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Date: 08-12-2023
CA Intermediate
BCR
Test Paper
Time Allowed: 35 Min Maximum Marks: 30

S TRICT INSTRUCTIONS Otherwise, your paper will not be checked.


1) Write your Name, Registered email Id, Phone number and State at the top of the answer sheet
before starting the paper.
2) UPLOADING THE ANSWER SHEET:
 Take images of answer sheet in VERTICAL FORM (not horizontal).
 Make PDF of all images in sequence using the App CAM SCANNER or any other App.
 Upload it before time.
 Be HIGHLY careful while uploading the answer sheet. Once you wrongly uploaded the
answer sheet, you will not be able to rectify it.
1) Note–Making : Any 3 [3 X 5 = 15] & Comprehension: Any 3 [3 X 5 = 15].

S.N. Questions Marks


1. Conversation is indeed the most easily teachable of all arts. All you need to do to
become a good conversationalist is to find a subject that interests you and your
listeners. There are, for example, countless hobbies to talk about. But the important
thing is that you must talk about other fellow’s hobby rather than your own. Therein
lies the secret of your popularity. Talk to your friends about the things that interest
them, and you will get a reputation for good fellowship, charming wit, and a brilliant
mind. There is nothing that pleases people so much as your interest in their interest.
It is just as important to know what subjects to avoid and what subjects to select for
good conversation. If you don’t want to be set down as a wet blanket or a bore, be
careful to avoid certain unpleasant subjects. Avoid talking about yourself, unless you
are asked to do so. People are interested in their own problems not in yours. Sickness
or death bores everybody. The only one who willingly listens to such talk is the doctor,
but he gets paid for it.
To be a good conversationalist you must know not only what to say, but how also to
say it. Be mentally quick and witty. But don’t hurt others with your wit. Finally, try to
avoid mannerisms in your conversation. Don’t bite your lips, click your tongue, or roll
your eyes or use your hands excessively as you speak.
Don’t be like that Frenchman who said, “How can I talk if you hold my hand?”
a) Based on your reading of the above passage, make notes on it in points only, 3
using abbreviations, wherever necessary. Also, suggest a suitable title.
b) Write a summary of the passage, using the notes you have made. 2
2. A good business letter is one that gets results. The best way to get results is to develop
a letter that, in its appearance, style and content, conveys information efficiently. To
perform this function, a business letter should be concise, clear and courteous.
The business letter must be concise: don’t waste words. A little introduction or
preliminary chat is necessary. Get to the point, make the point, and leave it. It is safe
to assume that your letter is being read by a very busy person with all kinds of papers
to deal with. Re-read and revise your message until the words and sentences you have
used are precise. This takes time but is a necessary part of a good business letter. A

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short business letter that makes its point quickly has much more impact on a reader
than a long-winded, rambling exercise in creative writing. This does not mean that
there is no place for style and even, on occasion, humour in the business letter. While
it conveys a message in its contents, the letter also provides the reader with an
impression of you, its author: the medium is part of the message.
The business letter must be clear. You should have a very firm idea of what you want
to say, and you should let the reader know it. Use the structure of the letter—the
paragraphs, topic sentences, introduction and conclusion—to guide the reader point
by point from your thesis, through your reasoning, to your conclusion. Paragraphs
often, break up the page and to lend an air of organisation to the letter. Use an accepted
business letter format. Re-read what you have written from the point of view of
someone who is seeing it for the first time, and be sure that all explanations are
adequate, and all information provided (including reference numbers, dates, and
other identification). A clear message, clearly delivered, is the essence of business
communication.
The business letter must be courteous. Sarcasm and insults are ineffective and can
often work against you. If you are sure you are right, point that out as politely as
possible, explain why you are right, and outline what the reader is expected to do
about it. Another form of courtesy is taking care in your writing and typing of the
business letter. Grammatical and spelling errors (even if you call them typing errors)
tell a reader that you don’t think enough of him or can lower the reader’s opinion of
your personality faster than anything you say, no matter how idiotic. There are
excuses for ignorance; there are no excuses for sloppiness.
The business letter is your custom-made representative. It speaks for you and is a
permanent record of your message. It can pay big dividends on the time you invest in
giving it a concise message, a clear structure, and a courteous tone.
a) Based on your reading of the above passage, make notes on it in points only, 3
using abbreviations, wherever necessary. Also, suggest a suitable title.
b) Write a summary of the passage, using the notes you have made. 2
3. Scientists in the USA and Japan are developing a set of smart materials that clean
themselves off dirt and stains besides eliminating foul odours and dangerous bacteria.
Exploiting powerful catalytic properties, researchers succeeded in creating tiles, glass,
paint, paper and cloth that can keep themselves sparkling clean. The first item to reach
the market, a self-cleaning wall and counter tile, can not only kill bacteria but also
eliminate odours and staining associated with smoke from cooking oils and cigarettes,
reports the journal Technology Review.
The key to the self-cleansing world of the future is the interaction between titanium
dioxide and ultraviolet rays from the sun or fluorescent lights. The special properties
of titanium dioxide—a substance used to make paint and toothpaste white—were first
discovered by Tokyo University chemist Akira Fujishima and Associates in 1969. Their
research showed that when exposed to solar energy, titanium dioxide has the ability
to break down water into hydrogen and oxygen.
After a quarter-century of observation, scientists now understand that the reaction
occurs as titanium dioxide absorbs energy from the UV band of sunlight and reacts
with water vapour in the air to produce oxygen molecules. These molecules are
energetic enough to break down organic matter into carbon dioxide and trace
elements. “When light shines on the white paint pigment, titanium dioxide, it produces
an active form of oxygen that can burn combustible material at room temperature,”

