Explore topic-wise InterviewSolutions in Current Affairs.

Correct option is (b) Off the job training

In the word ‘HOPPER’, there are 6 letters out of which P is repeated twice. 

∴ The number ways is \(\frac{6!}{2!}\) = 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 = 360 ways

'Price taker' firm is one who has no option but to accept the price determined by the industry.

Detailed Answer:

A price taker firm is a firm which has no option but to sell at a price determined at the industry level.

(c) Both under monopoly and monopolistic competition.

A firm is said to be a price taker when it has no option but to accept the market determined price. It happens in a perfectly competitive market.

The price in the market is determined by the industry and no individual firm has significant share in the market as to influence the price.

It has to decrease the price.

Yes. It is due to the freedom of entry and exit feature of the market that normal profits prevail in the long run under perfect competition and under monopolistic competition.

Monopoly.............

Yes. A perfectly competitive firm makes only normal profits(AR= AC) in the long run which happens only at the lowest point on the AC curve.

Monopoly.........

The firm is called price maker when the price of the commodity is determined by the firm itself.

A ‘Price maker’ firm is one which can influence price on its own.

Detailed Answer:

 A price maker firm is one which can influence the market price of the product on its own.

Yes. Under perfect competition, only normal profits prevail in the long run because of freedom of entry and exit of the firms in the market.

Ice has the highest sp. latent heat of fusion of 336,000jkg^-1. Thus, every 1kg of water at 0°C, on freezing releases 336,000J of heat energy. As enormous amount of heat energy is released in atmosphere, therefore weather becomes pleasant.

A product being perfectly homogeneous implies that all units of a commodity are identical in size, quality, shape, colour, weight, etc. In a state of perfect competition, a perfectly homogeneous product is sold in the market at a uniform price. If ever an individual firm tries to charge higher price, it would lose all its buyers to a large number of other sellers in the market. In a perfectly competitive environment, homogeneous product does not allow a firm any control over its price. Accordingly, firm's demand curve (under perfect competition) becomes a horizontal straight line.

The policy of liberalization encourages new firms enter the industry. This raises output of the industry Total market demand remaining unchanged, price start falling. Consumers now get the goods at a cheaper price.

Detailed Answer:

Policy of liberalization will remove certain barriers like licensing quotas from the market. Consequently, new firms will join the industry. This will make the market more competitive and the market supply will increase. Implying a shift in the market supply curve to the right. Other things remaining constant, a rightward shift in the market supply curve will lead to a fall in equilibrium price and a rise in equilibrium quantity. Extra normal profits will ultimately be wiped out, and consumers are expected to enjoy larger quantity at a lower price.

‘Surahi’ is made of clay which is porous (being not glazed) and so water oozes out (creeps out) and wets its entire surface. Form its outer surface, water get evaporated taking latent heat needed for evaporation from inside water as well as surrounding air and so the temperature of inside water falls.

(i) Perfect Knowledge about market means both buyers and sellers are fully informed about the market price. Therefore, no firm is in a position to charge a different price and buyers will not pay a higher price. As a result, a uniform price prevails in the market.

(ii) Perfect knowledge about input used: Due to homogeneous products or identical in every respect substitutes of one another. As a result both buyers and sellers have perfect knowledge about the inputs used in production.

Detailed Answer:

(i) In a perfectly competitive market, the number of buyers and sellers is very large and all the buyers and seller have perfect knowledge about the market. As a result no individual buyer or seller can influence the price in the market.

(ii) Another important characteristic of perfect competition is that products are homogeneous and carry the same price. By implication, this means the cost of the inputs used by the producers will be same. As a result of this all sellers have perfect knowledge about the inputs used in the production.

Non-Price Competition in Oligopoly-Under oligopoly firms tend to avoid price competition. Example: In India both Coke and Pepsi drinks sell at the same price. However, in order to enhance its share of market, each firm tries to resort to price competition. Coke and Pepsi sponsor different games and sports, they also offer incentive schemes.

Large number of sellers means that number of firm are large enough so that contribution to total output of the Industry by any individual firm is negligible. So, no single firm is in a position to influence the market Price on its own by changing its own output. Thus, Price remains unchanged.

Detailed Answer:

The implication is that the proportion of total output produced by a single seller is so insignificant that the seller cannot influence the market price by his own actions by changing the quantity of output it produces. He has no option but to sell at the price determined at the industry level.

‘Perfect Knowledge implies that buyers are fully aware of price in market and sellers of technique of production. Knowledge by buyers further implies that no buyers is willing to pay a higher price for the product of any firm. Knowledge by sellers implies that cost of production is same for all producers.

