (C) 20 kg (D) 15 kg
E. DILR – 1 Set

Directions Q.1 to Q.3:

A company was established on January 1, 2008 with 3,4,5 and 6 employees in the finance, HR,
Marketing and Operations departments respectively to start with. No employee left or joined the
company in the first three months of the year 2008. In the next 4 years, the company recruited
one person in each of the four departments. All these new persons, who joined the company
subsequently over the years, were 20 years old at the time of their joining the company. All of
them joined the company on April 1. During these four years, one employee aged 55 retired
from the company. The following diagram gives the department wise average age (in terms of
number of completed years) of the employees as on April 1 of 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

50 47.5
45.546.5 45.2
44.33 44
45 42.8
41 40 41
40 39 40 40
38 39
40

35

30
2008
25 2009
2010
20
2011
15

10

0
Finance HR Marketing Operations

Q.1 Naveen and Deepak, two employees in the finance department, who had been with the
company since its inception, share a birthday which falls on 20 th November. One was born in
1960 and the other one in 1963. On April 1, 2013, what would have been the age of the third
person, who has been in the same department since inception?
(A) 42 (B) 45 (C) 46 (D) 47

Q.2 In which year did the new employee join the marketing department?
(A) 2008 (B) 2009 (C) 2010 (D) 2011

Q.3 What was the age of the new employee, who joined the operations department, as on April
1, 2011?
(A) 20 (B) 21 (C) 22 (D) 23