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Literature today seems to emerge from an apolitical and borderless cosmopolis and it is often peopled by characters with exotic namesand postmodern inclinations. Even the mildly adversarial idea of the "postcolonial" that emerged in the 1980s when authors from!ritains former colonial possessions appeared to be "writing bac#" to the imperial centre has been blunted. $he announcement thismonth that the %an !oo#er a literary pri&e made distinctive by its 'ndian (outh )frican 'rish (cottish and )ustralian winners willhenceforth be open to )merican novels is one more sign of the steady erasure of national and historical specificity.$im *ar#s among others has deplored the dominance of the "global novel" as practised by +aru#i %ura#ami ,mberto Eco -a&uo'shiguro and (alman ushdie. %ar#ed by an internationally identifiable and translatable literariness not to mention cuddly/bear politicssuch fictions threaten to render obsolete according to *ar#s "the #ind of wor# that revels in the subtle nuances of its own language

and literary culture". %ore recently the English critic *hilip +ensher has complained that "a superficial multicultural aspect" of thisyears %an !oo#er shortlist conceals "a specifically orth )merican taste"'ts too easy to blame such fears of covert suburbanisation on a condescending Little/Englandism. aguib %ahfou& little read in the)nglophone world before his 1988 obel *ri&e in Literature addressed a predominantly Egyptian public for much of his life. $oday itis the prospect of international success that tempts and often shapes the wor# of many aspiring writers from )sia and )frica.2liding between exotically sited literary festivals and often educated or resident in Europe or )merica they can appear to embodythe bland consensus of transnational elites denuded of the differences and antagonisms that define a genuinely pluralist culture. !oo#sdont sell on their own merits and are hostage to mar#eting ploys and dubiously 3udged literary awards. $he literary festivals haveflourished. 4ou ta#e an exotic location a mobile and relatively wealthy expatriate audience throw in the global aspirations of educatedindigenous elites the ubi5uity of the English language pac#age it in bouti5ue hotels serving 6hardonnay and 6anap7s and you have thema#ings of a cerebral cornucopia with tropical characteristics. )uthors are 5ui&&ed about the how and why of their oeuvres rather thanthe meaning of their stories.(oon after independence things had begun to fall apart in )sia and )fricas fledgling nation/states. o one recoiled from postcolonialdysfunction more intensely and 5uic#ly than the indigenous bourgeoisie for which expatriation to the est spiritual as well as physical

became an intense aspiration and an ideal. estern/style pedagogy had already produced many deracinated colonials in thetropics who spent their time fantasising about eating apples in temperate climes pretending "to be real". Literary fictionists were oftenexpected to supply the myths and legends that an insufficiently imagined community needed in order to become cohesive and coherent.!ut the homogenising and depoliticising effects of the "global novel" can also be exaggerated to the point where every writer ofnonwesternorigin seems to be vending a consumable rather than a challenging/cultural otherness. $he !enetton/ish cosmopolitanismascribed to them or such hip self/identifications as ")fropolitan" ris#s obscuring the fact that military coups civil wars despoticregimes fundamentalisms and economic calamities still mould the themes and preoccupations of writers from )frica and )sia andoblige them to explore social as well as intimate relationships.emar#ing once on the da&&ling artistic vitality of crisis/ridden Europe in the early 0th century the historian *erry )nderson worriedthat the "contemporary artist in the est" finds himself facing "the closure of hori&ons: without an appropriable past or imaginablefuture in an interminably recurrent present". $his end/of/history gloom in the arts can seem as exaggerated as its political ;u#uyama/istcounterpart: literature of appreciable 5uality continues to be produced by the chroniclers of pacified capitalist democracies. 't is truenevertheless that writers from incompletely modern )sia and )frica still find themselves at historical crossroads the place whereLouis

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#hich of the following echoes the point of view e$pressed by the author in the penultimate paragraph%a)

&enetton(ish cosmopolitanism& symbolizes the impact of a #est organized for profit and power on traditionminded societies.b) aving a global perspective on postcolonial issues helps "fropolitans camouflage their mi$ed cultural identity.c)

The globalised "sian and "frican intelligentsia, once programmed to boost the #est's most flattering selfimages,is now politically more recalcitrant and internally diverse.d)

*lose e$amination may indicate that, in some 'global' novels, "frican and "sian writers attempt to cope withthe traumas of the postcolonial world.

+t can be understood from the passage thata)

multiculturalism, political correctness, translatable literariness and native idioms can be attributed to the&lobal novel&.b) the author of the passage is a political leader in e$ile.c)

the word 'deracinated' means &pulled up as if by the roots and displaced from one's accustomed geographical,social or cultural environment.&d)

in the first paragraph, the author upholds the literary fragment against the grand narrative of history andprogress.

