Mock 1 – Reading Comprehension Passages (Part 1)

Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.

In Skinner's system, reinforcement is automatic, almost by definition. Perhaps the most convincing demonstration of the automatic effect of a reinforcer is what Skinner (1948) has called "superstitious behaviour". In this situation, an event known to be reinforcing is presented intermittently without respect to what the subject is doing. But if it is doing anything (and this can be made likely through deprivation, etc.), the response just prior to the delivery of the reinforcer is strengthened, as evidenced by an increase in its rate of emission. The subject comes to "act as if" the response that has been fortuitously strengthened somehow produces the reinforcement. This occurs even though the reinforcer is actually delivered by a mechanical device that is in no way responsive to the subject's behaviour.

The automatic effect of reinforcement is also illustrated in Skinner's effective techniques of shaping behaviour. These procedures could hardly have sprung from a point of view that regarded all behaviour as elicited. But with the organism viewed as "emitting" the varied responses already in his repertoire, it was an easy step to conceive of shaping. If the observer simply controlled the quick presentation of a reinforcer, then he could strengthen any behaviour the organism happened to emit. Responses not in the subject's repertoire could then be built into it by appropriate arrangements of environmental conditions and the successive approximation technique.

Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.

In Skinner's system, reinforcement is automatic, almost by definition. Perhaps the most convincing demonstration of the automatic effect of a reinforcer is what Skinner (1948) has called "superstitious behaviour". In this situation, an event known to be reinforcing is presented intermittently without respect to what the subject is doing. But if it is doing anything (and this can be made likely through deprivation, etc.), the response just prior to the delivery of the reinforcer is strengthened, as evidenced by an increase in its rate of emission. The subject comes to "act as if" the response that has been fortuitously strengthened somehow produces the reinforcement. This occurs even though the reinforcer is actually delivered by a mechanical device that is in no way responsive to the subject's behaviour.

The automatic effect of reinforcement is also illustrated in Skinner's effective techniques of shaping behaviour. These procedures could hardly have sprung from a point of view that regarded all behaviour as elicited. But with the organism viewed as "emitting" the varied responses already in his repertoire, it was an easy step to conceive of shaping. If the observer simply controlled the quick presentation of a reinforcer, then he could strengthen any behaviour the organism happened to emit. Responses not in the subject's repertoire could then be built into it by appropriate arrangements of environmental conditions and the successive approximation technique.

Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.

In Skinner's system, reinforcement is automatic, almost by definition. Perhaps the most convincing demonstration of the automatic effect of a reinforcer is what Skinner (1948) has called "superstitious behaviour". In this situation, an event known to be reinforcing is presented intermittently without respect to what the subject is doing. But if it is doing anything (and this can be made likely through deprivation, etc.), the response just prior to the delivery of the reinforcer is strengthened, as evidenced by an increase in its rate of emission. The subject comes to "act as if" the response that has been fortuitously strengthened somehow produces the reinforcement. This occurs even though the reinforcer is actually delivered by a mechanical device that is in no way responsive to the subject's behaviour.

The automatic effect of reinforcement is also illustrated in Skinner's effective techniques of shaping behaviour. These procedures could hardly have sprung from a point of view that regarded all behaviour as elicited. But with the organism viewed as "emitting" the varied responses already in his repertoire, it was an easy step to conceive of shaping. If the observer simply controlled the quick presentation of a reinforcer, then he could strengthen any behaviour the organism happened to emit. Responses not in the subject's repertoire could then be built into it by appropriate arrangements of environmental conditions and the successive approximation technique.

Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.

In Skinner's system, reinforcement is automatic, almost by definition. Perhaps the most convincing demonstration of the automatic effect of a reinforcer is what Skinner (1948) has called "superstitious behaviour". In this situation, an event known to be reinforcing is presented intermittently without respect to what the subject is doing. But if it is doing anything (and this can be made likely through deprivation, etc.), the response just prior to the delivery of the reinforcer is strengthened, as evidenced by an increase in its rate of emission. The subject comes to "act as if" the response that has been fortuitously strengthened somehow produces the reinforcement. This occurs even though the reinforcer is actually delivered by a mechanical device that is in no way responsive to the subject's behaviour.

