Languages: Mock Test - 10 - CUET MCQ

Taking a look at Yang Xin, Nie Li's gaze shifted to the distant sky and said, "Outside Glory City, there's the St.

Ancestral Mountains. The St. Ancestral Mountains stretches for thousands of miles, with two tribes still luckily surviving. Further out of the St. Ancestral Mountains, to the east, would be the Endless Desert, in the west there are barren lands, plains, Toxic Forest and a lot other places. All of those places still have people surviving. There are demon beasts everywhere in the Divine Continent. There are even dozens of continents beyond the Divine Continent. These continents are the main worlds, within the main world, there are many other subsidiary realms. Outside these worlds, there's another domain……"

Hearing the latter part, Yang Xin couldn't understand anything that Nie Li is talking about. What Main World?

What subsidiary realm? What other domain? She can only guess that the world that Nie Li spoke of should be extremely huge, to the extent that she'll never be able to gaze her eyes upon in her entire life. Yang Xin sighed at the insignificance of humans. In this vast world, they're trapped in this small Glory City and are struggling to survive.

"To the vast world, cheers……" Yang Xin rose her head and gulped the entire cup in one go. "I, Yang Xin, am an orphan. I suffered all kinds of ridicule when I was a child and slowly climbed my way up to my current position.

What did I rely on? Appearance? Wrong, I relied on strength! Until now, those men who competed with me, which one of them is not convinced?" Yet, today, Yang Xin felt light-headed. Whenever she thought about Ye Ziyun, she couldn't help feeling dejected and so, she gulped the anodyne in her hand, in one go.

Q. How can we best replace the word 'subsidiary' in the given context?

Modern science has provided us a universal method by which we may study and master any subject. As applied to an art, this method has proved highly successful in the case of music. It has not been applied to language because there was a well fixed method of language study in existence long before modern science was even dreamed of, and that ancient method has held on with wonderful tenacity. The great fault with it is that it was invented to apply to languages entirely different from our own. Latin grammar and Greek grammar were mechanical systems of endings by which the relationships of words were indicated. Of course the relationship of words was at bottom logical, but the mechanical form was the chief thing to be learned. Our language depends wholly (or very nearly so) on arrangement of words, and the key is the logical relationship. A man who knows all the forms of the Latin or Greek language can write it with substantial accuracy; but the man who would master the English language must go deeper, he must master the logic of sentence structure or word relations. We must begin our study at just the opposite end from the Latin or Greek; but our teachers of language have balked at a complete reversal of method, the power of custom and time has been too strong, and in the matter of grammar we are still the slaves of the ancient world. As for spelling, the irregularities of our language seem to have driven us to one sole method, memorizing: and to memorize every word in a language is an appalling task. Our rhetoric we have inherited from the middle ages, from scholiasts, refiners, and theological logicians, a race of men who got their living by inventing distinctions and splitting hairs. The fact is, prose has had a very low place in the literature of the world until within a century; all that was worth saying was said in poetry, which the rhetoricians were forced to leave severely alone, or in oratory, from which all their rules were derived; and since written prose language became a universal possession through the printing press and the newspaper we have been too busy to invent a new rhetoric.
Q. Why has the method, by which we may master any subject, not been applied to language?

Modern science has provided us a universal method by which we may study and master any subject. As applied to an art, this method has proved highly successful in the case of music. It has not been applied to language because there was a well fixed method of language study in existence long before modern science was even dreamed of, and that ancient method has held on with wonderful tenacity. The great fault with it is that it was invented to apply to languages entirely different from our own. Latin grammar and Greek grammar were mechanical systems of endings by which the relationships of words were indicated. Of course the relationship of words was at bottom logical, but the mechanical form was the chief thing to be learned. Our language depends wholly (or very nearly so) on arrangement of words, and the key is the logical relationship. A man who knows all the forms of the Latin or Greek language can write it with substantial accuracy; but the man who would master the English language must go deeper, he must master the logic of sentence structure or word relations. We must begin our study at just the opposite end from the Latin or Greek; but our teachers of language have balked at a complete reversal of method, the power of custom and time has been too strong, and in the matter of grammar we are still the slaves of the ancient world. As for spelling, the irregularities of our language seem to have driven us to one sole method, memorizing: and to memorize every word in a language is an appalling task. Our rhetoric we have inherited from the middle ages, from scholiasts, refiners, and theological logicians, a race of men who got their living by inventing distinctions and splitting hairs. The fact is, prose has had a very low place in the literature of the world until within a century; all that was worth saying was said in poetry, which the rhetoricians were forced to leave severely alone, or in oratory, from which all their rules were derived; and since written prose language became a universal possession through the printing press and the newspaper we have been too busy to invent a new rhetoric.
Q. Which of the following is the meaning of 'splitting hairs', as used in the passage?

Modern science has provided us a universal method by which we may study and master any subject. As applied to an art, this method has proved highly successful in the case of music. It has not been applied to language because there was a well fixed method of language study in existence long before modern science was even dreamed of, and that ancient method has held on with wonderful tenacity. The great fault with it is that it was invented to apply to languages entirely different from our own. Latin grammar and Greek grammar were mechanical systems of endings by which the relationships of words were indicated. Of course the relationship of words was at bottom logical, but the mechanical form was the chief thing to be learned. Our language depends wholly (or very nearly so) on arrangement of words, and the key is the logical relationship. A man who knows all the forms of the Latin or Greek language can write it with substantial accuracy; but the man who would master the English language must go deeper, he must master the logic of sentence structure or word relations. We must begin our study at just the opposite end from the Latin or Greek; but our teachers of language have balked at a complete reversal of method, the power of custom and time has been too strong, and in the matter of grammar we are still the slaves of the ancient world. As for spelling, the irregularities of our language seem to have driven us to one sole method, memorizing: and to memorize every word in a language is an appalling task. Our rhetoric we have inherited from the middle ages, from scholiasts, refiners, and theological logicians, a race of men who got their living by inventing distinctions and splitting hairs. The fact is, prose has had a very low place in the literature of the world until within a century; all that was worth saying was said in poetry, which the rhetoricians were forced to leave severely alone, or in oratory, from which all their rules were derived; and since written prose language became a universal possession through the printing press and the newspaper we have been too busy to invent a new rhetoric.
Q. Which of the following held a low place in literature for a very long time?

