The Exam Point

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Directions (1-7): Read the passage carefully and answer

the questions given below it. Certain words/ phrases
have been given in bold to help you locate them while
answering some of the questions.

The peace process in Afghanistan has reached a critical turning point. As when
then U.S. President Barack Obama announced the exit of U.S. forces from
Afghanistan (and the Taliban famously exalted – ‘you may have the watches,
but we have the time), and more recently when the Doha Agreement was
concluded a year ago between the U.S. Government and the Taliban. Now, a
more decisive step is in store. Afghan social media and political circles are rife
with details, corroborated by official sources in Afghanistan that the U.S.
Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken, has unveiled the initial conclusions of the
review by the United States of its strategy in Afghanistan in a letter he has
addressed simultaneously to Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and the head
of the Afghan High Council for National Reconciliation of Afghanistan,
Abdullah Abdullah. Mr. Ghani has been virtually read the riot act by Mr.
Blinken, whose letter confirms the intention to fully withdraw all U.S. military
forces from Afghanistan as early as May 1, as specified in the Doha Agreement.
Mr. Ghani has been warned that without them, the security situation will
deteriorate and the Taliban could make rapid gains. Despite the Doha
Agreement, the Taliban has not ended its ties with the al-Qaeda and other
similar terrorist groups. Nor have intra Afghan negotiations progressed. The
policy review ordered in Washington DC by U.S. President Joe Biden has been
shrouded in secrecy. What appeared in the U.S. media indicates that some
within the U.S. Administration are voicing the need to defend American values.
……………… (7) In the Pentagon are passionate about keeping a modicum of
U.S. military presence in Afghanistan. Mr. Biden has long held, even as Vice-
President, that Pakistan is strategically more important to the U.S. than
Afghanistan, and that U.S. troops should be pulled out of the Afghan battlefield
as soon as possible. Donald Trump was doing nothing different from his
predecessor, only in his inimitable way, which Mr. Biden wishes to distance
himself from and leave a narrative of orderly exit. The ongoing review had
raised hopes in Kabul of a turnaround in U.S. policy. That is not happening in
substance. The U.S. is anxious to proceed to a final settlement rapidly on terms
visible from the very outset of the peace process. The continuation of Zalmay
Khalilzad as the Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation at the
State Department was an early sign that, in substance, U.S. policy is going to
remain unaltered. The U.S. maintains that its objective is to bring about a just
and durable peace through political negotiations in a manner that Afghanistan
remains united, sovereign, and democratic, and preserves the gains made over
the past two decades. This is a tall order, as it contradicts the abiding U.S.
priority, to cut its losses and be out of Afghanistan at the earliest. The
conundrum for the U.S. is that it cannot disengage from Afghanistan, if that is
its priority, without accepting Pakistan’s terms. These would not be acceptable
to Afghan patriots who want freedom for Afghanistan to choose its political
direction. If training, combat support, and the supply of weapons are stopped
from Pakistan, the Taliban could be on its knees. The U.S. Government is wary
but resigned about Pakistan’s negative role. Instead of pressuring Pakistan, it is
seeking Afghan acquiescence for a power-sharing arrangement with the
Taliban, enabling the exit of U.S. soldiers. The U.S. Government is advocating
‘a new, inclusive government’ in Afghanistan, which implies an immediate 50%
share for the Taliban in an interim government, as a quid pro quo for a
permanent and comprehensive ceasefire. This will be without reference to a
mandate from the people as elections will be held only in the future, after the
principles guiding Afghanistan’s future constitutional and governing
arrangements are worked out.

1) Who has been warned ‘that without them, the security situation will
deteriorate and the Taliban could make rapid gains’?
A. Mr. Asraf Ghani
B. Antony J. Blinken
C. Donald Trump
D. Joe Bieden
E. Kamala Harris

2) Which of the following is true?

A. the Taliban has ended its ties with the al-Qaeda and other similar terrorist
groups
B. U.S. is lethargic to a final settlement on terms visible from the very outset of
the peace process
C. both A and B
D. both A and E
E. both trump and Biden agreed that U.S. troops should be pulled out of the
Afghan battlefield as soon as possible

3) What is the objective of the US in Afghanistan peace deal?

A. deploy drones so that it can make surveillance in Iran
B. remain as a strategically important ally of Afghanistan
C. Makes Taliban the sold leader of the country
D. bring about a just and durable peace through political negotiations in a
manner that Afghanistan remains united, sovereign, and democratic, and
preserves the gains made over the past two decades
E. None of these

4) Doha agreement was concluded between whom?

A. U.S. Government and Afghanistan
B. Afghanistan and the Taliban
C. U.S. Government and the Taliban
D. Afghanistan and Pakistan
E. Afghanistan and Qatar

5. Which of the following is antonymous with ‘deteriorate’?

A. improve
B. culpable
C. reminisce
D. bequeath
E. vaunt

6) Which of the following is synonymous with ‘resigned’?