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says David Ollis, Professor of Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University.
“It is a fire without a flame.”
Scientists have discovered that titanium dioxide-coated materials can easily remove
thin deposits such as bacteria and fingerprints, though they are unable to break down
thick splotches of organic materials—such as blood stains—because light and oxygen
in the air cannot reach the surface where the reaction occurs. Fujishima says that
when titanium-dioxide tiles were used in the operating rooms and bathrooms of Ako
Central Hospital in Ako, Japan, they killed 99.9 per cent of bacteria on their surface.
Included among them were penicillin-resistant Staphylococcus and other germs that
can cause secondary infections among patients.
The tiles—marketed by Japan’s Toto Corp under the name Neo Clean—remain
effective even though they are coated with a layer of titanium dioxide only one micron
thick, about one-fiftieth the diameter of a human hair. Once the fine layer of compound
is permanently affixed—it is commonly sprayed and then baked onto the tile’s
surface— the company says it is resistant to the abrasion of ordinary scrubbing that
might be needed for thicker stains. Moreover, because titanium dioxide acts only as a
catalyst for the photochemical reaction, it theoretically never gets used up.
While cleaning time varies with the thickness of the deposit, Adam Heller, a professor
of Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin, says his experiment shows that
titanium dioxide- treated glass removed fingerprints in about two hours. This glass,
versions of which both Heller and Fujishima have developed, could be made reactive
on both sides, making it ideal for everything from sky-scraper windows to car window
glass.
The Japanese have tested other titanium dioxide-treated materials as well. Kazuhito
Hashimoto, a chemist at Tokyo University, applied the compound to a porcelain urinal.
After a month, the treated urinal looked sparkling clean while an untreated unit was
blotched and yellowed. Elsewhere, researchers are experimenting to see if the tiles
can keep themselves clean on the walls of heavily polluted car and truck tunnels. And
a Japanese paper company is developing windows and partitions for Japanese houses
while a camping equipment manufacturer is testing a self-cleaning tent fabric.
But the most promising self-cleaning product is likely to be a wash-itself paint. Both
the Texas and the Tokyo laboratories have demonstrated the self-cleaning capacities
of paints containing titanium dioxide. While they are not saying exactly how they did
it, both claim to have overcome an intrinsic problem in which titanium dioxide breaks
down materials that bind pigments in coloured paints.
a) Based on your reading of the above passage, make notes on it in points only, 3
using abbreviations, wherever necessary. Also, suggest a suitable title.
b) Write a summary of the passage, using the notes you have made. 2
4. Shop till you drop is no longer a problem that only women with money in their purses
and time on their hands suffer from. Excessive shopping and insatiable appetite for
goods are causing problems in all countries that have hitherto promoted naked
consumerism because personal debts are mounting, creating innumerable difficulties
for credit card businesses. Millions are gripped by an insatiable appetite to spend and
visit the frequent sales that keep occurring in New York, Milan, London or Paris.
People can become compulsive buyers of anything from household gadgets, food, and
clothes, to cars.
Compulsive buying has now been diagnosed as a disease and is the result of the
growing advertising campaigns and competition in which shops and firms undercut

