Online Quiz
Link to this page from your website / blog (HTML code)
Directions (Q 13–17): In the passage below, each blank is numbered. Choose the word that best fits each blank.
Many young earners find it hard to save, not because they earn too little but because saving is always left for the end of the month, when (13) ________ money remains. A recurring deposit turns this habit (14) ________.
The saver agrees to deposit a fixed sum every month, and the bank pays interest on the growing balance. Because the amount is (15) ________ in advance, it is set aside first and spending adjusts to what is left. Over a year or two, the small monthly sums (16) ________ up to a useful amount for a planned expense such as school fees or a family function. The real gain, however, is not the interest but the (17) ________ that the scheme builds.
Correct Answer: E [little]
Explanation:
“little” – only ‘little’ fits uncountable ‘money’ and the sense of almost nothing left.
Blank (14)
Correct Answer: D [around]
Explanation:
“around” – turn around = reverse; the scheme reverses the order of saving and spending.
Blank (15)
Correct Answer: B [fixed]
Explanation:
“fixed” – the sum is decided (fixed) in advance; the other words make no sense with ‘in advance’.
Blank (16)
Correct Answer: C [add]
Explanation:
“add” – plural subject ‘sums’ + present tense → add (up to).
Blank (17)
Correct Answer: A [discipline]
Explanation:
“discipline” – the regular habit the scheme builds is discipline.
Directions (Q 18–22): Read the passage Cold chains and farm incomes and answer the questions.
Every year, a large share of the fruit and vegetables grown in many developing countries spoils before it reaches a buyer. The loss does not happen in the field. It happens on the way – in open trucks, in crowded markets and in sheds where the produce waits while the heat slowly ruins it. For a farmer, every crate that rots is income that has already been spent on seeds, water and labour but will never be earned back.
A cold chain is the answer that experts usually suggest. It is a series of cooled stages – a pre-cooling unit near the farm, refrigerated transport and cold rooms in the market – that keeps produce fresh from harvest to sale. Tomatoes that turn soft within days in the open stay fresh far longer when they are kept cool. This extra time changes the farmer's position. Instead of selling on the day of harvest at whatever price the trader offers, he can wait for a better price or send his crop to a distant market where demand is higher.
Building such a chain is not cheap, and a single small farmer cannot afford it. This is where farmer groups and small solar-powered cold rooms have begun to make a difference. A village group can share one cold room, pay a small fee for each crate stored and use the room's records to show a bank that its members have steady sales. Some lenders now accept stored produce as security for short-term loans, so that a farmer does not have to sell in a hurry just to repay a debt.
Cold storage alone, however, does not solve everything. If roads are poor or markets are far away, the produce may still be delayed. The cold room is only one link; a chain is only as strong as its weakest part.
Correct Answer: E [Keeping produce cool from farm to market reduces losses and gives farmers more choice about when and where to sell.]
Explanation:
Proof: “keeps produce fresh from harvest to sale” … “This extra time changes the farmer's position.”.
According to the passage, where does most of the spoilage happen?
Correct Answer: D [On the way from the field to the buyer]
Explanation:
Proof: “It happens on the way”.
Why can a farmer with access to a cold room get a better price?
Correct Answer: A [He need not sell on the day of harvest and can wait or send the crop to a distant market.]
Explanation:
Proof: “he can wait for a better price or send his crop to a distant market”.
The word security, as used in the passage, means:
Correct Answer: C [an asset pledged against a loan]
Explanation:
Proof: “accept stored produce as security for short-term loans”.
Which of the following is NOT mentioned anywhere in the passage?
