English: Cloze Test for Upcoming Exams – Set 169

Direction: In the passage given below, there are 10 blanks. Each blank has four alternative words given in choices. You have to tell which choice or combination of choices does not fit in the respective blank.

David Spiegelhalter, president of Royal Statistical Society in the U.K., gave a most unusual presidential address in 2017. ___1___ talking about esoteric statistical techniques, he talked about declining trust in numbers in a post-truth society ___2___ by fake news and alternative facts. He ___3___ to the statistical community that the best way of inspiring trust was to be trustworthy by demonstrating competence, reliability and honesty.

India has been ___4___ in inheriting a statistical system from ___5___ like P.C. Mahalanobis and C.R. Rao that has historically demonstrated all three. However, with the growing demand for statistics and increasingly challenging data collection environment, the move by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) towards ___6___ a National Policy on Official Statistics is most welcome.

There is much to like in this policy. It notes increasing data needs, lays down the ___7___ for ethical data collection, highlights the importance of data quality and ___8___ the need for documentation and durable data storage. However, it also remains ___9___ within the confines of governmental administrative structures and does not directly address the criteria identified by Mr. Spiegelhalter. In the Indian context, each of these presents great___10___.

1. Instead of
   Alternate in
   Rather than
   Opposite with
   Both B and D
   Option E
   

    

2. Bombarded
   Beset
   Fired
   Besieged
   Badgered
   Option C
   

    

3. Boasted
   Recommended
   Proposed
   Prescribed
   Both A and D
   Option A
   

    

4. Benevolent
   Fortunate
   Lucky
   Fortuitous
   Both A and D
   Option A
   

    

5. Stalwarts
   Champions
   Defenders
   Antagonists
   Both C and D
   Option E
   

    

6. Developing
   Formulation
   Gauging
   Making
   Both B and C
   Option C
   

    

7. Groundwork
   Foundation
   Bedrock
   Cornerstone
   All are correct
   Option E
   

    

8. Addresses
   Superscribes
   Discourses
   Both B and C
   Both A and C
   Option D
   

    

9. Rooted
   Tenacious
   Grounded
   Fixed
   Deep
   Option B
   Tenacious means stubborn.

    

10. Challenge
    Opportunity
    Options
    Both A and B
    Both B and C
    Option E