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each other with huge price discounts. If shops are closed and it is too late, there is
always the possibility of shopping through the Net. The addiction to shopping is
spreading all over the world. In UK, 2.5 million people are gripped by the shopping
fever. In America, a shopper’s paradise, the number is much more at 15 million. With
rising incomes, millions of Indians could join the league of ‘shopaholics’. It is called
‘oniomania’ which is a compulsive disorder that drives people to buy in a repetitive
and uncontrolled manner regardless of consequences.
Self-help groups are springing up to help compulsive shoppers. Because people
affected by this problem suffer greatly from feelings of isolation, guilt and fear. It can
lead to a breakdown of relationships under the burden of debt and deceit. Women are
more vulnerable than men to this addiction because they tend to believe that to be
valued by society they have to look good. They are more insecure about their image
and while they are shopping, they get a boost to their self-image from the attention
they get from shop assistants. They come back feeling beautiful and successful. Men
too are now joining the ranks of keen shoppers.
The results can be devastating and debts can be huge. Compulsive shoppers keep
borrowing on their credit cards. Psychologists are now saying that people have to face
compulsive shopping as a disorder. It is like the eating disorder or work or exercise
addiction. Most people with eating disorders also have shopping/spending problems.
To break the habit various tips are now being offered and one of the important tips is
not to look at glossy magazines. Most of these magazines work on people’s aspirations
and make the readers discontented with their lifestyle and prompt them to buy more.
Other tips include taking regular stock of one’s clothes and accessories and piling them
up in heaps to convince oneself that one doesn’t need more.
Other ways to discourage shoppers is to make credit less easily available. Advertising
that encourages consumers to borrow and buy instantly are also encouraging
shopoholics. Easy credit to the young is one way of encouraging them to shop without
guilt and thus more careful screening of potential card holders is necessary to ward
off future bad debts. But unfortunately, these deterrents may not work because like
the children of alcoholics and drug addicts turn to these substances, children of
shoppers also indulge in compulsive shopping.
a) Based on your reading of the above passage, make notes on it in points only, 3
using abbreviations, wherever necessary. Also, suggest a suitable title.
b) Write a summary of the passage, using the notes you have made. 2
5. India loses grain crops worth crores of rupees every year because of pests. The
increased food production made possible by modern technology and agricultural
research would become more evident if farmers can effectively combat the various
pests and insects that destroy crops. While some of the crops are destroyed after
harvesting, a large quantity of grains is destroyed in the fields. True that Indian farmer
today is better able to combat these destroyers of grains, for he made available to him
better-storing facilities for the harvested crops and modern chemical aid like
insecticides with which he may spray the growing crops in his fields. But, one has to
remember that not all insects are harmful. The common earthworm, for instance, is a
friend of man, because it works like a dustman by breaking up the dead leaves and
wood from plants and mixing them with the soil, thus making the soil richer.
Therefore, when a farmer sprays his field with chemicals that kill insects, he destroys
his friends with his enemies.
i) A large part of the increased food production is lost because of:

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a) The lack of irrigation facilities


