VARC

Para Completion
 For questions 1 to 30
There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide in which blank (option 1, 2,
3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.
1. Sentence: Iwasaki has been at the forefront of
numerous research breakthroughs throughout the
course of the pandemic.
Paragraph: According to the most recent estimates,
more than 65 million people worldwide may be
living with some form of long Covid, a startling
number that will only continue to increase, given
the lack of available treatment options. ___(1)___.
One of the scientists leading the race to try to
unravel the complexities of long Covid is Akiko
Iwasaki, an immunology professor at Yale School
of Medicine. ___(2)___. She has been studying
why men were more vulnerable to the Sars-CoV-2
virus, the autoimmunity that made some people
unexpectedly susceptible, and why a small
minority have experienced heart inflammation in
response to the Covid-19 vaccines. ___(3)___.
Most recently, Iwasaki has been awarded the
prestigious Else Kröner Fresenius Prize for
Medical Research, worth €2.5m (£2.2m), in part
due to her ongoing work on long Covid.
___(4)___.
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
2. Sentence: And yet marriage, clearly, isn't for
everyone.
Paragraph: One of the curious things about marriage
is the role it's played in embedding commonly held
views about normality. Married people are
generally considered normal people. ___(1)___.
As such, they have possessed inordinate power to
dictate the terms of normality in a way that single
people rarely can. ___(2)___. Plenty of people
have no desire to do it. Plenty of others have done
it and haven't liked it. The stats only corroborate
this. ___(3)___. Fewer people over the years have
been getting married, while the stresses and
strains of lockdown in 2020 (along with the
temporary closure of venues) saw divorces in
England and Wales overtake weddings for the first
time. ___(4)___. Not everyone, however, is taking
marriage's declining popularity lying down.
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
3. Sentence: But the pay is better than my last job and I'm
starting to plan for the future.
Paragraph: Two weeks ago I started a new job, working
with young people who are being exploited or at risk of
being dragged into county-lines activities. ___(1)___.
The problem is becoming more prevalent in schools,
colleges and pupil referral units (PRU) - children are
doing it to other children now. I feel I can help in a
positive way. ___(2)___. And although I was hoping for
a permanent job with holiday pay, this is an ongoing
contract initially for three months. ___(3)___. I want to
go on holiday. I haven't had a holiday since before the
pandemic. I had booked to go to Morocco, but it was
cancelled during lockdown. Now my passport has
expired and I will have to pay £82.50 to renew it; the
fee went up in February. I plan to start putting money
aside each week. My new job is full time but I don't
have to go into an office every day, so I save a bit of
money on travel. ___(4)___. I've still got my other jobs:
my Saturday reparation work, my casual youth work,
my evening youth work. It's a lot, but it's good because
many people are doing that now - I've always had lots
of jobs so it doesn't feel like a chore to me, it feels
normal. Still, I need a holiday. I need to get out of here.
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
4. Sentence: Prevention is the first stage of fraud risk
management.
Paragraph: The financial sector has been one of the most
frequently threatened sectors by the dangers of fraud
during the COVID-19 pandemic. ___(1)___. In banks,
fraud causes reputational risk, which may in turn result
in the loss of trust on the bank, leading to loss of
customers and banks' potential business. ___(2)___.
This is a serious concern, which needs immediate
attention. To address this issue, a 360-degree view on
fraud mitigation strategy is the need of the hour, where
each and every employee of an organisation needs to
act as a fraud mitigation officer, as fraud can emerge
from anywhere in a bank. ___(3)___. It has been
observed that a strong fraud risk management and
culture will have a positive effect on the performance of
banks. Thus, to implement this, banks need to relook
at their existing fraud mitigation strategy and take
innovative measures starting from fraud prevention to
detection, and from detection to response. ___(4)___.
It is the first line of defence, which covers all anti-fraud
mitigation actions including control mechanism, staff
training, and customer awareness.
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
5. Sentence: The ceremony was conspicuous by the
absence of many parliamentarians from the opposition
parties.
