Directions (1-5): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it.
There’s a paradox at the heart of global finance. The U.S. share of the world economy has drifted lower for decades, and now President Trump is retreating from the American chief executive’s traditional role as Leader of the Free World. Yet the U.S. dollar remains, as the saying goes, almighty. “American exceptionalism has never been this stark,” Ruchir Sharma, head of emerging markets and chief global strategist for Morgan Stanley Investment Management, said at a Council on Foreign Relations symposium on Sept. 24. By the latest tally of the European Central Bank, America’s currency makes up two-thirds of international debt and a like share of global reserve holdings. Oil and gold are priced in dollars, not euros or yen. When Somali pirates hold up ships at sea, it’s dollars they demand. And threats to be cut off from the dollar-based global payments system strike terror into the likes of Iran, North Korea, and Russia. It’s no exaggeration to say that the dollar’s primacy is at least as valuable to the U.S. as a couple of aircraft carrier strike groups.
Political leaders who once accepted the dollar’s hegemony, grudgingly or otherwise, are pushing back. Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, said in September that it’s “absurd” that European companies buy European planes in the American currency instead of their own. In March, China challenged the dollar’s dominance in the global energy markets with a yuan-denominated crude oil futures contract. Russia slashed its dollar holdings this year, claiming that the greenback is “becoming a risky instrument in international settlements.” And French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told reporters in August that he wants financing instruments that are “totally independent” of the U.S., saying, “I want Europe to be a sovereign continent, not a vassal.”
This disturbance in the force isn’t good news for the U.S. The dollar’s preeminent role in global finance is an “exorbitant privilege,” as Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, then France’s finance minister, said in 1965. If the dollar loses its central role—to be sure, not an imminent threat—the U.S. will be more vulnerable when there’s a loss of investor confidence. The Federal Reserve might even have to do what other nations do when global investors panic: jack up interest rates to painful levels to keep speculative money from flowing out. As it is now, when trouble breaks out, investors flood into U.S. markets seeking refuge, oddly enough even when the U.S. itself is the source of the problem, as it was in last decade’s global financial crisis.
A slippage in the dollar could also be viewed as a symptom of U.S. isolationism. “In a hypothetical scenario where the U.S. withdraws from the world,” damage to the dollar’s standing could cause average U.S. interest rates to rise by 0.8 percentage point, according to a December paper by Barry Eichengreen of the University of California at Berkeley and two researchers from the European Central Bank. While any serious erosion of the dollar’s status would take years, the U.S. can’t take its preeminence for granted, says Eichengreen: “Being the incumbent international currency is an advantage, but it’s not the only thing that matters.”
The most immediate risk to the dollar is that the U.S. will overplay its hand on financial sanctions, particularly those against Iran and countries that do business with Iran. In May the Trump administration withdrew from the 2015 deal that eased sanctions on Iran in exchange for that country’s promise to stop certain nuclear activities. The U.S. will reimpose sanctions on Nov. 4 and is successfully pressuring companies outside the U.S. not to do business with Tehran. European companies and banks could be punished by the U.S. if they inadvertently transact with sanctioned Iran and Iranian groups such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. European leaders, in response to what they perceive as an infringement on their sovereignty, are openly working on a payments system that would enable their companies to do business with Iran without getting snagged by the U.S. Treasury Department and its powerful Office of Foreign Assets Control. One idea is to set up a government-funded organization, which would be less vulnerable to U.S. actions than a private company or bank, to arrange exchanges of Iranian oil for products from Europe and possibly Russia and China as well. French officials say the transactions might be structured as barter to avoid involving banks. “We cannot accept as Europeans that others, even our closest allies and friends, determine who we can do business with,” Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum on Sept. 26.
The Europeans’ progress has been slow, so there won’t be anything ready in time to alleviate the sanctions taking effect in November, says Carsten Brzeski, a former European Commission official who’s now chief economist of ING-DiBa, the German branch of the Dutch banking company ING Group. Indeed, U.S. national security adviser John Bolton dismissed the European plan from the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in late September, calling the European Union “strong on rhetoric and weak on follow-through.” He needled, “So we will be watching the development of this structure that doesn’t exist yet and has no target date to be created.”
Q1. What is/are the signs that show(s) the unraveling of the dollar paradox?
I. European Commission finds unreasonable to trade for the European products by the European companies in dollars.
II. China has initiated Yuan-denominated crude oil contracts to surpass dollar’s hegemony.
III. French minister expects consonance between US Dollar and European currency.
IV. Russians are insecure for using dollars as an instrument for international discharges.