Modern science has provided us a universal method by which we may study and master any subject. As applied to an art, this method has proved highly successful in the case of music. It has not been applied to language because there was a well fixed method of language study in existence long before modern science was even dreamed of, and that ancient method has held on with wonderful tenacity. The great fault with it is that it was invented to apply to languages entirely different from our own. Latin grammar and Greek grammar were mechanical systems of endings by which the relationships of words were indicated. Of course the relationship of words was at bottom logical, but the mechanical form was the chief thing to be learned. Our language depends wholly (or very nearly so) on arrangement of words, and the key is the logical relationship. A man who knows all the forms of the Latin or Greek language can write it with substantial accuracy; but the man who would master the English language must go deeper, he must master the logic of sentence structure or word relations. We must begin our study at just the opposite end from the Latin or Greek; but our teachers of language have balked at a complete reversal of method, the power of custom and time has been too strong, and in the matter of grammar we are still the slaves of the ancient world. As for spelling, the irregularities of our language seem to have driven us to one sole method, memorizing: and to memorize every word in a language is an appalling task. Our rhetoric we have inherited from the middle ages, from scholiasts, refiners, and theological logicians, a race of men who got their living by inventing distinctions and splitting hairs. The fact is, prose has had a very low place in the literature of the world until within a century; all that was worth saying was said in poetry, which the rhetoricians were forced to leave severely alone, or in oratory, from which all their rules were derived; and since written prose language became a universal possession through the printing press and the newspaper we have been too busy to invent a new rhetoric.
Q. Which of the following can be said to be true about languages like Latin and Greek?

Modern science has provided us a universal method by which we may study and master any subject. As applied to an art, this method has proved highly successful in the case of music. It has not been applied to language because there was a well fixed method of language study in existence long before modern science was even dreamed of, and that ancient method has held on with wonderful tenacity. The great fault with it is that it was invented to apply to languages entirely different from our own. Latin grammar and Greek grammar were mechanical systems of endings by which the relationships of words were indicated. Of course the relationship of words was at bottom logical, but the mechanical form was the chief thing to be learned. Our language depends wholly (or very nearly so) on arrangement of words, and the key is the logical relationship. A man who knows all the forms of the Latin or Greek language can write it with substantial accuracy; but the man who would master the English language must go deeper, he must master the logic of sentence structure or word relations. We must begin our study at just the opposite end from the Latin or Greek; but our teachers of language have balked at a complete reversal of method, the power of custom and time has been too strong, and in the matter of grammar we are still the slaves of the ancient world. As for spelling, the irregularities of our language seem to have driven us to one sole method, memorizing: and to memorize every word in a language is an appalling task. Our rhetoric we have inherited from the middle ages, from scholiasts, refiners, and theological logicians, a race of men who got their living by inventing distinctions and splitting hairs. The fact is, prose has had a very low place in the literature of the world until within a century; all that was worth saying was said in poetry, which the rhetoricians were forced to leave severely alone, or in oratory, from which all their rules were derived; and since written prose language became a universal possession through the printing press and the newspaper we have been too busy to invent a new rhetoric.
Q. What has been described as a horrifying task in the passage?

Low wages, large numbers of casual and contract workers, authoritarianism in the workplace, unjust victimisation of workers who are at the forefront of resistance, the coming together of company and state to put down worker resistance with a heavy hand and the lack of a fighting spirit on the part of the central trade unions affiliated to the mainstream political parties - these are what the workers are up against, even in the public sector.

One is reminded of the 44-day strike that began in April this year of thousands of contract workers, of the public sector Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC), who have been struggling for many years to win wage parity with the company's permanent workers and the regularisation of their jobs. Sadly, the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) allied with it did not even give a call for the permanent workers to ally with these contract workers. Instead, all the AITUC did was to appeal to Jayalalithaa, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, in which the NLC is located, to intervene on behalf of the workers and prevail upon the central government to help settle the strike in their favour.

This, when the Tamil Nadu police had been ordered to arrest the striking workers after their strike had been declared "illegal" through a court order.

The political parties, to which the AITUC and the CITU are affiliated, had entered into a thoroughly opportunistic alliance with Jayalalithaa's AIADMK in the state assembly elections last year and wanted to keep the alliance going.

Indeed, it was the AIADMK government along with the central government, which controls the NLC that was instrumental in the defeat of the strike when the AITUC decided to call it off after some vague promises of regularisation were made, without, of course, any agreement on pay parity. If this then is the plight of workers in leading enterprises in the private and public sector, Maruti Suzuki and NLC, one can only imagine what their predicament is in labour-intensive manufacturing like apparel and footwear, and in the sweatshops of diamond cutting and polishing, all industries where the growth of exports is faltering.

Q. Which of the following options has not been mentioned as some of the challenges that workers face?

Low wages, large numbers of casual and contract workers, authoritarianism in the workplace, unjust victimisation of workers who are at the forefront of resistance, the coming together of company and state to put down worker resistance with a heavy hand and the lack of a fighting spirit on the part of the central trade unions affiliated to the mainstream political parties - these are what the workers are up against, even in the public sector.

One is reminded of the 44-day strike that began in April this year of thousands of contract workers, of the public sector Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC), who have been struggling for many years to win wage parity with the company's permanent workers and the regularisation of their jobs. Sadly, the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) allied with it did not even give a call for the permanent workers to ally with these contract workers. Instead, all the AITUC did was to appeal to Jayalalithaa, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, in which the NLC is located, to intervene on behalf of the workers and prevail upon the central government to help settle the strike in their favour.

This, when the Tamil Nadu police had been ordered to arrest the striking workers after their strike had been declared "illegal" through a court order.

The political parties, to which the AITUC and the CITU are affiliated, had entered into a thoroughly opportunistic alliance with Jayalalithaa's AIADMK in the state assembly elections last year and wanted to keep the alliance going.

Indeed, it was the AIADMK government along with the central government, which controls the NLC that was instrumental in the defeat of the strike when the AITUC decided to call it off after some vague promises of regularisation were made, without, of course, any agreement on pay parity. If this then is the plight of workers in leading enterprises in the private and public sector, Maruti Suzuki and NLC, one can only imagine what their predicament is in labour-intensive manufacturing like apparel and footwear, and in the sweatshops of diamond cutting and polishing, all industries where the growth of exports is faltering.

Q. The passage mentions Maruti Suzuki and NLC in order to

Low wages, large numbers of casual and contract workers, authoritarianism in the workplace, unjust victimisation of workers who are at the forefront of resistance, the coming together of company and state to put down worker resistance with a heavy hand and the lack of a fighting spirit on the part of the central trade unions affiliated to the mainstream political parties - these are what the workers are up against, even in the public sector.

One is reminded of the 44-day strike that began in April this year of thousands of contract workers, of the public sector Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC), who have been struggling for many years to win wage parity with the company's permanent workers and the regularisation of their jobs. Sadly, the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) allied with it did not even give a call for the permanent workers to ally with these contract workers. Instead, all the AITUC did was to appeal to Jayalalithaa, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, in which the NLC is located, to intervene on behalf of the workers and prevail upon the central government to help settle the strike in their favour.

