Practice Paper on comprehension based vocabulary
Journalists are facing heightened threats around the globe, according to the 2019 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), covering 180 countries and territories.
It notes that the number of countries regarded as safe for journalists is on the decline; this should be a wake-up call. Hatred of journalists has degenerated into violence in many places, and India is no exception. In 2018, at least six Indian journalists were killed in the line of their work, the report said.
India’s rank fell by two places to 140 from 138 — in 2016 it was 133 and in 2017 it was 136. In 2014 India’s ranking was 140, but this year’s setback is qualitatively different. The report notes that organised campaigns by supporters of Hindutva “to purge all manifestations of ‘anti-national’ thought from the national debate” is putting journalists in peril.
Women journalists are particularly at the receiving end, and covering sensitive but important topics of public interest such as separatism in Jammu and Kashmir and Maoist insurgency has become more difficult. Authorities use anachronistic sedition laws against journalists, who also face the wrath of militants and criminal gangs.
Hostility towards the media is a defining feature of hyper-nationalist politics in many countries. In India, the Centre and several state governments have not merely shown extreme bigotry towards objective and critical reporting but also taken unprecedented measures to restrict journalism.
The Finance Minister’s recent order barring credentialed reporters from the Ministry’s premises is a case in point but this is not an isolated measure. There is a systematic attempt to limit the scope of journalism in India through physical restrictions, denial of information and hostile rhetoric against journalists by senior government functionaries.
The government is unlikely to take the RSF report seriously. While expression of concern by foreign countries or global bodies regarding human rights, religious violence or media freedom is routinely dismissed as external interference in India’s sovereignty, the government knows all too well that in a globalised world these perceptions matter.
What else would explain the Prime Minister’s single-minded pursuit to improve India’s position in the World Bank’s annual Ease of Doing Business ranking? If India is concerned about its reputation in terms of business and investment, it should be equally or even more concerned about its standing as a democratic, pluralist country with a free and dynamic press.
That is not so much for the inflow of investment or luring global corporations, which may care little about a destination country’s democratic credentials — but for India’s well-being.
Passage taken from here.
Give the suitable meaning of the following words as used in the passage:
PURGE
- rehabilitate
- oust
- hold
- maintain
Ans. b)
Explanation: ‘The report notes that organised campaigns by supporters of Hindutva “to purge all manifestations of ‘anti-national’ thought from the national debate” is putting journalists in peril’ the sentence is in the negative tone thus amongst the options, option b) suits the most
PERIL
- safety
- certainty
- danger
- immunity
Ans. c)
Explanation: ‘The report notes that organised campaigns by supporters of Hindutva “to purge all manifestations of ‘anti-national’ thought from the national debate” is putting journalists in peril’ the sentence as mentioned above has a negative tone thus amongst the options, option c) suits the most.
INSURGENCY
- mutiny
- calm
- orthodoxy
- submission
Ans. a)
Explanation: ‘Women journalists are particularly at the receiving end, and covering sensitive but important topics of public interest such as separatism in Jammu and Kashmir and Maoist insurgency has become more difficult’.
The sentence talks about the tensions of Jammu and Kashmir and about Maoists. Thus amongst the options, option a) only describes the meaning as it only fits in the sentence.
ANACHRONISTIC
- novice
- contemporary
- In vogue
- archaic
Ans. d)
Explanation: ‘Authorities use anachronistic sedition laws against journalists, who also face the wrath of militants and criminal gangs’. The sentence gives an insight into something being used in the past thus option d) will be the answer as other options depict ‘something new’
WRATH
- peace
- rage
- glee
- ease
Ans. b)
Explanation: ‘Authorities use anachronistic sedition laws against journalists, who also face the wrath of militants and criminal gangs’. The word is used before the phrase ‘militants and criminal gangs’, the criminals are associated with anger and not peace. Thus option b) will be the answer.
BIGOTRY
- intolerance
- impartiality
- fairness
- justice
Ans. a)
Explanation: ‘In India, the Centre and several state governments have not merely shown extreme bigotry towards objective and critical reporting but also taken unprecedented measures to restrict journalism’. The sentence gives the meaning that some objection has been raised regarding the critical reporting which is very intense. Thus amongst the options, option a) suits the most.
CREDENTIAL
- refusal
- sanction
- abhor
- disapproval
Ans. b)
Explanation: ‘The Finance Minister’s recent order barring credentialed reporters from the Ministry’s premises is a case in point but this is not an isolated measure’. The usage of the word in the sentence clearly depicts that it is talking about authoritative reporters thus option b) will be the answer.
RHETORIC
- concise
- miniscule
- quiet
- oratory
Ans. d)
Explanation: ‘There is a systematic attempt to limit the scope of journalism in India through physical restrictions, denial of information and hostile rhetoric against journalists by senior government functionaries’.
The sentence is talking about restricting the scope of journalism and explaining the kind of restrictions put on it. Thus only option d) fits into the meaning of the sentence which says that oratory restriction is being put on journalists.
SOVEREIGNTY
- subservience
- submission
- supremacy
- hegemony
Ans. c)
Explanation: ‘The government is unlikely to take the RSF report seriously. While expression of concern by foreign countries or global bodies regarding human rights, religious violence or media freedom is routinely dismissed as external interference in India’s sovereignty, the government knows all too well that in a globalised world these perceptions matter’.
The sentence very clearly depicts the meaning of supremacy thus option c) will be the only answer to it as other options talk about submission.
LURE
- deter
- entice
- hindrance
- repulsion
Ans. b)
Explanation: ‘That is not so much for the inflow of investment or luring global corporations, which may care little about a destination country’s democratic credentials — but for India’s well-being.’ The word used in the sentence gives the sense of attraction thus option b) will be the answer.
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