The automatic effect of reinforcement is also illustrated in Skinner's effective techniques of shaping behaviour. These procedures could hardly have sprung from a point of view that regarded all behaviour as elicited. But with the organism viewed as "emitting" the varied responses already in his repertoire, it was an easy step to conceive of shaping. If the observer simply controlled the quick presentation of a reinforcer, then he could strengthen any behaviour the organism happened to emit. Responses not in the subject's repertoire could then be built into it by appropriate arrangements of environmental conditions and the successive approximation technique.

Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.

In Skinner's system, reinforcement is automatic, almost by definition. Perhaps the most convincing demonstration of the automatic effect of a reinforcer is what Skinner (1948) has called "superstitious behaviour". In this situation, an event known to be reinforcing is presented intermittently without respect to what the subject is doing. But if it is doing anything (and this can be made likely through deprivation, etc.), the response just prior to the delivery of the reinforcer is strengthened, as evidenced by an increase in its rate of emission. The subject comes to "act as if" the response that has been fortuitously strengthened somehow produces the reinforcement. This occurs even though the reinforcer is actually delivered by a mechanical device that is in no way responsive to the subject's behaviour.

The automatic effect of reinforcement is also illustrated in Skinner's effective techniques of shaping behaviour. These procedures could hardly have sprung from a point of view that regarded all behaviour as elicited. But with the organism viewed as "emitting" the varied responses already in his repertoire, it was an easy step to conceive of shaping. If the observer simply controlled the quick presentation of a reinforcer, then he could strengthen any behaviour the organism happened to emit. Responses not in the subject's repertoire could then be built into it by appropriate arrangements of environmental conditions and the successive approximation technique.

Read the passage and answer the given questions from 46 to 50.

The war on poverty earlier was intertwined with the population problem. Statements and positions regarding population began to proliferate. In many instances, a crude form of empiricism was followed, it made Malthusian views and prescriptions inevitable. This is despite the experts making serious attempts to conceptualise the effect of demographic factors on development models and theories were formulated seeking to relate various variables and to provide a basis for policy and programme formulation. As the experience of the West suggested, it was hoped that population growth rates would begin to fall as the countries developed. But as many warned, countries could not wait for this process to occur. They should speed up the reduction of population growth by more direct means. To be sure, this preoccupation with population had existed for several decades, especially in relation to Asia. It was a central topic in discussion on race and racism. But the scale and form that the discussion took were new. The discussions held in academic circle or in the ambit of the nascent international organisations also had a new tone. They focussed on topics such as relationship between economic growth and population control. They also discussed topics such as demographic experience of rich countries and its possible impact on poor nations. Now the need is a new view of population, with new scientific and technological instruments to manage it.

Read the passage and answer the given questions from 46 to 50.

The war on poverty earlier was intertwined with the population problem. Statements and positions regarding population began to proliferate. In many instances, a crude form of empiricism was followed, it made Malthusian views and prescriptions inevitable. This is despite the experts making serious attempts to conceptualise the effect of demographic factors on development models and theories were formulated seeking to relate various variables and to provide a basis for policy and programme formulation. As the experience of the West suggested, it was hoped that population growth rates would begin to fall as the countries developed. But as many warned, countries could not wait for this process to occur. They should speed up the reduction of population growth by more direct means. To be sure, this preoccupation with population had existed for several decades, especially in relation to Asia. It was a central topic in discussion on race and racism. But the scale and form that the discussion took were new. The discussions held in academic circle or in the ambit of the nascent international organisations also had a new tone. They focussed on topics such as relationship between economic growth and population control. They also discussed topics such as demographic experience of rich countries and its possible impact on poor nations. Now the need is a new view of population, with new scientific and technological instruments to manage it.

Read the passage and answer the given questions from 46 to 50.