Detailed Answer:

'Perfect Knowledge about Market' means both buyers and sellers are fully informed about the market prices. Therefore, no firm is in a position to charge a different price and no buyer will pay a higher price. As a result, a uniform price prevails in the market.

Athletes perspire profusely after competing in an event. The latent heat of evaporation of the ‘sweat’ is withdrawn from the body itself and therefore, cools the body. Hence, if they do not put on extra clothes, they are likely to catch cold.

Other tools:

• Microsoft Excel cannot handle very large amount of data. For this purpose there are various statistical software available which are highly advanced, sophisticated and can handle any size of data.
• SPSS, SHAZAM, E-views, SAS, etc. are few of the such statistical software.
• This software can process data for lakhs of observations that too within seconds or minutes.
• Since these statistical software are very costly, they are mostly bought by research institutes or government organizations.
• There are also certain statistical software like Gretl, PSPP, R, etc. which are available free of cost on the internet but does almost same tasks of analysis as done by the costly software.
• Now-a-days many of these functions of a computer are also available on smart phones and tablets.

(c) Prof. Samuelson

(b) normal goods

(a) inferior goods

(c) substitute goods

(d) complementary goods

The song is sung by ‘Amiens’, a loyal courtier of Duke Senior.

Bassanio was a young and handsome nobleman with no money. He wanted to marry Portia. He had to go to Belmont to try his luck to marry Portia. He won Portia’s hand in marriage.

Bassanio’s character reveals the following qualities : 

(1) His Extravagance and Sense of Honour : Bassanio is very extravagant. He believes in pomp and show. It is also evident from his company of hangers on and dresses of his servants. But he has a sense of honour also. He took a loan from Antonio and wasted it. Yet he wishes to get rid of his debts honourably. 

(2) Fortune Hunter : Bassanio tells Antonio his win to wish the hand of a rich lady Portia. Although he has received mute signals of love from Portia yet he will have to depend on his fortune. He may have her hand only when he chooses the correct casket. It reveals that he is the believer of fortune. 

(3) His Handsomeness and Accomplishments : According to Nerissa and Portia he is very much handsome. He is also said to be scholar and soldier, although we do not find the traces of his soldiership in the play. 

(4) His Love for Portia and Antonio : Bassanio reveals a deep love for Portia and Antonio. It is evident from his words in the trial scene— “Portia is as dear to him as life itself. But he can sacrifice his life, his wife and all the world for Antonio.” 

(5) Conclusion : Bassanio can be regarded as a cultured man. In the whole play he never uses bad words about Shylock or his religion. Bassanio’s wastefulness and” fortune hunting may be called bad qualities but all other qualities of Bassanio are praise worthy. Thus, inspite of being not a dominant character, he is quite impressive.

William Shakespeare wrote his plays in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century.

This song is extracted from William Shakespeare’s comedy play ‘As You Like It’.

Bassanio’s character reveals the following qualities : 

(1) His Extravagance and Sense of Honour : Bassanio is very extravagant. He believes in pomp and show. It is also evident from his company of hangers on and dresses of his servants. But he has a sense of honour also. He took a loan from Antonio and wasted it. Yet he wishes to get rid of his debts honourably. 

(2) Fortune Hunter : Bassanio tells Antonio his win to wish the hand of a rich lady Portia. Although he has received mute signals of love from Portia yet he will have to depend on his fortune. He may have her hand only when he chooses the correct casket. It reveals that he is the believer of fortune. 

(3) His Handsomeness and Accomplishments : According to Nerissa and Portia he is very much handsome. He is also said to be scholar and soldier, although we do not find the traces of his soldiership in the play. 

(4) His Love for Portia and Antonio : Bassanio reveals a deep love for Portia and Antonio. It is evident from his words in the trial scene— “Portia is as dear to him as life itself. But he can sacrifice his life, his wife and all the world for Antonio.” 

(5) Conclusion : Bassanio can be regarded as a cultured man. In the whole play he never uses bad words about Shylock or his religion. Bassanio’s wastefulness and” fortune hunting may be called bad qualities but all other qualities of Bassanio are praise worthy. Thus, inspite of being not a dominant character, he is quite impressive.

Antonio was a rich merchant who lived in the prosperous city of Venice in Italy. He sent his ships to faraway countries bringing back spices and other treasures, thus making a lot of profit. He was a kind man with many friends. His best friend was Bassanio, for whom he was even ready to stake his life.

The phrase ‘bullet holes’ stands for the old woman’s sunken eyes.

