Paragraph Completion Exercise - II

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.
With the direction of global headwinds remaining uncertain, growth in government spending budgeted to be lower this year compared to last year, and private investment virtually absent, the lowering GDP numbers should serve as a reality check. _____________________________. While the government has vigorously underlined its reform achievements of the last three years, such as the Goods and Services Tax that rolls out in July, a mission-mode reforms reboot is urgently needed. And that can only begin if the problem is suitably acknowledged by policymakers.

(A) While lower inflation and growth may soften the RBI’s outlook, there is little that monetary policy alone can do at this juncture to revive animal spirits.
(B) Returning to the 8% growth mark is going to be a big challenge.
(C) In fact, the only reason the 7.1% estimate has held up is because growth for the previous quarters was revised upwards.
(D) Private consumption grew at the slowest pace in five quarters, even as construction and manufacturing activities dipped sharply.
Answers :
Option B the correct.
As it clearly seen that the sentence preceding the blank shows concern regarding the lowering GDP, the only sentence that fits the blank coherently is option B.

Paragraph 2.
At this stage of life, women are performing 8.8 hours a day of free work, while men are contributing 5.2 hours. Even when men and women both work full time, there is a 22 per cent difference in the time devoted to unpaid domestic and caring work. A look at who manages healthcare needs at home also shows substantial differences. ___________________________________________. When a child is too unwell to go to school, 40 per cent of mothers indicate that they are the adult who takes time off work to look after them, whereas only 3 per cent of fathers say that they shoulder that responsibility.

(A) Informing these best guesses were two sources of information: our own life experiences and our understanding of the academic studies about women’s leadership.
(B) Hypothesis might seem like an unusual word to use, but it had been on our lips since we first began to discuss writing this book.
(C) Our shared starting point was a set of best guesses about what might explain the numerical lack of women leaders and the ways we observed that they were treated differently from men.
(D) Around 80 per cent of mothers say that they are the parent who will take children to medical appointments, and over 75 per cent say that they do the follow-up, like ensuring that medication is taken.
Answers :
Option- (D) is correct It suits the meaning and context of the paragraph.

Paragraph 3.
It might be a hard message to absorb for fathers who are not currently regularly wielding a mop, washing the dishes or staying home to look after a sick child, but at-home modelling about sharing domestic duties is another aspect of creating an enabling, non-stereotyped environment. ________________________________________.

(A) Research has shown that, when asked what they want to be when they grow up, girls were less likely to confine their answers to stereotypically female occupations if they had a dad who not only said he believed in a more equal distribution of domestic labour but did more tasks at home.
(B) A striking feature of Joyce’s recitation of her life story is the absence of references to her mother.
(C) Harry reminds us, though, that even in families where girls are nurtured and urged to aim high, poverty can flatten everything.
(D) None of the above.
Answers :
Option- (A) is correct
It suits the meaning and context of the paragraph.

Paragraph 4.
The United States currently gives an impression of being at war with itself. This stems from a series of charges and countercharges levied against President Donald Trump and his advisers, including that of collusion with the Russians, who are accused of meddling with the presidential election. _____________________________. Meanwhile, the kaleidoscopic nature of the changes taking place in the top echelons of the new administration is hardly helping matters. The peremptory actions of the President, such as the dismissal of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey, has only aggravated this situation. Almost every step taken by the new administration is leading to partisan rows.

(A) One of the principal charges against members of the Trump team is that they maintained improper contact with Russian diplomats.
(B) The media and intelligence agencies are far from impartial in their behaviour.
(C) Several probes have already been launched in this connection.
(D) Barack Obama, Mr. Trump’s predecessor, is by contrast credited currently with many more virtues than at any time when he was in office.
Answers :
Option C is correct answer.
Out of the rest of the options, option C that confirms the launch of several probes against the President fits the blank most appropriately.