The war on poverty earlier was intertwined with the population problem. Statements and positions regarding population began to proliferate. In many instances, a crude form of empiricism was followed, it made Malthusian views and prescriptions inevitable. This is despite the experts making serious attempts to conceptualise the effect of demographic factors on development models and theories were formulated seeking to relate various variables and to provide a basis for policy and programme formulation. As the experience of the West suggested, it was hoped that population growth rates would begin to fall as the countries developed. But as many warned, countries could not wait for this process to occur. They should speed up the reduction of population growth by more direct means. To be sure, this preoccupation with population had existed for several decades, especially in relation to Asia. It was a central topic in discussion on race and racism. But the scale and form that the discussion took were new. The discussions held in academic circle or in the ambit of the nascent international organisations also had a new tone. They focussed on topics such as relationship between economic growth and population control. They also discussed topics such as demographic experience of rich countries and its possible impact on poor nations. Now the need is a new view of population, with new scientific and technological instruments to manage it.

Read the passage and answer the given questions from 46 to 50.

The war on poverty earlier was intertwined with the population problem. Statements and positions regarding population began to proliferate. In many instances, a crude form of empiricism was followed, it made Malthusian views and prescriptions inevitable. This is despite the experts making serious attempts to conceptualise the effect of demographic factors on development models and theories were formulated seeking to relate various variables and to provide a basis for policy and programme formulation. As the experience of the West suggested, it was hoped that population growth rates would begin to fall as the countries developed. But as many warned, countries could not wait for this process to occur. They should speed up the reduction of population growth by more direct means. To be sure, this preoccupation with population had existed for several decades, especially in relation to Asia. It was a central topic in discussion on race and racism. But the scale and form that the discussion took were new. The discussions held in academic circle or in the ambit of the nascent international organisations also had a new tone. They focussed on topics such as relationship between economic growth and population control. They also discussed topics such as demographic experience of rich countries and its possible impact on poor nations. Now the need is a new view of population, with new scientific and technological instruments to manage it.

Read the passage and answer the given questions from 46 to 50.

The war on poverty earlier was intertwined with the population problem. Statements and positions regarding population began to proliferate. In many instances, a crude form of empiricism was followed, it made Malthusian views and prescriptions inevitable. This is despite the experts making serious attempts to conceptualise the effect of demographic factors on development models and theories were formulated seeking to relate various variables and to provide a basis for policy and programme formulation. As the experience of the West suggested, it was hoped that population growth rates would begin to fall as the countries developed. But as many warned, countries could not wait for this process to occur. They should speed up the reduction of population growth by more direct means. To be sure, this preoccupation with population had existed for several decades, especially in relation to Asia. It was a central topic in discussion on race and racism. But the scale and form that the discussion took were new. The discussions held in academic circle or in the ambit of the nascent international organisations also had a new tone. They focussed on topics such as relationship between economic growth and population control. They also discussed topics such as demographic experience of rich countries and its possible impact on poor nations. Now the need is a new view of population, with new scientific and technological instruments to manage it.

Read the passage and answer questions from 46 to 50.

Reflected evaluation demands reasoning regarding relative importance, not just counting. This is an exercise in which we are constantly engaged. To that general understanding has to be added the possible importance of public reasoning as a way of extending the reach and reliability of valuations and making them more robust. The necessity of scrutiny and critical assessment is not just a demand for self-centred evaluation by secluded individuals, but a pointer to the fruitfulness of public discussion and of interactive public reasoning : social evaluations may be starved of useful information and good arguments if they are entirely based on separated and sequestered cogitation. Public discussion and deliberation can lead to a better understanding of the role, reach and significance of particular functionings and their combinations. To illustrate, public discussion of gender-based inequalities in India has helped to bring out, in recent years, the importance of certain freedoms that did not receive adequate acknowledgement earlier. Examples include the freedom to depart from fixed and time honoured family roles that limit the social and economic opportunities of women, and also from a social value system that is more geared to recognising men's deprivation than women's. These traditional antecedents of gender inequality in well-established, male-dominated societies demand not only individual concern but also informative public discussion and often enough, agitation. The connection between public reasoning and the choice and weighting of capabilities in social assessment is important to emphasize. It also points to the absurdity of the argument that is sometimes presented, which claims that the capability approach would be usable and operational, only if it comes with a set of given weights on the distinct functionings in some fixed list of relevant capabilities.