Paragraph: On 28 May 2023, India's new Parliament
building was officially inaugurated by the Prime
Minister in front of a large crowd of guests and
parliamentarians. ___(1)___. The new structure-which
is triangular in design and includes an enhanced
seating capacity of up to 384 seats in the Rajya Sabha
Hall and 888 seats in the Lok Sabha Hall-is a
component of the central vista redevelopment project,
which seeks to revamp several nationally significant
institutions located in Lutyens' Delhi. ___(2)___. The
construction of the new Parliament building was
completed in a large measure during the COVID-19
pandemic, and it is among the first structures in this
redevelopment plan to have been officially
inaugurated. ___(3)___. However, the grand
inauguration ceremony of the new Parliament was
notable for several reasons. ___(4)___. There was
another controversy that ignited a lot of heated
historical debate around the symbol of the Sengol.
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
6. Sentence: Later, in another four decades, the global
population again doubled to 6 billion in 2000.
Paragraph: It is finally official: ___(1)___. India is now the
most populated nation in the world, outpacing China,
which held the number one position for around two
centuries. ___(2)___. Last year, the United Nations
publication, World Population Prospects 2022,
projected that India's population will surpass that of
China in 2023. ___(3)___. And earlier last month, the
State of World Population report of the United Nations
Population Fund estimated India's population to be
1.428 billion in 2023 as against 1.425 billion in China.
The global population is now 8.045 billion, of which
1.151 billion are in the least developed countries,
6.769 million in the less developed regions and 1.276
billion in the more developed regions. That means
global population grew almost eightfold over the last
two centuries. While it is estimated that it took almost
50,000 years for global population to touch 1 billion by
around 1804, it then doubled to 2 billion by 1927, and
further grew to 3 billion by 1960. ___(4)___.
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
7. Sentence: Although stress is an unmistakable part of the
many problems faced by students, it cannot merely be
taken as the only factor causing student suicides in
India.
Paragraph: The recent death by suicide of Darshan
Solanki, an 18-year-old Dalit student at the Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, points towards
certain festering problems in the higher educational
institutions in India in general and IITs in particular.
___(1)___. In 2021, the union minister of education
had stated in Parliament that 122 students had died
between 2014 and 2021, with 101 students dying in
central universities, IITs, and National Institutes of
Technology combined. ___(2)___. The IITs alone
accounted for 34 student suicides, and the data also
revealed that students belonging to Scheduled Castes
(SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward
Classes (OBCs) comprised 58% of all student suicides
since 2014. Student suicides have no singular reason.
___(3)___. The circumstances that make a student
take the tragic step of ending their own life emerge
from a variety of sources-social as well as
pedagogical, economic as well as curricular, political
as well as psychological. The response elicited by the
student suicides in IITs from the university
administration is highly deficient as it mainly looks at
the problem of suicides as caused by a singular reason
of excessive stress. ___(4)___.
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
8. Sentence: A cursory analysis of the railway budget,
however, shows that despite some gains in freight
carriage, the passenger services of the transporter
have suffered a major setback.
Paragraph: The railway budgets have been pushed out of
the media limelight, and their numbers shielded from a
closer scrutiny, after their co-option in the union
government budgets. ___(1)___. However, the crucial
role of the railways in the nation's infrastructure and its
significant share of the freight and passenger traffic
necessitate that the performance of the railways be
evaluated carefully. ___(2)___. This is more so
because the government has now significantly stepped
up investments in the railways, making it a showcase
for the introduction of new technologies and its
modernisation drive. ___(3)___. There is a huge
shortfall in the passenger traffic which is a major
concern especially because it is the ordinary economy-
class travel segment that is the most affected.
___(4)___.
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
9. Sentence: The public parks, vegetable and fish markets,
shopping malls and street corners-naka (Marathi) or
nukkad (in Hindi)-are, for example, some of the spaces
where people can hang around.
Paragraph: The emergence of modern public spaces
produced in the process of urbanisation, as expected
by the modern planners, was supposed to be
organised around a normative core. ___(1)___. Put
differently, these spaces would provide an enabling
physical condition in which the urban public would gain
a chance to loiter around these places either with
some purpose or even without any specific purpose.
___(2)___. This urban thrust would certainly look
normative in the larger social context, in which certain
sections are still hostile to the autonomous movement
of individuals. ___(3)___. Members of certain
marginalised communities do face hostility, externally
as well as internally, by the social patriarchy embedded
in caste hierarchy, ethnic forces and religious
establishments. In this context, it is necessary to take
into consideration the public spaces that have the
egalitarian core in the sense that they are more
hospitable to unrestricted participation. ___(4)___.
