SBI Junior Associates Model Paper 4

Directions (Q. 41-55)
Read the following passage carefully and answer thequestions given below it. Certain words/expressions are given in bold in thepassage to help you locate them while answering some of the questions
Radically changing monsoon patterns, reduction in the winter rice harvestand a quantum increase in respiratory diseases—all part of the environmentaldoomsday scenario which is reportedly playing out in South Asia. According to aUnited Nations Environment Programme report, a deadly three-km deep blantantof pollution comprising a fearsome cocktail fo ash, acids, aerosols and otherparticles has enveloped this region. For India, already struggling to cope with adrought, the implications of this are devastating and further crop failure willamount to a life and death question for many Indians. The increase in prematuredeaths will have adverse social and economic consequences and a rise inmorbidities will place an unbearable burden on our crumbling health system.And there is no one to blame but ourselves. Both official and corporate India hasalways been allergic to any mention of clean technology. Most mechanical twowheelers roll off the assembly line without proper pollution control systems. Littleeffort is made R&D on simple technologies, which could make a vital difference topeople’s lives and the environment. However, while there is no denying thatSouth Asia must clean up its act, skeptics might questions the timing of the hazereport. The Johannesburg meet on Rio+ 10 is just two weeks away and the stage is set for the usual battle between the developing world and the West, particularlythe US President Mr. Bush has adamantly refused to sign any protocol, whichwould mean a change in American consumption UN environment report will likelyfind a place in the US arsenal as it points an accusing finger countries like Indiaand China. Yet the US can hardly deny its own dubious role in the matter oferasing trading quotas. Richer countries can simply buy up excess credits frompoorer countries and continue to pollute. Rather than try to get the better ofdeveloping countries, who undoubtedly, have taken up environmental shortcutsin their bid to catch up with the West, the US should take a look at the environmentprofligacy which is going on within. From opening up virgin territories for oilexploration to relaxing the standards for drinking water, Mr. Bush’s policies arenot exactly beneficial-not even to Americans we realize that we are all in thistogether and that pollution anywhere should be a global concern only be moretunnels at the end of the tunnel