Read the passage and answer questions from 46 to 50.

Reflected evaluation demands reasoning regarding relative importance, not just counting. This is an exercise in which we are constantly engaged. To that general understanding has to be added the possible importance of public reasoning as a way of extending the reach and reliability of valuations and making them more robust. The necessity of scrutiny and critical assessment is not just a demand for self-centred evaluation by secluded individuals, but a pointer to the fruitfulness of public discussion and of interactive public reasoning : social evaluations may be starved of useful information and good arguments if they are entirely based on separated and sequestered cogitation. Public discussion and deliberation can lead to a better understanding of the role, reach and significance of particular functionings and their combinations. To illustrate, public discussion of gender-based inequalities in India has helped to bring out, in recent years, the importance of certain freedoms that did not receive adequate acknowledgement earlier. Examples include the freedom to depart from fixed and time honoured family roles that limit the social and economic opportunities of women, and also from a social value system that is more geared to recognising men's deprivation than women's. These traditional antecedents of gender inequality in well-established, male-dominated societies demand not only individual concern but also informative public discussion and often enough, agitation. The connection between public reasoning and the choice and weighting of capabilities in social assessment is important to emphasize. It also points to the absurdity of the argument that is sometimes presented, which claims that the capability approach would be usable and operational, only if it comes with a set of given weights on the distinct functionings in some fixed list of relevant capabilities.

Read the passage and answer questions from 46 to 50.

Reflected evaluation demands reasoning regarding relative importance, not just counting. This is an exercise in which we are constantly engaged. To that general understanding has to be added the possible importance of public reasoning as a way of extending the reach and reliability of valuations and making them more robust. The necessity of scrutiny and critical assessment is not just a demand for self-centred evaluation by secluded individuals, but a pointer to the fruitfulness of public discussion and of interactive public reasoning : social evaluations may be starved of useful information and good arguments if they are entirely based on separated and sequestered cogitation. Public discussion and deliberation can lead to a better understanding of the role, reach and significance of particular functionings and their combinations. To illustrate, public discussion of gender-based inequalities in India has helped to bring out, in recent years, the importance of certain freedoms that did not receive adequate acknowledgement earlier. Examples include the freedom to depart from fixed and time honoured family roles that limit the social and economic opportunities of women, and also from a social value system that is more geared to recognising men's deprivation than women's. These traditional antecedents of gender inequality in well-established, male-dominated societies demand not only individual concern but also informative public discussion and often enough, agitation. The connection between public reasoning and the choice and weighting of capabilities in social assessment is important to emphasize. It also points to the absurdity of the argument that is sometimes presented, which claims that the capability approach would be usable and operational, only if it comes with a set of given weights on the distinct functionings in some fixed list of relevant capabilities.

Read the passage and answer questions from 46 to 50.

Reflected evaluation demands reasoning regarding relative importance, not just counting. This is an exercise in which we are constantly engaged. To that general understanding has to be added the possible importance of public reasoning as a way of extending the reach and reliability of valuations and making them more robust. The necessity of scrutiny and critical assessment is not just a demand for self-centred evaluation by secluded individuals, but a pointer to the fruitfulness of public discussion and of interactive public reasoning : social evaluations may be starved of useful information and good arguments if they are entirely based on separated and sequestered cogitation. Public discussion and deliberation can lead to a better understanding of the role, reach and significance of particular functionings and their combinations. To illustrate, public discussion of gender-based inequalities in India has helped to bring out, in recent years, the importance of certain freedoms that did not receive adequate acknowledgement earlier. Examples include the freedom to depart from fixed and time honoured family roles that limit the social and economic opportunities of women, and also from a social value system that is more geared to recognising men's deprivation than women's. These traditional antecedents of gender inequality in well-established, male-dominated societies demand not only individual concern but also informative public discussion and often enough, agitation. The connection between public reasoning and the choice and weighting of capabilities in social assessment is important to emphasize. It also points to the absurdity of the argument that is sometimes presented, which claims that the capability approach would be usable and operational, only if it comes with a set of given weights on the distinct functionings in some fixed list of relevant capabilities.

