English

The passage below is accompanied by a set of questions. Choose the best answer to each question.

Mongol empire, empire founded by Genghis Khan in 1206. Originating from the Mongol heartland in the Steppe of central Asia, by the late 13th century it spanned from the Pacific Ocean in the east to the Danube River and the shores of the Persian Gulf in the west. At its peak, it covered some 9 million square miles (23 million square km) of territory, making it the largest contiguous land empire in world history.

The year 1206, when Temüjin, son of Yesügei, was elected Genghis Khan of a federation of tribes on the banks of the Onon River, must be regarded as the beginning of the Mongol empire. This federation not only consisted of Mongols in the proper sense—that is, Mongol-speaking tribes—but also included tribes of Turkish descent.

Before 1206, Genghis Khan was one of the tribal leaders fighting for supremacy in the steppe regions south and southeast of Lake Baikal; his victories over the Kereit and then the Naiman Turks, however, gave him undisputed authority over the whole of what is now Mongolia.

Having united the steppe tribes, Genghis Khan ruled over some 1 million people. In order to suppress the traditional causes of tribal warfare, he abolished inherited aristocratic titles. He also forbade the selling and kidnapping of women, banned the enslavement of any Mongol and made livestock theft punishable by death. Moreover, Genghis Khan ordered the adoption of a writing system, conducted a regular census, granted diplomatic immunity to foreign ambassadors and allowed freedom of religion well before that idea caught on elsewhere. A series of campaigns, some of them carried out simultaneously, followed.

All these things majorly contributed to the establishment of Mongol empire.

What can be the suitable title for the given passage?

The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3 and 4) below, when properly sequenced, would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and choose the correct option.

1. Hannibal of the Alps didn't have better data than the raging Mongols.

2. One thing that Hannibal of the Alps knew was that the Mongols totally accepted that no one would assault Azaria from the desert as to do so would be just self-destructive.

3.You may need for capital or labour yet who knows what insane data the opposition might be working from?

4. As Alexander stated, talented pioneers don't simply assemble data, they effectively misuse and control the assumptions of the opposite side.

There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide in which blank (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.

Sentence: Choosing between tap water or bottled water is therefore not as straightforward as one may think.

(1)____________. As per its definition, tap water is delivered through public water systems, whereas bottled water is delivered in sealed containers that are filled in bottling facilities under controlled conditions. (2)__________. This fundamental difference and the specific circumstances under which it occurs for different brands and tap water systems is the cause of most differences. (3)____________. Some of them are regarding safety, health, cost, regulation, and environmental friendliness. (4)____________.

Urban infrastructure – bridges, roads, railways, pipelines, power transmission towers and so on – must be inspected regularly to operate safely. Imagine if we used advanced technologies available to us, such as wireless sensors, mobile apps and machine learning, to remotely inspect and maintain this infrastructure. This could eliminate the need for regular daily inspections, save time and money for engineers and asset owners, and reduce the risks of working on job sites.

 Everyone has experience of working with smart devices such as mobile phones and iPads. Using these technologies to perform technical and engineering work is a game-changer. We have been developing “digital twins” – 3D-visualisation of in-service infrastructure – to monitor infrastructure performance under various service conditions and make intelligent maintenance decisions.

 The digital model is the twin of the real infrastructure. Wireless sensors on the structure transfer performance data to our computer. We can see the performance of the infrastructure in real-time online.
This is extremely useful for engineers who need to regularly monitor the performance of infrastructure. They make critical maintenance decisions about which structural elements need to be repaired or replaced, and when this must be done, to ensure the infrastructure is safe.

Digital twins are essentially a digital replica or a virtual model of a process, product or service. The concept of creating digital twins is still relatively new for civil and infrastructure engineers.

In the Netherlands, digital twins are being developed for operation at the Port of Rotterdam. A team at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology is working on a digital model of an operating crane.

To develop digital twins for intelligent infrastructure maintenance we must integrate a variety of disciplines. These include 3D visualisation, wireless technology, structural engineering and Internet of Things. The output is a digital model of the physical infrastructure, which can be seen on a PC, tablet or mobile phone.

Looking at their smart device at home or in the office, an engineer can observe all deformations, deflections, cracks or even stresses due to various loads (such as traffic or wind). The intelligent digital twin model can also suggest appropriate maintenance decisions.

Digitalising the way we look after our infrastructure can make the process more accurate and less costly in the long term than traditional labour-intensive practices. Using a digital twin is expected to produce cost savings of 20-30%. Given the huge costs of monitoring infrastructure – in the US, bridge inspections alone cost US$1.35 billion a year – the potential savings are huge.

Which of the following represents a contrasting characteristic of digital twins?

The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3 and 4) below, when properly sequenced, would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and choose the correct option.

1. The remaining 50 per cent is allocated in mid- and small-cap stocks which helps in boosting the overall return.

2. Within equity, the fund prefers to invest 50 per cent in large-cap stocks, which provides stability in volatile times.

3. Considering the higher volatility in the market, the fund is following a conservative approach by tilting the equity portfolio towards large-cap stocks.

4. As on March 31, 2023, the fund has deployed around 62 per cent of its equity portfolio in large caps.