This, when the Tamil Nadu police had been ordered to arrest the striking workers after their strike had been declared "illegal" through a court order.

The political parties, to which the AITUC and the CITU are affiliated, had entered into a thoroughly opportunistic alliance with Jayalalithaa's AIADMK in the state assembly elections last year and wanted to keep the alliance going.

Indeed, it was the AIADMK government along with the central government, which controls the NLC that was instrumental in the defeat of the strike when the AITUC decided to call it off after some vague promises of regularisation were made, without, of course, any agreement on pay parity. If this then is the plight of workers in leading enterprises in the private and public sector, Maruti Suzuki and NLC, one can only imagine what their predicament is in labour-intensive manufacturing like apparel and footwear, and in the sweatshops of diamond cutting and polishing, all industries where the growth of exports is faltering.

Q. From the passage, it can be inferred that the AITUC called off the strike because

Low wages, large numbers of casual and contract workers, authoritarianism in the workplace, unjust victimisation of workers who are at the forefront of resistance, the coming together of company and state to put down worker resistance with a heavy hand and the lack of a fighting spirit on the part of the central trade unions affiliated to the mainstream political parties - these are what the workers are up against, even in the public sector.

One is reminded of the 44-day strike that began in April this year of thousands of contract workers, of the public sector Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC), who have been struggling for many years to win wage parity with the company's permanent workers and the regularisation of their jobs. Sadly, the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) allied with it did not even give a call for the permanent workers to ally with these contract workers. Instead, all the AITUC did was to appeal to Jayalalithaa, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, in which the NLC is located, to intervene on behalf of the workers and prevail upon the central government to help settle the strike in their favour.

This, when the Tamil Nadu police had been ordered to arrest the striking workers after their strike had been declared "illegal" through a court order.

The political parties, to which the AITUC and the CITU are affiliated, had entered into a thoroughly opportunistic alliance with Jayalalithaa's AIADMK in the state assembly elections last year and wanted to keep the alliance going.

Indeed, it was the AIADMK government along with the central government, which controls the NLC that was instrumental in the defeat of the strike when the AITUC decided to call it off after some vague promises of regularisation were made, without, of course, any agreement on pay parity. If this then is the plight of workers in leading enterprises in the private and public sector, Maruti Suzuki and NLC, one can only imagine what their predicament is in labour-intensive manufacturing like apparel and footwear, and in the sweatshops of diamond cutting and polishing, all industries where the growth of exports is faltering.

Q. Consider the following statements:

1. Footwear is not a labour intensive industry.
2. The strike at NLC continued for over two months.

According to the above passage, which of the statements is/are valid?

All astronauts look forward to living in the lonely and unpredictable environment of space. In low earth orbit, for instance, you get to see 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets!

For the day fades into night every 45 minutes as the spacecraft rotates slowly to keep its solar panels facing the sun. Viewers in Delhi shared a bit of this excitement with Sunita Williams aboard the international Space Station, when she tele chatted with them earlier this month.

Astronauts spend long periods in weightlessness of 'zero gravity'. It may be fun for us sitting in our gravity cocooned rooms and watching them on TV, as they float around.

But inside their bodies things are happening that aren't any fun at all. Scientists study the effects of outer space on the human body to see how it behaves in zero gravity and then re-adapts to earth's gravity at the end of the spaceflight. In space the number of red blood cells, bone and muscle tissues are all altered and the metabolic process upset.

On Earth, gravity pulls blood to lower body, away from the head. Nerves called the baroreceptors detect this and redirect blood flow, ensuring that the brain gets enough oxygen and sugar. In space baroreceptors don't sense any pressure difference and the astronaut flies with an atypical redistribution of blood. On earth we build bones by running or jumping. But without gravity, the bones begin to lose calcium, which is absorbed in the body. (Bedridden and paraplegics suffer the same problem, losing 30% of their lower body bone mass within months).

The minerals lost from the leg and hipbones aren't excreted and they migrate to the head, making the skull dense. This is the body's way of making better use of its resources: legs are useless in space, so the body moves to protect the brain!.

Unlike on earth there is no muscle tension in space.

Muscles are relaxed, stretched and actually grow by five to seven inches in a space flight. Surprisingly one gets taller while one sleeps, too, because of relaxed muscles - sometimes enough to readjust one's car's rear-view mirror in the morning. To offset this, the astronauts aboard the ISS exercise on a treadmill every day. So every space payload has a large component of medical experiments to help scientists figure out what we gain-or lose-up there.

Q. It can be inferred from the passage that living in space _____.

All astronauts look forward to living in the lonely and unpredictable environment of space. In low earth orbit, for instance, you get to see 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets!

For the day fades into night every 45 minutes as the spacecraft rotates slowly to keep its solar panels facing the sun. Viewers in Delhi shared a bit of this excitement with Sunita Williams aboard the international Space Station, when she tele chatted with them earlier this month.

Astronauts spend long periods in weightlessness of 'zero gravity'. It may be fun for us sitting in our gravity cocooned rooms and watching them on TV, as they float around.

But inside their bodies things are happening that aren't any fun at all. Scientists study the effects of outer space on the human body to see how it behaves in zero gravity and then re-adapts to earth's gravity at the end of the spaceflight. In space the number of red blood cells, bone and muscle tissues are all altered and the metabolic process upset.

On Earth, gravity pulls blood to lower body, away from the head. Nerves called the baroreceptors detect this and redirect blood flow, ensuring that the brain gets enough oxygen and sugar. In space baroreceptors don't sense any pressure difference and the astronaut flies with an atypical redistribution of blood. On earth we build bones by running or jumping. But without gravity, the bones begin to lose calcium, which is absorbed in the body. (Bedridden and paraplegics suffer the same problem, losing 30% of their lower body bone mass within months).

The minerals lost from the leg and hipbones aren't excreted and they migrate to the head, making the skull dense. This is the body's way of making better use of its resources: legs are useless in space, so the body moves to protect the brain!.

Unlike on earth there is no muscle tension in space.

Muscles are relaxed, stretched and actually grow by five to seven inches in a space flight. Surprisingly one gets taller while one sleeps, too, because of relaxed muscles - sometimes enough to readjust one's car's rear-view mirror in the morning. To offset this, the astronauts aboard the ISS exercise on a treadmill every day. So every space payload has a large component of medical experiments to help scientists figure out what we gain-or lose-up there.

