Directions (1-5): Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.

In yet another remarkable achievement, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Juno spacecraft has successfully entered the orbit around Jupiter without being knocked down by the planet’s intense magnetic field and radiation. That the spacecraft, which had travelled 2.8 billion km since its launch on August 5, 2011, passed through a spot that was originally planned for, when it came closest to the planet, provides a measure of the level of success of the mission. Juno, with a diameter of 11.5 ft, is not the first spacecraft to enter into orbit around Jupiter. But unlike its predecessor, the Galileo spacecraft that explored the planet between 1995 and 2003, Juno will study Jupiter much more thoroughly given the array of nine scientific instruments that it carries on board. The most important difference between the two missions is Juno’s ability to see below the dense cloud cover of Jupiter; only a probe of Galileo entered the planet’s atmosphere. Getting as close as 5,000 km from the cloud tops and being able to see through the clouds will make it possible for Juno’s camera, Junocam, to take close-up photos of the poles and other points of interest. The main objectives of the mission are to understand the origin and evolution of Jupiter, to find out if the planet, like Earth, has a solid rocky core, to uncover the source of its intense magnetic field, to measure water and ammonia in deep atmosphere, and to observe the auroras.

Though the nine instruments will be turned on by the end of the week, the first full set of observations will not take place before the end of August when the spacecraft comes close to Jupiter on its first orbit; science experiments will begin in full earnest in mid-October when it gets into a 14-day orbit. Juno will orbit the planet from pole-to-pole, minimizing the amount of radiation exposure, but the orbit will ultimately shift due to Jupiter’s intense gravitational field, making the spacecraft pass through more intense regions of radiation. Though shielded by a titanium vault, the radiation from Jupiter will slowly but surely compromise the instruments by the time it finishes its mission in February 2018. But before this happens, scientists expect to collect enough information to further our understanding of how the giant planet was formed some 4.5 billion years ago, and of the origins of the solar system. The amount of water it contains and the nature of its core will provide clues about where the planet formed early in the system’s life span. After orbiting the planet 37 times and returning invaluable scientific information, Juno will incinerate in Jupiter’s atmosphere in early 2018 as the Galileo spacecraft did.

1. According to the passage, “What is the main purpose of sending JUNO spacecraft to Jupiter ?

(a) To find conditions like earth.

(b) to gather information which Galileo couldn’t able to get

(c) to get information about Jupiter for research

(d) to get information for space

(e) None of the above

2. What could be the suitable ‘title’ of the above passage?

(a) Mission “Another Earth”

(b) Discovery with Juno

(c) Success in Space

(d) Five years Ago

(e) None of these

3. Which of the following statements are NOT TRUE according to the given passage?

That the spacecraft, which had travelled 2.8 billion km since its launch on August 5, 2011, passed through a spot that was originally planned for, when it came closest to the planet, provides a measure of the level of success of the mission.Though the nine instruments will be turned on by the end of the week, the first full set of observations will take place before the end of August when the spacecraft comes close to Jupiter on its first orbit.But before this happens, scientists expect to collect enough information to further our understanding of how the giant planet was formed some 4.5 billion years ago, and of the origins of the solar system.

(a) Only (1)

(b) Only (2)

(c) Only (1) and (3)

(d) Only (3)

(d) None of the above

4. What is the main difference between Galileo spacecraft and Juno spacecraft?

(a) Juno is more advanced than Galileo

(b) Juno have nine extra scientific instruments then Galileo

(c) Juno have the ability to see below the dense cloud cover of Jupiter but Galileo didn’t

(d) Juno is a spacecraft but Galileo is a satellite

(e) None of these

5. Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning to ‘EARNEST’ as used in the passage.

(a) ardent

(b) fervid

(c) insincere

(d) donnish

(e) None of these

1.(a) Paragraph 1, ‘The main objectives of the mission are to understand the origin and evolution of Jupiter, to find out if the planet, like Earth, has a solid rocky core, to uncover the source of its intense magnetic field’.

2. (b) The passage talks about Juno, its objectives, its work plan, etc.

3. (b) Paragraph 2,” Though the nine instruments will not be turned on by the end of the week, the first full set of observations will take place before the end of August when the spacecraft comes close to Jupiter on its first orbit”.

