Paragraph Completion Exercise - I

In each of the following questions a short passage is given with one of the lines in the passage missing and represented by a blank. Select the best answer choices given, to make the passage complete.

Paragraph 1.
Providing benefits for women on maternity leave and children is a societal responsibility which can be funded in a large country through a combination of general taxation and contributory payments from those who have the means. Health care should be treated as a right and deliveries handled without cost to women. ______________________________. Such a policy would harmonise the varying maternity benefit provisions found in different laws that govern labour at present.

(A) The income guarantees during the pregnancy period can be ensured through a universal social insurance system.
(B) Beneficiaries covered by the latest amendment must be protected from discrimination through clear provisions.
(C) Mandating creche facilities to help women workers under the changed law is a forward-looking move.
(D) Women’s empowerment can be achieved through universal initiatives, not by imposing conditionalities to avail benefits

Answers : Option A is correct .
The paragraph starts while quoting that providing benefits for women and children is a societal responsibility. The sentence further states how the funds can be collected for this purpose. Out of the choices available, the sentence A clearly fits the blank most appropriately and the usage of the phrase ‘income guarantees’ confirms the same.

Paragraph 2.
Fringe elements affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been in the news ever since the party came to power. Activists who pretend to be associated with the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal and the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh too have had their day in the news. _________________________. First, the “fringe” is encouraged by the party as a strategy to appeal to more extreme elements within the party and to polarise politics. Second, and more specific to the right wing, some believe that these individuals’ provocative actions and remarks are indicative of the government’s tacit support for Hindutva principles.

(A) There are two reasons of the palpable polarization in politics.
(B) There are also local politicians who have misperceived favourable responses or miscalculated the impacts of their actions.
(C) There are two widely held explanations for such activism.
(D) Their two actions have served to embarrass the BJP and the Central government.

Answers : Option C is correct
Out of all the sentences option C fits the blank most appropriately as it takes the discussion started in the paragraph further in the most logical manner.
Moreover, usage of the adjective ‘such’ before the word ‘activism’ indicates that the sentence preceding the blank must have a reference of ‘activism’ and the presence of ‘activists’ in the very beginning of the sentence validates it.

Paragraph 3.
This seems even more crucial today given the lack of boundary between home and the outside world. When your authors were growing up, the world beyond their local community only came through the newspapers, radio, and television, with access to the latter two time-limited. Now, with mobile phones, iPads, and other devices, there are no boundaries and few time limits. _____________________________________.

(A) The world, for good and bad, is fully accessible, and the primacy of the messages delivered at home is under more challenge.
(B) This act of rebellion changed the course of Harry’s life, enabling him to get an education and do something other than walking a predetermined path.
(C) Like Ellen, Harry was also subject to a prophecy.
(D) Of our interviewers, Ellen was the one who seemed to have been chosen by destiny as a child.

Answers :
Option- (A) is correct.
It suits the meaning and context of the paragraph.

Paragraph 4.
Beyond talking, there is also the question of what is modelled at home. With the rapid growth of the number of women in the workforce and the lessening of the number of women who are continuously at home full-time, many of us would intuitively assume that domestic duties are now more equitably shared. _______________________________________. The peak difference occurs in the age range of 35 to 44 years old, a time when families may need to look after children and spend time caring for ageing parents.

(A) Given how grim much of the rest of Ellen’s childhood story is, it is a relief to know there was also some fun and humour.
(B) As well as being formally briefed about the team working, every day she overheard something new and intriguing.
(C) But the statistics show that there is still quite some way to go. A time-use study conducted in the United States in 2018 reveals that, on average, women spend two hours a day more than men on unpaid house and care work.
(D) Partly, it has happened because books and articles on women have caught our eyes.

Answers : Option- (C) is correct
It suits the meaning and context of the paragraph.