A. Only I B. Both II and III C. Only I II and IV D. Only I II and III E. All I II III and IV

Answer - Option E
Explanation -Refer to the lines of the 2nd paragraph “Political leaders who once accepted the dollar’s hegemony, grudgingly or otherwise, are pushing back… sovereign continent, not a vassal.”
Q2. According to the passage what is/are the immediate risks that the US Dollar is/are facing?
I. Nuclear attacks on the US due to the re-imposition of the earlier eased sanctions.
II. France may exchange goods for trading with other countries to avoid the involvement of any currency.
III. European leaders are planning to set up a government-funded organization to trade with Iran, Russia, and China.

A. Only III B. Both I and III C. Only I D. Both II and III E. All I II and III

Answer - Option D
Explanation -Refer to the 7th line of the 4th paragraph “European leaders, in response to what they perceive… to avoid involving banks”.
Q3. According to the passage, what is/are the fields where dollar hegemony is visible?
I. Dollar makes up for the two-thirds of the international debts and a like share of the global reserve holdings.
II. Oil and gold are priced in the American currency.
III. Somali pirates demand for dollars to release the ship they capture.
IV. Iran, North Korea and Russia are dreaded with the threats to be cut off from the dollar-based global payments system.

A. Only I B. Both II and III C. Only I II and IV D. Only I II and III E. All I II III and IV

Answer - Option E
Explanation -Refer to the 6th line of the 1st paragraph “By the latest tally of the European Central Bank, America’s currency makes up two-thirds of international debt and a like share of global reserve holdings. Oil and gold are priced in dollars, not euros or yen. When Somali pirates hold up ships at sea, it’s dollars they demand. And threats to be cut off from the dollar-based global payments system strike terror into the likes of Iran, North Korea, and Russia”.
Q4. Which of the followings explains the paradox of the US dollar at the heart of global finance?
I. Even though America has adopted the policy of exceptionalism, the dollar is still losing its strength.
II. Even though there are threats from US in the global payment system, the Dollar still makes up for two-third of international debts.
III. Even though the US share of the world economy is declining for decades, the dollar still stands out as the most powerful instrument in the international market.

A. Only III B. Both I and III C. Only I D. Both II and III E. All I II and III

Answer - Option A
Explanation -refer to the first line of the first paragraph “There’s a paradox at the heart… dollar remains, as the saying goes, almighty”. All the other alternatives do not precisely depict the meaning of US dollar paradox.
Q5. Suggest the most appropriate title for the given passage.

A. The growing paradox of US dollar. B. The tyranny of the US dollar. C. The rebel of European leaders. D. Iran in the international market. E. Europe as a Sovereign Continent.

Answer - Option B
Explanation -Since the passage is describing about the unreasonable use of power and control of the US dollar in the international market, the title “The tyranny of US dollar” aptly justifies its content. All the other titles fail to denominate the passage.

Directions (1-2): Each of the following questions has a paragraph from which one sentence has been deleted. From the given options, choose the one that completes the paragraph in the most appropriate way.
Q1. There is in fact no need to panic on account of the rupee. Barring the gradual decline in its value this year, the Indian currency has been fairly stable over 2016 and 2017; ______________________ its purchasing power at home has been falling.

A. with the Sensex rising by half a percentage point. B. With both consumer and wholesale price inflation easing in July. C. with inflation being higher than in developed countries. D. with the U.S. The Trump administration has just sanctioned Turkey’s Justice E. which has only intervened sparingly in the forex market so far

Answer - Option C
Explanation -Option D and E can be easily omitted as they have no information in context of any countries purchasing power option A has no relevance here as Sensex can’t define some countries purchasing power Sensex is related to share markets. In option B they are discussing the consumer and wholesale price inflation easing in July.
Q2. State governments, which will administer it through their own agency, ___________________________________, at pre-determined rates. Reaching a consensus on treatment costs through a transparent consultative process is vital for a smooth and steady rollout.

