MOCK TEST - 2

Reading Comprehension

It was the buzz of boardrooms: power lunches and anxious phone calls from the freeway. It was
debated by stockbrokers, real estate agents, Hollywood producers and media Bigfeet. Mid-level
executives who wouldn't leave home without a phone in their pocket - or at their ear - were
putting off calls or finding other ways to make them. Sales of cellular radio telephones - which
had been growing at a sizzling 20% to 70% a year for the past decade - were temporarily put on
hold.
Do cellular phone? really cause brain tumours? The safety of the ultimate yuppie accessory was
called into question by the news in the US that two prominent executives had been stricken by
brain cancer (though the connection to phone use is unclear) and by a well-publicized lawsuit in
which a Florida man charged that his wife's fatal brain tumour was caused by her cellular phone.
It was not the kind of evidence that would De accepted by the New England Journal of Medicine,
but it struck a nerve. American viewers tuned In to hear Reynard, the Flonda Widower,
tell the story of his wife's death to Larry King, Bryant Gumbel, Faith Daniels and dozens of radio
talk-show hosts. Sally Atwater, the Widow of late Republican political guru Lee Atwater, got half
a dozen calls from reporters asking whether her husband's brain tumou'David r was linked to his
constant cellular-phone use (she could not say). "It seems like yet another technology that is out
to get us." said NBC'S chief White House correspondent, Andrea Mitchell, who became addicted
to her cellular phone while covering the 1992 election.
Even Wall Street took notice, knocking a couple of points off McCaw Cellular, Contel Cellular
and Motorola the day after Reynard's appearance on the Larry King Live show, and then
extending the sell-off through much of last week. The Cellular Telecommunications Industry
Association was finally forced to respond; announcing that it woulo fund new studies and ask the
government to review the findings.

The phone flap is the latest in a series of scares linking everyday electrical objects (hair dryers,
electric razors, electric blankets, home computers) to one dreaded disease or another. Most of the
concern has focused on the low-frequency end of the spectrum: the electromagnetic fields
surrounding power lines, electric motors and video-display terminals. Cellular phones occupy
another part of the spectrum. They send their signals using very small bursts of high-frequency
electromagnetic waves or microwaves.

The low and high-frequency controversies have one thing in common. In each case, the
electromagnetic waves are too weak to affect human tissue in any well-understood mechanism.
They are not known to disrupt living cells or alter DNA the way X-rays and ultraviolet radiation
do. If these fields do indeed cause cancer, it is by a mechanism yet to be uncovered.
Despite the panic, the case against cellular phones is nowhere near as strong as the ones mounted
against electric power lines, electric blankets or even hand held police radars. Dozens of highway
patrol men have come forward to complain of tumours of the eye, the cheek or the testicles (from
jamming radar guns between their legs). And there is a growing body of evidence showing that
living near power lines can quadruple the risk of contracting childhood leukaemia.
Since 1982, 10 million cellular phones have been sold in the U.S and so tar there have been only a
few anecdotal reports of brain cancers among users. Giverr the gestation period for most cancers,
it may be some time before the true effects emerge.
No one really understands the long-term health consequences of holding a microwave
transmitter-next to your brain because nobody has thoroughly studied them. To ease fears,
Motorola held a press conference recently and claimed that "thousands of studies" had proved
their cellular telephones safe. But when asked to name three studies that showed the phones do
not cause tumours, a company spokesman could cite only one 1 O-year old report and two others
with ambiguous results. "If that's the best they can do, they're in deep trouble." said Louis Siesin
publisher of Microwave News (a newsletter that has devoted extensive coverage to the risks of
electromagnetic radiation).
Siesin recommends that cellular telephone owners practice what he calls prudent avoidance. "If
you can use an ordinary phone, do." If mobility is required, he suggests either a trunk-mounted
car phone as a two-piece cellular model that separates the hand-held receiver from the microwave
transmitter (So called cordless portable phones use a different frequency and far less power and
they have not been associated with any adverse health effects). Before consumers buy into a
pervasive network of cellular phones, they might well demand some answers about the
controversy that is already in the news