b) The inadequate rainfall in the country
c) The destruction caused by the harmful insects
d) Bad eating habits of the people
ii) The function of the insecticide is:
a) To protect the growing crop
b) To nourish the growing crop
c) To harvest the growing crop
d) To store the harvested crop
iii) When the farmer sprays his field with a chemical that kills insects:
a) He spoils his growing crop
b) He kills good as well as bad insects
c) He fertilizes the soil
d) He decreases his food productions
iv) The common earthworm:
a) Is the greatest destroyer of crops
b) Reduces the grain to dust
c) Breaks up the leaves on the crop
d) Makes the soil more rich
v) After harvesting what the farmer needs is:
a) A good supply of seeds
b) Ability to combat the weather
c) A safe place for storage
d) A lot of chemical fertilizers
6. In the second century of the Christian era, the empire of Rome was the fairest part of 5
the earth and the most civilized portion of mankind. The frontiers of that extensive
monarchy were guarded by ancient renown and disciplined valour. The gentle but
powerful influence of laws and manners gradually cemented the union of the
provinces. Their peaceful inhabitants enjoyed and abused the advantages of wealth
and luxury. The image of a free constitution was preserved with decent reverence: the
Roman senate appeared to possess sovereign authority and devolved on the emperors
all the executive powers of government. During a happy period of more than fourscore
years, the public administration was conducted by and depended on the virtue and
abilities of Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and the two Antonines. The principal conquests of
the Romans were achieved under the republic; and the emperors, for the most part,
were satisfied with preserving those dominions which had been acquired by the policy
of the senate, the active emulations of the consuls, and the martial enthusiasm of the
people. The seven first centuries were filled with a rapid succession of triumphs, but
it was reserved for Augustus to relinquish the ambitious design of subduing the whole
earth, and to introduce a spirit of moderation into the public councils. Inclined to
peace by his temper and situation, it was easy for him to discover that Rome, in her
present exalted situation, had much less to hope than to fear from the chance of arms;
and that, in the prosecution of remote wars, the undertaking became every day more
difficult, the event more doubtful, and the possession more precarious, and less
beneficial. The experience of Augustus added weight to these salutary reflections and
effectually convinced him that, by the prudent vigour of his counsels, it would be easy
to secure every concession that the safety or the dignity of Rome might require from
the most formidable barbarians. Instead of exposing his person and his legions to the

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arrows of the Parthians, he obtained, by an honorable treaty, the restitution of the


standards and prisoners which had been taken in the defeat of Crassus. On the death
of that emperor, his testament was publicly read in the senate. He bequeathed, as a
valuable legacy to his successors, the advice of confining the empire within those
limits which nature seemed to have placed as its permanent bulwarks and boundaries:
on the west, the Atlantic Ocean; the Rhine and Danube on the north; the Euphrates on
the east; and towards the south, the sandy deserts of Arabia and Africa.
i) What is the antonym for ‘legion’?
a) unlimited
b) lavish
c) limited
d) none
ii) What is the synonym for ‘relinquish’?
a) renounce
b) announce
c) currencies
d) B and C
iii) Find word from the passage that means the same as the senate
a) assembly
b) argument
c) fight
d) none
iv) How is the passage?
a) Narrative
b) Descriptive
c) Interrogative
d) None
v) Which of the following statement given below is not correct?
a) On the death of his emperor his testament was privately read in the senate.
b) The principle conquest of the Romans were achieved under the Republic
India.
c) Instead of exposing his person and his legions to the arrows of the Parthians
he obtained by honourable Treaty the restitution of standards and prisoners
which had been taken in the defeat of Crassus.
d) A and B
7. It is an old saying that knowledge is power. Education is an instrument that imparts 5
knowledge and therefore, indirectly controls power. Therefore, ever since the dawn
of our civilization, persons in power have always tried to supervise or control
education. It has been the handmaid of the ruling class. During the Christian Era, the
ecclesiastics controlled the institution of education and diffused among the people the
gospel of the Bible and religious teachings. These gospels and teachings were no other
than a philosophy for the maintenance of the existing society.
It taught the poor man to be meek and to earn his bread with the sweat of his brow,
while the priests and the landlords lived in luxury and fought duels for the slightest
offence. During the Renaissance, education passed more from the clutches of the priest
into the hand of the prince. In other words, it became more secular. Under the control
of the monarch, education began to devise and preach the infallibility of its masters,
the monarch or king. It also invented and supported fantastic theories like “The Divine