+f you were to interview the author, what follow(up -uestion would you as him in order to further yourunderstanding of the passage%a) +s the global writer something of a contortionist these days%b) *an vitality in writing be achieved inspite of placidity of circumstance%c) "re writers' festivals the literary e-uivalent of a catwal%d)

/oes ennettonizing literature amount to seeing consensus and advertising the uniform and non(problematicrather than highlighting the different and the antagonistic that challenge a writer to write%

0a) "hmedabad's sveltering temperatures0b) eep usually visitors at a minimum,0c) but more than 1 officials from aroda descended0d) last wee in the city to investigate what 3tate media0e) has dubbed "hmedabad's biggest financial scandal in years.a) 4nly cb) c and dc) a, b and ed) 4nly d

+ have often wondered whether man's ability to thin might not have arisen from a retrogressive evolutionary step.

+nstead of the brilliant, incisive and loced(on brain of an animal, some faulty gene gave a muddled, fuzzyindecisive brain that was always maing mistaes. The loced(on brain has instant and precise recognition followedby appropriate action. The bee, the haw, the deer have built(in circuitry that recognizes the situation andreleases the appropriate action. " fuzzy and blurry brain taes much longer to recognize something. +t has to learnfrom e$perience and to devise images and a sort of language in order to re(run e$perience at the moment ofaction. The fuzzy brain can also mae mistaes that allow for inappropriate action and the crossing of lines thatleads to creativity. 55555555555555555555555555a)

+t could be that human matters are so complicated by interactive change and feedbac loops that ourordinary linear thining is unable to cope.b)

The human mind is incapable of taing meaningful and appropriate actions but man's relative stupidity isprobably his greatest resource.c)

+n order to mae sense of a comple$ world, human thining may have developed some habits and orthodo$ies,which had a certain usefulness at first but then prevented further progress.d) The incapacity of the human baby as compared to the operational efficiency of the fawn is remarable.

usinesses especially large ones, have little choice but to become information based. The centre of gravity inemployment is moving fast from manual and clerical worers to nowledge worers who resist the command(andcontrolmodel that business too from the military. 3o far most computer users still use the advanced dataprocessingtechnology only to do faster what they have always done before, crunch conventional numbers. ut assoon as a company taes the first tentative steps from data to information6 its decision processes, managementstructure and even the way its wor gets done begins to be transformed. The availability of relevant informationtransforms the capital investment analysis from opinions into diagnosis, that is, into the rational weighing ofalternative assumptions. Then the information transforms the capital(investment decision from an opportunistic,financial decision governed by the numbers into a business decision based on the probability of alternativestrategic assumptions. 555555555555555555555a)

#hole layers of management will thin better of maing decisions or leading6 they will function as &relays& (human boosters for the faint, unfocussed signals that pass for communication in the traditional preinformation

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organization.b)

The large business, 2 years hence, is more liely to resemble a hospital or a symphony than a typicalmanufacturing company6 the &-uill pen& will be replaced by information technology and the &barefoot runners&by the telecommunication system6 helping in a better analysis of strategic assumptions.c)

3o the decision both presupposes a business strategy and challenges that strategy and its assumption6 whatwas once a budget e$ercise becomes an analysis of policy.d)

"nyone with a spreadsheet or data(processing capacity should be able to -uicly analyze a proposed capitalinvestmentby understanding the e$pected rate of return, payout period, investment's e$pected productivelife, cost and ris in case of failure and finally the opportunity cost.

Most countries are still in the early phase of broadband development, with fewer than 1 percent of all householdssubscribing. " small number of early adopters, attracted by high(speed internet access ( often no more costlythan their current e$tensive use of narrow band ( and by the convenience of eeping their telephones free whilethey surf, lead demand for the technology. 3upply, however, is constrained7 incumbents tend to delay any seriousmove into broadband until it starts competing for their valuable customers and, even then, need time to roll outnetwors to the population as a whole. 55555555555555555555555555a)

3o many broadband providers disappeared after the dot(com boom that casual observers might thinbroadband itself has met with indifference from +nternet users.b)

/uring this phase, companies in general should start tailoring their +nternet(related business to the needs ofbroadband users and one option is to 8oin with leading broadband operators to form partnerships that will helpsell the technology.c) !rices, given the early adopters' willingness to pay, therefore remain near their fairly high initial levels.

d)3o far, faster and better access to the +nternet is the sole iller application of broadband and to mae seriousprofits from it, networ providers must find something that e$cites users more.

= its way to becoming the worlds biggest economy 6hina is passing another landmar#. 'ts e/commerce mar#et is overta#ing)mericas. )nd one giant firm dominates the mar#et: )libaba by some measures already the worlds largest e/commerce company.Last year two of )libabas portals together handled 1.1 trillion yuan >?1@0 billionA in sales more than e!ay and )ma&on combined.)libaba is on trac# to become the worlds first e/commerce firm to handle ?1 trillion a year in transactions.)libabas story so far has been one of canny innovation. %r. Bac# %a started the company in 1999 with )libaba.com a business/tobusiness

