Task reminder: Read the passage, then select the one correct answer. No negative marking. Read the question first, then skim for the relevant paragraph.

1. Sample Text 1

Antibiotic stewardship refers to coordinated programmes designed to promote the appropriate use of antibiotics to combat the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. These programmes operate at the level of individual hospitals, national healthcare systems, and international bodies, and typically involve restricting the prescribing of broad-spectrum antibiotics, requiring microbiological testing before prescribing, and educating clinicians and patients about the risks of unnecessary antibiotic use. The challenge is compounded by the agricultural sector, where antibiotics are used extensively — and in some countries prophylactically — in livestock farming, contributing to the development of resistant strains that can transfer to humans.

Q. According to the passage, why does antibiotic resistance present a particular challenge in the agricultural sector?

A. Farmers routinely add antibiotics to crops rather than livestock.
B. Agricultural antibiotic use contributes to resistant strains that can affect humans.
C. Antibiotic stewardship programmes cannot legally regulate farming practices.
D. Livestock antibiotics are too chemically different from human antibiotics to pose a risk.

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2. Sample Text 2

The history of science is not a linear march of progress but a complex process punctuated by what philosopher Thomas Kuhn called “paradigm shifts” — revolutionary changes in the fundamental assumptions of a scientific field. For Kuhn, science alternates between periods of “normal science,” in which researchers work within an accepted framework, and crises that occur when anomalies accumulate that the existing framework cannot explain. When a better framework emerges, it replaces the old one in a shift that is more like a political revolution than a logical deduction. Kuhn’s model challenged the dominant view that science progresses by purely rational accumulation of evidence.

Q. What was revolutionary about Thomas Kuhn’s view of scientific progress?

A. He argued that scientific knowledge is entirely subjective and culturally determined.
B. He showed that paradigm shifts are driven primarily by funding and political pressure.
C. He challenged the idea that science progresses through purely rational accumulation of evidence.
D. He demonstrated that all scientific theories are eventually proven false.

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3. Sample Text 3

Microfinance — the provision of small loans, savings, and insurance products to low-income individuals who lack access to conventional banking — gained global prominence through the work of Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. The premise was that access to small amounts of capital could enable the poor to start or expand businesses and lift themselves out of poverty. Rigorous evaluations of microfinance programmes have produced more ambiguous results than early advocates suggested: while access to credit can improve financial resilience and smooth consumption, evidence for transformative impacts on long-term income or poverty reduction is weaker than initially claimed.

Q. What does the passage say about the results of rigorous evaluations of microfinance programmes?

A. They confirmed that microfinance reliably lifts people out of poverty permanently.
B. They showed that access to credit has no measurable effect on poor households.
C. They found benefits for financial stability but weaker evidence for long-term poverty reduction.
D. They demonstrated that Grameen Bank’s model cannot be replicated in other countries.

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