Read the passage and answer questions from 46 to 50.

Reflected evaluation demands reasoning regarding relative importance, not just counting. This is an exercise in which we are constantly engaged. To that general understanding has to be added the possible importance of public reasoning as a way of extending the reach and reliability of valuations and making them more robust. The necessity of scrutiny and critical assessment is not just a demand for self-centred evaluation by secluded individuals, but a pointer to the fruitfulness of public discussion and of interactive public reasoning : social evaluations may be starved of useful information and good arguments if they are entirely based on separated and sequestered cogitation. Public discussion and deliberation can lead to a better understanding of the role, reach and significance of particular functionings and their combinations. To illustrate, public discussion of gender-based inequalities in India has helped to bring out, in recent years, the importance of certain freedoms that did not receive adequate acknowledgement earlier. Examples include the freedom to depart from fixed and time honoured family roles that limit the social and economic opportunities of women, and also from a social value system that is more geared to recognising men's deprivation than women's. These traditional antecedents of gender inequality in well-established, male-dominated societies demand not only individual concern but also informative public discussion and often enough, agitation. The connection between public reasoning and the choice and weighting of capabilities in social assessment is important to emphasize. It also points to the absurdity of the argument that is sometimes presented, which claims that the capability approach would be usable and operational, only if it comes with a set of given weights on the distinct functionings in some fixed list of relevant capabilities.

Read the following passage carefully and answer questions 46–50.

Walter Lippman refers to stereotypes as a projection on to the 'world'. Although he is not concerned primarily to distinguish stereotypes from modes of representation whose principal concern is not the world, it is important for us to do so, especially as our focus is representation in media fictions, which are aesthetic as well as social constructs. In this perspective, stereotypes are a particular sub-category of a broader category of fictional characters, the type. Whereas stereotypes are essentially defined by their aesthetic function, namely a mode of characterisation in fiction. The type is any character constructed through the use of a few immediately recognisable and defining traits, which do not change or 'develop' through the course of the narrative and which point to general, recurrent features of the human world. The opposite of the type is the novelistic character, defined by a multiplicity of traits that are only gradually revealed to us through the course of the narrative, a narrative which is hinged on the growth or development of the character and is thus centered upon the latter in her or his unique individuality, rather than pointing outwards to a world. In any society, it is the novelistic character that is privileged over the type, for the obvious reason that the society privileges – at any rate, at the level of social rhetoric – the individual over the collective or the mass. For this reason, the majority of fictions that address themselves to general social issues tend nevertheless to end up telling the story of a particular individual, hence returning social issues to purely personal and psychological ones. Once we address ourselves to the representation and definition of social categories, for example, alcoholics, we have to consider what is at stake in one mode of characterization than another.

Read the following passage carefully and answer questions 46–50.

Walter Lippman refers to stereotypes as a projection on to the 'world'. Although he is not concerned primarily to distinguish stereotypes from modes of representation whose principal concern is not the world, it is important for us to do so, especially as our focus is representation in media fictions, which are aesthetic as well as social constructs. In this perspective, stereotypes are a particular sub-category of a broader category of fictional characters, the type. Whereas stereotypes are essentially defined by their aesthetic function, namely a mode of characterisation in fiction. The type is any character constructed through the use of a few immediately recognisable and defining traits, which do not change or 'develop' through the course of the narrative and which point to general, recurrent features of the human world. The opposite of the type is the novelistic character, defined by a multiplicity of traits that are only gradually revealed to us through the course of the narrative, a narrative which is hinged on the growth or development of the character and is thus centered upon the latter in her or his unique individuality, rather than pointing outwards to a world. In any society, it is the novelistic character that is privileged over the type, for the obvious reason that the society privileges – at any rate, at the level of social rhetoric – the individual over the collective or the mass. For this reason, the majority of fictions that address themselves to general social issues tend nevertheless to end up telling the story of a particular individual, hence returning social issues to purely personal and psychological ones. Once we address ourselves to the representation and definition of social categories, for example, alcoholics, we have to consider what is at stake in one mode of characterization than another.

