94 B English Passage 21Feb
Passage I
Read below given statement
1. The subject of democracy is a muddle due to a desire to portray it as a Western concept, 'alien' to non - Western countries.
2. The language of imposition of democracy is inappropriate. There is, however, a need to consider this concept in the backdrop of culture of 'own ways' of non - Western society.
3.While democracy is not essentially a Western idea belonging exclusively to the West, the institutional structure of current democratic practices has been their contribution.
Read below given Passage
1.The subject of democracy has become severely muddled because of the way the rhetoric surrounding it has been used in recent years.
2.There is, increasingly, an oddly confused dichotomy between those who want to 'impose' democracy on countries in the non Western world (in these countries' 'own interest, of course) and those who are opposed to such 'imposition' (because of the respect for the countries' 'own ways').
3.But the entire language of 'imposition', used by both sides, is extraordinarily inappropriate since it makes the implicit assumption that democracy belongs exclusively to the West, taking it to be quintessentially 'Western' idea which has originated and flourished only in the West.
4.But the thesis and the pessimism it generates about the possibility of democratic practice in the world would be extremely hard to justify
5.There were several experiments in local democracy in ancient India. Indeed, in understanding the roots of democracy in the world, we have to take an interest in the history of people - participation and public in different parts of the world.
6.We have to look beyond thinking of democracy only in terms of European and American evolution. We would fail to understand the pervasive demands for participatory living on which Aristotle spoke with far-reaching insight , if we take democracy to be kind of specialized cultural product of the West.
7.It cannot, of course, be doubted that the institutional structure of the contemporary practice of democracy is largely the product of European and American experience over the last few centuries.
8. This is extremely important to recognize since these developments in institutional formats were immensely innovative and ultimately effective. There can be little doubt that there is a major 'Western' achievement here.
Which of the following is closest to the view of democracy as mentioned in the above passage?
1. The subject of democracy is a muddle due to a desire to portray it as a Western concept, 'alien' to non - Western countries.
2. The language of imposition of democracy is inappropriate. There is, however, a need to consider this concept in the backdrop of culture of 'own ways' of non - Western society.
3.While democracy is not essentially a Western idea belonging exclusively to the West, the institutional structure of current democratic practices has been their contribution.
4. None of the statements (a), (b) and (c) given above is correct.
Ans. 3
Explanation
Option 3 is the central theme of the passage. Even if democracy is not a specialized cultural product of the West but looking after the experience of European and American countries, the current democratic practices has been a major "Western Achievement"
Passage II
Read below given statement
1. Companies should always comply with labour and tax laws of the land.
2. Every company in the country should have a government representative as one of the independent directors on the board to ensure transparency.
3. The manager of a company should never invest his personal funds in the company.
Read below given Passage
1.Corporate governance is based on principles such as conducting the business with all integrity and fairness, being transparent with regards to all transactions, making all the necessary disclosures and decisions, complying with all the laws of the land, accountability and responsibility towards the stakeholders and commitment to conducting business in an ethical manner.
2.Another point which is highlighted on corporate governance is the need for those in control to be able to distinguish between what are personal and corporate funds while managing a company.
3.Fundamentally, there is a level of confidence that is associated with a company that is known to have good corporate governance.
4.The presence of an active group of independent directors on the board contributes a great deal towards ensuring confidence in the market. Corporate governance is known to be one of the criteria that foreign institutional investors are increasingly depending on when deciding on which companies to invest in.
5.It is also known to have a positive influence on the share price of the company.
6.Having a clean image on the corporate governance front could also make it easier for companies to source capital at more reasonable costs.
7.Unfortunately, corporate governance often becomes the centre of discussion only after the exposure of a large scam.
According to the passage, which of the following should be the practice/practices in good corporate governance ?
Read below given statement
1. Companies should always comply with labour and tax laws of the land.
2. Every company in the country should have a government representative as one of the independent directors on the board to ensure transparency.
3. The manager of a company should never invest his personal funds in the company.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only.
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Ans. A
Explanation
First statement is directly given in the first paragraph that companies should comply with all the laws of the land. Hence 1 is correct.
Practically it is not possible for the government to employ one of its employees in all the companies. Hence 2 is not correct.
Statement 3 is not connected with the passage and hence seems to be the wrong option as anything investment of manager is not mentioned in the passage.