A. Will be launched formally on September 25 sends out the signal that the government is finally recognizing B. and to raise skill levels. Reducing the cost of universal health coverage is imperative C. The Centre should extend the scheme to all children and senior citizens, and cover out-patient consultation D. will have to purchase care from a variety of players, including in the private sector E. have been found ordering unnecessary treatments to claim insurance compensation

Answer - Option D
Explanation -Option C and E can be easily omitted as there is no mention either of any scheme or of any insurance for treatments. There is no mention of any launch so option A omits itself. Option D is the best answer for the fill in the blanks as ‘treatment’ and ‘care’ are quite co-related.
Directions (3-5): In the questions given below few sentences are given which are grammatically correct and meaningful. Connect them by the word given above the statements in the best possible way without changing the intended meaning. Choose your answer accordingly from the options to form a correct, coherent sentence.
Q3. AS
A Some residents in less affected cities such as Kochi have begun returning to their homes to assess the damage.
B Water levels had fallen in the southern Indian state of Kerala and rain is predicted to ease in the coming days.
C The severest flood warnings were withdrawn from districts across the state on Sunday.
D Rescue operations continue to free thousands of people still marooned by the worst flooding in a century.

A. Only B-D B. Only C-A C. Only A-D D. Only B-C E. All of these

Answer - Option E
Explanation -All the given combinations of statements successfully form grammatically correct and contextually meaningful sentences using the conjunction “As”. ‘As’ as a conjunction is used to indicate that something happens during the time when something else is taking place.
Q4. ONLY IF
A The tone of his voice, his manner of speaking, his walk, gestures, and the lines of his face and the expression of his eyes, were all carefully observed.
B All these features need to be satisfied to admit him as a probationer.
C He became a probationer for the Scottish ministry in 1661 just before episcopal government was re-established in Scotland.
D These features weren’t on the site when it was first launched because the necessary data did not yet exist.

A. Only B-D B. Only C-A C. Only A-B D. Both B-C and A-D E. None of these

Answer - Option C
Explanation -Statements A and B form the precise combination to mold a coherent sentence using the conjunction “only if”. ‘Only if’ expresses a strong condition or the only situation in which something can happen.
Q5. WHILE
A Regulator SEBI is planning to broaden the scope of cybersecurity initiatives for the market infrastructure institutions.
B Asian share markets crept cautiously higher on Monday as investors awaited developments on proposed Sino-US trade talks
C The broader markets also participated in the rally today with the Nifty Midcap index rising over a percent.
D All sectoral indices ended in the green with Nifty Bank, FMCG, Metal and Pharma rising 1-2 percent.

A. Only B-D B. Only C-D C. Only A-B D. Both B-C and A-D E. All of these

Answer - Option B
Explanation -Statements C and D form the precise combination to mold a coherent sentence using the conjunction “while”. ‘While’ means during the time that; at the same time as.

Directions (1-5): Rearrange the following six sentences (A), (B), (C), (D), (E), and (F) in the proper sequence to form a meaningful paragraph and then answer the questions given below.
A. Combined, these are seen as reasons for failing to anticipate many of the serious developments
that took place during the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
B. The generally accepted view, hence, is that intelligence agencies and policy-makers are usually unable to recognize the potential of movements about which they know little or understand even less.
C. To this day, for instance, many still wonder how the West and its intelligence agencies failed to realize the dimensions of Iran’s religious revolution, leading to the establishment of a theocratic state under Ayatollah Khomeini.
D. In retrospect, the Iranian Revolution was much larger than most previous secular uprisings, including the French Revolution.
E. In recent times, renowned historians like Christopher Andrew have also talked of a lack of ‘theologians’ compounding this situation.
F. Intelligence is often referred to as the ‘missing dimension’ when there is a failure to anticipate critical developments of a political and strategic nature. History is replete with many such instances.
Q1. Which of the following would be the FOURTH sentence after rearrangement?

A. E B. D C. C D. A E. F

Answer - Option C
Explanation -Explanation is common for 1-5. The correct sequence is FEACDB
Q2. Which of the following would be the FIRST sentence after rearrangement?

A. C B. A C. D D. F E. E

Answer - Option D
Q3. Which of the following would be the THIRD sentence after rearrangement?

A. F B. C C. E D. A E. D

Answer - Option D
Q4. Which of the following would be the FIFTH sentence after rearrangement?

A. C B. A C. B D. D E. F

Answer - Option D
Q5. Which of the following would be the SECOND sentence after rearrangement?

A. D B. E C. F D. B E. C

Answer - Option B