Q.1-10. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it certain words are given in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
Urbanisation took centre-stage at Rio+20 conference for good reasons. Cities collectively consume 75 percent of world’s natural resources, generate 50 percent of waste and emit about 70 percent of the greenhouse gas. With no slowing down of urbanisation in sight, this consumption is bound to increase. It is now abundantly clear — as UNEP’s recent report on sustainable cities convincingly demonstrates — that unless cities become resource efficient and reduce waste generation, national and global sustainable development would be impossible to achieve. This is a warning bell to Indian policymakers, who have so far focused on the economic growth of cities and ignored their environmental performance. Consuming 40 billion tonnes of raw material every year has its consequences. The first visible challenge is the staggering waste cities produce. Conventional wisdom has been to find more landfill sites. This approach would demand more land over time and cities cannot endlessly appropriate the resources of their region. It would lead to potential conflicts and the loss of productive agricultural land would partly offset the economic benefits provided by the cities. Pursuing standard solutions and treading the beaten path of town planning would not help. Only a radical change in course will create zero-carbon, zero-waste habitats, which is imperative.
It would be impractical to cap the growth of cities. Neither is it the objective of the current debate. The question is how to transform them. Certain cities have taken the lead and shown a way forward. For instance, Copenhagen recycles most of the waste it generates and lets only 3 per cent go to the landfill. Extending the idea of recycling, Kit gum town in Uganda traps used water from houses and utilizes it to grow food in greywater gardens. Cities in Malta have opted for a smart bi-directional grid system to regulate their power consumption. There are more inspiring examples. With the Central government dithering on commitments to reduce emission levels and the National Mission on Sustainable Habitats failing to offer anything substantial, Indian cities can no more rely on centrally directed policies and projects. They have to adopt best practices on their own and launch projects with clear green benchmarks. A good beginning would be to promote non-motorised transport. Even in larger cities such as Chennai, the share of bicycle trips, despite poor arrangement, is as high as 12.5 per cent of the total trips. Building dedicated bicycle tracks would significantly reduce transport related emissions. If Indian cities are keen to improve the quality of life and remain economically competitive, they have to leapfrog to become desirable green places to live in.
Q.1. Which of the following, is stated by UNEP’s report?
(1) Consumption has increased manifold due to urbanization.
(2) Natural resources are on the verge of depletion .
(3) In cities, emission levels have reduced significantly leaving environment green
(4) Cities have to become recourse efficient and minimize waste generation for national and global sustainable development
(5) Not mentioned in the passage
Q.2. Why is it impossible to check the growth of the cities?
(1) It is impractical to measure growth of diverse areas
(2) It is not possible to change government policies
(3) Citizens remain adamant and it becomes difficult to make them accept change
(4) All efforts to reform the present structure go in vain due to political pressure
(5) Not mentioned in the passage
Q.3. How has Copenhagen taken a step forward for sustainable development?
A. Through making new laws for environment protection
B. Through recycling most of the waste it produces
C. Making significant use of landfill sites
(1) Only A
(2) Only B
(3) Only C
(4) Only B and C
(5) All of these
Q.4. According to the passage, bi-directional grid system is used for -
(1) Power generation
(2) Waste recycling
(3) Irrigation
(4) Regulating water supply
(5) None of these
Q.5. Which of the following is TRUE of Rio +20 conference?
(1) Urbanization is the prime reason for poor environment performance
(2) Cities emit 50 percent of the greenhouse gas
(3) The conference ended without reaching any conclusion
(4) Cities collectively consume 57 percent of world’s natural resources
(5) Sustainable development is dependent on power consumption only
Q.6. Which of the following measures, according to the passage, can cities adopt to achieve their aim?
A. Promotion of motorized transport
B. Seek government’s help in providing landfill sites
C. Building dedicated bicycle tracks
(1) Only A
(2) Only B
(3) All except B
(4) All except C
(5) None of these
Q.7-10. Choose the word which is most nearly the SAME is meaning as the word printed in bold as used in the passage.
Q.7. Extending
(1) Promoting
(2) Benefiting
(3) Organizing
(4) Drafting
(5) Nurturing
Q.8. Offset
(1) Accord
(2) Negate
(3) Poise
(4) Equivalent
(5) Ignore
Q.9. Leapfrog
(1) Dive
(2) Cajole
(3) Shock
(4) Advance
(5) Hurdle
Q.10. Appropriate
(1) Budget
(2) Share
(3) Balance
(4) Allocate
(5) Distribute
Answers
Q.1. (4)
Q.2. (5)
Q.3. (2)
Q.4. (5)
Q.5. (1)
Q.6. (3)
Q.7. (1)
Q.8. (2)
Q.9. (4)
Q.10. (4)
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