Antonio is the hero of the play “The Merchant of Venice’. Some of the striking features of his character are given below : 

(1) His Melancholy : In the opening scene of the play he tells his friends that he is sad for some unknown reasons. This depression of spirits continues with him through out the whole play.. 

(2) His Sincere Love for Bassanio : His love for Bassanio is so much sincere that he signs a fatal bond for his friend’s happiness. He does not inform Bassanio until the bond expires lest he should mar his happiness in Belmont. And when Bassanio goes to Belmont he bursts into tears. All this reveals his deep love for Bassanio. 

(3) His Kindness : He is also very kind. It is admitted even by Shylock. But it must be admitted that he is kind only to ChristiAnswer : 

(4) His Intolerance : Among his weaknesses the first weakness is his intolerance of Judaism. Shylock says that Antonio hates his sacred nation. It is also evident from the mercy he shows to Shylock in the Trial scene. 

(5) His Indiscretion : He is also indiscreet. He finds faults with Shylock for his usuary, abuses him and even spits at him. 

(6) His Weak Heartedness : It is evident when, at the expiry of bond, he goes to Shylock and begs him of mercy. It rather smacks of ignobility. A hero should not have come down to such a low level. 

Thus the above points show that the critics rightly call him a ‘Passive Hero’. or ‘A pigmy of a Shakespearean Hero’.

(c) end the farce.

Antonio is the hero of the play “The Merchant of Venice’. Some of the striking features of his character are given below : 

(1) His Melancholy : In the opening scene of the play he tells his friends that he is sad for some unknown reasons. This depression of spirits continues with him through out the whole play.. 

(2) His Sincere Love for Bassanio : His love for Bassanio is so much sincere that he signs a fatal bond for his friend’s happiness. He does not inform Bassanio until the bond expires lest he should mar his happiness in Belmont. And when Bassanio goes to Belmont he bursts into tears. All this reveals his deep love for Bassanio. 

(3) His Kindness : He is also very kind. It is admitted even by Shylock. But it must be admitted that he is kind only to ChristiAnswer : 

(4) His Intolerance : Among his weaknesses the first weakness is his intolerance of Judaism. Shylock says that Antonio hates his sacred nation. It is also evident from the mercy he shows to Shylock in the Trial scene. 

(5) His Indiscretion : He is also indiscreet. He finds faults with Shylock for his usuary, abuses him and even spits at him. 

(6) His Weak Heartedness : It is evident when, at the expiry of bond, he goes to Shylock and begs him of mercy. It rather smacks of ignobility. A hero should not have come down to such a low level. 

Thus the above points show that the critics rightly call him a ‘Passive Hero’. or ‘A pigmy of a Shakespearean Hero’.

(a) inhuman social negligence.

(a) get rid of her.

‘You crossed over’ here refers to the suicide committed by the farmer. The farmer crossed over from life to death. The idiom ‘cross over’ is a euphemism for death.

The woman will regret that she had rejected the speaker’s, true love.

The old woman sticks to the visitors like a burr.

Jessica is the daughter of Shylock. There is ample testimony in the play to show that she is beautiful. Lorenzo is a Christian. The domestic side of Jessica is painful. Her father has been suspicious and repressive and has denied even ordinary freedom to his daughter and has thus compelled her to revolt and elope. Lorenzo is a friend of Bassanio and a great lover of Jessica. He again and again praises her beauty. Ultimately Lorenzo persuades Jessica to marry her. But they cannot marry openly because Shylock would prevent Jessica from marrying a christian. So they make a plan and Jessica runs away from home in the dress of a servant boy. That time, her father Shylock had gone to attend the farewell party of Bassanio. He had handed over all the keys of the house to Jessica. Thus, Jessica got a chance to take much of her father’s wealth and jewels with her. Then both of them travel to Belmont where they go to Portia’s house.

Dramatically it is more significant. This story is highly lyrical and romantic. It furnishes a contrast to the graver and more sober love story of Portia and Bassanio. Reaching Belmont they perform an important dramatic function, they look after the house of Portia and manage it on her behalf when she goes to Venice to defend Antonio in the court. And most of all, the episode furnishes an additional and intensely strong motive for Shylock’s bitterness in pressing his bond.

Knowing about ill luck of Antonio, Portia at once asks Bassanio to hurry to help his noble friend. So first they are married and then Portia gives him gold to repay the debt twenty times over. Antonio must be saved at any cost. As Bassanio and Gratiano leave for Venice, Portia and Nerissa give them rings with instructions that they should not give the rings to anybody else under any circumstances.

