English Quiz for Bank Exams 2016 – Set 3

On attending a conference which
focused on the role of the service sector in Indian economy, I was amazed. The
conference gave a very interesting perspective
on the role of the service sector in the growth of the Indian economy in
relation to growth rate in agriculture and industry. The current situation in
India is that the growth rate of services has overtaken both agriculture and
industry and is now contributing to more than fifty per cent of GDP. The
services sector has the highest growth rate and is the least volatile sector. Growth is particularly
marked in public services, IT and financial services. In some areas the growth
rate of services sector is forty to fifty per cent due to increased use of
mobile technologies. India, therefore, has a services oriented economy. It
hasn’t followed traditional growth models as in China. However, in the process
of doing so it has skipped the manufacturing stage and has jumped straight from
the agricultural stage to service stage, which is also the main reason for the
expansion of the service sector. In fact, the situation now is such that the
growth in the service sector can and will support the growth in the
agricultural and industrial sectors. However, the only setback for Indian
economy is the lack of growth in the manufacturing sector, which causes
dependence on other countries, which is not so desirable in terms of job
creation and increase in prosperity. Population is also a major concern of the
Indian economy. As the population of India grows so also does the number of
dependents in the population both in the lower and higher age groups. In such a
scenario of increasing population, especially in an economy which is still
recovering from crisis, growth becomes difficult. For such an economy to grow
it has to invest. Currently, the public sector invests more than it saves. The household
sector saves in surplus but it is not increasing, so it cannot continue to
support private and public sectors. There is a massive need to spend on agriculture and infrastructure development
of the country. Apart from health, education should also be the priority of the
government, particularly the education of women, in order to reduce the birth
rate. However, all said and done, we cannot deny the fact that growing
population of the country can also benefit the economy if considered as a
resource and used efficiently. In fact, it is said that in the next two decades
a ‘growth window’ for India will open, which may not come again because the
working population to total population ratio will rise up to mid 2030s only. It
is important for India to maximise its economic growth in this period.

For doing so, it will be
important for India to absorb the growing labour force. This would mean that
most people in the country would be employed (with a steady income), the number
of dependents in the population would reduce and with effect the economy would
prosper. Absorbing the labour force is also very important if the service
sector is to play a key role in the growing Indian economy. Today, to address
the issue of poverty in India, there is a need to change the bad sectors into good sectors and in turn to move
people from unemployment to employment. Only the service sector can help in
doing so and thus can have major impact on poverty. Although service-intensive
sectors such as hotels, restaurants and IT are booming with growth in human
skills, there are geographical, labour unions and human skills restrictions on
labour movement. The key question here, I suppose, is that – can service sector
lead the economy? For example, can service such as IT be taken to rural areas?
Experts in the conference have suggested that it seems that services could lead
the economy. However, there are certain prerequisites
for the same. In other words, there needs to be greater equality between the
different states and better gender balance. There is also the need for
additional fiscal equality, tax reforms to fund education, reduction in
goverment debt, and the revenue account must be kept in balance. Progress is
good but still the initial conditions for growth have not yet been achieved.

Direction (Q. 1): Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning of
the word given in bold as used in the
passage.

1. VOLATILE

1) erratic

2) impatient

3) stable

4) solid

5) strained

2. According to the passage, which of the following is/are true about
the impact of the increasing population
on Indian economy?

(A) If India attempts to absorb
all the labour force, it will impact the growth of service sector negatively
and, in turn, hamper the economic growth of the country.

(B) As the population of the
country increases, the number of dependents in the country also increases, which,
in turn, increases the pressure on the economy

(C) An increasing population can
never lead the economy of the country towards prosperity. In fact, it can only
put strain on the economy of a country.

1) All (A), (B) and (C)

2) Only (C)

3) Both (B) and (C)

4) Both (A) and (C)

5) Only (B)

3. According to the passage, which of the following can be said about
the agriculture and industry sectors in
India?

(A) Looking at the growth of the
service sector in India, it can be safely said that the service sector will
soon be in a position to support both agriculture and industry sector.

(B) The agriculture and the
industry sector of the country have reached their threshold and there would be
no use of further investment in these sectors.

(C) Currently, the agriculture
and industry sectors contribute less as compared to service sector to the GDP
of the country.

1) Only (A)

2) Only (C)

3) Both (A) and (C)

4) Both (B) and (C)

5) All (A), (B) and (C)

4. What does the author mean by the statement, “… a ‘growth window’
for India will open.”?

1) In the coming years the Indian
economy will grow as the service sector of the country would be booming due to
the focus of the government in that sector.

2) In the next two decades Indian
economy will have an opportunity to grow as the working population of India
will be high as compared to the dependent population.

3) There would be only a small period
of time in which the economy of India has to grow and if it fails to do so it
will never be able to recover from the economic downfall.

4) Only up to the next two
decades would Indian people be interested in finding jobs in the country,
beyond which they would search for jobs abroad, thus hampering the growth of
Indian economy.

5) The growth of Indian economy
is like a small window and in order to substantiate the growth it is important to
increase the size of the window by improving trade relations with other
countries.

Direction (Q. 5): Choose the word which is most similar in meaning to
the word given in bold as used in the
passage.

5. PREREQUISITES

1) requirements

2) instincts

3) acknowledgments

4) prohibitions

5) problems

6. What does the author mean by the statement ‘to change the bad
sectors into good sectors”?

1) In order to deal with the
problem of poverty, it is important to distinguish between good and bad sectors
and encourage people to start searching for jobs in the good sectors.

2) The government should make
efforts to improve the sectors that are not functioning well in order to create
greater job opportunities in those sectors and in turn eradicate poverty.

3) Poverty alleviation is possible
only if the government understands the importance of good sectors and provides
them with necessary opportunities.

4) The bad sectors of the country
should be identified and such jobs should be outsourced to other underprivileged
countries in order to eradicate poverty from those countries.

5) People should be educated to
ensure that they work only in the good sectors and, in turn, the issue of poverty
in the country is resolved.

Direction (Q. 7) : Choose the word which is most similar in meaning to
the word given in bold as used in passage.

7. PERSPECTIVE

1) viewpoint

2) prospect

3) attitude

4) agreement

5) proportion

8. Which of the following is true as per the passage?

1) India has not followed the
conventional model of growth and has moved directly from the agriculture sector
to the service sector.

2) The service sector of the
country is yet to make a mark on the IT and financial sectors of the country.

3) With availability of labour
and growth in human skills, the service sector of Indian economy is booming limitlessly
as there is no restriction on the movement of labour.

4) India has become self-reliant
and does not have to depend on other countries because of the development in
the manufacturing sector.

5) All the given statements are
true.

9. According to the author, which of the following can be said about
the growth of service sector in India?

1) India is essentially an
agrarian economy and is not yet ready to shift focus from agriculture sector to
service sector.

2) The expansion of service
sector in India has been mainly because of the growth in the agricultural
sector.

3) Indian economy cannot run only
on the basis of service sector, ie without further development in the agriculture
and the industrial sector.

4) The growth of service sector
in India is facilitated by the improvement in technology.

5) It will take the service
sector at least around two decades before it can overtake the agriculture and industry
sector.

Direction (Q. 10): Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning of
the word given in bold as used in
the passage.

10. MASSIVE

1) prominent

2) proactive

3) short

4) little

5) vast