English Language For CWE-Clerks-V- Preliminary Examination
Q.1-10. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some questions.
With the world population growing rapidly (to an estimated 8.5 billion by 2030), the impact of climate change becoming increasingly apparent, and the amount of arable land dwindling, there can be no denying that achieving this goal will be a daunting challenge. But for Africa, which boasts 60% of the world’s arable land and climates conducive to a tremendous diversity of crops, striving to do so represents a remarkable opportunity to ensure food security for Africans (one in four is undernourished) and boost its economy by becoming a major food exporter.
Though many African economies have experienced rapid growth in recent years, the agricultural sector has remained stagnant. Indeed, African agriculture is still dominated by small-scale farmers who lack access to productivity-boosting technology, focus mainly on a narrow range of products, and remain poorly linked to markets, manufacturing, and the broader economy.
Africa can and should be the world’s breadbasket. But to realize this vision – and to do it in an environmentally sustainable way – its agricultural sector must undergo a genuine transformation that entails higher capital investment, significant crop diversification, and improved linkages to burgeoning urban consumer markets. Moreover, Africa must start manufacturing more value-added food products for both internal consumption and export, especially to countries like India and China, where demand is growing.
From Europe and North America to East Asia and Latin America, agricultural advances have proved to be key precursors of industrial development and gains in living standards. Africa has the added benefit of technologies that other regions lacked at this stage of their agricultural development, from cost-competitive off-grid solar power to mechanisms for mapping soil characteristics, regulating water use, and ensuring farmers’ access to accurate price information.
To bolster agricultural innovation and modernization, governments must ensure that farmers have secure titles to their land, and thus an incentive to make the needed investments. The challenge lies in the fact that, in many parts of Africa, land is communally owned, with almost everyone in a village having traditional rights to some farming land – a system that has helped to prevent landlessness and destitution in rural areas. Given this, reforms to make land tenure more compatible with modern commercial agriculture must be sensitive to local traditions and respect the ownership rights of communities and traditional smallholders.
Of course, agricultural development can have serious economy-wide pitfalls, which must be navigated carefully. For example, as technology-driven productivity gains reduce the number of workers needed on farms, strategies to boost employment in other parts of the value chain and to manage migration to cities become even more essential.
With Africa’s rural population already largely underemployed, there is no time to waste in implementing such strategies. Fortunately, Africa’s large population of increasingly well-educated young people, who are largely uninterested in the backbreaking work of subsistence farming, is well suited to fill the higher value-added jobs that emerge in the agricultural sector and beyond.
Another potential pitfall of agricultural development is environmental damage, including land degradation, soil nutrient mining, excessive water use, and water pollution. Here, again, Africa can benefit from experience and know-how that other regions could not access at a similar stage in their agricultural development. By drawing on other countries’ best practices – and avoiding their mistakes – Africa can develop an environmentally sustainable agricultural system that fits African conditions.
Such a system must place a high priority on protecting biodiversity and prevent the emergence of monocultures across the continent, which is home to some of the world’s richest ecosystems.
Climate-change considerations – including the expected costs of mitigation and adaptation – must be central to the process of upgrading agriculture, including the relevant infrastructure.
Ultimately, each country must chart its own course toward agricultural development. But cooperation – even just to exchange ideas and emulate best practices – can help the process considerably. Africa’s agricultural transformation will be a long and complex process. But it has the potential to ensure regional food security, promote broader economic development, and ultimately help to feed the world. We are confident that African leaders will rise to the challenge.
Q.1. How can Africa be the world’s breadbasket and environmentally sustainable country?
(1) by infusing higher capital investment
(2) by significant crop diversification and improving links in urban consumer markets
(3) By manufacturing and exporting value added products
(4) Only 1 & 2
(5) All of the above
Q.2. Which of the following statements is/ are FALSE in context of the passage?
(1) Africa boasts 60% of the world’s arable land and climates conducive to a tremendous diversity of
crops.
(2) agricultural sector is the most growing sector among other sectors of African economy
(3) Africa is the biggest exporter of food grains in the world
(4) Both 2 & 3
(5) All are false
Q.3. What are the pitfalls of the agricultural development as discussed in the passage?
A. environmental damage
B. machines will reduce the number of workers
C. excessive use of chemicals would reduce the quality of crops
(1) Only A (2) Only B (3) Both A and B (4) Both B and C (5) All of the above
Q.4. In which of the following ways did Africa has an upper hand than many other countries in
agricultural production?
A. technological advancements
B. better availability of water use
C. farmers’ knowledge of pricing
D. better storage availability
(1) Both A and B (2) Both B and D (3) All except C
(4) All except D (5) All of the above
Q.5. Why did Africa’s agricultural growth remain stagnant for many years?
A. because African agriculture is dominated by small-scale farmers
B. because African farmers focus mainly on a narrow range of products
C. because African farmers remain poorly linked to markets, manufacturing, and the broader
economy.
(1) Only A (2) Only B (3) Both B and C
(4) Both A and C (5) All of the above
Q.6. What steps should government take to bolster agricultural production in Africa country?
(1) the government must ensure that farmers are given incentives to secure titles to their land
(2) the government must educate farmers not to hold their land communally
(3) the government should hold campaigns on the techniques to cultivate land
(4) the government should give subsidy to farmers to produce more
(5) Both 1 & 2
Q.7-8. Choose the word most similar in meaning to the word printed in bold, as used in the
passage.
Q.7. burgeoning
(1) prospering (2) serpentine (3) stagnant (4) torpid (5) attentive
Q.28. emulate
(1) outrage (2) advanced (3) abrogate (4) peregrinate (5) imitate
Q.9-10. Choose the word which is most nearly the OPPOSITE in meaning as the word printed in
bold as used in the passage.
Q.9. pitfall
(1) hazard (2) advantage (3) consequences (4) actions (5) peril
Q.10. bolster
(1) aid (2) thwart (3) injure (4) justify (5) impede
Answers
Q.2. (4)
Q.3. (3)
Q.4. (4)
Q.5. (5)
Q.6. (1)
Q.7. (1)
Q.8.(5)
Q.9. (2)
Q.10. (1)