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Right Theory” and that the king can do no wrong, etc. With the advent of the Industrial
Revolution, education took a different turn and had to please the new masters. It now
no longer remained the privilege of the baron class but was thrown open to the new
rich merchant class of the society. The philosophy which was in vogue during this
period was that of “Laissez Faire” restricting the function of the state to a mere
keeping of laws and order while on the other hand, in practice, the law of the jungle
prevailed in the form of free competition and the survival of the fittest.
i) What does the theory “Divine Right of King” stipulate?
a) The king is God
b) That the right of governing is conferred upon the king by God.
c) They have the right to be worshipped like Gods by their subjects.
d) That the rights of the king are divine and therefore sacred
ii) Who controlled education during the Renaissance?
a) The common people.
b) The prince
c) The church and the priests.
d) None of the above.
iii) What did the ruling class in the Christian Era think of the poor man?
a) That he is the beloved of God.
b) That he deserves all the sympathy of the rich
c) That he should be strong and lord over others.
d) That he is meant to serve the rich.
iv) Who controlled the institution of education during the Christian Era?
a) The secular leaders of society
b) The church and the priests
c) The monarchs
d) The common people
v) What does the policy of “Laissez-faire” stand for?
a) Individual freedom in the economic field
b) State control over law and order in society
c) Joint control of the means of production by the state and private enterprise
d) Decontrol over law and order by the ruling class
8. Although the legal systems of England and the United States are superficially similar, 5
they differ profoundly in their approaches to and uses of legal reasons: substantive
reasons are more common than formal reasons in the United States, whereas in
England the reverse is true. This distinction reflects a difference in the visions of law
that prevail in the two countries. In England, the law has traditionally been viewed as
a system of rules; the United States favours a vision of law as an outward expression
of the community’s sense of right and justice.
Substantive reasons, as applied to law, are based on moral, economic, political and
other considerations. These reasons are found both “in the law” and “outside the law”
so to speak. Substantive reasons inform the content of a large part of the law:
constitutions, statutes, contracts, verdicts, and the like. Consider, for example, a
statute providing or purposes were explicitly written into the statute to ensure quiet
and safety in the park. Now suppose that a veterans’ group mounts a World War II
jeep (in running order but without a battery) as a war memorial on a concrete slab in
the park, and charges are brought against its members. Most judges in the United

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States would find the defendants not guilty because what they did had no adverse
effect on the park’s quiet and safety.
Formal reasons are different in that they frequently prevent substantive reasons from
coming into play, even when substantive reasons are explicitly incorporated into the
law at hand. For example, when a document fails to comply with stipulated
requirements, the court may render the document legally ineffective. A Will requiring
written witness may be declared null and void and, therefore, unenforceable for the
formal reason that the requirement was not observed. Once the legal rule– that a Will
is invalid for lack of proper witnessing – has been established, and the legality of the
rule is not in question, application of that rule precludes from consideration
substantive arguments in favour of the Will’s validity or enforcement.
Legal scholars in England and the United States have long bemused themselves with
extreme examples of formal and substantive reasoning. On the one hand, formal
reasoning in England has led to wooden interpretations of statutes and an
unwillingness to develop the common law through judicial activism. On the other
hand, freewheeling substantive reasoning in the United States has resulted in
statutory interpretations so liberal that the texts of some statutes have been ignored.
i) Which one of the following best describes the content of the passage as a whole?
a) An analysis of similarities and differences between the legal systems of
England and the United States
b) A re-evaluation of two legal systems with the use of examples
c) A contrast between the types of reasons embodied in the United States and
English legal systems
d) An explanation of how two distinct visions of the law shaped the
development of legal reasoning
ii) It can be inferred from the passage that English judges would like to find the
veterans’ group discussed in the second paragraph guilty of violating the statute
because
a) Not doing so would encourage others to act as the group did
b) not to do so would be to violate the substantive reasons underlying the law
c) the veterans failed to comply with the stipulated requirements of the statute
d) the veterans failed to comply with the substantive purpose of the statute
iii) The author of the passage makes use of all of the following in presenting the
discussion of the English and the United States legal systems except
a) Comparison and contrast
b) Generalization
c) Explication of terms
d) A chronology of historical developments
iv) The author of the passage suggests that in English law a substantive
interpretation of a legal rule might be warranted under which one of the
following circumstances
a) Social conditions have changed to the extent that to continue to enforce the
rule would be to decide contrary to present-day social norms
b) The composition of the legislature has changed to the extent that to enforce
the rule would be contrary to the views of the majority in the present
legislative assembly
c) The legality of the rule is in question and its enforcement is open to judicial
interpretation

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d) Individuals who have violated the legal rule argue that the application of the
rule would lead to unfair judicial interpretations
v) Which one of the following best describes the function of the last paragraph of
the passage?
a) It presents the consequences of extreme interpretations of the two types of
legal reasons discussed by the author
b) It shows how legal scholars can incorrectly use extreme examples to support
their views
c) It corrects inaccuracies in legal scholars’ view of the nature of two types of
legal systems
d) It suggests how characterizations of the two types of legal reasons can
become convoluted and inaccurate

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