SOLVED PAPER 2021 (CDS) (II) (English)

Total Questions: 120

111. (Questions 111-115) In this section, you have two short passages. After each passage, you will find some questions based on the passage. Read the passage and answer the questions based on it.

Passage I

As to happiness, I am not so sure. Birds, it is true, die of hunger in large numbers during the winter, if they are not birds of passage. But during the summer they do not foresee this catastrophe or remember how nearly it befell them in the previous winter. With human beings the matter is otherwise. I doubt whether the percentage of birds that will have died of hunger during the present winter (1946-47) is as great as the percentage of human beings that will have died from this cause in India and central Europe during the same period. But every human death by starvation is preceded by a long period of anxiety, and surrounded by the corresponding anxiety of neighbours. We suffer not only the evils that actually befall us, but all those that our intelligence tells us we have reason to fear. The curbing of impulses to which we are led by forethought averts physical disaster at the cost of worry, and general lack of joy. I do not think that the learned men of my acquaintance, even when they enjoy a secure income, are as happy as the mice that eat the crumbs from their tables while the erudite gentlemen snooze. In this respect, therefore, I am not convinced that there has been any progress at all.

The birds die of hunger in winter because

Correct Answer: (a) they do not move to warmer places
Solution:

According to the passage, if the birds are not ‘birds of passage’ (migratory), they die in large numbers during winters.

112. The birds do not foresee the catastrophe because they

Correct Answer: (e) b and c
Solution:

(b) and (c) according to the passage, birds don’t expect this catastrophic situation of the winter and overlook the situation even with the prior experience of winter.

113. Human beings cannot be happy because they

Correct Answer: (d) worry too much about future
Solution:

The passage mentions that human beings worry too much about the future, giving unnecessary forethought, Hence, they cannot be happy.

114. Which one of the following is the antonym of the word ‘erudite’ in the passage?

Correct Answer: (b) Ill educated
Solution:

‘Erudite’ means learned and scholarly. Hence, ‘ill-educated is its correct antonym.

115. Which one of the following is the central theme of the passage ?

Correct Answer: (c) Progress of mankind
Solution:

‘Progress of mankind’ is the central theme of the given passage.

116. (Questions 116-120) In this section, you have two short passages. After each passage, you will find some questions based on the passage. Read the passage and answer the questions based on it.

Passage II

More than eight months after the national lockdown was announced in late March, urban India is learning to live with the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, indicating a positive outlook for the future, many survey respondents in a recent survey say they plan to return to pre-lockdown levels of shopping, personal grooming, going to cinemas and socialising as pandemic fears continues to recede. The survey findings highlight that the suppression of consumer demand because of fears of job losses and salary cuts could be coming to an end. Increasingly, urban Indians are showing increased confidence about the future of the economy. This could be an indicator of the possible ‘pent-up demand’ that several economists have been talking about - a demand that could be unleashed once a vaccine is developed and distributed, or when there are signs of the pandemic’s spread reducing to negligible levels or vanishing totally. Around 65 per cent of respondents said they had settled into new routines, or that they saw signs of the situation improving, or they had come to terms with the pandemic and were moving on with their lives. And since the survey was conducted before the news of the successful trials of the Pfizer vaccine for the coronavirus was announced, it is likely that the consumers are now even more positive in their outlook about the future.

The general tone of the passage is that of

Correct Answer: (a) Optimism
Solution:

The general tone of the passage is optimistic .

117. The willingness of consumers to go back to normal lifestyle indicates their

Correct Answer: (d) Sense of economic security
Solution:

The passage suggests that Indian consumers show increased confidence about the future of the economy and that consumers feel secure about the economy. Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

118. Which statement in the passage/phrase indicates that ‘Life must go on’?

Correct Answer: (c) People are “moving on with their lives”
Solution:

By the line, people are ‘moving on with their lives’ the author aims to indicate that’ ‘life must go on’.

119. What does the author mean by ‘pent-up demand’ ?

Correct Answer: (a) Desire (suppressed) to spend money once pandemic is controlled
Solution:

By the phrase ‘pent-up demand’, the author means that the desire to spend money in shopping for a product will increase once the pandemic is brought under control.

120. What, according to the author, is the reason behind suppression of consumer demands ?

Correct Answer: (b) Professional insecurity
Solution:

The reason behind the suppression of consumer demands is fear of job losses and salary cuts. Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.