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Ref: RCHO1001901

PASSAGE − I
A voice for the poor (Economics)

As socialism and central planning gave way to resurgent market forces in the second half of the 20 century, th

three great economists were brought in from the ideological wilderness. Friedrich Hayek, who in 1944 predicted
the demise of command economies in The Road to Serfdom, was later to inspire the free-market policies of
Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. He also inspired Milton Friedman, a fierce advocate of free markets and
monetarism at a time when Keynesian demand management was the order of the day. Mr. Friedman has given
his name to a new biennial prize “for the advancement of liberty” which was awarded on May 9th 2002 to the (109)
least famous of the three, Peter Bauer.
Born in Budapest in 1915, the young Mr.Bauer came to Britain in 1934, taught at Cambridge and the London
School of Economics, and was made a peer in 1982. Lord Bauer’s work applies classical economics to
questions of poverty and development, where conventional wisdom, for 30 years after 1945, was remorselessly
hostile to market solutions.

After the second world war, a new “development economics” came to dominate policy making in poorer
countries, often at the urging of international institutions such as the World Bank. It argued that poor countries
were victims of a vicious circle of poverty, doomed to remain poor because they lacked the income that provided (224)
savings which, when invested, generated economic growth. The answer? Rich countries should provide the
capital, in the form of foreign aid. To use the capital efficiently, poor-country governments should plan their
economies and create new industries to substitute for foreign imports. And to give these nascent industries
a chance, competition should be restricted through monopoly rights and barriers to foreign trade.

Both the theory and its practice appalled Lord Bauer. His studies of small holdings in the Malaysian rubber
industry and of the importance of small-scale traders in West Africa had convinced him that there could be
wealth creation, even in subsistence economies, if only market forces were allowed to work. Trade barriers and (338)
monopolies merely destroyed entrepreneurialism.

In his blunt way, Lord Bauer set out alternative theories that, from the 1950s to the 1970s, were heresy. All
countries had started poor, he argued. If the vicious-circle theory were true, mankind would still be living in the
stone age. Opportunities for private profit, not government plans, held the key to development. Governments
had the limited though crucial role of protecting property rights, enforcing contracts, treating everybody equally
before the law, minimising inflation and keeping taxes low. It was a tragedy that countries neglected this role.

Above all, Lord Bauer argued, there would be no concept of the third world at all were it not for the invention of (452)
foreign aid. Aid politicized economies, directing money into the hands of governments rather than towards
profitable business. Interest groups then fought to control this money rather than engage in productive activity.
Aid increased the patronage and power of the recipient governments, which often pursued policies that stifled
entrepreneurship and market forces. Indeed, aid had proved “an excellent method for transferring money from
poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.”

Why so much aid, then? Western post-colonial guilt, Lord Bauer claimed, before debunking the notion that
countries are poor because they were exploited by former colonialists. They are generally better off now than (558)
they were before colonialism. The most developed of the poorer countries are those that have the most
interaction with rich countries, through trade and exchange of ideas.

Today, many of Lord Bauer’s views on aid and development are part of a new conventional wisdom. Even the
World Bank admits that creating the right conditions for markets to flourish is the key to economic development,
and that until recently much of the money that it has supplied has been badly used. Lord Bauer is not convinced
that he has won, though, for government-to-government aid has increased, not decreased. Even though there is (659)
now more public questioning of aid, he is not optimistic about further change. There are so many vested
interests behind foreign aid, “regardless of its effects”.
Some of his other views remain out of the mainstream, at least for now. Lord Bauer opposes policies aimed at
reducing income inequality. This is not because he favours inequality – although he thinks it often reflects fair
pay for output produced – but because policies designed to promote equality usually infringe personal liberties
to such an extent as to slow economic development. If, as often happens, development happens to reduce
(760)
inequality, then so much the better.
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Nor does Lord Bauer favour population control. Worries about population growth, he says, reflect a patronizing
view that the poor are incapable of making sensible choices about having children. The much deplored
population explosion “should be seen as a blessing rather than a disaster, because it stems from a fall in
mortality, a prima facie improvement in people’s welfare”. At the same time, he argues, there is no correlation
between population growth (or even density) and poverty. The population of the western world has more than
quadrupled since the mid-18th century, yet real income per head has increase at least fivefold. (861)

In short, economic development rests on people having the right desires and aptitudes, and on a political and
legal system that allows people to act on them. In this, the poor are no different from anybody else. Formerly
heretical insights such as these put Lord Bauer in a class of his own as an economist, says Amartya Sen,
a darling of the aid and development world and both a former student and a sparring partner of Lord Bauer’s.
His blunt lack of political correctness may have prevented Lord Bauer from sharing the Nobel prize awarded to
Mr.Sen in 1998. The Milton Friedman prize should provide some consolation – not to mention $500,000. (972)

Time taken to read the passage: ______ minutes

No. of words read: ______
Reading speed: ______ w.p.m

Directions for questions 1 to 24: Read each passage carefully and answer the questions that follow it.