Read the following passage carefully and answer questions 46–50.

Walter Lippman refers to stereotypes as a projection on to the 'world'. Although he is not concerned primarily to distinguish stereotypes from modes of representation whose principal concern is not the world, it is important for us to do so, especially as our focus is representation in media fictions, which are aesthetic as well as social constructs. In this perspective, stereotypes are a particular sub-category of a broader category of fictional characters, the type. Whereas stereotypes are essentially defined by their aesthetic function, namely a mode of characterisation in fiction. The type is any character constructed through the use of a few immediately recognisable and defining traits, which do not change or 'develop' through the course of the narrative and which point to general, recurrent features of the human world. The opposite of the type is the novelistic character, defined by a multiplicity of traits that are only gradually revealed to us through the course of the narrative, a narrative which is hinged on the growth or development of the character and is thus centered upon the latter in her or his unique individuality, rather than pointing outwards to a world. In any society, it is the novelistic character that is privileged over the type, for the obvious reason that the society privileges – at any rate, at the level of social rhetoric – the individual over the collective or the mass. For this reason, the majority of fictions that address themselves to general social issues tend nevertheless to end up telling the story of a particular individual, hence returning social issues to purely personal and psychological ones. Once we address ourselves to the representation and definition of social categories, for example, alcoholics, we have to consider what is at stake in one mode of characterization than another.

Read the following passage carefully and answer questions 46–50.

Walter Lippman refers to stereotypes as a projection on to the 'world'. Although he is not concerned primarily to distinguish stereotypes from modes of representation whose principal concern is not the world, it is important for us to do so, especially as our focus is representation in media fictions, which are aesthetic as well as social constructs. In this perspective, stereotypes are a particular sub-category of a broader category of fictional characters, the type. Whereas stereotypes are essentially defined by their aesthetic function, namely a mode of characterisation in fiction. The type is any character constructed through the use of a few immediately recognisable and defining traits, which do not change or 'develop' through the course of the narrative and which point to general, recurrent features of the human world. The opposite of the type is the novelistic character, defined by a multiplicity of traits that are only gradually revealed to us through the course of the narrative, a narrative which is hinged on the growth or development of the character and is thus centered upon the latter in her or his unique individuality, rather than pointing outwards to a world. In any society, it is the novelistic character that is privileged over the type, for the obvious reason that the society privileges – at any rate, at the level of social rhetoric – the individual over the collective or the mass. For this reason, the majority of fictions that address themselves to general social issues tend nevertheless to end up telling the story of a particular individual, hence returning social issues to purely personal and psychological ones. Once we address ourselves to the representation and definition of social categories, for example, alcoholics, we have to consider what is at stake in one mode of characterization than another.

Read the following passage carefully and answer questions 46–50.

Walter Lippman refers to stereotypes as a projection on to the 'world'. Although he is not concerned primarily to distinguish stereotypes from modes of representation whose principal concern is not the world, it is important for us to do so, especially as our focus is representation in media fictions, which are aesthetic as well as social constructs. In this perspective, stereotypes are a particular sub-category of a broader category of fictional characters, the type. Whereas stereotypes are essentially defined by their aesthetic function, namely a mode of characterisation in fiction. The type is any character constructed through the use of a few immediately recognisable and defining traits, which do not change or 'develop' through the course of the narrative and which point to general, recurrent features of the human world. The opposite of the type is the novelistic character, defined by a multiplicity of traits that are only gradually revealed to us through the course of the narrative, a narrative which is hinged on the growth or development of the character and is thus centered upon the latter in her or his unique individuality, rather than pointing outwards to a world. In any society, it is the novelistic character that is privileged over the type, for the obvious reason that the society privileges – at any rate, at the level of social rhetoric – the individual over the collective or the mass. For this reason, the majority of fictions that address themselves to general social issues tend nevertheless to end up telling the story of a particular individual, hence returning social issues to purely personal and psychological ones. Once we address ourselves to the representation and definition of social categories, for example, alcoholics, we have to consider what is at stake in one mode of characterization than another.

Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow (Q. 46–50):

Public action, in a broad sense, can play a central role in economic development and in bringing social opportunities within the reach of people as a whole. Sometimes public action is characterised in the economic literature as action by the government, not as action by the public itself. This interpretation can be seriously misleading as it draws attention away from the influence that the public can have in determining the direction of governmental action. Actions of the public can be of profound significance to the successes and failures of economic and social change in general, and to development efforts in particular. The role of public activism in influencing government policy can be particularly important in promoting the positive functions of the government. These positive functions include the provisions of public services such as health care, child immunisation, primary education, social security, environmental protection and rural infrastructure. The vigilance and involvement of the public can be quite crucial not only in ensuring an adequate expansion of these essential services but also in monitoring their functioning. Indeed the actual reach and effective quality of the services that are meant to be, in principle, available often depends a great deal on the information that the local community gathers and the extent to which it can get its voice heard. The shirking and absenteeism of village teachers for example are much more easily observed by the villagers themselves than by the government inspectors and the search for redress can be more effectively achieved with local activism. Besides, schools, hospitals and other facilities can be made more sensitive to the public needs if there is a local pressure in that direction, better than the directions from the above.

Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow (Q. 46–50):

Public action, in a broad sense, can play a central role in economic development and in bringing social opportunities within the reach of people as a whole. Sometimes public action is characterised in the economic literature as action by the government, not as action by the public itself. This interpretation can be seriously misleading as it draws attention away from the influence that the public can have in determining the direction of governmental action. Actions of the public can be of profound significance to the successes and failures of economic and social change in general, and to development efforts in particular. The role of public activism in influencing government policy can be particularly important in promoting the positive functions of the government. These positive functions include the provisions of public services such as health care, child immunisation, primary education, social security, environmental protection and rural infrastructure. The vigilance and involvement of the public can be quite crucial not only in ensuring an adequate expansion of these essential services but also in monitoring their functioning. Indeed the actual reach and effective quality of the services that are meant to be, in principle, available often depends a great deal on the information that the local community gathers and the extent to which it can get its voice heard. The shirking and absenteeism of village teachers for example are much more easily observed by the villagers themselves than by the government inspectors and the search for redress can be more effectively achieved with local activism. Besides, schools, hospitals and other facilities can be made more sensitive to the public needs if there is a local pressure in that direction, better than the directions from the above.

Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow (Q. 46–50):

Public action, in a broad sense, can play a central role in economic development and in bringing social opportunities within the reach of people as a whole. Sometimes public action is characterised in the economic literature as action by the government, not as action by the public itself. This interpretation can be seriously misleading as it draws attention away from the influence that the public can have in determining the direction of governmental action. Actions of the public can be of profound significance to the successes and failures of economic and social change in general, and to development efforts in particular. The role of public activism in influencing government policy can be particularly important in promoting the positive functions of the government. These positive functions include the provisions of public services such as health care, child immunisation, primary education, social security, environmental protection and rural infrastructure. The vigilance and involvement of the public can be quite crucial not only in ensuring an adequate expansion of these essential services but also in monitoring their functioning. Indeed the actual reach and effective quality of the services that are meant to be, in principle, available often depends a great deal on the information that the local community gathers and the extent to which it can get its voice heard. The shirking and absenteeism of village teachers for example are much more easily observed by the villagers themselves than by the government inspectors and the search for redress can be more effectively achieved with local activism. Besides, schools, hospitals and other facilities can be made more sensitive to the public needs if there is a local pressure in that direction, better than the directions from the above.

Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow (Q. 46–50):

Public action, in a broad sense, can play a central role in economic development and in bringing social opportunities within the reach of people as a whole. Sometimes public action is characterised in the economic literature as action by the government, not as action by the public itself. This interpretation can be seriously misleading as it draws attention away from the influence that the public can have in determining the direction of governmental action. Actions of the public can be of profound significance to the successes and failures of economic and social change in general, and to development efforts in particular. The role of public activism in influencing government policy can be particularly important in promoting the positive functions of the government. These positive functions include the provisions of public services such as health care, child immunisation, primary education, social security, environmental protection and rural infrastructure. The vigilance and involvement of the public can be quite crucial not only in ensuring an adequate expansion of these essential services but also in monitoring their functioning. Indeed the actual reach and effective quality of the services that are meant to be, in principle, available often depends a great deal on the information that the local community gathers and the extent to which it can get its voice heard. The shirking and absenteeism of village teachers for example are much more easily observed by the villagers themselves than by the government inspectors and the search for redress can be more effectively achieved with local activism. Besides, schools, hospitals and other facilities can be made more sensitive to the public needs if there is a local pressure in that direction, better than the directions from the above.

Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow (Q. 46–50):

Public action, in a broad sense, can play a central role in economic development and in bringing social opportunities within the reach of people as a whole. Sometimes public action is characterised in the economic literature as action by the government, not as action by the public itself. This interpretation can be seriously misleading as it draws attention away from the influence that the public can have in determining the direction of governmental action. Actions of the public can be of profound significance to the successes and failures of economic and social change in general, and to development efforts in particular. The role of public activism in influencing government policy can be particularly important in promoting the positive functions of the government. These positive functions include the provisions of public services such as health care, child immunisation, primary education, social security, environmental protection and rural infrastructure. The vigilance and involvement of the public can be quite crucial not only in ensuring an adequate expansion of these essential services but also in monitoring their functioning. Indeed the actual reach and effective quality of the services that are meant to be, in principle, available often depends a great deal on the information that the local community gathers and the extent to which it can get its voice heard. The shirking and absenteeism of village teachers for example are much more easily observed by the villagers themselves than by the government inspectors and the search for redress can be more effectively achieved with local activism. Besides, schools, hospitals and other facilities can be made more sensitive to the public needs if there is a local pressure in that direction, better than the directions from the above.

Read the given passage and answer the questions 46 to 50 that follow.

The ‘new middle class’ in India is upwardly mobile, educated mostly in English and works in professional, technical and/or managerial careers. It is connected to global networks of consumption, consuming global brands and aspiring toward lifestyles of conspicuous consumption. The identity of this class is defined by its participation in global commodity chains. The market defines the identity of the middle class, as a site of identity formation, expression and aspiration. Also salient within the new middle class are several strata. The highest stratum is occupied by the white collar corporate mid-to-high level managers who actively participate in transnational capitalism. What connects these various groups in the elite class is a common vision of the nation-state narrated in the miracle of the market. The articulation of the market as the centre of India’s economic growth and development is the overarching anchor for the various discourses of the policy-making and implementation. The middle class in India make up a segment of India’s elite. They participate in the consumption culture of India. This culture is enabled by rapid reforms and punctuated in the rise of urban hubs of belonging. Belonging in this is recrafted in the story of consumption and lifestyles. Here consumption is equated to development and modernisation.

Read the given passage and answer the questions 46 to 50 that follow.

The ‘new middle class’ in India is upwardly mobile, educated mostly in English and works in professional, technical and/or managerial careers. It is connected to global networks of consumption, consuming global brands and aspiring toward lifestyles of conspicuous consumption. The identity of this class is defined by its participation in global commodity chains. The market defines the identity of the middle class, as a site of identity formation, expression and aspiration. Also salient within the new middle class are several strata. The highest stratum is occupied by the white collar corporate mid-to-high level managers who actively participate in transnational capitalism. What connects these various groups in the elite class is a common vision of the nation-state narrated in the miracle of the market. The articulation of the market as the centre of India’s economic growth and development is the overarching anchor for the various discourses of the policy-making and implementation. The middle class in India make up a segment of India’s elite. They participate in the consumption culture of India. This culture is enabled by rapid reforms and punctuated in the rise of urban hubs of belonging. Belonging in this is recrafted in the story of consumption and lifestyles. Here consumption is equated to development and modernisation.