Direction: Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions that follow. Certain words are printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of these.

If you’re concerned that automation and artificial intelligence are going to disrupt the economy over the next decade, join the club. But while policymakers and academics agree there’ll be significant disruption, they differ about its impact.

On one hand, techno-pessimists argue that new forms of automation will displace most jobs without creating new ones. In other words, most of us will lose our jobs. On the flip side of the debate, techno-optimists contend that continued investments in education and research and development will offset the job losses and generate many new human tasks that complement AI.

Researchers have been studying jobs that involve digital skills for years to try to understand their merit. But what does it really mean for a job or skill to be “digital”?

In earlier research, all it meant was that a worker used a computer. Since nearly all workers use a PC today, we need a more refined definition of digital skills that takes into account how much a job depends on doing things like programming, crunching data in Excel spreadsheets and even using a smartphone.

In a particular research, a new way was created to measure digital or information technology skills in the labour market based on how frequently they’re used in an occupation. For example, how much time does a financial adviser spend analyzing data or an event planner use a computer?

It was found that workers in occupations that rank higher in IT industry earn more than demographically similar peers in other occupations – and that this earnings gap has been growing. Not only that, but it was also found something interesting on the impact of a college degree on the lifetime earnings of a person in IT industry. Historically, workers with a college degree have earned a lot more than peers without one. Even the level of the college makes a difference. Recent research has shown that this so-called college premium has been flattening. The main cause, according to the analysis, is that the college premium for occupations requiring fewer digital skills has been declining, while it has been rising for those we identified as digital jobs such as software developers, programmers and aerospace engineering. At least some of the flattening in the college premium is due to the increasing number of bachelor’s degrees that convey few skills that are valued in the marketplace.

Another research compares the measures of job quality – such as a sense of purpose, enjoyability and career advancement – with income, occupations and a range of demographic characteristics. It found that jobs that require greater interaction with technology tended to score higher in quality, particularly in terms of measures like career advancement.

The fact that these jobs not only pay more but also provide greater levels of employee satisfaction and engagement paints a more optimistic picture about the future of work. And that gives hope, particularly since the digital economy is growing at a pace nearly four times faster than the broader economy.

The key is making tomorrow’s jobs “robot-proof” by designing them in a way that takes advantage of the digital skills described above. And universities must play a big role in this by identifying what a good job looks like and ensuring future generations learn the necessary skills.

Which of the following statement (s) can be inferred about holding a higher rank in IT intensity?

I. Degrees from better colleges offering skillsets hold value in the marketplace.
II. Demographic background has either no or not much influence on the rank a person hold.
III. A person at a higher rank has a greater sense of purpose and enjoys his role more than someone at a lower rank

Direction: Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions that follow. Certain words are printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of these.

If you’re concerned that automation and artificial intelligence are going to disrupt the economy over the next decade, join the club. But while policymakers and academics agree there’ll be significant disruption, they differ about its impact.

On one hand, techno-pessimists argue that new forms of automation will displace most jobs without creating new ones. In other words, most of us will lose our jobs. On the flip side of the debate, techno-optimists contend that continued investments in education and research and development will offset the job losses and generate many new human tasks that complement AI.

Researchers have been studying jobs that involve digital skills for years to try to understand their merit. But what does it really mean for a job or skill to be “digital”?

In earlier research, all it meant was that a worker used a computer. Since nearly all workers use a PC today, we need a more refined definition of digital skills that takes into account how much a job depends on doing things like programming, crunching data in Excel spreadsheets and even using a smartphone.

In a particular research, a new way was created to measure digital or information technology skills in the labour market based on how frequently they’re used in an occupation. For example, how much time does a financial adviser spend analyzing data or an event planner use a computer?

It was found that workers in occupations that rank higher in IT industry earn more than demographically similar peers in other occupations – and that this earnings gap has been growing. Not only that, but it was also found something interesting on the impact of a college degree on the lifetime earnings of a person in IT industry. Historically, workers with a college degree have earned a lot more than peers without one. Even the level of the college makes a difference. Recent research has shown that this so-called college premium has been flattening. The main cause, according to the analysis, is that the college premium for occupations requiring fewer digital skills has been declining, while it has been rising for those we identified as digital jobs such as software developers, programmers and aerospace engineering. At least some of the flattening in the college premium is due to the increasing number of bachelor’s degrees that convey few skills that are valued in the marketplace.

Another research compares the measures of job quality – such as a sense of purpose, enjoyability and career advancement – with income, occupations and a range of demographic characteristics. It found that jobs that require greater interaction with technology tended to score higher in quality, particularly in terms of measures like career advancement.

The fact that these jobs not only pay more but also provide greater levels of employee satisfaction and engagement paints a more optimistic picture about the future of work. And that gives hope, particularly since the digital economy is growing at a pace nearly four times faster than the broader economy.

The key is making tomorrow’s jobs “robot-proof” by designing them in a way that takes advantage of the digital skills described above. And universities must play a big role in this by identifying what a good job looks like and ensuring future generations learn the necessary skills.

According to the passage, why are some people concerned with the ongoing transformation of the economy brought by the use of automation and AI?

Direction: In the given question, a word has been printed in bold. Below the sentence, alternatives to the emboldened word have been given as (A), (B), (C) and (D), which may help improve the sentence. Choose the correct alternative out of the five given options. In case the given sentence is correct as it is, your answer will be option (E), i.e., "No replacement required".

E-learning has a considerable talent to improve the quality and effectiveness of traditional education.

Direction: In the given question, a word has been printed in bold. Below the sentence, alternatives to the emboldened word have been given as (A), (B), (C) and (D), which may help improve the sentence. Choose the correct alternative out of the five given options. In case the given sentence is correct as it is, your answer will be option (E), i.e., "No replacement required".

The modern publishing industry is dominated by a small number of large companies that have abandoned on more or less the same business model for decades

Direction: In the given question, a word has been printed in bold. Below the sentence, alternatives to the emboldened word have been given as (A), (B), (C) and (D), which may help improve the sentence. Choose the correct alternative out of the five given options. In case the given sentence is correct as it is, your answer will be option (E), i.e., "No replacement required".

The wedding received extensive welcoming in the newspapers.

Direction: In the given question, a word has been printed in bold. Below the sentence, alternatives to the emboldened word have been given as (A), (B), (C) and (D), which may help improve the sentence. Choose the correct alternative out of the five given options. In case the given sentence is correct as it is, your answer will be option (E), i.e., "No replacement required".

After an deliberate period of inactivity, Vesuvius erupted with devastating force in AD 79.

In the following sentence, some parts have errors and some are correct. Find out which part has an error and mark it as your answer. If there is no error, mark ‘No error’ as your answer.

Populist politics among the world has (A)/ sought to privilege national sovereignty (B)/ over universal values and commitments, (C)/ slacking off efforts to tackle critical challenges that are transnational. (D)/ No error (E)

Read the sentence below to find out if there is any error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The letter of that part is the answer. If there is no error the answer is (5). (Ignore errors in punctuation if any)

Reports of researchers mysterious (A)/ falling ill at the Wuhan Institute in late 2019, (B) /and other reports of a researcher (C)/ who has reportedly gone missing. (D)/No Error (E)