TIMES SPARK SAMPLE MOCK TEST 2
Times Spark Mock Test 2 by Adhirit Academy
READ THE PASSAGES CAREFULLY & ANSWER THE QUESTIONS BELOWTry to Attempt in only 5-6 minutes
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Passage 1:Is the Taj Mahal history or heritage? The answer depends on which of the two doors we take when we step into the past. One could well be marked “His“ and the other “Her“; because through one you see “History“ and through the other, “Heritage“.
In many ways, history is the way a patriarchal narrative presents itself. There are goals to be accomplished and there are grand personages forcing them. Peasants and workers, artisans and traders are drawn in, but they did not start the plot.Whether it be war or peace, or licence to make and sell, those below either submit or rebel on a stage set by others.
Heritage is very different. It is about ordinary people who are skilled, resourceful, adventurous and risk taking; but not war like, nor policy driven. Heritage proceeds in peace and there are no great movers and shakers, no princes and potentates when its story is being told.
This story instead is about farmers and herders who tamed the wild to breed edible seeds and food; about mer chants and crafts people who braved mountains and deep waters to exchange knowledge; about rustic engineers and metallurgists who first hammered copper. Their combined contribution to our normal, routine lives is much greater than what warriors have accomplished, or emperors have bequeathed.
Passage 2:here are some practical suggestions to save GST's reputation and India's economy .
One, GST rates are too many . The more the rates, the more complex the forms and processes get, and the more discretion the authorities get to tinker around. This is the complete antithesis of GST. There needs to be only one GST, and an exempt list. If you are itching to have more rates, just have two. No more.
Two, the GST rate is too high. There are too many items in the 28% category , and even 18% is too much. Right now input cost GST reductions are not being passed to consumers, and probably won't be for a few years. GST rates, hence, must be reduced a lot for the medium term. The government must note that for many who pay income taxes, GST comes out of post-tax income. To gouge people is to upset people. The ideal GST for the moment would be 10% flat for almost all goods, with a peak 15% for some if you must.
Three, the `pleasure equals more taxes' attitude has to go. To tax things like air-conditioned venues or readymade garments more as they are luxuries is archaic, obsolete and fake-socialist. After all, people should be free to spend their post-tax income however they want. Should i sweat to deserve a lower GST? Really?
Four, GST returns are too complex.The government has an ambitious plan of tracking every invoice for every transaction for every business in the country and matching the GST collected and paid, every month. While this may be a dream for the tax department, it makes life super complicated for entrepreneurs, many of whom have never done such an exercise their entire lives.
Asimpler method is to go by aggregate cash outflows and inflows of GST, and arrive at a net number, on a quarterly basis (unless a business specifically wants monthly refunds). In other words, a businessman says: I paid this in GST, i collected this much, hence the net amount due to from government is this much. That's it.
Right now you have three returns a month, every month, with multiple complicated entries that have to be matched with every buyer and seller you did business with. Google the GST F5 form for Singapore, a simple quarterly online form with 14 boxes to be filled. It can be that simple. (Oh, and Singapore's GST is 7% flat. Just saying.) Finally, just do not have the attitudes of India in the 1960s. Which are (a) profits are terrible; (b) all businesses are run by crooks who we have to catch red handed; (c) running businesses is no work, so people can sit around and do returns all day; (d) we are government, so all businesses are beneath us we tax guys being the colonial lagaan collectors for these uncouth thieves.
Passage 3:American medical device companies have writ ten to the US govern ment asking that it suspend or partly or fully withdraw India's benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) “in view of its failure to provide equitable and reasonable access to its market for medical devices“. GSP allows developing countries duty-free access to the US for some products.
The companies cited recently imposed price controls on stents and knee implants as examples of discrimination against US device companies.
The representation to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) was made by Advamed (Advanced Medical Technology Association), a trade association representing nearly 350 medical technology companies including the biggest stent manufacturers, Abbott, Boston Scientific and Medtronic.Advamed's representation to USTR comes while the annual GSP product and country practices review process in underway. Under GSP, 3,500 product lines are eligible for the benefits of duty-free access to US markets. These products include engineering goods such as mechanical and electrical machinery and equipment, tools, agricultural implements, organic and inorganic chemicals, plastic and copper.
The Drug Price Control Order, under which India regulates the prices of drugs and devices, discriminates in favour of drugs and devices developed and produced in India and the department of pharmaceuticals also has the mission of promoting the growth of domestic drug and device industries and reducing imports, stated Advamed to back its charge that it was facing discrimination in access to Indian markets. Advamed claimed that NPPA's price cap of stents “disproportionately harmed imported stents“.
Passage 4:Fake news, a term heavily popularised by US President Donald Trump, has been named the word of the year by Collins dictionary due to its widespread use around the world.
The UK-based lexicographer found that the use of “fake news“ registered a 365% rise in the last 12 months, reflecting Trump's consistent use of the word in the wake of the 2016 presidential election in retaliation to unflattering media coverage.
Defined as “false, often sensational, information disseminated under the guise of news reporting“, fake news takes over from Brexit -which was named the defini tive word last year after the June 2016 referendum in favour of the UK's exit from the European Union (EU). “`Fake news', either as a statement of fact or as an accusation, has been inescapable this year, contributing to the undermining of society's trust in news reporting,“ said Helen Newstead, Collins' head of language content.
The US President has regularly used the phrase to criticise certain media reports and most recently claimed this week that the “fake news is working overtime“ in connection to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
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1-b
2-a
3-d
4-b
5-d
6-c
7-c
8-a
9-c
10-d