Q. The main purpose of the author in the passage is to

In the wake of the varying forms which the idea of the end of history has taken, the intellectual history of disillusionment and resignation has been countered with a Leftist framework. But, with almost 10 million nonwhite people in the EU, the rising number of impoverished masses in Brazil, or in South Asia, as well as the problems of health and illiteracy, the Left has a formidable task before it; issues concerning economic deprivation, the brutalisation of workers, increasing spending on nuclear enhancement and the need for all ethnic minorities to explicitly feature in a pluralistic vision needs to be the foundation of any reinvention of the Left.

The long drawn out economic and political tensions, for instance, in Latin America have moved the Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro and Evo Morales trio towards an international agenda for social reconstruction within which socialism does not need to be replaced but must be put forward as a programme to salvage a world from inequality and the abuse of power, especially the hegemony of the White House. They have together constructed a progressive alliance, insisting on a collective leadership that endorses the rich diversity of radical and socialist traditions.

In a drastically damaged world in which received political ideologies have been exhausted, anti-imperialist agenda and far-reaching remedies have been initiated in Bolivia, Cuba and Venezuela to check the erratic play of market forces. Chavez has been particularly hard hitting through his move of cutting off oil supplies to the US and his unquestionable allegiance with Castro. He has not hesitated to build trade relations with China and to back Iran's nuclear ambitions. The dream of an anti-imperialist union has finally come true by the induction of Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru and Chile into the club headed by Castro and Chavez, and underpinned by the age-old vision for a strong Leftist opposition to the interventionist policies of the U.S. Inspired by great heroes like Simon Bolivar and Che Guevara, Chavez has been fighting for regional integration and a society that bases itself on the ideology of the new South American Left.

Q. What issues, according to the passage, should form the basis for the Left to rise and be counted?

In the wake of the varying forms which the idea of the end of history has taken, the intellectual history of disillusionment and resignation has been countered with a Leftist framework. But, with almost 10 million nonwhite people in the EU, the rising number of impoverished masses in Brazil, or in South Asia, as well as the problems of health and illiteracy, the Left has a formidable task before it; issues concerning economic deprivation, the brutalisation of workers, increasing spending on nuclear enhancement and the need for all ethnic minorities to explicitly feature in a pluralistic vision needs to be the foundation of any reinvention of the Left.

The long drawn out economic and political tensions, for instance, in Latin America have moved the Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro and Evo Morales trio towards an international agenda for social reconstruction within which socialism does not need to be replaced but must be put forward as a programme to salvage a world from inequality and the abuse of power, especially the hegemony of the White House. They have together constructed a progressive alliance, insisting on a collective leadership that endorses the rich diversity of radical and socialist traditions.

In a drastically damaged world in which received political ideologies have been exhausted, anti-imperialist agenda and far-reaching remedies have been initiated in Bolivia, Cuba and Venezuela to check the erratic play of market forces. Chavez has been particularly hard hitting through his move of cutting off oil supplies to the US and his unquestionable allegiance with Castro. He has not hesitated to build trade relations with China and to back Iran's nuclear ambitions. The dream of an anti-imperialist union has finally come true by the induction of Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru and Chile into the club headed by Castro and Chavez, and underpinned by the age-old vision for a strong Leftist opposition to the interventionist policies of the U.S. Inspired by great heroes like Simon Bolivar and Che Guevara, Chavez has been fighting for regional integration and a society that bases itself on the ideology of the new South American Left.

Q. Why have remedial measures been taken in Bolivia, Cuba and Venezuela?

In the wake of the varying forms which the idea of the end of history has taken, the intellectual history of disillusionment and resignation has been countered with a Leftist framework. But, with almost 10 million nonwhite people in the EU, the rising number of impoverished masses in Brazil, or in South Asia, as well as the problems of health and illiteracy, the Left has a formidable task before it; issues concerning economic deprivation, the brutalisation of workers, increasing spending on nuclear enhancement and the need for all ethnic minorities to explicitly feature in a pluralistic vision needs to be the foundation of any reinvention of the Left.

The long drawn out economic and political tensions, for instance, in Latin America have moved the Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro and Evo Morales trio towards an international agenda for social reconstruction within which socialism does not need to be replaced but must be put forward as a programme to salvage a world from inequality and the abuse of power, especially the hegemony of the White House. They have together constructed a progressive alliance, insisting on a collective leadership that endorses the rich diversity of radical and socialist traditions.

In a drastically damaged world in which received political ideologies have been exhausted, anti-imperialist agenda and far-reaching remedies have been initiated in Bolivia, Cuba and Venezuela to check the erratic play of market forces. Chavez has been particularly hard hitting through his move of cutting off oil supplies to the US and his unquestionable allegiance with Castro. He has not hesitated to build trade relations with China and to back Iran's nuclear ambitions. The dream of an anti-imperialist union has finally come true by the induction of Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru and Chile into the club headed by Castro and Chavez, and underpinned by the age-old vision for a strong Leftist opposition to the interventionist policies of the U.S. Inspired by great heroes like Simon Bolivar and Che Guevara, Chavez has been fighting for regional integration and a society that bases itself on the ideology of the new South American Left.

Q. Hegemony means

In the wake of the varying forms which the idea of the end of history has taken, the intellectual history of disillusionment and resignation has been countered with a Leftist framework. But, with almost 10 million nonwhite people in the EU, the rising number of impoverished masses in Brazil, or in South Asia, as well as the problems of health and illiteracy, the Left has a formidable task before it; issues concerning economic deprivation, the brutalisation of workers, increasing spending on nuclear enhancement and the need for all ethnic minorities to explicitly feature in a pluralistic vision needs to be the foundation of any reinvention of the Left.

The long drawn out economic and political tensions, for instance, in Latin America have moved the Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro and Evo Morales trio towards an international agenda for social reconstruction within which socialism does not need to be replaced but must be put forward as a programme to salvage a world from inequality and the abuse of power, especially the hegemony of the White House. They have together constructed a progressive alliance, insisting on a collective leadership that endorses the rich diversity of radical and socialist traditions.

In a drastically damaged world in which received political ideologies have been exhausted, anti-imperialist agenda and far-reaching remedies have been initiated in Bolivia, Cuba and Venezuela to check the erratic play of market forces. Chavez has been particularly hard hitting through his move of cutting off oil supplies to the US and his unquestionable allegiance with Castro. He has not hesitated to build trade relations with China and to back Iran's nuclear ambitions. The dream of an anti-imperialist union has finally come true by the induction of Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru and Chile into the club headed by Castro and Chavez, and underpinned by the age-old vision for a strong Leftist opposition to the interventionist policies of the U.S. Inspired by great heroes like Simon Bolivar and Che Guevara, Chavez has been fighting for regional integration and a society that bases itself on the ideology of the new South American Left.

Q. What do you feel is the political ideology of leaders like Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro and Evo Morales?

