Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words are printed in bold to help you to locate them while answering some of the questions.
Sixty
years after independence, India remains one of the unhealthiest places on
earth. Millions of people still suffer from disease that no longer exist almost
anywhere else on the planet. What makes the picture even bleaker is the
fact that India’s economic boom has so far had, little impact on health
standards. Between 2001 and 2006 India’s economy grew almost 50%, the country’s
biggest expansion in decades. Meantime, its child malnutrition rate, dropped
just a single percentage point, to 46%. This is worse than in most African countries. The incredible economic growth is having an impact in other ways by
driving up rates or rich world diseases sch as obesity and encouraging high end
health services, some of which offer world class care but remain far beyond the
reach of the vast majority of Indians. The country brags about the skill
of India’s world class doctors when its marketers sell India as a medical
tourism destination and emerging health service giant. The truth behind the
glossy advertising that : India is the sick man of Asia, malnourished and,
beset by epidemics of AIDS and diabetes and with spending levels on public health that even its Prime Minister has coinceded are seriously lagging behind
other developing countries in Asia.
Part
of the reason for sorry state of India’s medical services is the crumbling
public health infrastructure not fancy hospitals or equipment but basic services
such as clean water, a functioning sewage system, power. The World Health
Organisation estimates that more than 900000 Indians die every year from drinking
bad water and breathing bad air. Public health experts believe that India’s vast
population adds to the burden, overloading systems where they do exist and aiding
the spread of disease in many places they don’t. Moreover, for the past decade
or so, funding for preventive public health initiatives such as immunization drives
and programmes to control the spread of communicable diseases has been cut.
Experts also blame policies that concentrate on the latest scientific
techniques and not enough on basics for the fact that millions of people in
India are suffering and dying. Especially in rural India, health services are
poor to non-existent. Current staff often doesn’t turn up for work,
clinics are badly maintained and people end up seeking help from pharmacists
who are not sufficiently trained. India need more than a million more doctors
and nurses. The government has also promised more money for rural health
through its ambitious National Rural Health Mission. It will increase public
health spending from the current 1% of India’s GDP to upto 3% by 2010, but
that’s still just half the rate at which countries with comparable per capita
incomes such as Senegal and Mongolia fund their health sectors. If that is to change,
we must realise that the link between wealth and good health isn’t clear cut. Poor
states that have made efforts in child immunization over the past few years now
have better coverage than richr states, where immunization has actually slipped.
India
needs to stop being complacent and prepare to spend on health but whenever
it is mentioned there is always this debate about cost. Why don’t we have the
same debate when we spend tens of billions on new arms? It’s hard to be an economic
superpower if you’re too sick to work.
1.
What can be inferred from the statistics given for 2001-2006?
a)
India has made strides in reducing its malnutrition rate
b)
During this period India managed to achieve a growth rate equivalent to that of
developed countries
c)
India managed to achieve high standards both in economic growth and in healthcare
d)
Though India achieved a high economic growth rate this did not positively
impact the healthcare sector to a great extent
2.
What is the author’s main objective in writing the passage?
a)
Comparing India and Africa in terms of economic growth
b)
Cautioning India to improve its healthcare system
c)
Exhorting India to have higher growth rate which will benefit the healthcare
sector
d)
Criticising medical practitioners for their lack of concern for the health of
the weaker sections of society
3.
Which of the following cannot be seen as a cause for the state of India’s
healthcare system?
a)
Vast population
b)
Lack of basic services like water, power etc.
c)
Inadequate waste management facilities
d)
Lack of funding from the World Health Organisation
4.
Choose the word /phrase which is most nearly the same in meaning as the word
printed in bold as used in the passage.
Sorry
a)
Forgiveness b) Apology c) Repentant
d)
Miserable
5.
Choose the word /phrase which is most nearly the same in meaning as the word
printed in bold as used in the passage.
Complacent
a)
Pleasing b) Self satisfied c) Conforming
d)
Willing
6.
Choose the word /phrase which is most nearly the same in meaning as the word
printed in bold as used in the passage.
Reach
a)
Extend b) Span c) Grasp
d)
Distance
7.
Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning of the word printed in bold
as used in the passage.