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
10. Sentence: Reports on the safety of children suggest
that abuse within educational institutions go
unrecorded or unnoticed unless the victims themselves
complain or the parents notice the injuries or changes
in the behaviour of the child.
Paragraph: For many Indians from the marginalised
sections of society, schooling can be an anxiety-ridden
process wherein their dignity and self-respect are at
stake.___(1)___. In the Jalore case in Rajasthan, the
abuse was very much known as the young victim
narrated the incident and the concerned father noticed
the injuries. ___(2)___. Even before the grieving
parents could come to terms with the traumatising loss
of their child, the absence of a portable pot in the
premises of the school, where the crime happened, is
now being obsessively held by some corporate news
media as an evidence against the dead child's story of
abuse and father's claim of caste discrimination.
___(3)___. Evidence-based chroniclers of our social
past tell us how the drinking water pot contains
struggles to democratise the educational space and
make it free from daily caste humiliation. ___(4)___.
Almost a century ago, in 1923, the Bombay Schools
Committee passed an order to stop discriminatory
practices in municipal schools.
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
11. Sentence: In addition to its economic effects, the
Industrial Revolution also influenced political and social
spheres.
Paragraph: The Industrial Revolution was a period of major
industrialization that took place during the late 18th
and early 19th centuries. ___(1)___ It began in and
soon spread to other parts of Europe and North
America. This revolution brought significant changes in
agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and transportation.
The development of new machines and technologies
led to increased productivity and the emergence of
factories. ___(2)___ Furthermore, it had a profound
impact on society, transforming the way people lived
and worked. ___(3)___ People migrated from rural
areas to cities in search of employment opportunities,
resulting in urbanization. ___(4)___
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
12. Sentence: This includes ecological systems, human
health, and economies.
Paragraph: The concept of climate change refers to long-
term alterations in temperature and weather patterns
across the globe. These changes are primarily caused
by human activities, particularly the burning of fossil
fuels and deforestation. The consequences of climate
change are far-reaching and affect various aspects of
our planet. ___(1)___ Rising global temperatures have
led to the melting of polar ice caps, resulting in rising
sea levels and the loss of habitat for many species.
___(2)___ Extreme weather events such as
hurricanes, droughts, and heatwaves have become
more frequent and intense. Additionally, climate
change poses significant risks to agriculture, food
security, and water resources. ___(3)___ To mitigate
the effects of climate change, it is crucial for nations to
adopt sustainable practices and reduce greenhouse
gas emissions. ___(4)___
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
13. Sentence: It has fostered a sense of virtual
communities and connectedness.
Paragraph: The Internet has revolutionized the way we
communicate, access information, and conduct
business. It has connected people from all corners of
the world and provided a platform for instant global
communication. ___(1)___ With the advent of social
media, individuals can easily share their thoughts,
ideas, and experiences with a wide audience. The
Internet has also facilitated online shopping, enabling
consumers to browse and purchase products from the
comfort of their homes. ___(2)___ Moreover, it has
transformed industries such as entertainment,
education, and healthcare, offering new possibilities
and opportunities for innovation. ___(3)___ However,
the increasing reliance on the Internet has raised
concerns about privacy, cybersecurity, and the digital
divide. ___(4)___
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
14. Sentence: Specialized regions within the brain, such as
the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, are
responsible for specific functions.
Paragraph: The human brain is a complex organ
responsible for various cognitive functions and
behaviors. It is composed of billions of neurons that
transmit electrical signals and enable communication
within the brain and with the rest of the body.
___(1)___ These structures play a crucial role in
regulating emotions, memory formation, and decision-
making processes. The brain is also responsible for
coordinating voluntary and involuntary actions, such as
movement and maintaining vital bodily functions.
___(2)___ Additionally, the brain exhibits a remarkable
capacity for adaptation and learning throughout life. It
can rewire its neural connections in response to new
experiences and information. This phenomenon is
known as neuroplasticity. ___(3)___ Moreover, the
brain is susceptible to various neurological disorders
and conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease,
Parkinson's disease, and strokes. ___(4)___
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
15. Sentence: The process of photosynthesis plays a
critical role in maintaining the balance of atmospheric
gasses.
Paragraph: Photosynthesis is a vital process that occurs in
plants, algae, and some bacteria. It is the process by
which these organisms convert sunlight, water, and
carbon dioxide into glucose and oxygen. ___(1)___
This energy-rich molecule is used by the organism for
growth, reproduction, and other metabolic activities.
