English Language Questions | NIACL Assistant 2017 | 06.04.2017

Directions (1-10): In the following passage, some of the words have been left out, each of which is indicated by a number. Find the suitable word from the options given against each number and fill up the blanks with appropriate words to make the paragraph meaningfully complete.

The pension regulator’s move to raise the cap on equity exposure of voluntary subscribers to 75% from 50% through the life cycle fund is welcome. It provides _(1)_to a person whose age is 35 years or less to _(2)_more of her savings to risky equity and reduce that exposure as she moves closer to retirement and her risk-taking ability _(3)_down. Equities in fast growing India offer superior returns along with higher risk.

Civil servants are hamstrung as the NPS limits their contribution to a maximum 15% exposure to the stock market, as the investment norms are _(4)_linked to the Employees Provident Fund’s rules. That must change.

The government should take steps forthwith to allow _(5)_civil servants to be treated on par with voluntary savers with regard to _(6)_of asset class and fund manager. The government should also swiftly resolve the legal and operational hurdles to let workers switch to the NPS rather than save with the Employees Provident Fund, if they choose to. This will increase the _(7)_to the NPS and substantially increase the pool of funds to be managed by the NPS that has the institutional framework to generate _(8)_returns. More volumes will also bring stability to the system. Locking all savers into exposure to equity regardless of their age profile is a major shortcoming of the EPF and constitutes one more reason for migration to the NPS.

Workers will choose to migrate to the NPS only when there is tax parity _(9)_the EPFO and the NPS. The EPFO is tax exempt at the three stages of contribution, accumulation and withdrawal whereas NPS is taxed at the time of withdrawal. The government should bring _(10)_to the tax treatment of both retirement saving schemes.

Q.1. 

1. Flexibility

2. Docile

3. Resistance

4. Sincerity

5. Wisdom

Q.2. 

1. Keep

2. Withhold

3. Allocate

4. Divine

5.Concurred

Q.3. 

1.Go

2.Seems

3.appear

4.comes

5.up

Q.4. 

1.Absurdly

2.Idiotic

3.Carefully

4.Wrong

5.Mainly

Q.5. 

1.Some

2.Most

3.Individual

4.Everyone

5.Huge

Q.6. 

1.Preference

2.Common

3.Winner

4.Choice

5.Inferior

Q.7. 

1.Diverse

2.Enrolment

3.Baptism

4.Animation

5.Magnitude

Q.8. 

1.Ordinary

2.Superior

3.Unimportant

4.Exclusively

5.Expertise

Q.9. 

1.Along

2.With

3.Between

4.Nevertheless

5.Hardly

Q.10. 

1.Uniform

2.Variation

3.Essence

4.Insert

5.Parity