Bleaker
a)
Hopeful b) Warm c) Cozy
d)
Sheltered
8.
Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning of the word printed in bold
as used in the passage.
Non-existent
a)
Hypothetical b) Active c) Realistic
d)
Available
Read
the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain
words are given in bold in the passage to help you to locate them while answering
some of the questions.
It
is difficult to compare countries because various factors such as size, culture,
history, geography, natural endowments, geopolitics and internal polity comes
into play. There are some goals which can be achieved by smaller countries, but
sometimes smaller countries find it difficult to mbark upon certain big technological
plans even if they have the funds, because the size of the domestic market is
too small. If we consider the bigger countries, the closest comparison to India
is China, though there are many crucial differences.
The
Chinese vision is to prepare the country for entry into the ranks of mid level
developed nations by the middle of the twenty first century. Acceleration of the
nation’s economic growth and social development by relying on advances in science
and technology is pivotal in this.
Documents
describing the Chinese vision state that science and technology constitute
premier productive forces and represent a great revolutionary power that can
propel economic and social development. It is interesting to note that the main
lessons the Chinese have drawn from their past performance is their failure to promote
science and technology as strategic tools for empowerment. They also point to
the absence of mechanisms and motivations in their economic activity to promote
dependence on science and technology. Similarly, they hold that their scientific
and technological efforts were not oriented towards economic growth. As a
consequence they conclude, a large number of scientific and technological achievements
were not converted into productive forces as they were too far removed from
China’s immediate economic and social needs. The Chinese vision is therefore
aimed at exploiting state of art science and technology to enhance the nation’s
overall power and strength, to improve the people’s living standards, to focus
on resolving problems encountered in large scale industrial and agricultural production
and to effectively control and alleviate pressures brought on by population,
resources and the environment. By the year 2000, China had aimed at bringing
the main industrial sectors upto the technological levels achieved by the developed
countries in the 1970s or 80s, and by 2020 to the level they would have attained
by the early twenty first century. The aim is to bridge the overall gap with the
advanced World. There is a speci al emphasis on research and development of high
technologies that would find defence applications. Some of these technologies are
critical for improving the features of key conventional weapons. Some technologies
are meant for enhancing futur military capab ilities. Other efforts are aimed
at maintaining the momentum to develop capabilities for cutting edge defence
technologies. They call for unremitting efforts in this regard with the aim of maintaining
effective self defence and nuclear deterrent capabilities and to enable parity
in defence, science and
technology
with the advanced world.
9.
Why can’t smaller countries take up big technological planning?
a)
They have other goials to achieve
b)
They have smaller domestic market size
c)
Smaller countries lack technological know how
d)
Bigger countries do not permit them to do so
10.
What is the goal of China to be accomplished by the middle of 21st Century?
a)
To become one of the most developed nations
b)
To surpass the level of all middle level developed nations by a good margin
c)
To be the most influential super power
d)
None of these
11.
What according to the Chinese vision can boost socio-economic development?
a)
Science and technology
b)
Minds united with revolutionary powers
c)
Premier productive forces
d)
A vision which propels development
12.
Choose the word which is most nearly the same in meaning as the word given in
bold as used in the passage.
Endowments
a)
Powers b) Measures c) Habitats d) Gifts
13.
Choose the word which is most nearly the same in meaning as the word given in
bold as used in the passage.
Oriented
a)
Stated b) Tempting c) Deciding d) Leaning
14.
Choose the word which is most nearly the same in meaning as the word given in
bold as used in the passage.
Conventional
a)
Functional b) Activist c) Deliberate d) Traditional
15.
Choose the word which is opposite in meaning of the word given in bold as used
in the passage.
Crucial
a)
Central b) Trivial c) Decisive d) Fundamental
16.
Choose the word which is opposite in meaning of the word given in bold as used
in the passage.
Parity
a) Impropriety b) Impartiality c) Inequality d) Inauspicious
a) Impropriety b) Impartiality c) Inequality d) Inauspicious
ANSWERS:
1. Option D
2. Option B
3. Option D
4. Option D
5. Option B
6. Option C
7. Option A
8. Option C
9. Option B
10. Option D
11. Option A
12. Option D
13. Option D
14. Option D
15. Option B
16. Option A
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