PASSAGE – 
(No. of words: 496)

Although researchers have turned the AIDS virus inside-out and carefully detailed how it destroys the immune system,
they have yet to unravel which immune responses can fend off an infection. That means, as one AIDS vaccine
researcher famously put it more than a decade ago, the field is “flying without a compass.” Some sceptics contend that
no vaccine will ever stop HIV. They argue that the virus replicates so quickly and makes so many mistakes during the
process that vaccines can’t possibly fend off all the types of HIV that exist. HIV has also developed sophisticated
mechanisms to dodge immune attack, shrouding its surface protein in sugars to hide vulnerable sites from antibodies
and producing proteins that thwart production of other immune warriors. And the sceptics point out that vaccine
developers have had little success against pathogens like HIV that routinely outwit the immune system – the malaria
parasite, hepatitis C virus, and the tuberculosis bacillus are prime examples.

Yet AIDS vaccine researchers have solid reasons to believe they can succeed. Monkey experiments have shown that
vaccines can protect animals from SIV, a simian relative of HIV. Several studies have identified people who repeatedly
expose themselves to HIV but remain uninfected, suggesting that something is stopping the virus. A small percentage of
people who do become infected never seem to suffer any harm, and others hold the virus at bay for a decade or more
before showing damage to their immune systems. Scientists have also found that some rare antibodies do work
powerfully against the virus in test tube experiments. The hunt for an antibody-based vaccine is also going through
something of a renaissance, although it’s requiring researchers to think backward. Vaccine researchers typically start
with antigens – in this case, pieces of HIV – and then evaluate the antibodies they elicit. But now researchers have
isolated more than a dozen antibodies from infected people that have blocked HIV infection in test tube experiments.
The trick will be to figure out which specific antigens triggered their production.

It could well be that a successful AIDS vaccine will need to stimulate both the production of antibodies and a second line
of defence – cellular immunity, a strategy many are attempting to exploit. Perhaps the key will be stimulating immunity
at mucosal surfaces, where HIV typically enters. It’s even possible that researchers will discover an immune response
that no one knows about today. Or perhaps the answer lies in the interplay between the immune system and human
genetic variability; Studies have highlighted genes that strongly influence who is most susceptible – and who is most
resistant – to HIV infection and disease.

Wherever the answer lies, the insights could help in the development of vaccines against other diseases that, like HIV,
don’t easily succumb to immune attack and that kill millions of people. Vaccine developers for these diseases will
probably also have to look in unusual places for answers. The maps created by AIDS vaccine researchers currently
exploring uncharted immunologic terrain could prove invaluable.

Summarise the text you have just read in about 200 words: _________________________________

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 PASSAGE – 
(No. of words: 374)

The big fuss about consensus management is an issue that boils down to a lot of noise about not much.
The consensus advocates are great admirers of the Japanese management style. Consensus is what Japan is famous
for. Well, I know the Japanese fairly well: They still remember Douglas MacArthur with respect and they still bow down
to their Emperor. In my dealings with them, I found that they talk a lot about consensus, but there’s always one guy
behind the scenes who ends up making the tough decisions. It doesn’t make sense to me to think that Mr. Toyoda or
Mr. Morita of Sony sits around in committee meetings and says, “We’ve got to get everybody in this organization, from
the janitor up, to agree with this move”. The Japanese believe in their workers’ involvement early on in the decision -
making process and in feedback from employees. And they probably listen better than we do. But you can bet that when
the chips are down, the yen stops at the top guy’s desk. So, we’re wasting time trying to emulate something I don’t think
really exists.

Business structures are microcosms of other structures. There were no corporations in the fifteenth century. But there
were families. There were city governments, provinces and armies. There was the Church. All of them had, for lack of a
better word, a pecking order.

Why? Because that’s the only way you can steer clear of anarchy. Otherwise, you’ll have somebody come in one
morning and tell you: “Yesterday I got tired of painting red convertibles, so today I switched to all baby-blues on my
own". You’ll never get anything done right that way.

What’s to admire about consensus management anyway? By its very nature, it’s slow. It can never be daring. There can
never be real accountability – or flexibility. About the only plus that I’ve been able to figure out is that consensus
management means a consistency of direction and objectives. And so much consistency can become faceless, and
that’s a problem too. In any event, I don’t think it can work in this country. The fun of business for entrepreneurs, big or
small, lies in the free enterprise system, not in the greatest agreement by the greatest number.

