Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.
Comprehension:
On May 2, 2018, severe dust storms and thunderstorms hit parts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and other adjoining regions. Explaining the reasons behind such severe weather system, M. Mohapatra, senior scientist with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that dust storms and thunderstorms are a result of nearly similar weather conditions, like intense heat. Areas that have moisture in the air experience thunderstorms while those which don’t have moisture experience dust storms.
“All such conditions were being fulfilled on that day. The region had moist easterly winds coming from the Bay of Bengal and there was western disturbance system too. All this together triggered the events on May 2,” he added. In simple terms, dust storm can be explained as a phenomenon when strong winds carry dust over an extensive area.
As far as the timing of their occurrence is concerned, Mohapatra stated that there is no deviation in time of occurrence of a dust storm and thunderstorm activity as they usually peak in the pre-monsoon period.
These events happen between March and May only. In the pre-monsoon period temperatures are very high, around 44-45 degree Celsius and lead to such activities. Even as dust storms and thunderstorms are a common feature every year there has been no focused work on studying the trends related to it.
“In the coming years there could be more instances of intense thunderstorms and sand storms but they have to be studied in detail looking at the data of over 30-40 years to notice a trend. Work has been more or less confined to cyclones and monsoon systems but not much on dust storms or thunderstorms. It needs study,” admitted Mohapatra.
The extent of damage caused by thunderstorm activity in India can be gauged from the data of India’s National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). As per the NCRB data, compared to other natural disasters like cyclone, floods or heat waves, lightning kills more people in India. For instance, at least 25 percent of the 10,510 accidental deaths attributable to forces of nature in 2015 were due to lightning. The number of deaths due to lightning has constantly remained over 2,000 every year since 2005.
In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.
Comprehension:
The world is undergoing rapid changes in the knowledge landscape. With various dramatic scientific and technological advances, such as the rise of big data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, many unskilled jobs worldwide may be taken over by machines, while the need for a skilled workforce, particularly involving mathematics, computer science, and data science, in conjunction with multidisciplinary abilities across the sciences, social sciences, and humanities, (1)_______ increasingly in greater demand. With climate change, increasing pollution, and depleting natural resources, there will be a sizeable shift in how we (2)_________ the world’s energy, water, food, and sanitation needs, again resulting in the need for new skilled labour, particularly in biology, chemistry, physics, agriculture, climate science, and social science. The growing (3)__________ of epidemics and pandemics will also (4)________ collaborative research in infectious disease management and development of vaccines and the resultant social issues heightens the need for multidisciplinary learning. There will be a growing (5)_______ for humanities and art, as India moves towards becoming
a developed country as well as among the three largest economies in the world.