During photosynthesis, light energy is absorbed by
chlorophyll, a pigment found in the chloroplasts of plant
cells. ___(2)___ This step generates chemical energy
in the form of ATP, which is crucial for the synthesis of
glucose. The byproduct of photosynthesis is oxygen,
which is released into the atmosphere. ___(3)___ This
oxygen production is essential for the survival of many
organisms, as it is used in cellular respiration.
___(4)___
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
16. Sentence: The boundaries between these plates are
characterized by different types of interactions.
Paragraph: Plate tectonics is a scientific theory that
explains the movement of Earth's lithospheric plates.
These plates are massive sections of the Earth's crust
and upper mantle that float on the semi-fluid
asthenosphere. ___(1)___ The lithospheric plates are
in constant motion due to the convective currents in
the underlying mantle. This movement can result in
various geological phenomena, such as earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions, and the formation of mountain
ranges.___(2)___ Additionally, plate tectonics plays a
crucial role in shaping the Earth's surface, as it
influences the distribution of continents, the opening
and closing of ocean basins, and the formation of
landforms. ___(3)___ The theory of plate tectonics
provides a comprehensive framework for
understanding the dynamic nature of our planet's
geology. ___(4)___
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
17. Sentence: These timeless works continue to resonate
with audiences across different generations and
cultures.
Paragraph: William Shakespeare is widely regarded as
one of the greatest playwrights in literary history. His
works, such as "Romeo and Juliet," "Hamlet," and
"Macbeth," have had a profound impact on the world of
literature and continue to be studied and performed
today. ___(1)___ Shakespeare's plays often explore
universal themes of love, power, ambition, and the
complexities of human nature. His characters, such as
Romeo, Juliet, and Hamlet, have become iconic and
are often considered archetypes in literature.
___(2)___ Additionally, Shakespeare's mastery of
language and poetic techniques, such as his use of
iambic pentameter and vivid imagery, have made his
works a treasure trove of literary beauty and rhetorical
devices. ___(3)___ Moreover, Shakespeare's influence
extends beyond the realm of plays, as his sonnets are
celebrated for their lyrical expressions of love and
beauty. ___(4)___
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
18. Sentence: These AI technologies have the capacity to
analyze vast amounts of data and generate valuable
insights.
Paragraph: Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a
transformative technology in recent years,
revolutionizing various industries and aspects of our
lives. AI refers to the development of computer
systems that can perform tasks that typically require
human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech
recognition, and decision-making. ___(1)___ AI-
powered applications and algorithms are being
employed in fields like healthcare, finance,
transportation, and entertainment to enhance
efficiency, accuracy, and user experiences. ___(2)___
Furthermore, AI has the potential to drive significant
advancements in areas such as autonomous vehicles,
personalized medicine, and smart cities. ___(3)___
However, the rapid advancement of AI also raises
concerns about privacy, ethics, and potential job
displacement. ___(4)___
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
19. Sentence: It was fueled by technological innovations
and the harnessing of new sources of energy, such as
coal and steam.
Paragraph: The Industrial Revolution was a period of
significant economic and social change that occurred
in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It marked a
shift from agrarian-based societies to industrialized
economies, characterized by the mechanization of
production, the development of new manufacturing
processes, and the growth of factories. ___(1)___ This
period also witnessed advancements in transportation,
such as the construction of railways and the invention
of the steam engine, which revolutionized the
movement of goods and people. ___(2)___ The
Industrial Revolution had far-reaching effects on
society, including urbanization, the rise of the working
class, and changes in living conditions and social
structures. ___(3)___ Additionally, this period laid the
foundation for modern capitalism and the concept of
mass production. ___(4)___
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
20. Sentence: The risk of executing innocent individuals
undermines the integrity of the criminal justice system.
Paragraph: Capital punishment, also known as the death
penalty, has been a subject of ongoing debate and
controversy. Supporters argue that it serves as a
deterrent for potential criminals and provides a sense
of justice for heinous crimes. ___(1)___ They believe
that certain crimes, such as murder or treason,
deserve the harshest punishment, and capital
punishment ensures that the punishment fits the
severity of the crime. However, opponents of the death
penalty argue that it violates the fundamental human
right to life and raises concerns about wrongful
convictions and the irrevocability of the punishment.