In the wake of the varying forms which the idea of the end of history has taken, the intellectual history of disillusionment and resignation has been countered with a Leftist framework. But, with almost 10 million nonwhite people in the EU, the rising number of impoverished masses in Brazil, or in South Asia, as well as the problems of health and illiteracy, the Left has a formidable task before it; issues concerning economic deprivation, the brutalisation of workers, increasing spending on nuclear enhancement and the need for all ethnic minorities to explicitly feature in a pluralistic vision needs to be the foundation of any reinvention of the Left.

The long drawn out economic and political tensions, for instance, in Latin America have moved the Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro and Evo Morales trio towards an international agenda for social reconstruction within which socialism does not need to be replaced but must be put forward as a programme to salvage a world from inequality and the abuse of power, especially the hegemony of the White House. They have together constructed a progressive alliance, insisting on a collective leadership that endorses the rich diversity of radical and socialist traditions.

In a drastically damaged world in which received political ideologies have been exhausted, anti-imperialist agenda and far-reaching remedies have been initiated in Bolivia, Cuba and Venezuela to check the erratic play of market forces. Chavez has been particularly hard hitting through his move of cutting off oil supplies to the US and his unquestionable allegiance with Castro. He has not hesitated to build trade relations with China and to back Iran's nuclear ambitions. The dream of an anti-imperialist union has finally come true by the induction of Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru and Chile into the club headed by Castro and Chavez, and underpinned by the age-old vision for a strong Leftist opposition to the interventionist policies of the U.S. Inspired by great heroes like Simon Bolivar and Che Guevara, Chavez has been fighting for regional integration and a society that bases itself on the ideology of the new South American Left.

Q. What has Chavez been struggling for?

There is a controversy raging over the entry of giants such as Tesco and Wal-Mart into India after the government last week permitted foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail. Most economic analysts look at it in terms of capital coming into India to oust local shopkeepers or in terms of capital coming in to offer better prices to farmers or set up distribution chains and storage facilities to help consumers. These arguments seem a little old. There is a technological dimension to this that may reveal that it is India that is behind the competitive edge of big retail chains.

In 2009, Wal-Mart picked Bangalore-based Infosys Technologies and India-centric Cognizant among three information technology service vendors for a $600 million multi-year contract. Finance is now easily available for retail companies from banks and equity markets. What sets the real smart retail giants apart is their ability to leverage software and IT to keep their competitive edge.

Supply chain software can help lower costs by managing inventories. Data analytics and customer relations software can help them identify the more lucrative customers or choose discount strategies. Partners, employees and vendors of retail giants are now connected by software. Indian talent figures in all this.

Infosys was an early adapter of Wal-Mart’s move to go in for radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags that helps the retail chain track inventories at low cost. Last year, Wal-Mart also acquired Kosmix, a cutting-edge search engine, founded by Indian-born Venky Harinarayan and Anand Rajaraman (who earlier co-founded Junglee.com that Amazon acquired). Now Kosmix is a part of WalMart Labs. Its technology filters and aggregates information by topic from Twitter messages and the larger Web in real time. This is a new way to interact with shoppers.

Tesco now owes its edge to its Bangalore IT facility called the “Hindustan Service Centre”. The British retail chain says 6,000-employee-strong HSC’s strategic initiatives cover the “IT, business, financial, commercial and property aspects.” In Bangalore, Indian techies develop tools like mobile applications for Tesco.

Q. From the passage, it can be assumed that the author’s views on FDI in multi-brand retail are

There is a controversy raging over the entry of giants such as Tesco and Wal-Mart into India after the government last week permitted foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail. Most economic analysts look at it in terms of capital coming into India to oust local shopkeepers or in terms of capital coming in to offer better prices to farmers or set up distribution chains and storage facilities to help consumers. These arguments seem a little old. There is a technological dimension to this that may reveal that it is India that is behind the competitive edge of big retail chains.

In 2009, Wal-Mart picked Bangalore-based Infosys Technologies and India-centric Cognizant among three information technology service vendors for a $600 million multi-year contract. Finance is now easily available for retail companies from banks and equity markets. What sets the real smart retail giants apart is their ability to leverage software and IT to keep their competitive edge.

Supply chain software can help lower costs by managing inventories. Data analytics and customer relations software can help them identify the more lucrative customers or choose discount strategies. Partners, employees and vendors of retail giants are now connected by software. Indian talent figures in all this.

Infosys was an early adapter of Wal-Mart’s move to go in for radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags that helps the retail chain track inventories at low cost. Last year, Wal-Mart also acquired Kosmix, a cutting-edge search engine, founded by Indian-born Venky Harinarayan and Anand Rajaraman (who earlier co-founded Junglee.com that Amazon acquired). Now Kosmix is a part of WalMart Labs. Its technology filters and aggregates information by topic from Twitter messages and the larger Web in real time. This is a new way to interact with shoppers.

Tesco now owes its edge to its Bangalore IT facility called the “Hindustan Service Centre”. The British retail chain says 6,000-employee-strong HSC’s strategic initiatives cover the “IT, business, financial, commercial and property aspects.” In Bangalore, Indian techies develop tools like mobile applications for Tesco.

Q. Which of the following options best explains the purpose of the last four paragraphs?

There is a controversy raging over the entry of giants such as Tesco and Wal-Mart into India after the government last week permitted foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail. Most economic analysts look at it in terms of capital coming into India to oust local shopkeepers or in terms of capital coming in to offer better prices to farmers or set up distribution chains and storage facilities to help consumers. These arguments seem a little old. There is a technological dimension to this that may reveal that it is India that is behind the competitive edge of big retail chains.

In 2009, Wal-Mart picked Bangalore-based Infosys Technologies and India-centric Cognizant among three information technology service vendors for a $600 million multi-year contract. Finance is now easily available for retail companies from banks and equity markets. What sets the real smart retail giants apart is their ability to leverage software and IT to keep their competitive edge.

Supply chain software can help lower costs by managing inventories. Data analytics and customer relations software can help them identify the more lucrative customers or choose discount strategies. Partners, employees and vendors of retail giants are now connected by software. Indian talent figures in all this.

Infosys was an early adapter of Wal-Mart’s move to go in for radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags that helps the retail chain track inventories at low cost. Last year, Wal-Mart also acquired Kosmix, a cutting-edge search engine, founded by Indian-born Venky Harinarayan and Anand Rajaraman (who earlier co-founded Junglee.com that Amazon acquired). Now Kosmix is a part of WalMart Labs. Its technology filters and aggregates information by topic from Twitter messages and the larger Web in real time. This is a new way to interact with shoppers.

Tesco now owes its edge to its Bangalore IT facility called the “Hindustan Service Centre”. The British retail chain says 6,000-employee-strong HSC’s strategic initiatives cover the “IT, business, financial, commercial and property aspects.” In Bangalore, Indian techies develop tools like mobile applications for Tesco.