1.If the case against the cell phone, as the culprit behind brain tumour in the users, is proved,
(1) extensive research needs to be done by the cellular industry association. .
(2) the mechanism, if any; through which the electro 'magnetic waves affect the human tissue
needs to be discovered.
(3) the functioning of cell phones in low frequency fields needs to be studied.
(4) the patients history of disease needs to be well documented.
(5) cell phones would be taken off the market.

2.According to the passage,

I.Studies have proved that child leukaemia is more possible in people residing close
to power lines.
II. The case against cellular phones is as strong as the case against X-rays.
III. Police handheld radars are considered worse than cell phones.
(1) Only I is correct (2) Only II is correct (3) I and II are correct
(4) I and III are correct (5) All the three statements are incorrect

3.Which of the following statements is NOT true?

(1) Recent news on bad effects of cellular. phones pushed down the sales.
(2) The manufacturers of the cellular telephones took a beating in the share market.
(3) The case against cellular phones has proved that brain tumours is more probable in cellular
phone users.
(4) The time from which the cellular phones are in operation is not sufficient for all the negative
effects to come out.
(5) Cell phones usehigh-frequency electromagnetic waves.

4.Larry King is probably

(1) a prominent personality of a popular TV Channel.
(2) the representative of the Republican party. (3) a very famous criminal lawyer in U.S.A
(4) an anti-cellular phone forum. (5) the C.E.O of a cell phone manufacturing company.

5.The controversy over cellular phones resulted in

(1) the cellular telecom industry association agreeing to fund new studies.
(2) the apparent reduction in use of cellular phone by existing users.
(3) adversely affecting the sale of cellular phones.
(4) The share value of the cell phone companies fell in the stock market.
(5) all larrof the above.