___(2)___ They advocate for alternative forms of
punishment that focus on rehabilitation and the
possibility of reforming offenders. Additionally, the
implementation of the death penalty has been
inconsistent, with disparities in its application based on
factors such as race, socioeconomic status, and
geographic location. ___(3)___ These disparities raise
questions about the fairness and impartiality of the
criminal justice system. Furthermore, studies have
shown that the death penalty does not necessarily act
as a deterrent to crime, as the decision to commit a
crime is often influenced by other factors such as
socioeconomic conditions and mental health.
___(4)___
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
21. Sentence: Deployed at scale, sucker tropes help to
perpetuate group stereotypes - about who can be
trusted and who should be policed - and reinforce
traditional class, race and gender hierarchies in ways
that we scarcely appreciate.
Paragraph: It makes sense to be wary of scams: you
should not reply to your spam emails, no matter how
much you'd like to help a prince retrieve millions from
his trust fund. But there are costs to excessive
scepticism, too, for both the self and the social order.
___(1)___ A diverse body of evidence from psychology
and behavioural economics can help us understand
those costs. ___(2)___ On a personal level, the fear of
being suckered can encourage someone to be risk
averse, to avoid the kind of cooperation that is
essential to any new venture. At the systemic level, the
stakes of distrust are even higher. ___(3)___ The fear
of being a sucker can become an excuse to reject
solidarity, to hold people under suspicion. ___(4)___
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
22. Sentence: Speaking at the dialogue, Asia's top security
summit, on Sunday, Li took thinly veiled digs at the US,
repeating familiar grievances and accusing "some
countries" of intensifying an arms race and interfering
in the internal affairs of others.
Paragraph: China's defence minister, Li Shangfu, has said
a cold war mentality is resurgent in the Asia-Pacific
region, but Beijing seeks dialogue over confrontation.
___(1)___ The remarks came after Li refused to
formally meet the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin,
at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. ___(2)___ "A
cold war mentality is now resurgent, greatly increasing
security risks," he said. "Mutual respect should prevail
over bullying and hegemony." ___(3)___ Li, a general
of the People's Liberation Army, has been under US
sanctions since 2018 over the purchase of combat
aircraft and equipment from Russia's main arms
exporter, Rosoboronexport. ___(4)___
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
23. Sentence: But if you think the spectacle of ostensibly
intelligent humans being taken in by robotic parrots is
weird, then take a moment to ponder the positively
surreal goings-on in other parts of the AI forest.
Paragraph: One is reminded of that old story of the chap
who, having shot his father and mother, then throws
himself on the mercy of the court on the grounds that
he is now an orphan. ___(1)___ But the Mata case is
just another illustration of the madness about AI that
currently reigns. ___(2)___ I've lost count of the
number of apparently sentient humans who have
emerged bewitched from conversations with "chatbots"
- the polite term for "stochastic parrots" who do nothing
else except make statistical predictions of the most
likely word to be appended to the sentence they are at
that moment engaged in composing. ___(3)___ This
week, for example, a large number of tech luminaries
signed a declaration that "Mitigating the risk of
extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside
other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and
nuclear war". ___(4)___
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
24. Sentence: Even when you try to imagine its absence,
you sense it moving as your thoughts shift, your heart
pumps blood to your brain, and images, sounds and
smells move around you.
Paragraph: A timeless universe is hard to imagine, but not
because time is a technically complex or
philosophically elusive concept. ___(1)___ There is a
more structural reason: imagining timelessness
requires time to pass. ___(2)___ The thing that is time
never seems to stop. You may even feel woven into its
ever-moving fabric as you experience the Universe
coming together and apart. ___(3)___ But is that how
time really works? ___(4)___ According to Albert
Einstein, our experience of the past, present and future
is nothing more than 'a stubbornly persistent illusion'.
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
25. Sentence: It is human activity, through the emission of
greenhouse gases (generating an additional
greenhouse effect), that has caused the Earth energy
imbalance.
Paragraph: Solar radiation is virtually Earth's only energy
source, the other energy sources - such as Earth's
interior heat and tidal energy - being negligible.
