Reading Comprehension Test 18 Welcome to your Reading Comprehension Test 18 Name Email DIRECTIONS (1-7): Read the passage and answer the questions that follow Since 1972-73, the five-yearly Employment-Unemployment Surveys (EUS) conducted by the National Sample Survey (NSS) have been the mainstay for analysing labour market trends. Though infrequent, the database has served a valuable purpose of capturing the complexities of the labour market; access to household-level data lately has spawned rich and granular analyses of the informal economy. As the last round of the EUS was in held in 2011-12, there is no reliable way of updating employment trends. The EUS has been replaced with an annual Period Labour Force Survey, and a time use survey. However, it will be a while before these data series come up with stable and credible estimates. The Labour Bureau under the Ministry of Labour and Employment has been carrying out household surveys somewhat similar to the EUS since 2010-11. They show a decline in worker population ratio between 2013-14 and 2015- 16, suggesting a deteriorating employment situation recently. None 1. Which of the following is/are synonyms of scepticism? I. Cynicism II. BeliefIII. Distrust IV. Conviction (a) Only II (b) Only II and IV (c) Only I and III (d) Only I, II and III (e) Only I, III and IV None 2. Which of the following is/are antonyms of spawned? I. Destroyed II. EngenderIII. Procreated IV. Sired (a) Only I (b) Only IV (c) Only II and IV (d) Only I, III and IV (e) Only II, III and IV None 3. As per paragraph 1, which of the following could weaken the importance of having added 4.1 million jobs in the economy as per the CSO report? I. The report is silent about the majority of the workforce engaged in the informal sector.II. The formal sector accounts for just about 12-15% of India’s workforce.III. The estimates supplement the data on organised sector employment reported regularly by the Ministry of Labour and Employment. (a) Only I (b) Only II (c) Only I and II (d) Only II and III (e) All of the above None 4. Which of the following is a suitable gist of paragraph 3? (a) The social security databases are lists of workers enrolled in the schemes, as an entitlement or as voluntary subscribers and not employment registers. (b) The social security databases lists out workers and accurately informs the actual level of employment in the firm. (c) The employees have the option to get themselves enrolled in social security schemes on reaching a particular number as specified by the Central and State laws. (d) The official data is matched with the register for social schemes to avoid any discrepancies in the calculation of the employment figures. (e) None of the above None 5. As per paragraph 4, which of the following is/are some features of the non-farm informal labour markets? I. It has grown the most in recent decades.II. Almost all of the workers are self employed or engaged in unpaid labour.III. This segment suffers from disguised employment. (a) Only II (b) Only III (c) Only I and II (d) Only I and III (e) All of the above None 6. What could be a/some possible reason/s for so few jobs to be created, given that the growth rate is more than 7%? I. There is no proper record of job creation in the informal economy, which forms the bulk of employment, and hence no way of accurately knowing how many jobs has been created.II. The growth has mostly been in areas which are capital intensive and not labour intensive.III. There is a possibility that the GDP figures are overestimated on account of some changes in the new National Accounts Statistics (NAS) series and the economic growth is overstated. (a) Only II (b) Only III (c) Only I and II (d) Only II and III (e) All of the above None 7. Which of the following is/are true as per paragraph 5? I. The Labour Bureau under the Ministry of Labour and Employment carries out household surveys similar to the annual Period Labour Force Survey.II. The results of the Household Surveys point to a worsening employment situation.III. The Unemployment Surveys (EUS) conducted by the National Sample Survey (NSS) were biennial in nature. (a) Only I (b) Only II (c) Only I and III (d) Only II and III (e) None of the above None Time's up