6.The advice given by Siesin is

(1) not to use cell phones at all when not mobile.
(2) to cutdown the usage rate of cell phones if land line is accessible.
(3) to use cordless portable phones at all times.
(4) to opt for a two-piece telephone set for homes.
(5) to demand the truth from cell phone manufacturers.
Finally, there is Smith on what would now be called public policy - on what stimulates economic
growth. Not all of his views on this are original; he is in the dent of such notable predecessors in
the attack on mercantile thought as the highly intelligent Sir William Petty (162'3-1687). He also
draws on the essays of his great Edinburgh friend David Hume (1711-1776). But many of his
views are the product of his own observation, his common sense and his already noted pleasure in
undoing established belief.
His strongest recommendation on public policy urges the freedom of internal and international
trade. Much, quite possibly too much, of his reasoning derives from his fascination with the
division of labour in the pin factory. Only if there is freedom for barter and trade can some
workers specialize on pins, others devote themselves to other requisites and all come together for
the exchange that satisfies the individual's several needs. If freedom of trade does not exist, each
worker must concentrate incompetently on making his own pins; the economies from
specialization are gone. From this Smith concludes that the wider the trading area the greater the
opportunity for specialization - for the division of labour - and the greater the efficiency or as
would now be said, the productivity of labour. The division of labour is limited in another of
Smith's famous conclusions by the size of the market. Thus, the case for the widest possible area
of
free trade leading to the greatest possible efficiency of labour.
That the application of power and machinery to production, even in Smith's day, might have been
a far greater source of efficiency than the specialized application of workers to a task is more than
probable. And it has certainly been the case since. To this day nonetheless Smith's division of
labour remains a totemic source of efficiency, a cliche in all discussion of international trade
policy.
Smith's case for free trade extends to a direct assault on the mercantilist view of gold and silver as
the foundation of national wealth and to the belief that trade restrictions can enhance the stock of
precious metals. In the very opening words of Wealth of Nations, Smith proclaims that it is not its
silver or gold that measures a nation's wealth. It is "the annual labour of every nation [that] is the
fund which originally supplies it with all the necessaries and conveniences of life." Wealth is
enhanced by “the skill, dexterity, and judgment with which its [the nation's] labour is generally
applied; and secondly, by the proportion between the number of those who are employed in
useful labour and that of those who are not so employed."
These, then, are the matters that public policy must address; if they are addressed successfully,
prices will be low, supplies of marketable products abundant. Gold and silver will come in from
abroad to purchase the products and the supply of precious metals will take care of itself. Other
countries cannot prevent their people from so sending their gold and silver. 'n what would be a
recurring discovery as regards exchange control he observes, "All the sanguinary laws of Spain
and Portugal are not able to keep their gold and silver at home." And in a characteristic Smithian
thought, he reminds those motivated by a fear that money may become scarce that no complaint
IS more common than that of a scarcity of money. Money like wine must always be scarce with
those who have neither wherewithal to buy it nor credit to borrow it. In a companion gesture to
the Quantity Theory of Money he observes, "It is not by the importation of gold and silver that
the discovery of America has enriched Europe. By the abundance of the American mines those
metals have become cheaper." Smith IS not however, rigidly dogmatic on the matter of free trade,
he would allow tariffs for Industries essen-tial for defence and possibly in retaliation for
tariff'abuse abroad, and he would be gradual in withdrawing support to protected enterprises and
their workers. But not much else. "It is the maxim of every prudent master of a family never to
attempt to make at home what it will cost him more to make than to buy .... What is prudence in
the conduct of every private family, can scarce be folly in that of a great kingdom."
As Smith was averse to restraints on International trade, so also he was opposed to those on
domestic commerce and with colonies. In an age when restrictive preferences, privileges and state
grants of monopoly were commonplace, he opposed them all. He also opposed private
combinations of producers and workers, although in a characteristic aside, he noted that there
were more laws against combinations by the sellers of labour than against the similar practice by
the merchants and manufacturers who employed them. He was not, however, entirely optimistic
as to the possibility of contending with private combination. The impulse to such association was
strong. In another deathless passage, he observes that people of the same trade seldom meet
together even for merriment and diversion but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the
public or in some contrivance to. raise prices. It is impossible, he went on to say "to prevent such
meetings, by any law which either could be executed or would be consistent with liberty and
justice. But though the law cannot hinder people of the same trade from sometimes assembling
together it ought to do nothing to facilitate such assemblies much less to render them necessary."

7.According to Smith, the wealth of a nation is enhanced by

(1) the specialisation of tasks. (2) restricting flow of precious metals.
(3) the skill and dexterity and the judgement with which its labour is applied.
(4) all of the above. (5) none of the above

8.According to the passage, which of the following statement(s) is/are true?

I Smith urges freedom of internal and international trade as a public policy.
II. Smith would not allow any trade tariffs and protectionism.
III. What holds true for a family may not be so for a nation.
(1) Only I is true.
(2) Only 11 is true
(3) I and II are true.
(4) II and III are true.
(5) None of the above is true.

9.Which of the following statements is correct?

I.According to Smith, association of people of same trade can be prevented by prohibiting those
people from meeting.
II. Adam smith was not averse to restraints on domestic commerce and with colonies.
III. Smith was in favour of restrictive preferences, privileges and state grant of monopolies.
(1) Only I
(2) Only II
(3) Only III
(4) I and III
(5) None.

10.The views expressed by Smith in the passage

(1) are entirely his.
(2) are partly drawn from the works of Sir William Petty and David Hume.
(3) did not find any supporters.
(4) are the product of his common sense, observation and pleasure in undoing the established
belief.
(6) are out dated.