Summarise the passage in 100 words: ___________________________________________________

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_________________________________________________________________________________

1. Does the author suggest that the Japanese practice What is the author trying to tell us about the
consensus management in letter and spirit? Japanese?
Yes / No
6. What is the author’s opinion about consensus
2. Based on the passage, can we conclude that management?
Japanese companies encourage feedback from their
employees? Yes / No 7. “I know the Japanese fairly well." What is the
author’s tone when making this statement?
3. According to the author, is consensus management
a chimera? Yes / No 8. In the phrase, "emulate something I don’t think
exists”, what does the author suggest is ‘non-
4. According to the author, is consensus management existent’?
compatible with the entrepreneurial spirit? Yes / No
9. The expression, ‘when the chips are down’ refers to
5. “They still remember Douglas MacArthur with _______.
respect and they still bow down to their Emperor.”

PASSAGE – IV

The blast of cold wind tears ______ our shivering bodies. Drawing my jacket tighter and pulling my cap ______ the
frozen ears, I look askance at the motley group of friends gathered around two cars. The temperature seems to be
hovering _______ a freezing low ______ the bright sun. The idea of driving 20-odd kilometres _______ reposterous in
the cold January morning.

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My guests from the Southern parts of the country, though unused to cold weather, were ready to brave the vagaries of
the dipping temperature. They insisted I show them around Agra and the adjoining areas and nothing I said could deter
them. After many prolonged, protesting groans the stone-cold engine finally comes to life and we take off. Despite the
cold, scores of daily bread earners are off to work, pedalling their way laboriously through the misty morning. About
30 minutes later we turn into the Sur Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, with lofty hopes of catching some migratory birds in
action. Riding over the rough patches, we pay the mandatory fees. (1) Keekar trees with (2) leaves line both
sides of the path for about a kilometre as we bump over an (3) of a road. Through the foliage, the (4) lake
suddenly looms into view, its placid waters reflecting the rays of the sun. Little islands within the water body are dotted
with winged creatures. Soon the binos are (5) to the eyes and the cameras get into action.

We reach a board proclaiming our arrival at watch-tower number one. We walk over to the concrete tower which stands
at the bank of the lake promising a great view of the adjoining areas. Right ahead, sitting on a series of poles jutting out
of the water, are a dozen birds in various meditative poses. The area is home to Spot Billed Pelican, Pallas’ Fish Eagle,
Eurasian Spoon-bills, Great Egret, Common Cranes, Sarus Cranes, Egyptian vulture and painted storks during the
winter months, we had been told. Newspapers had reported that the migratory birds had made a detour from the
Keoladeo and headed towards the Sur Sarovar this winter. There sure seemed a lot of birds around.

The sun focuses its energy over the banks of the lake, its rays spreading warmth all around. The scanty foliage of the
forest allows the rays to enter the domain without offering any resistance. All around us, within the forest, are umpteen
winged friends, warbling in different tones. We climb down from the watch tower and walk towards the Python patch.
A board planted at the head of a rough track announces the presence of the majestic reptiles released by the Wildlife
SOS rescue teams in the general area. Excited, we wander around the track, our hearts tattooing loudly, looking for the
reptiles that are supposed to come out during the winter mornings to sun themselves. From a safe distance we peer
under the rocks and boulders, peep into the umpteen holes searching for the fugitives. In our hands we carry sticks we
have picked up, just in case a python surprises us. Our _____ hearing senses have reached a state of utter ______,
continually imagining slithering and whistling sounds. We walk the next 500 metres, searching for pythons without
success. Not a single one in sight!.

The tall electrified gates of the Bear Rescue Centre ______ before us. The Centre ______ its way into the Limca Book
of Records for harbouring the largest number of Sloth Bears. It is also reputed to be the single largest such facility for
rescued dancing Sloth Bears in the world. We ______ by Dr. Raja, a friendly and warm veterinarian doctor who
_______ after the health and welfare of the inmates. _______ us around the centre, he familiarises us with the details.
“We’ve just completed five years'; the first rescued dancing bear was brought here on Christmas Eve in 2002. Till today
we have rescued more than 400 bears and this place alone harbours 130 of them” From Dr. Raja we learn that the
Indian Sloth Bears have been used by a nomadic gypsy tribe called “Kalandars” for earning their living. It begins with
the stealing of bear cubs when they are less than a month old. The cubs are transported in sacks from one trading
market to another till they reach the Kalandars. The delicate snouts of the poor creatures are pierced with a red-hot iron
rod and a coarse jute rope is passed through it. Sometimes, the wound gets infected and maggots take over.
The canines are broken and claws are chopped off, using primitive tools like stones or iron chisels. The males are
castrated brutally without the use of anaesthesia. “The tugging of the rope on the muzzle and the fear of the stick makes
the bears ‘dance’ and entertain people,” said the doctor. Most of the rescued bears require dental treatment which is
provided by Dr. Raja in the hospital which has X-Ray equipment as well as a pathological laboratory.

