1. There can be no arguing against a ___________ of mass public _________ and distribution of medicines, as in the UK.

1) trend, awareness 2) notion, welfare

2) phenomenon, acceptance

3) system, procurement

4) backdrop, campaign

Ans : 4

2. The government should ________ with the industry about what would be a _________ price for certain essential drugs.

1) negotiate, reasonable

2) deal, transparent

3) appeal, negotiable

4) raise, genuine

5) refrain, uniform

Ans : 2

3. Malnourishment of Indian children is mostly due to traditional taboos __________ with certain vital foods, and not due to their _____________.

1) containing, unavailability

2) embraced, locality

3) associated, scarcity

4) raised, nutrition

5) inserted, quality

Ans : 3

4. During his mandate, the secretary-general will face the _________ challenge of ________ a global agreement on climate change.

1) grave, drawing

2) pressing, forging

3) massive, framing

4) umpteen, sentencing

5) detrimental, inking

Ans : 2

5. The key for today's UN is not to _______ more goals, but to ________ those that have been set before.

1) bargain, offload

2) address, justify

3) superseded, avail

4) amen, respond

5) create, implement

Ans : 5

Directions (Q.6-14 ) : Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words are given in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.

Farmers belonging to the BharatiyaKishan Union have set fire to the trial plots of a Bt rice variety belonging to Mahyco that was being field-tested in Karnal. It turns out that the trial were being conducted in violation of biosafety standards. Farmers on whose fields the trials were being conducted had no idea what was planted, nor did they understand the implications of genetically-engineered (GE) rice containing the toxin gene from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (BT)

Apart from the safety issue of eating genetically-engineered foods containing poison genes, there are other aspects that are particularly relevant to GE rice and India. India is an exporter of both Basmati and non-Basmati rice and has significant trade interests in this crop. If Indian rice were to be contaminated with genetically-engineered Bt rice, which is certain to happen, traders would lose their traditional rice markets in the European Union, Africa and the Middle East. All these regions have declared their opposition to genetically-engineered foods. That is the reason why rice exporters have appealed to government to halt further trials of GE rice.

India shouldn't take the risk of cultivating GE rice not just from the trade point of view but also because it is a major centre of origin for rice. Mexico, which is the centre of origin and diversity for corn, has imposed a ban on not just the cultivation of GE corn, but also research in GE corn. Mexico has taken this position in order to safeguard the natural gene pool of corn, another major staple food of the world. India is one of the centres where rice originated. This means that the greatest number of rice and related genes are found in India.

Centres of origin are considered high-risk areas for GE crops because if foreign genes contained in the GE variety were to move into the natural gene pool, the results could be potentially catastrophic. Scientists promoting agbiotech argue that rice is a self-pollinating crop and will not accept outside pollen and genes. This is not true since cross -pollination is known to occur in rice and there are several studies that show that the extend of cross- pollination depending on humidity and wind speed, can in fact be significantly high. Studies conducted in China and Latin America have shown that gene flow between GE rice and other rice happens at rates that are high enough to cause concern about gene transfer.

One of the growing concerns about the impact of genetic engineering is gene-silencing. Experimental show that the introduction of foreign genes can cause gene-silencing in the plant that is receiving the foreign gene. This means certain genes in the plant will become silent (non- functional) and not produce what they normally should. Gene-silencing could have very grave implication if it were to spread to the natural gene pool by careless scientists.

Maintaining genetic diversity is crucial for the long-term survival of any crop. When a crop variety somewhere becomes vulnerable either due to the onslaught of a disease or the soil becoming waterlogged or alkaline, scientists need to breed another variety of the crop for that region. They do this by searching for suitable genes in related varieties and the natural gene pool of rice and introduce harmful features like gene-silencing or change the normal functions of other genes, it would have terrible implications for food security of the rice-eating regions of the world.

Although genetically-engineered crops and foods are being pushed into the market, there is little investment in their regulation and monitoring. Apart from that, not enough is understood about what happens when foreign genes are abruptly pushed into the genetic material of plants and animals. That is the reason why the biosafety process places such a premium on the precautionary principle. Essentially this says that when faced with uncertainty, it is better to be cautious and not proceed with genetic engineering.

6. What was the role of the farmers who gave their lands for field testing of Bt rice in Karnal?

1) They gave their lands for the testing against heavy rental.

2) They were in support of such a high-yield variety of the crop.

3) They were ignorant the consequence of such a trial.

4) They were in search of some experimentation in rice production.

5) None of these

Ans : 3

7. What keeps India in a commanding position in rice export to various foreign countries?

1) Indian varieties of rice are considered to be in natural and pure form.

2) India has cheaper varieties of rice compared to other countries.

3) India has surplus rice production every year.

4) India has gained numerous position in terms of quality and variety of rice.

5) None of these

Ans : 1

8. What could be a major consequence if cultivation of GE rice is allowed in India?

1) It will give the foreign countries an easy entry into our agriculture sector.

2) It will open the path for research and experimentation in the field of agriculture.

3) It will increase the profit margins of our farmers.

4) It will make our country depending on foreign technology.

5) None of these

Ans : 5

9. What should we do to maintain the natural gene pool of rice in our country?

1) We should not open our agriculture sector to the forces of globalization.

2) We should protect it from being mixed with other breeds and genes.

3) We should revise our policy of export of food grains.

4) We should complete with the genetically-engineered rice produced in foreign countries.

5) None of these

10. Which of the following seems to be 'true' in the context of the passage?

1) Mexico has banned the cultivation of GE rice.

2) India has maintained its natural gene pool of corn so far.

3) GE rice has made its firm ground in our country.

4) GE crops can pose health hazards to mankind.

5) None of these

Ans : 4

11. Which of the following seems to be 'false' in the context of the passage?

1) Cross-pollination is not possible in the case of rice.

2) Mexico has taken measures against GE corn.

3) Introduction of GE rice is facing resistance in our country.

4) GE crops are unsafe for human consumption.

5) None of these

Ans : 1

12. What do you mean by gene-silencing in a crop?

1) Gene silencing in a crop is a technique in which different varieties of a crop grown together.

2) Gene silencing is a scientific term which is applied to boost the yield of a crop.

3) In gene silencing method the application of foreign gene to any variety of crop increase its yield.

4) The introduction of alien gene to a crop makes its natural gene dysfunct.

5) None of these

Ans : 4

13. What message is given in this passage?

1) Save agriculture from the onslaught of globalization

2) Protect the original variety of rice

3) Ban the import of foreign food grains

4) Say no to scientific experiment in agriculture

5) None of these

Ans : 2