Q. Consider the following statements.

1. Wal-Mart picked Infosys Technologies in 2008.
2. Retail companies procure finance from banks and equity markets.

According to the above passage, which of the statements is/are valid?

There is a controversy raging over the entry of giants such as Tesco and Wal-Mart into India after the government last week permitted foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail. Most economic analysts look at it in terms of capital coming into India to oust local shopkeepers or in terms of capital coming in to offer better prices to farmers or set up distribution chains and storage facilities to help consumers. These arguments seem a little old. There is a technological dimension to this that may reveal that it is India that is behind the competitive edge of big retail chains.

In 2009, Wal-Mart picked Bangalore-based Infosys Technologies and India-centric Cognizant among three information technology service vendors for a $600 million multi-year contract. Finance is now easily available for retail companies from banks and equity markets. What sets the real smart retail giants apart is their ability to leverage software and IT to keep their competitive edge.

Supply chain software can help lower costs by managing inventories. Data analytics and customer relations software can help them identify the more lucrative customers or choose discount strategies. Partners, employees and vendors of retail giants are now connected by software. Indian talent figures in all this.

Infosys was an early adapter of Wal-Mart’s move to go in for radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags that helps the retail chain track inventories at low cost. Last year, Wal-Mart also acquired Kosmix, a cutting-edge search engine, founded by Indian-born Venky Harinarayan and Anand Rajaraman (who earlier co-founded Junglee.com that Amazon acquired). Now Kosmix is a part of WalMart Labs. Its technology filters and aggregates information by topic from Twitter messages and the larger Web in real time. This is a new way to interact with shoppers.

Tesco now owes its edge to its Bangalore IT facility called the “Hindustan Service Centre”. The British retail chain says 6,000-employee-strong HSC’s strategic initiatives cover the “IT, business, financial, commercial and property aspects.” In Bangalore, Indian techies develop tools like mobile applications for Tesco.

Q. According to the passage, which of the following are the essential elements in the success of retail giants?

1. The use of technology to maintain an advantage over others.
2. Sales and marketing strategies based on an analysis of customer data.
3. Maintenance of large inventories to bring the benefits of low cost to the customer.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

There is a controversy raging over the entry of giants such as Tesco and Wal-Mart into India after the government last week permitted foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail. Most economic analysts look at it in terms of capital coming into India to oust local shopkeepers or in terms of capital coming in to offer better prices to farmers or set up distribution chains and storage facilities to help consumers. These arguments seem a little old. There is a technological dimension to this that may reveal that it is India that is behind the competitive edge of big retail chains.

In 2009, Wal-Mart picked Bangalore-based Infosys Technologies and India-centric Cognizant among three information technology service vendors for a $600 million multi-year contract. Finance is now easily available for retail companies from banks and equity markets. What sets the real smart retail giants apart is their ability to leverage software and IT to keep their competitive edge.

Supply chain software can help lower costs by managing inventories. Data analytics and customer relations software can help them identify the more lucrative customers or choose discount strategies. Partners, employees and vendors of retail giants are now connected by software. Indian talent figures in all this.

Infosys was an early adapter of Wal-Mart’s move to go in for radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags that helps the retail chain track inventories at low cost. Last year, Wal-Mart also acquired Kosmix, a cutting-edge search engine, founded by Indian-born Venky Harinarayan and Anand Rajaraman (who earlier co-founded Junglee.com that Amazon acquired). Now Kosmix is a part of WalMart Labs. Its technology filters and aggregates information by topic from Twitter messages and the larger Web in real time. This is a new way to interact with shoppers.

Tesco now owes its edge to its Bangalore IT facility called the “Hindustan Service Centre”. The British retail chain says 6,000-employee-strong HSC’s strategic initiatives cover the “IT, business, financial, commercial and property aspects.” In Bangalore, Indian techies develop tools like mobile applications for Tesco.

Q. Consider the following statements.

1. Anand Rajaraman was a manager of Junglee.com
2. Last year, Wal-Mart was bought by Kosmix.

According to the above passage, which of the statements is/are valid?

India’s delicately balanced current account wouldn’t be the only major casualty of costlier crude oil: Local travelers now have to pay more to fly within the country as expensive jet fuel propels airlines to raise domestic fares that had tracked global energy prices to plunge to record lows last year.

Higher consumer fares in January reflect the persistent rise in aviation-fuel prices, which increased 8% on-month in November at the New Delhi airport, the country’s busiest. After a brief lull in December, prices firmed in January and February, breaching the levels of 2015 when the cycle of declines began.

The trend has led carriers to pass additional fuel costs on to consumers, many of whom switched to airlines after the gap between air and upper-class train fares narrowed in 2016. A senior executive at Jet Airways, India’s second-biggest airline by market share, said that the airline has recently revived the practice of levying a fuel surcharge - a fare component linked to movements in jet fuel prices - on domestic flights.

“We used to charge between Rs 100 and Rs 300 depending on short- and long haul sectors. Now we charge as much as Rs 700,” he added. Jet-fuel is the biggest cost item for Indian carriers.

Prices of petroleum products began rising since the spring after the 2015-16 winter witnessed record lows for crude oil, with global prices breaching $30 a barrel on their way down to levels not seen since the 1980s.

However, after a period of consolidation that analysts believed would have put many shale oil producers out of business, global crude oil prices began firming and have now stabilized around $55 a barrel, a level that some believe would be maintained over the medium term.

Airlines had clubbed fuel surcharge with the base fare component in 2015 after an advisory from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the country’s aviation regulator.

No-frills carrier SpiceJet has separated the two components over the last six months, although the fuel surcharge hasn’t been increased yet, said a spokesperson.

Travel company executives said overall fares have increased in January. According to data on Makemytrip, the country’s biggest online travel portal, average fares dropped in November and December but rose in January. Ticket prices for the Delhi-Mumbai sector rose to Rs 4,266 in January, compared with Rs 3,908 the same month last year, Rs 4,914 on the MumbaiBangalore sector compared with Rs 4,573 a year earlier, and Rs 4,473 on the Mumbai-Chennai route, compared with Rs 3,784 last January. Rival Cleartrip noticed divergent trends that showed those booking early stood to benefit. Last year, spot-booking fares too had fallen drastically.

“An analysis of the last three months of airfare data for the top 20 air travel sectors reveals that the increased cost to airlines, contributed by the fuel prices surge and the rupee’s depreciation, has resulted in a 15% increase in airfares for a booking window of 0-14 days,” said Samyukth Sridharan, president and chief operating officer of Cleartrip. “At the same time, we see that the airlines have been quite aggressive in offering deals to passengers who plan in advance, reflected in a 21% year on-year drop in fares on an average for travel bookings made over 14 days in advance.”