In the court Portia conducts the case with great skill. She finally succeeds in defeating Shylock and saving the life of Antonio. Because of this, both Antonio and Bassanio feel deeply obliged to the young judge. They wish to make some gift to her in return for the service he has done them. First the judge refuses any offer, but after a great insistance, she asks—Bassanio for the ring he is wearing. Bassanio does not agree to give ring as he has promised his wife to keep it safe. Portia leaves Antonio and Bassanio in an unhappy mood. Then Antonio, as he was much obliged to the judge, requests Bassanio to send the ring after her. Bassanio agrees and sends the ring. Nerissa also succeeds in persuading Gratiano to give her the ring which she had given to him with an oath.

When Bassanio and his friends arrive in Belmont, Nerissa pretends to notice that Gratiano’s wedding ring is missing from his finger. So a quarrel starts and she blames Gratiano of not really loving her. Portia also comes to know that the ring given by her to Bassanio is also missing. So she also starts quarrelling. The pretended quarrel over two rings continues for sometime. Then Antonio intervenes and takes the blame on him. Then Portia returns Bassanio’s ring to him and reveals that it was she who had been dressed as a judge and it was Nerissa who had been her clerk. Thus the clerk. Thus the mystery of how the rings came into the possession of Portia and Nerissa is cleared. Thus the whole plot of the play is connected with the story of rings in some way or the other.

The play becomes a comical adventure when Bassanio realizes that the young lawyer was his wife Portia in disguise.

Jessica is the daughter of Shylock. There is ample testimony in the play to show that she is beautiful. Lorenzo is a Christian. The domestic side of Jessica is painful. Her father has been suspicious and repressive and has denied even ordinary freedom to his daughter and has thus compelled her to revolt and elope. Lorenzo is a friend of Bassanio and a great lover of Jessica. He again and again praises her beauty. Ultimately Lorenzo persuades Jessica to marry her. But they cannot marry openly because Shylock would prevent Jessica from marrying a christian. So they make a plan and Jessica runs away from home in the dress of a servant boy. That time, her father Shylock had gone to attend the farewell party of Bassanio. He had handed over all the keys of the house to Jessica. Thus, Jessica got a chance to take much of her father’s wealth and jewels with her. Then both of them travel to Belmont where they go to Portia’s house.

Dramatically it is more significant. This story is highly lyrical and romantic. It furnishes a contrast to the graver and more sober love story of Portia and Bassanio. Reaching Belmont they perform an important dramatic function, they look after the house of Portia and manage it on her behalf when she goes to Venice to defend Antonio in the court. And most of all, the episode furnishes an additional and intensely strong motive for Shylock’s bitterness in pressing his bond.

The earthworm’s receptors are stimulated by a group of slender columnar cells connected with nerves. The Photoreceptors (sense of light) are found on the dorsal surface of the body. Gustatory (sense of taste) and olfactory receptors (sense of smell) are found in the buccal cavity. Tactile receptors (sense of touch), chemoreceptors (detect chemical changes) and thermoreceptors (changes in temperature) are present in the prostomium and the body wall.

Knowing about ill luck of Antonio, Portia at once asks Bassanio to hurry to help his noble friend. So first they are married and then Portia gives him gold to repay the debt twenty times over. Antonio must be saved at any cost. As Bassanio and Gratiano leave for Venice, Portia and Nerissa give them rings with instructions that they should not give the rings to anybody else under any circumstances.

In the court Portia conducts the case with great skill. She finally succeeds in defeating Shylock and saving the life of Antonio. Because of this, both Antonio and Bassanio feel deeply obliged to the young judge. They wish to make some gift to her in return for the service he has done them. First the judge refuses any offer, but after a great insistance, she asks—Bassanio for the ring he is wearing. Bassanio does not agree to give ring as he has promised his wife to keep it safe. Portia leaves Antonio and Bassanio in an unhappy mood. Then Antonio, as he was much obliged to the judge, requests Bassanio to send the ring after her. Bassanio agrees and sends the ring. Nerissa also succeeds in persuading Gratiano to give her the ring which she had given to him with an oath.

When Bassanio and his friends arrive in Belmont, Nerissa pretends to notice that Gratiano’s wedding ring is missing from his finger. So a quarrel starts and she blames Gratiano of not really loving her. Portia also comes to know that the ring given by her to Bassanio is also missing. So she also starts quarrelling. The pretended quarrel over two rings continues for sometime. Then Antonio intervenes and takes the blame on him. Then Portia returns Bassanio’s ring to him and reveals that it was she who had been dressed as a judge and it was Nerissa who had been her clerk. Thus the clerk. Thus the mystery of how the rings came into the possession of Portia and Nerissa is cleared. Thus the whole plot of the play is connected with the story of rings in some way or the other.