Directions (next 11 questions) : In the following passage there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. These numbers are printed below the passage and against each, five words/phrases are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate words/phrase in each case.
The economics of owning and running a Ration Shop, the familiar name for the outlets in our Public Distribution System (PDS), are such that under normal business terms, the shop-owner could never make a profit. Yet …(90)… the government announces that new permits for ration shops will be given out, there is frenzy in the market to grab one of these …(91)…? The answer is obvious: the business is not for the honest and if one knows the …(92)…, there is a fortune to be made.
What are there tricks of the trade?
Getting fake names into the user list is the most obvious option; the State seems to be …(93)… a losing battle against this practice, judging by the endless efforts to weed out bogus ration cards.
The next is to get the ‘right customers’ on the list, not just more customers. There are people who are registered but who do not have any interest in …(94)… on their entitlements. In a system where caste and income certificates are for sale, it is not …(95).. to ‘produce’ these documents for mutual benefit. Receipts are duly made in their names, and the rations thus ‘dawn’ are …(96)…off into the open market. The sale price of an item like rice makes clear the …(97)… economics- it costs INR 8 in ration shop while in the latter it is INR 30 or above. There are also customers who would rather exchange their entitlements for hard cash at the beginning of the month.
As the degradation progresses, the shopkeeper, in …(98)… with the official machinery, mangoes to withhold effectively the entitlements from even the genuine beneficiaries, and diverts from to the open market. The targeted group is usually not in a position to …(99)… itself to get its due. And thus one has all the …(100)… of a good PDS business.
Directions (next two questions) : Choose the word/group of words which is most opposite in meaning of the word given in bold as used in the passage.