Last year, airlines had offered substantial discounts across sectors and made attractive offers for ticket-buyers who planned their travel in advance, resulting in lower yields. To be sure, the industry’s ability to charge more will depend on the direction in aviation fuel prices and seasonal changes in air-travel demand.

“February and March are lean months, and the airlines may not have room to increase so much. But there will be increases subsequently if jet fuel prices continue their climb,” said a senior executive of a budget carrier.

Q. According to the passage, why have many passengers switched to air travel post 2016?

India’s delicately balanced current account wouldn’t be the only major casualty of costlier crude oil: Local travelers now have to pay more to fly within the country as expensive jet fuel propels airlines to raise domestic fares that had tracked global energy prices to plunge to record lows last year.

Higher consumer fares in January reflect the persistent rise in aviation-fuel prices, which increased 8% on-month in November at the New Delhi airport, the country’s busiest. After a brief lull in December, prices firmed in January and February, breaching the levels of 2015 when the cycle of declines began.

The trend has led carriers to pass additional fuel costs on to consumers, many of whom switched to airlines after the gap between air and upper-class train fares narrowed in 2016. A senior executive at Jet Airways, India’s second-biggest airline by market share, said that the airline has recently revived the practice of levying a fuel surcharge - a fare component linked to movements in jet fuel prices - on domestic flights.

“We used to charge between Rs 100 and Rs 300 depending on short- and long haul sectors. Now we charge as much as Rs 700,” he added. Jet-fuel is the biggest cost item for Indian carriers.

Prices of petroleum products began rising since the spring after the 2015-16 winter witnessed record lows for crude oil, with global prices breaching $30 a barrel on their way down to levels not seen since the 1980s.

However, after a period of consolidation that analysts believed would have put many shale oil producers out of business, global crude oil prices began firming and have now stabilized around $55 a barrel, a level that some believe would be maintained over the medium term.

Airlines had clubbed fuel surcharge with the base fare component in 2015 after an advisory from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the country’s aviation regulator.

No-frills carrier SpiceJet has separated the two components over the last six months, although the fuel surcharge hasn’t been increased yet, said a spokesperson.

Travel company executives said overall fares have increased in January. According to data on Makemytrip, the country’s biggest online travel portal, average fares dropped in November and December but rose in January. Ticket prices for the Delhi-Mumbai sector rose to Rs 4,266 in January, compared with Rs 3,908 the same month last year, Rs 4,914 on the MumbaiBangalore sector compared with Rs 4,573 a year earlier, and Rs 4,473 on the Mumbai-Chennai route, compared with Rs 3,784 last January. Rival Cleartrip noticed divergent trends that showed those booking early stood to benefit. Last year, spot-booking fares too had fallen drastically.

“An analysis of the last three months of airfare data for the top 20 air travel sectors reveals that the increased cost to airlines, contributed by the fuel prices surge and the rupee’s depreciation, has resulted in a 15% increase in airfares for a booking window of 0-14 days,” said Samyukth Sridharan, president and chief operating officer of Cleartrip. “At the same time, we see that the airlines have been quite aggressive in offering deals to passengers who plan in advance, reflected in a 21% year on-year drop in fares on an average for travel bookings made over 14 days in advance.”

Last year, airlines had offered substantial discounts across sectors and made attractive offers for ticket-buyers who planned their travel in advance, resulting in lower yields. To be sure, the industry’s ability to charge more will depend on the direction in aviation fuel prices and seasonal changes in air-travel demand.

“February and March are lean months, and the airlines may not have room to increase so much. But there will be increases subsequently if jet fuel prices continue their climb,” said a senior executive of a budget carrier.

Q. Since when have airlines started clubbing the fuel surcharge with the base fare component?

India’s delicately balanced current account wouldn’t be the only major casualty of costlier crude oil: Local travelers now have to pay more to fly within the country as expensive jet fuel propels airlines to raise domestic fares that had tracked global energy prices to plunge to record lows last year.

Higher consumer fares in January reflect the persistent rise in aviation-fuel prices, which increased 8% on-month in November at the New Delhi airport, the country’s busiest. After a brief lull in December, prices firmed in January and February, breaching the levels of 2015 when the cycle of declines began.

The trend has led carriers to pass additional fuel costs on to consumers, many of whom switched to airlines after the gap between air and upper-class train fares narrowed in 2016. A senior executive at Jet Airways, India’s second-biggest airline by market share, said that the airline has recently revived the practice of levying a fuel surcharge - a fare component linked to movements in jet fuel prices - on domestic flights.

“We used to charge between Rs 100 and Rs 300 depending on short- and long haul sectors. Now we charge as much as Rs 700,” he added. Jet-fuel is the biggest cost item for Indian carriers.

Prices of petroleum products began rising since the spring after the 2015-16 winter witnessed record lows for crude oil, with global prices breaching $30 a barrel on their way down to levels not seen since the 1980s.

However, after a period of consolidation that analysts believed would have put many shale oil producers out of business, global crude oil prices began firming and have now stabilized around $55 a barrel, a level that some believe would be maintained over the medium term.

Airlines had clubbed fuel surcharge with the base fare component in 2015 after an advisory from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the country’s aviation regulator.

No-frills carrier SpiceJet has separated the two components over the last six months, although the fuel surcharge hasn’t been increased yet, said a spokesperson.

Travel company executives said overall fares have increased in January. According to data on Makemytrip, the country’s biggest online travel portal, average fares dropped in November and December but rose in January. Ticket prices for the Delhi-Mumbai sector rose to Rs 4,266 in January, compared with Rs 3,908 the same month last year, Rs 4,914 on the MumbaiBangalore sector compared with Rs 4,573 a year earlier, and Rs 4,473 on the Mumbai-Chennai route, compared with Rs 3,784 last January. Rival Cleartrip noticed divergent trends that showed those booking early stood to benefit. Last year, spot-booking fares too had fallen drastically.

“An analysis of the last three months of airfare data for the top 20 air travel sectors reveals that the increased cost to airlines, contributed by the fuel prices surge and the rupee’s depreciation, has resulted in a 15% increase in airfares for a booking window of 0-14 days,” said Samyukth Sridharan, president and chief operating officer of Cleartrip. “At the same time, we see that the airlines have been quite aggressive in offering deals to passengers who plan in advance, reflected in a 21% year on-year drop in fares on an average for travel bookings made over 14 days in advance.”

Last year, airlines had offered substantial discounts across sectors and made attractive offers for ticket-buyers who planned their travel in advance, resulting in lower yields. To be sure, the industry’s ability to charge more will depend on the direction in aviation fuel prices and seasonal changes in air-travel demand.

