General Knowledge Questions

Read the following passage carefully and choose the most appropriate answer to the question out of the four alternatives.

Most economists in the United States seem captivated by the spell of the free market. Consequently, nothing seems good or normal that does not accord with the requirements of the free market. A price that is determined by the seller or, for that matter (for that matter: so far as that is concerned), established by anyone other than the aggregate of consumers seems pernicious. Accordingly, it requires a major act of will to think of price-fixing (the determination of prices by the seller) as both "normal" and having a valuable economic function. In fact, price-fixing is normal in all industrialized societies because the industrial system itself provides, as an effortless consequence of its own development, the price-fixing that it requires. Modern industrial planning requires and rewards great size. Hence, a comparatively small number of large firms will be competing for the same group of consumers. That each large firm will act with consideration of its own needs and thus avoid selling its products for more than its competitors charge is commonly recognized by advocates of free-market economic theories. But each large firm will also act with full consideration of the needs that it has in common with the other large firms competing for the same customers.

A major act of will will bring about price-fixing that will be seen as -

The Tropic of ____________ passes almost halfway through India.

In the following question, out of the four alternatives, select the alternative which will improve the bracketed part of the sentence. In case no improvement is needed, select "no improvement".

A small makeshift stage (was construct) with a red curtain for a backdrop.

In the following question, out of the four alternatives, select the alternative which is the best substitute of the words/sentence.

Annoyed or irritated and quick to take offence at petty things

In the following passage, some of the words have been left out. Read the passage carefully and select the correct answer for the given blank out of the four alternatives.

While language as the medium ___________ thought may be compared to air as the medium of the sun's influence, in other _____________ it is like the skin of the body; a scurvy skin shows bad blood within, and a scurvy language shows inaccurate thought ___________ a confused mind. And as a disease once fixed on the skin reacts and poisons the blood in turn as it has first been poisoned by the blood, so careless use of language __________ indulged reacts on the mind to make it permanently and increasingly _____________, illogical, and inaccurate in its thinking.

increasingly _____________, illogical, and

In the following question, sentence given with blank is to be filled in with an appropriate word. Select the correct alternative out of the four and indicate it by selecting the appropriate option.

Fuel suppliers will ______________ the national oil shortage by raising prices to increase their bottom lines.

'Tripitakas' are sacred books of ____________

In the following question, out of the four alternatives, select the alternative which best expresses the meaning of the idiom/phrase.

Throw up the sponge