We are introduced to Ravi and Maya, two playful cubs engaged in mock fight, and taken through the vast centre with its
state-of-the-art hospital with its operation theatre, feeding area, and socialising pen. The free-ranging area with its
hammocks, tyre swings, little water pools and greenery is a pleasant place, rather like a children’s park. Many of the
bears are blind. We are moved by the sight of them groping around. It is feeding time, and a feast in the form of multi-
grain porridge, honey, and fruits is ready for the ursine inmates. The smell of food has already led some of the bears
into the feeding den. They begin pacing the place impatiently while the fruits are washed and readied for them.
The sight of a beautiful deer draws appreciative exclamations from the group. “That is Barry,” informs Dr.Raja. “He is a
hog-deer rescued from a village in Palwal. The place is full of monkeys who forage for the leftover food after the bears
have been fed. They dart fearlessly from tree to tree playfully. A few adventurous ones clamber down from trees to
make faces at us. The enclosures have electrified wires and bears as well as the monkeys know the dangers of
touching the live wires.

The sun is calling it a day as we wave to the bears and convey our gratitude to Dr. Raja. Memories of the day keep us
warm as we drive back in the cold.

10. The first paragraph contains 5 blanks. Given below 12. Identify the parts of speech that the following words
are 5 pairs of words. Choose the appropriate option belong to, as used in paragraph 2, where they are
to fill each blank. underlined.
(A) Through/from (B) around/over (A) ready (B) vagaries (C) adjoining
(C) between/around (D) contrary to/despite (D) nothing (E) deter
(E) seems/looks
13. Choose the appropriate word from the following
11. The expression “look askance” in the first paragraph jumble to fill the numbered blanks in paragraph 2.
means to (A) scrubby (B) emaciated
(A) look doubtfully. (B) look questioningly. (C) pristine (D) apology
(C) look deprecatingly. (D) look quizzically. (E) riveted

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14. Which of the following is an appropriate replacement 21. Given below are five statements lettered A to E. Pick
for the word ‘scanty’ in paragraph 4? the statement which is closest in meaning to the
(A) Lush (B) Sparse second sentence in paragraph 2.
(C) Thick (D) Meagre (A) They wanted to see Agra and its adjoining
areas despite my protests.
15. There are two blanks in paragraph 4. Pick the pair (B) They were determined to see the areas around
that is most appropriate to fill the blanks. Agra.
(A) acute –––– depression (C) I could not stop them from desiring to see Agra
(B) sharp –––– confusion and its surroundings.
(C) taut –––– stress (D) I had to stop them from seeing Agra and its
(D) honed –––– chaos surroundings.
(E) Their desire to see Agra and its surroundings
16. Given below are four verbs. Use the correct forms of was too strong for me to stop them.
the verbs to fill in the blanks of para 5.
(A) loom (B) make 22. The last sentence in paragraph 4 expresses
(C) meet (D) look (A) relief (B) disappointment.
(E) lead (C) disillusionment. (D) apprehension.

17. Find the odd man from the following words. 23. The given passage is most probably an extract
(A) bovine (B) ursine from a
(C) aquiline (D) ovine (A) travelogue. (B) dissertation.
(C) study on sloth bears. (D) text book.
18. Given below are four words. Choose the word which
is the opposite of ‘mandatory’. 24. Identify the following sentences as Fact, Inference
(A) binding (B) obligatory or Judgement.
(C) compulsory (D) discretionary
Facts deal with pieces of information that one has
19. Match the following words in the left hand side column, heard, seen or read and which are open to
used in para 6, with their contextual meanings in the discovery or verification.
right hand side column.
Inferences are conclusions drawn about the
unknown on the basis of the known. Judgements
1. Pacing (a) moving suddenly and quickly are opinions that imply approval or disapproval of
2. Draws (b) climb up or down with difficulty persons, objects, situations or occurrences that refer
to the past, present or future.
3. Forage (c) search for something (A) The idea of driving 20 odd kilometers in the cold
4. Dart (d) walk up and down January morning was preposterous (F/I/J).
(B) The smell of food has already drawn some of
makes people react in a
5. Clamber (e) the bears into the feeding den. (F/I/J).
particular way
(C) The cubs are transported in sacks from one
trading market to another, till they reach the
20. The style of the given passage can be said to be
Kalandars. (F/I/J)
(A) narrative. (B) descriptive.
(C) factual. (D) discursive.

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