“February and March are lean months, and the airlines may not have room to increase so much. But there will be increases subsequently if jet fuel prices continue their climb,” said a senior executive of a budget carrier.

Q. Out of the following options, which of the following comes closest in meaning to the word “breach”?

India’s delicately balanced current account wouldn’t be the only major casualty of costlier crude oil: Local travelers now have to pay more to fly within the country as expensive jet fuel propels airlines to raise domestic fares that had tracked global energy prices to plunge to record lows last year.

Higher consumer fares in January reflect the persistent rise in aviation-fuel prices, which increased 8% on-month in November at the New Delhi airport, the country’s busiest. After a brief lull in December, prices firmed in January and February, breaching the levels of 2015 when the cycle of declines began.

The trend has led carriers to pass additional fuel costs on to consumers, many of whom switched to airlines after the gap between air and upper-class train fares narrowed in 2016. A senior executive at Jet Airways, India’s second-biggest airline by market share, said that the airline has recently revived the practice of levying a fuel surcharge - a fare component linked to movements in jet fuel prices - on domestic flights.

“We used to charge between Rs 100 and Rs 300 depending on short- and long haul sectors. Now we charge as much as Rs 700,” he added. Jet-fuel is the biggest cost item for Indian carriers.

Prices of petroleum products began rising since the spring after the 2015-16 winter witnessed record lows for crude oil, with global prices breaching $30 a barrel on their way down to levels not seen since the 1980s.

However, after a period of consolidation that analysts believed would have put many shale oil producers out of business, global crude oil prices began firming and have now stabilized around $55 a barrel, a level that some believe would be maintained over the medium term.

Airlines had clubbed fuel surcharge with the base fare component in 2015 after an advisory from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the country’s aviation regulator.

No-frills carrier SpiceJet has separated the two components over the last six months, although the fuel surcharge hasn’t been increased yet, said a spokesperson.

Travel company executives said overall fares have increased in January. According to data on Makemytrip, the country’s biggest online travel portal, average fares dropped in November and December but rose in January. Ticket prices for the Delhi-Mumbai sector rose to Rs 4,266 in January, compared with Rs 3,908 the same month last year, Rs 4,914 on the MumbaiBangalore sector compared with Rs 4,573 a year earlier, and Rs 4,473 on the Mumbai-Chennai route, compared with Rs 3,784 last January. Rival Cleartrip noticed divergent trends that showed those booking early stood to benefit. Last year, spot-booking fares too had fallen drastically.

“An analysis of the last three months of airfare data for the top 20 air travel sectors reveals that the increased cost to airlines, contributed by the fuel prices surge and the rupee’s depreciation, has resulted in a 15% increase in airfares for a booking window of 0-14 days,” said Samyukth Sridharan, president and chief operating officer of Cleartrip. “At the same time, we see that the airlines have been quite aggressive in offering deals to passengers who plan in advance, reflected in a 21% year on-year drop in fares on an average for travel bookings made over 14 days in advance.”

Last year, airlines had offered substantial discounts across sectors and made attractive offers for ticket-buyers who planned their travel in advance, resulting in lower yields. To be sure, the industry’s ability to charge more will depend on the direction in aviation fuel prices and seasonal changes in air-travel demand.

“February and March are lean months, and the airlines may not have room to increase so much. But there will be increases subsequently if jet fuel prices continue their climb,” said a senior executive of a budget carrier.

Q. As per the passage, what is meant by fuel surcharge?

India’s delicately balanced current account wouldn’t be the only major casualty of costlier crude oil: Local travelers now have to pay more to fly within the country as expensive jet fuel propels airlines to raise domestic fares that had tracked global energy prices to plunge to record lows last year.

Higher consumer fares in January reflect the persistent rise in aviation-fuel prices, which increased 8% on-month in November at the New Delhi airport, the country’s busiest. After a brief lull in December, prices firmed in January and February, breaching the levels of 2015 when the cycle of declines began.

The trend has led carriers to pass additional fuel costs on to consumers, many of whom switched to airlines after the gap between air and upper-class train fares narrowed in 2016. A senior executive at Jet Airways, India’s second-biggest airline by market share, said that the airline has recently revived the practice of levying a fuel surcharge - a fare component linked to movements in jet fuel prices - on domestic flights.

“We used to charge between Rs 100 and Rs 300 depending on short- and long haul sectors. Now we charge as much as Rs 700,” he added. Jet-fuel is the biggest cost item for Indian carriers.

Prices of petroleum products began rising since the spring after the 2015-16 winter witnessed record lows for crude oil, with global prices breaching $30 a barrel on their way down to levels not seen since the 1980s.

However, after a period of consolidation that analysts believed would have put many shale oil producers out of business, global crude oil prices began firming and have now stabilized around $55 a barrel, a level that some believe would be maintained over the medium term.

Airlines had clubbed fuel surcharge with the base fare component in 2015 after an advisory from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the country’s aviation regulator.

No-frills carrier SpiceJet has separated the two components over the last six months, although the fuel surcharge hasn’t been increased yet, said a spokesperson.

Travel company executives said overall fares have increased in January. According to data on Makemytrip, the country’s biggest online travel portal, average fares dropped in November and December but rose in January. Ticket prices for the Delhi-Mumbai sector rose to Rs 4,266 in January, compared with Rs 3,908 the same month last year, Rs 4,914 on the MumbaiBangalore sector compared with Rs 4,573 a year earlier, and Rs 4,473 on the Mumbai-Chennai route, compared with Rs 3,784 last January. Rival Cleartrip noticed divergent trends that showed those booking early stood to benefit. Last year, spot-booking fares too had fallen drastically.

“An analysis of the last three months of airfare data for the top 20 air travel sectors reveals that the increased cost to airlines, contributed by the fuel prices surge and the rupee’s depreciation, has resulted in a 15% increase in airfares for a booking window of 0-14 days,” said Samyukth Sridharan, president and chief operating officer of Cleartrip. “At the same time, we see that the airlines have been quite aggressive in offering deals to passengers who plan in advance, reflected in a 21% year on-year drop in fares on an average for travel bookings made over 14 days in advance.”

Last year, airlines had offered substantial discounts across sectors and made attractive offers for ticket-buyers who planned their travel in advance, resulting in lower yields. To be sure, the industry’s ability to charge more will depend on the direction in aviation fuel prices and seasonal changes in air-travel demand.

“February and March are lean months, and the airlines may not have room to increase so much. But there will be increases subsequently if jet fuel prices continue their climb,” said a senior executive of a budget carrier.

Q. What was the observation of Cleartrip on airline ticket prices?