What happens to our brains as we age is of crucial importance not just to science but to public policy. By 2030, for example, 72 million people in the US will be over 65, double the figure in 2000 and their average life expectancy will likely have edged above 20 years. However, this demographic time-bomb would be much less threatening if the elderly were looked upon as intelligent contributors to society rather than as dependants in long-term decline.
From the last lines of the paragraph, the elderly were looked upon as intelligent contributors to society rather than as dependants in long-term decline. This option takes the idea forward about not wasting public resources based on existing assumptions about cognitive decline with age.
The better behaviour resulting from smart devices is just one threat to the insurance industry. Conventional risk pools (for home or car insurance, for example) are shrinking as preventable accidents decline, leaving the slow-footed giants of the industry at risk. Business is instead moving to digital-native insurers, many of which are offering low premiums to those willing to collect and share their data. Yet the biggest winners could be tech companies rather than the firms that now dominate the industry. Insurance is increasingly reliant on the use of technology to change behaviour; firms act as helicopter parents to policyholders, warning of impending harm—slow down; reduce your sugar intake; call the plumber—the better to reduce unnecessary payouts.
“Yet this sort of relationship relies on trust, and the Googles and Apples of the world, on which consumers rely day-by-day and hour-by-hour, may be best placed to win this business”. Since the tech companies are better placed to win business based on trust, the author thinks tech companies are the biggest winners. The main point of this paragraph is that technology is producing some threats to the insurance industry, and that tech companies could be the biggest winners in this as insurance companies can use technology to change behaviour to reduce payouts.
The expenditure of time, money and sparse judicial and prosecutorial resources is often justified by claims of a powerful deterrent message embodied in the ultimate punishment- the death penalty. But studies repeatedly suggest that there is no meaningful deterrent effect associated with the death penalty and further, any deterrent impact is no doubt greatly diluted by the amount of time that inevitably passes between the time of the conduct and the punishment. In 2010, the average time between sentencing and execution in the United States averaged nearly 15 years.
This paragraph argues that whether the resources spent-time, money and judiciary resources- are justified & whether the death penalty acts as an effective deterrent. A given in the passage “But studies repeatedly suggest that there is no meaningful deterrent effect …………diluted by the amount of time that inevitably passes between the time of the conduct and the punishment.”
The option with “much more effective deterrent” stands out to be the concluding line for the paragraph, as it ties in with the main idea of the paragraph of a punishment that is a “powerful deterrent.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has come out with the dismaying prediction that the southwest monsoon this year will be below normal. If this prognosis holds true, it may mar the prospects of redeeming the rabi crop output losses through bumper harvests in the later kharif season. India's farm sector has certainly acquired a degree of resilience when it comes to the monsoon - as reflected in the positive growth numbers in all the weak monsoon years since 2009. However, monsoon rainfall and its distribution still remain crucial.
The paragraph starts with the prediction of a bad monsoon & also talks about resilience of Indian farm sector to the monsoons. But at the same time conveys that “monsoon rainfall and its distribution still remain crucial”. These two factors have been discussed in the option & the impact has also been given. “They impact ……………. sector demand for consumer goods”
By calling for exempting unionized businesses from the minimum wage, unions are creating more incentives for employers to favor unionized workers over the non-unionized sort. Such exemptions strengthen their power. This is useful because for all the effort unions throw at raising the minimum wage, laws for better pay have an awkward habit of undermining union clout.
“By calling for exempting unionized businesses …………………non-unionized sort. Such exemptions strengthen their power.” The key idea here is the rather contrary effect of the minimum wage law on the power of the unions, and the bid of the unions to strengthen their clout with the call for exemption from minimum wage for unionized businesses. The option “Once employers are ………………to join a union” seems to be an appropriate choice to complete the given paragraph & carrying forward the idea.