portal connecting small 6hinese manufacturers with buyers overseas. 'ts next invention $aobao a consumer/to/consumerportal not unli#e e!ay features nearly a billion products and is one of the 0 most/visited websites globally. $mall a newish businessto/consumer portal that is a bit li#e )ma&on helps global brands such as Cisney and Levis reach 6hinas middle classes.)libaba could grow fast. !y 00 6hinas e/commerce mar#et is forecast to be bigger than the existing mar#ets in )merica !ritainBapan 2ermany and ;rance combined. )nd although it is not about to challenge )ma&on in )merica )libaba is expanding globally bycapturing the spending of 6hinese overseas and by moving into emerging economies. 'n this the firm is helped by )lipay its novel

online/payments system that relies on escrow >releasing money to sellers only once their buyers are happy with the goods receivedA.$his builds trust in societies where the rule of law is wea#.*erhaps )libabas greatest untapped resource is its customer data. 'ts sites account for over D0 of the parcels delivered in 6hina. 't#nows more than anyone about the spending habits and creditworthiness of the 6hinese middle class plus millions of 6hinesemerchants. )lifinance is already a big microlender to small firmsF it now plans to expand lending to ordinary consumers. 'n effect it ishelping liberalise 6hinese finance. 6hinas big state ban#s which channel cheap capital to state/owned enterprises have long neglectedeveryone else. $he firm is using its online platforms to deliver insurance products too and more such innovations are on the way.)libaba thus sits at the heart of "bamboo capitalism" / the sprawling tangle of private/sector firms that are more efficient than 6hinasstate/owned enterprises. (ome Dm vendors are listed with its sites. $he firms efforts are boosting productivity in 6hinas woefullyinefficient retail and logistics sectors. )nd more than any other company it is speeding up the countrys much/needed shift away froman investment/heavy model of growth towards one that is driven by consumption.)ll very promising but li#e the 4ang&i alligator which is now endangered there is nothing inevitable about )libabas future fortunes.$hree things could yet throw the firm off/course. $he most obvious is that it could overreach / and stumble. 6oping with the steppingaside of a formidable founder is rarely easy. !y 6hinas low standards )libaba generally gets good mar#s for governance with onecaveat: observers have doubts about the mur#y way in which %r. %a spun out )lipay from the parent company a few years ago. 'twill not be able to get away with that as a public company. $he same transparency is needed with its products. !y 6hinese standards ithas done a lot to fight fa#es so much so that the )merican government recently gave $aobao its official blessing. 4et it is still too easyto find #noc#/offs on that site.$idying up these things is not 3ust good management. 't ties into the second ris# / that foreign governments will clamp down on)libaba. 6hinas companies are viewed with suspicion abroad: its resource/hungry state enterprises have suffered a bac#lash in )fricaFits firms listed on orth )merican stoc# exchanges have been punished in the wa#e of accounting scandalsF and +uawei a telecomsgiant has been branded an enemy of the state by )merican congressmen. 't would be sad if )libaba which seems to have far fewerties to the 6hinese state was tarred with the same brush.!ut the greatest threat to the companys future will be at home. Li#e )ma&on or e!ay )libaba needs to be monitored by antitrustregulators. !ut the politics of 6hina pose a particular ris#. !ig ban#s are already lobbying against its financial arm. $he 6ommunist*arty is bound to be 3ealous of an outfit that has so much data on 6hinese citi&ens. ;or the government to clip )libabas wings withouta good cause would be wrong. )libaba has the potential to become the worlds most valuable company and in the process help create

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a better 6hina.19. +n the passage, the use of the parallel 'endangered :angzi alligator' implies 55555%a) The dethroning of Mr. ;ac Ma, the founder of "libaba.b) The surrender of other countries including the

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accelerative pressures, these facts need to be weighed in a social cost(benefit accounting procedure.0c) +n this way, the society would not need to wait for disasters before dealing with its technology inducedproblems.0d) +n other cases, such innovations might still be released for diffusion ( provided ample steps were taen inadvance to offset their negative conse-uences.0e) y considering not merely specific technologies, but their relationship to one another, the time lapse betweenthem, the proposed speed of diffusion, and similar factors, we might eventually gain some control over the pace ofchange as well as its direction.0f) "t the level of social conse-uences, a new technology might be submitted for clearance to panels of

behavioural scientists, who would determine to the best of their ability, the probable strength of its social impactat different points in time.a) fadbceb) bfadecc) adcfbed) fbadce

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b) c, d, e and fc) a and c

d) b, d and f

The author maes the observation that ibbon's history of =ome &needs to be rewritten& because

a) of the death of the grand old narrative.b) no large vision of history emerges from our understanding of =ome.c) a modern reading reveals glaring shortcomings in ibbon's account.d) of a rethining of social institutions.

+t can be inferred from the passage that &the impression of an enterprise& is based on which of the followingassumptions%,brG0a) 3ocial science holds no promise of additive progress.0b) istory and anthropology should be characterized by perennial grand doctrines.0c) ;udgments of value pervade the environment in which historical research is done.0d) The broadest framewors of today's history reflect the selections of the past.0e) " framewor for studies in history and anthropology, once validated and accepted, would remain the basis forfurther study in the field.a) a and bb) 4nly ec) b and ed) c and d