11.According to the passage,

I. application of power and machinery lead to higher efficiency.
II. division of labour resulting in its specialisation is limited by the size of market.
III. Smith attributed the prosperity of Europe to the abundance in America.
(1) Only I is true.
(2) Only II is true.
(3) Only III is true.
(4) All the statements are true.
(5) None of the statements is true.

12. Low prices and abundant supply of marketable product comes from

(1) imports. (2) exports. (3) right policies of the government.

(4) trade in some products. (5) ensuring specialization.
Directions for questions 13 to 20: In each of the
following questions there are sentences that
form a paragraph ... Identify the sentence(s) or
part (s) of sentence (s) that is/are correct in
terms of grammar and usage (including
spelling, punctuation and logical consistency).
Then, choose the most appropriate option.

13. A. India has always had

B.a difficult relationship
C. to its easily observable poverty.
D. Its depiction abroad was seen
E. as a plot beyond national ambition.
(1) C, D and E (2) Only C (3) A. Band D
(4) A and C (5) A, C and E

14. A. In the 1960's

B. another foreigner V.S. Naipaul
C. made squalor more vivid.
D. His Indian ancestry offered
E. no protection against unpopularity.
(1) C, D and E (2) B, D and E (3)A,C and E
(4) A and E (5) A and D

15.A. Here's a paradox:

B.In these brutal economic times,
C.oned of the leading advocate
D. for world's poorest people
E. is one of the richest.
(1) C and E (2) A and E (3) B, D and E
(4) D and E (5) A, Band E

16.A.Capitalism subject any individual capitalist

B. to the immanent laws of capitalist
productionC. laws which are external and coercive.
D. Without respite, competition forces him
E. extend his capital for the sake of
maintaining it.
(1)C,D and E (2)A,B and D (3)B,C and D
(4) Band C (5) C and D

17.A. The Bush team followed the dictim

B. that anything the Clinton administration
C. did was to be despised and repudiated.
D. The Obama team was going to think really
big
E. and made history-changing moves.
(1) Band D (2) Only D (3) A,DandE
(4) Band E (5) A, Band C

18.A. Shelleys' "Ozyrnandias", written

B.two years after Napoleon's final defeat
C.at Waterloo, has been used
D. again and again to illustrate
E. vanity and hubris of an empire gone to
ruin.
(1) D and E (2) B, C and D (3) A, C and D
(4) A and E (5) Band E

19. A. He is dubbed a "modern Marie

Antoinette"
B. after his remarks in newspaper interview
C. recently was interpreted as effectively
telling
D. people to eat organic food when, thanks to
rising prices,
E. they are struggling to afford pot noodle.
(1) A,B and C (2) B, 0 and C (3) Band D
(4)A, C, DandE (5) D and E

20. A.An economical depression could

potentially inflame B.but help aggravate a
wide range of
C. disaffections at this delicate time.
D. in a country already struggling to cope up
with
E. a widening rural urban, rich poor divide.
(1) only C (2)A, C and E (3) A, B and D
(4) Only D (5) C and E

Directions for questions 21 to 24: Fill in the

blanks choosing the word that is most
appropriate in the context of the passage.

We have retained the ballot box inspite of

the (21) of drought and floods, oil price
shocks. transfer of political power, (22) of our
prime ministers, and wars. We have developed
the very best entrepreneurial and manaqerial
talent and a large skilled labour force. We
have some of the finest soldiers in the world.
We are now a nuclear power state with a
capacity to (23) our own satellites. Be it IT or
chess, it is us. We even win beauty contests.
But around these remains, lies the expanse of
(24) of poverty, disease, illiteracy, corruption,
inefficiency, unaccountability, nongovernance
and mutual animosity.

21.(1)demolitions (2)plunders (3)wreckages

(4)ravages (5)exploitations

22.(1)assassinations(2)slaughter (3)murders
(4)massacres (5)slanders

23. (1)usher (2)initiate (3)launch

(4)embark (5)commence

24.(1)litters (2)debris (3)sentiments

(4)havoc (5)chaos