Direction (1-5): Read the passage carefully and answer the questions given below the passage.

The report of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution red-flagging tap water quality in major Indian cities comes as no surprise, given that many official water distribution agencies routinely advise consumers to consume only boiled water. Going by the matrix of tests carried out by the Bureau of Indian Standards for the Ministry, Delhi has abysmal water quality, Chennai and Kolkata rank very low, and Mumbai is the only city with acceptable results. City water systems are normatively required to comply with the national standard for drinking water, IS 10500:2012, but most obviously feel no compulsion to do so. Their lack of initiative could be attributed partly to the expanding footprint of packaged drinking water, especially in populous cities, coupled with the high dependence on groundwater in fast-growing urban clusters where State provision of piped water systems does not exist. On paper, the Indian standard has a ____________of quality requirements, including absence of viruses, parasites and microscopic organisms, and control over levels of toxic substances. But in practice, municipal water fails these tests due to the lack of accountability of the official agencies, and the absence of robust data in the public domain on quality testing.

The Centres approach to the issue (A)/ rely on naming and shaming through a system of ranking,(B)/ but this is unlikely of yield results, (C)/ going by similar attempts to benchmark other urban services(D)/. Making it legally binding on agencies to achieve standards and empowering consumers with rights is essential, because State governments would then take an integrated view of housing, water supply, sanitation and waste management. A scientific approach to water management is vital, considering that 21 cities — including many of those found to have unclean tap water — could run out of groundwater as early as 2020, as per a NITI Aayog report. Moreover, the Central Ground Water Board estimates that nearly a fifth of the urban local bodies are already facing a water crisis due to excessive extraction, failed monsoons, and unplanned development. On the issue of regular testing, there is a case to entrust a separate agency with the task in each State, rather than relying on the same agency that provides water to also perform this function. If data on water are made public on the same lines as air quality, it would ratchet up pressure on governments to act. For too long, the response of water departments to the challenge has been to chlorinate the supply, as this removes pathogens, ignoring such aspects as appearance, smell and taste. It is time to move beyond this and make tap water genuinely desirable.

1) Find a suitable for the passage.

a) Quality on tap: On report of Ministry of Consumer Affairs

b) Water pollution

c) Quality on tap: On report of WHO

d) All of the above

e) None of the above.

2) A sentence is given in bold in the passage. The sentence is divided into four parts. Find the part/s that has/have any grammatical error. If the sentence is correct, mark “no error” as your answer.

a) A,B, C

b) B, C

c) B, D

d) A, B

e) No error

3) A sentence is given with a blank in the passage. Below this question, you can see five words, two of them can fill the blank. Find the pair.

I) Plethora

II) Abundance

III) Paucity

IV) Dearth

v) Deficiency

a) I, II

b) I, III

c) II, V

d) III, IV

e) IV, V

4) Which of the following statements is/are not true according to the passage?

a) A scientific approach to water management is vital, considering that 21 cities — including many of those found to have unclean tap water — could run out of groundwater as early as 2025

b) The Central Ground Water Board estimates that nearly a fourth of the urban local bodies are already facing a water crisis due to excessive extraction, failed monsoons, and unplanned development

c) If data on water are made public on the same lines as air quality, it would ratchet up pressure on governments to act.

d) Both a and b

e) Both b and c

5) Which of the following words can not be the synonym of the word “abysmal” given in bold in the passage?

a) Awful

b) Dreadful

c) Atrocious

d) Horrendous

e) Superb

Answers :

1) Answer: A

Only option (a) reflects the main idea of the passage.

There a lot of evidence of this,

The first line of the passage says “The report of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution red-flagging tap water quality in major Indian cities comes as no surprise, given that many official water distribution agencies routinely advise consumers to consume only boiled water.”

The last line of the passage says “It is time to move beyond this and make tap water genuinely desirable.”,

Other options fail to display the topic of the passage.

2) Answer: A

In part A, “centres” should be replaced with “centre’s” as we need possessive noun here.

In part B, “rely” should be replaced with “relies” as the subject “approach” is singular and after singular subject we need V5 (V+ s/es).

In part C, “of” should be replaced with “to” as after “likely” we should use “to”.

3) Answer: A

In the blank we have sense of “abundance” or “excess”.

Plethora/ Abundance- Excess.

Hence (a) is correct.

Other words give opposite meaning.

4) Answer: D

It is mentioned in the passage:

“A scientific approach to water management is vital, considering that 21 cities — including many of those found to have unclean tap water — could run out of groundwater as early as 2020, as per a NITI Aayog report. Moreover, the Central Ground Water Board estimates that nearly a fifth of the urban local bodies are already facing a water crisis due to excessive extraction, failed monsoons, and unplanned development. On the issue of regular testing, there is a case to entrust a separate agency with the task in each State, rather than relying on the same agency that provides water to also perform this function. If data on water are made public on the same lines as air quality, it would ratchet up pressure on governments to act.”.

Hence, (a) and (b) are not true.

5) Answer: E

Abysmal- Extremely bad, awful, dreadful, atrocious, horrendous.

“superb” is the antonym of the word, hence it can not be the synonym.