A. phlegmatic
B. eclectic
C. leave
D. bracing
E. inimical

7) Which of the following should fill the blank given in (7) to make it
contextually correct and meaningful?
A. disenchant
B. dissuade
C. enamour
D. protagonists
E. None of these

Directions (8-12): In the question below, a sentence is divided into five

parts out of which part A has been given without any error. Remaining
some parts may or may not contain error. You have to identify the parts
which do not have an error.

8) Most animals which live (A) / in crowding conditions have (B) / particular
robust immune systems, (C) /so it long puzzled entomologists (D)/ that
honeybees do not. (E)
A. DE
B. BE
C. CD
D. DB
E. No error

9) Airbus expects its new plane (A)/ to be powered by hydrogen directly (B)/ as
a fuel in new turbofans (C)/ of the sort now founded (D)/ in largest passenger
jets. (E)
A. CE
B. BC
C. CD
D. DE
E. No error

10) In November the European Commission accused (A)/ Amazon of violating

competition laws (B)/ for using non-public data from (C)/ third-party sellers to
benefit (D)/ itself own retail business. (E)
A. BC
B. CD
C. CE
D. BD
E. No error

11) The growing ease and falling cost of travel, (A)/ plus a lack of any
regulations (B)/ to curb emissions, means that unchecked a rose (C)/ to as much
as 9% of total carbon (D)/ emissions by 2050 had looked plausible. (E)
A. CD
B. BC
C. BD
D. CE
E. No error

12) Globally the supermarket and superstore sector has (A)/ had a profitable
pandemic, benefiting both from the fact (B)/ that grocery stores remained open
during lockdowns, (C)/ and from the biggest surge in online activity of (D)/ any
retail category—rising by almost 50% in America in 2020 (E)
A. AE
B. BD
C. CE
D. DB
E. No error
Directions (13-17): A sentence given below divided into five parts with one
part of the sentence not related to the central theme of the sentence. You
have to choose correct rearrangement of sentence with elimination of the
odd one from the sentence in the options given.

13) saying it was one-sided and packed with false assertions (A)/ The Indian
government has slammed a debate (B)/in London issued a statement
immediately after the debate(C)/ and safety of farmer’s protests in India (D)
/held in the
House of Commons on press freedom (E)
A. DCBA
B. BEDA
C. BEDC
D. BDAC
E. EACB

14) promising a monthly honorarium of Rs1,500 to women (A)/ heads of

families and six domestic LPG cylinders (B)/ Chief Minister Edappadi K
Palaniswami on Monday stepped on the populist gas,(C)/ this promise from the
yet-to-be-released AIADMK manifesto(D)/ per year free to every household in
Tamil Nadu (E)
A. BDCE
B. BCDA
C. CADE
D. CABE
E. ABDE

15) Darekar made the demand in the legislative council on Monday (A)/
Deshmukh said the guilty will not be spared (B)/ after state home minister Anil
Deshmukh read out a statement (C)/for murder on the complaint of Hiran’s wife
Vimla (D)/ that the ATS had registered an FIR (E)
A. ABED
B. BCAD
C. ACED
D. ABCD
E. BCED

16) a teacher from Hindi medium school, used Google forms to reach (A)/ 79%
students said they were dissatisfied with the decision (B)/ While the state
government has been stern (C)/ offline in April in the current format, (D)/ on its
decision to conduct SSC and HSC exams. (E)
A. ABDC
B. CEBD
C. BADE
D. ACED
E. CEDB

17) based on complaints about sub-stranded range performance (A)/ temporarily

suspend subsidy on nexon electric vehicles, (B)/ the company has claimed the
government took the extreme step (C)/ Tata Motors has moved Delhi High
Court (D)/ challenging the AAP government’s decision to (E)
A. DEBA
B. DECB
C. ABED
D. CDEA
E. CBAE

Directions (18-20): In each of the given statements, four words have been
highlighted. One of them may be spelt incorrectly or is contextually
incorrect.
Identify the incorrect word. If all the highlighted words are correctly spelt,
mark ‘e’ as your answer.

18) Citizens above the age of 45x Irrperspective of comorbidities, will be

eligible for COVID-19 vaccination from April 1, the government announced
on Tuesday.
A. Irrespective
B. Eligible
C. Vaccination
D. Announced
E. All are correct.

19) Justice Shah, who authored the judgment resoned that additional interest in
the form of compound or penal is usually collected from loan defaulters.
A. Authored
B. Resoned
C. Compound
D. Defaulters
E. All are correct.

20) The revolution on ‘Promoting reconciliation, Accountability and human

rights in Sri Lanka’ was adopted after 22 states of the 47-member Council voted
in its favour.
A. Revolution
B. Accountability
C. Adopted
D. Council
E. All are correct.