Baroda Rajasthan Gramin Bank Paper - English - Part 1

Directions-(Q. 1-15) Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.

Evidence is growing that relatively cheap policies like climate engineering and non-carbon energy research could effectively prevent suffering from global warming, both in the short and long term. Unfortunately, political leaders gathering at a special meeting of the United Nations in New York will focus on a very different response. They will make many of the most important decisions on how to respond to climate change over the next decade. They are expected to thrash out political disputes like how much carbon rich and poor nations should agree to cut.

We have failed to rein in emission rises despite sincere and well-meaning promises made in Kyoto in 1997 and earlier, because carbon cuts are expensive to enact. Research by climate economists show that significant carbon cuts could cost a staggering 12•9% of global GDP in 2100. Available estimates show that for each dollar spent on global carbon cuts, we buy two cents worth of avoided climate damage. The solution is far more costly than the problem. Thus a global deal based around carbon cuts is expected to include a lot of spending from rich countries to help poor nations to prepare for global warming. Developed countries too apparently seem to have no problems in spending much money to save few lives in the distant future, instead of combating malnutrition, malaria, or communicable diseases today. It is amoral to build a dam to avoid flooding in 100 years, when the people living beside that dam are starving today.

Imagine if we could fix climate for the next hundred years for less than what a single country spends on climate research in a year. Climate engineering has the potential to do just that. One can explore the costs and benefits of so-called marine cloud whitening, a well-established techproposal in which seawater droplets would be sprayed into clouds above the sea to make them reflect more sunlight back into space thus augmenting the natural process where sea salt helps to provide tiny particles for clouds to form around. About $9 billion spent developing this technology might be able to cancel out this century's global warming. The benefits from preventing the temperature increase would add up to about $20 trillion. We should research this technology today to identify its limitations, risks and potential so that it could buy us a century's delay in warming.

But this will not be sufficient because we need better non-carbonbased technology options. Non-fossil sources like nuclear, wind, solar and geothermal energy will get us quite some way towards the path of stable carbon emissions.

Policy makers should abandon carbon-reduction negotiations and make agreements to seriously invest in research and development. As research spending would be much cheaper than carbon-emission cuts, there would be a much higher chance of political agreement, and a much higher probability of the promises being enacted. We have within our grasp alternative policy options that would truly leave the planet in a better state.

1. Why have past efforts to reduce carbon emissions failed ?
Scientists were not interested in this field of research  Global warming was not considered as a problem by the U.N.  The cost of accomplishing this was too high  Poor nations did not have the necessary knowledge to reduce carbon emissions  None of these
 

2. Which of the following is a characteristic of climate engineering ?
) It is beneficial in the short term and also in the long term  It can only be adopted by poor countries  It has worsened problems like poverty and hunger in developing countries  It is seen as less cost effective than other ways of reducing pollution  It uses technology which pollutes the environment
 

3. According to the author, which of the following is/are the outcome/s of the meeting of world leaders in New York ?
(1) A resolution that carbon emissions will be reduced through climate engineering.
(2) Successful settlement of many conflicts regarding reduction of emissions.
(3) Developed countries have volunteered to spend over 12 per cent of their GDP on preventing global warming.
Only (1)  Only (2)  Only (1) and (3)  All (1), (2) and (3)  None of these
 

4. What does the author want to convey through the phrase 'Nonfossil sources like nuclear, wind, solar and geothermal energy will get us quite some way towards the path of stable carbon emissions' as given in the passage ?
All countries should use non fossil sources of energy to be able to achieve high carbon emissions  The use of non fossil sources of energy will be able to check the carbon emissions  Non fossil sources of fuel may actually increase carbon emissions  If we use such non fossil fuels, it will take a long time to reduce carbon emissions  None of these
 

5. Which of the following is true in the context of the passage ?
Carbon emissions of poor countries are higher than those of rich ones  Construction of dams is directly responsible for the starvation of millions  The earth is in danger of extinction in a century  There is a lack of consensus between rich and poor nations on the issue of reducing carbon emissions  Countries have to spend a substantial amount of their GDP on climate change
 

6. What is the author's opinion about agreement among countries in Kyoto ?
Countries which signed this agreement had no intention of reducing carbon emissions  The percentage of carbon emissions to be reduced was highest for developing countries  Climate economists should not have supported this agreement  It was a failure because developed countries backed out from the agreement  None of these
 

7. What is the author's solution to handling climate change ?
Countries should use more expensive and long lasting ways of reducing carbon emissions  Negotiations on climate change should be between scientists rather than between political leaders  Countries should increase expenditure on research into ways of handling climate change  The U.N. should finance climate research in developing countries  Introduce economic sanctions against countries which do not reduce carbon emissions
 

8. Which of the following will be a suitable title for the given passage ?
Risks of global warming  The depletion of fossil fuel reserves  Technology can fight global warming  Global warming and decreasing GDPs  The inefficient non carbon sources of energy
 

9. What is the author's aim in promoting research into 'marine cloud whitening' ?
To better understand how such technology can be utilized as an efficient solution to the problem of global warming  To ensure that the climate scientists benefit financially  To give developing nations an advantage over developed nations in fighting global warming  To highlight the risks of such techniques  To delay agreements on global warming for as long as possible
 

10. According to the author, what role will the rich nations play in reducing carbon emissions ?
Pressurising poor nations to sign agreements on carbon cuts  Funding carbon emission cuts in developing countries  Diverting research funding from disease prevention to environment protection  Spending trillions of dollars annually on non carbon energy research  None of these
 

Directions-(Q. 11-13) Choose the word which is most similar in meaning to the word printed in bold as used in the passage.

11. BUY
Accept  Pay  Provide  Bargain  Cost
 

12. STAGGERING
Swaying  Huge  Shaking  Unsteady  Collapsing
 

13. STATE
Express  Mess  Official  Say  Condition
 

Directions-(Q. 14-15) Choose the word/phrase which is most opposite in meaning to the word printed in bold as used in the passage.

14. AUGMENTING
Reducing  Growing  Channelising  Criticising  Supplementing
 

15. COMBATING
Holding  Forgiving  Caring  Supporting  Fighting
 

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