4. (c) Paragraph 1,” The most important difference between the two missions is Juno’s ability to see below the dense cloud cover of Jupiter; only a probe of Galileo entered the planet’s atmosphere”

5. (c) Earnest-sincere and intense conviction, insincere- not expressing genuine feeling, fake

Directions (6-15): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help out locate them while answering some of the questions.

When times are hard, doomsayers are aplenty. The problem is that if you listen to them too carefully, you tend to overlook the most obvious signs of change. 2011 was a bad year. Can 2012 be any worse? Doomsday forecasts are the easiest to make these days. So let’s try a contrarian’s forecast instead.

Let’s start with the global economy. We have seen a steady flow of good news from the US. The employment situation seems to be improving rapidly and consumer sentiment, reflected in retail expenditures on discretionary items like electronics and clothes, has picked up. If these trends sustain, the US might post better growth numbers for 2012 than the 1.5–1.8 per cent being forecast currently. Japan is likely to pull out of a recession in 2012 as post earthquake reconstruction efforts gather momentum and the fiscal stimulus announced in 2011 begins to pay off. The consensus estimate for growth in Japan is a respectable 2 per cent for 2012. The ‘hard-landing’ scenario for China remains and will remain a myth. Growth might decelerate further from the 9 percent that it expected to clock in 2011 but is unlikely to drop below 8 – 8.5 per cent in 2012.

Europe is certainly in a spot of trouble. It is perhaps already in recession and for 2012 it is likely to post mildly negative growth. The risk of implosion had dwindled over the last few months-peripheral economies like Greece, Italy and Spain have new government in place and have made progress towards genuine economic reform. Even with some of these positive factors in place we have to accept the fact the global growth in 2012 will be tepid. But there is a flipside to this. Softer growth means lower demand for commodities and this is likely to drive a correction in commodity prices. Lower commodity inflation will enable emerging market central banks to reverse its stance and alter its reserve ratio. The RBI also seems poised for a reversal in its rate cycle as headline inflation seems well on its way to 7 per cent for March 2012. That said, oil might be an exception to the general trend in commodities. Rising geopolitical tensions, particularly the continuing face-off between Iran and the US, might lead to a spurt in prices. It might make sense for our oil companies to hedge this risk instead of buying oil in the spot market. As inflation fears abate and emerging market’s central banks being to cut rates, two things could happen. Lower commodity inflation would mean lower interest rates and better and better credit availability. This could set a floor to growth and slowly reverse the business cycle within these economies second, as the fear of untamed, runaway inflation in these economies abates, the global investor’s comfort levels with their markets will increase.

Which of the emerging markets will outperform who will get left behind? In an environment in which global growth is likely to be weak, economies like India that have a powerful domestic consumption dynamic should lead; those dependent on exports should, prima facie, fall behind. Specifically for India, a fall in the exchange rate could not have come at a better time. It will help Indian exporters gain market share even if global trade remains depressed. More importantly, it could lead to massive import substitution that favours domestic producers.

Let’s now focus on India and start with a caveat. It is important not to confuse a short-run cyclical dip with a permanent de-rating of its long-term structural potential. The arithmetic is simple. Our growth rate can be in the range of 7- 10 per cent depending on policy action. Ten per cent if we get everything right, 7 per cent if we get it all wrong. Which policies and reforms are critical to taking us to our 10 percent potential? In judging this, let’s again be careful. Let’s not go by the laundry list of reforms that FIIs like to wave: increase in foreign equity limits in foreign shareholding, greater voting rights for institutional shareholders in banks, FDI in retail, etc. These can have an impact only at the margin. We need not bend over backwards to appease the FIIs through these reforms-they will invest in our markets when momentum picks up and will be the first to exit when the momentum flags. Reforms or not.

The reforms that we need are the ones that can actually raise sustainable long-term growth rate. These have to come in area like better targeting of subsidies, making projects in infrastructure viable so that they draw capital, raising the productivity of agriculture, improving healthcare and education, bringing the parallel economy under the tax net, implementing fundamental reforms in taxation like GST and the direct tax code and finally easing the myriad rules and regulation that make doing business in India such a nightmare. A number of these things do not require new legislation and can be done through executive order.

6. Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?

(a) China’s economic growth is likely to decline below 8 per cent in the year 2012.

(b) The European economy is not doing very well.

(c) Greece is on the verge of bringing about economic reforms.

(d) In the year 2012, Japan may post a positive growth and thus pull out of recession.

(e) All are true.

7. Which of the following will possibly be a result of softer growth estimated for the year 2012?

(A) Prices of oil will not increase

(B) Credit availability would be lesser

(C) Commodity inflation would be lesser

(a) Only (B)

(b) Only (A) and (B)

(c) Only (B) and (C)

(d) Only (C)

(e) All (A), (B), and (C)

8. Which of the following can be said about the present status of the US economy?

(a) There is not much improvement in the economic scenario of the country from the year 2011.

(b) The growth in the economy of the country, in the year 2012, would definitely be lesser than 1.8 per cent.

(c) The expenditure on clothes and electronic commodities by consumers is lesser than that in the year 2011.

(d) There is a chance that in 2012 the economy would do better than what has been forecast

(e) The pace of change in the employment scenario of the country is very slow.

9. According to the author, which of the following would characterize Indian growth scenario in 2012?

(A) Domestic producers will take a hit because of depressed global trade scenario.

(B) On account of its high domestic consumption, India will lead.

(C) Indian exporters will have a hard time in gaining market share.

(a) Only (B)

(b) Only (A) and (B)

(c) Only (B) and (C)

(d) Only (A)

(e) All (A) and (B) and (C)

10. Why does the author NOT recommend taking up the reforms suggested by FIIs?

(a) These will bring about only minor growth.

(b) The reforms suggested will have no effect on the economy of our country, whereas will benefit the Falls significantly.

(c) The previous such recommendations had backfired.

(d) These reforms will be the sole reason for our country’s economic downfall.

(e) The reforms suggested by them are not to be trusted as they will not bring about any positive growth in India.

11. According to the author, which of the following reforms is/are needed to ensure long term growth in India?

(A) Improving healthcare and educational facilities.

(B) Bringing about reforms in taxation.

(C) Improving agricultural productivity.

(a) Only (A)

(b) Only (A) and (B)

(c) Only (B) and (C)

(d) Only (A)

(e) All (A),(B) and (C)

Directions (12-13): Choose the word/group of words which is most similar in meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold as used in the passage.

12. Abate

(a) Rise

(b) Gear

(c) Hurl

(d) Lessen

(e) Retreat

13. Draw

(a) Entice

(b) Push

(c) Decoy

(d) Extract

(e) Persuade

Directions (14-15): Choose the word/group of words which is most opposite in meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold as used in passage.

14. Myriad

(a) Mucho

(b) Difficult

(c) Few

(d) Effortless

(e) Countless

15. Tepid

(a) Moderate

(b) High

(c) Enthusiastic

(d) Irregular

(e) Little

6. (a); Refer to the last line of second paragraph, “Growth might decelerate……………..in 2012”. Hence statement (a) is not true in the context of the passage.

7. (c); Refer to the fourth sentence of third paragraph, “Softer growth …………. March 2012.” Hence only options B and C are true in the context of the passage.

8. (d); Refer to fourth sentence of second paragraph. “U.S. might post………….. forecast currently.” Hence sentence (d) is true.

9. (a); Refer to the first few lines of second last paragraph, “In an environment ………… remains depressed.” Hence only option B is true in the context of the passage.

10. (a); Refer to the seventh sentence of second last paragraph, “Let’s not go………… only at the margin.” Hence sentence (a) is true.

11. (e); Refer to the first few lines of last paragraph. “The reforms that we need …………… such a nightmare” Hence all sentences are true.

12. (d); Abate means to reduce or to remove. Hence ‘lessen’ is the word most similar in meaning to it.

13. (d); Draw means extract (an object) from a container or receptacle. Hence ‘draw’ and ‘extract’ are similar in meanings. Decoy and Entice mean to lure.

14. (c); Myriad means extremely great in number. Hence ‘myriad’ and ‘few’ are opposite in meanings.

15. (c); Tepid means lukewarm, dull. Hence ‘enthusiastic’ is the word most nearly opposite in meaning to it.