___(1)___ The Earth reflects around 30 per cent of the
solar radiation and emits radiation towards space. The
greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane) let solar
radiation pass, but not the radiation emitted by the
Earth, thus trapping this energy. ___(2)___ Earth's
near-surface temperature, which is 15°C, would be
around -19°C without the greenhouse effect. ___(3)___
If the difference between the incoming energy - solar
radiation - and outgoing energy - the sum of the solar
radiation reflected by the Earth and the radiation
emitted by the Earth - is not equal to zero, as is the
case currently, we refer to this as Earth Energy
Imbalance (EEI). ___(4)___
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
26. Sentence: Global recycling capacity simply cannot
keep up with the taking, making and wasting of natural
resources.
Paragraph: Recycling was once considered the obvious
solution to the excessive amount of new (or virgin)
plastic produced each year. This is no longer realistic.
___(1)___ Growing mountains of plastic waste are
accumulating in the poorest countries as affluent
nations such as the UK ship their recycling overseas.
___(2)___ But some nations are importing far more
plastic waste than they can possibly recycle. The
recycling process itself also creates problems.
___(3)___ A new report by Greenpeace and the
International Pollutants Elimination Network has
revealed how plastics which are made with or come
into contact with toxic chemicals, such as flame
retardants, can contaminate the recycling process by
spreading these toxins through subsequent batches of
plastic waste. ___(4)___
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
27. Sentence: This debate brings to the forefront the inter-
linkages between trade and the environment.
Paragraph: The European Union's (EU) key climate law,
the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM),
has spooked India. ___(1)___ New Delhi fears that
CBAM will cripple the export of its carbon-intensive
products to the EU. While India's exports may be
limited to aluminium, iron, and steel, and affect only
1.8% of its total exports to the EU, India has reportedly
decried CBAM as being protectionist and
discriminatory. ___(2)___ There is also talk of
challenging the CBAM at the World Trade Organization
(WTO)'s dispute settlement body. ___(3)___ While the
international trade regime allows countries to adopt
unilateral measures for safeguarding the environment,
environmental protection should not become a
smokescreen for trade protectionism. ___(4)___ The
CBAM needs to be viewed from this standpoint.
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
28. Sentence: OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot mimics
intelligence very well; today, it has become
synonymous with the abilities of generative AI at large.
Paragraph: Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is AI that
can create new data. There are many instances of
generative AI in the world today, most commonly used
to generate text, images, and code in response to
users' requests, even if they are capable of more.
___(1)___ Their widespread adoption really
embellished their capabilities, leading to awe, then
worry. ___(2)___ In the last few years, AI models
backed by neural networks trained on very large
datasets and with access to sufficient computing power
have been used to do good, such as finding new
antibiotics and alloys, for clever entertainment and
cultural activities, and for many banal tasks, but it has
caught attention most notably with its ability to falsify
data. ___(3)___ The world is past being able to reliably
differentiate between data that faithfully reflects reality
and data made to look that way by bad-faith actors
using AI. ___(4)___
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
29. Sentence: While there is a debate on whether we are
over-pathologizing everyday behaviors, a line of
research claims that if the use of SNS takes
precedence over other life activities, becomes hard to
control, and is continued despite the occurrence of
negative consequences, it might resemble addictive
behavior patterns.
Paragraph: The use of social networking sites (SNS) has
become an integral part of our lives. ___(1)___ We can
access them anywhere and anytime. ___(2)___ For
some, this feels like time well-spent on helpful or
enriching activities on SNS. ___(3)___ However, a
vulnerable minority feels guilty about this wasted time,
experiences a decrease in well-being, or reports that
they lose control over their use. ___(4)___ Main lines
of reasoning that certain behaviors might be
considered as addictive refer to the scientific evidence
for the clinical relevance of the behavior, the theoretical
embedding of phenomena, and the similarity of
underlying cognitive and affective mechanisms to
those of substance use disorders.
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
30. Sentence: This causes great upheaval in their lives as
students and is an intense stressful experience.
Paragraph: In the academic environment, students are
challenged with many responsibilities and high
achievement requirements that demand constant
adaptation on their part. ___(1)___ The concept of
stress by Lazarus and Folkman (1984) provides an
understanding of the mechanisms underlying the
emergence of academic stress in the student
population. ___(2)___ For example, students feel
stressed when they feel that they lack the skills
necessary to meet the demands of the academic
environment. ___(3)___ Yet, stress can be beneficial
for this population because it increases the motivation
of students in the face of the various demands of the
university environment. ___(4)___ However, when the
presence of this stress comes to disrupt their learning
or coping skills, it becomes detrimental to their health
and studies.
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
Thanks!