Afghanistan is so dependent on foreign aid that it could face an economic crisis when the West ends its military intervention in the country in 2014, a United States Senate report warned yesterday, criticizing the way the US had sunk billions into unsustainable projects in the shattered country. The US is spending $320m (£195m) a month in Afghanistan on reconstruction projects alone and has spent $18.8bn since it invaded in 2001. President Barack Obama's administration has requested a further $3.2bn for projects in the coming fiscal year.
a The U.S. program of assistance to Afghanistan confers long-term stability to the Afghan geopolitical environment and blunts popular support for extremist forces in the region.
b Hence, there are plans to increase direct funding, but only when ministries are able to execute the development funds that they do receive, and do so accountably.
c However, a number of humanitarian situations in Afghanistan, most stemming from the years of war that preceded the U.S. intervention, need to be addressed first.
d Yet the expensive nation-building efforts haven't utilized Afghanistan's resources effectively.
From here every direction is north. The sun is blinding, the temperature plunges to 100 degrees below zero and the elevation is a lung-searing 9300 ft. The South Pole is one of the most lifeless places on Earth. And yet each austral summer, 120 men and women arrive here to continue building a state-of-the-art scientific research station. It is not easy. Extension cords snap, tires fly off their rims, duct tape fails, steel tools shatter, flinging shrapnel through the air. ________
A paragraph is given below from which the last sentence has been deleted. From the given options, choose the one that completes the paragraph in the most appropriate way.
When it comes to partners, men often find women's taste fickle and unfathomable. But ladies may not be entirely to blame. A growing body of research suggests that their preference for certain types of male physiognomy may be swayed by things beyond their conscious control—like prevalence of disease or crime—and in predictable ways.
Masculine features—a big jaw, say, or a prominent brow—tend to reflect physical and behavioural traits, such as strength and aggression. They are also closely linked to physiological ones, like virility and a sturdy immune system.
Many children with ADHD have ________relationships with parents and are generally well behaved– their condition manifests itself only through a/an _________to concentrate and focus on specific tasks.
The House of Representatives unanimously approved a bill on Friday that would ________ restaurants, stores and roadside stands to an injunction if they _______ the New Mexico Chile Advertising Act.
Mattancherry is Indian Jewry's most famous settlement. Its pretty streets of pastel coloured houses,connected by first-floor passages and home to the last twelve saree-and-sarong-wearing, whiteskinnedIndian Jews are visited by thousands of tourists each year. Its synagogue, built in 1568,with a floor of blue-and-white Chinese tiles, a carpet given by Haile Selassie and the frosty Yahehselling tickets at the door, stands as an image of religious tolerance.____________________________
Musharraf has said the scientists were given wide latitude to develop the nuclear program and worked in secret even from top officials. That secrecy also has raised fears that nuclear workers may have transferred technology or equipment to terrorists, either for money or ideological sympathy. Experts say centrifuge technology would not be of much use to terror groups, who probably could not set up the vast facilities required to enrich useful quantities of uranium, with hundreds of technicians needed to run thousands of centrifuges.
a The government also has denied official complicity in giving away technology.
b Pakistan is estimated to have produced more than 1,540 pounds of highly enriched uranium.
c It is hard enough for countries to do.
d The acquisition of weapons designs would make it far easier for terrorists to make a workable bomb.
Unable to ........... his wholehearted distaste for media events and publicity, the miffed actor continued to make ........ comments throughout his interview.
The sudden shift from .......... to .......... in the author's novel can startle readers, especially when he abruptly juxtaposes a scene of holy rituals with one of profane ceremonies.
The method by which the therapists at Vinayak Trauma Clinic bill for their time is inherently faulty. Accounting rules allow billing for a full hour even when the therapist has not worked on a specific client for a full 60 minutes. Inevitably, this practice will lead to therapists billing for more full hours than they actually work, passing on false expenses to clients anytime they counsel a client or answer the client's phone.
Which of the following, if true, constitutes the best piece of evidence for countering the claim that therapists at Vinayak Trauma Clinic are likely to bill for more full hours than they work?
a Therapists at Vinayak Trauma Clinic are required to attend annual ethics seminars, during which over-billing is strongly discouraged.
b Even the senior partners at Vinayak Trauma Clinic typically bill less than 40 hours per week.
c Accounting rules at Vinayak Trauma Clinic only allow therapists to bill for a full hour if they have worked on more than one problem of a client in a given day.
d Therapist's fees at Vinayak Trauma Clinic are calculated based on 15-minute segments of billing time.
Since children consistently imitate the behaviors they see on TV, continued exposure to aggressive programs will cause more children to consider aggression as an acceptable way of solving problems. In order to promote a peaceful society, the government should ban the broadcast of aggressive programs.
Which of the following is most similar in logical structure to the paragraph?
a A mother in a family insists that a father not smoke in front of his children so that they don't pick up the habit.
b A father bans his teenage girl from watching television soaps after she is involved in a series of bickering sessions with her classmates.
c A mother hides the jar of candy she usually keeps on her kitchen shelf in order to prevent her children from gorging on it and ruining their lunch.
d A tour guide does not reveal to his clients the location of the town's best souvenir shop because he has been upbraided by the shop's owners for sending in too large a crowd.
Given below are four sentences or parts of sentences that form a paragraph. Identify the sentence(s) or part(s) of sentence(s) that is/are incorrect in terms of grammar and usage.
Then, choose the most appropriate option.
1. While central Tokyo has much to offer in terms of sightseeing, things only start to get more interesting once you venture at the outside of the well-trodden paths of the city center.
2. Anyone keen to experience the natural beauty that Japan has to offer will realize that inner Tokyo has very little in this regards.
3. The town of Nikko is located in Tochigi Prefecture and is renowned for its national park and authentic hot springs.
4. Lavish shrines such as Toshugu also dot the landscape, as well as the mausoleum of the 16th-century shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu.