Read the passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 1...

Read the passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 12 to 21.

        After the pandemic’s convulsions, many countries reconsidered how to underwrite decent lives in a world where paid work may be ineluctably scarce or intermittently available. Post-work guarantees combine Participation Income – recognising socially useful activity – with Universal Basic Services (UBS), which set collective floors under living standards. If governments must prevent slippage beneath a dignified minimum, they can mix unconditional income with guaranteed services to reduce precarity while respecting autonomy. [I] In this framing, the point is not to abolish markets or labour, but to ensure that no citizen falls below what a prosperous society deems tolerable.

        UBI – an unconditional, individual, tax-free payment sufficient for a frugal but decent life – alters incentives bedevilling conditional welfare. People keep the payment while earning, so low-paid offers need not trigger unemployment traps. Participation Income, a cousin sometimes proposed for post-work settlements, remunerates care, community work, and learning without forcing people into unsuitable jobs. [II] Because transfers are not withdrawn upon accepting work, households can plan, invest in skills, and avoid benefit cliffs that previously punished risk-taking.

        UBS insists on unconditional, collectively funded access to essentials – healthcare, education, housing, transport – delivered at a reliable minimum standard. In Ireland and elsewhere, patchy provision and market-first ideologies have produced avoidable scarcities and fees, making participation costly for the least advantaged. The better and cheaper the services, the smaller the basic income required. [III] Robust, well-funded systems thus anchor living standards, reduce volatility, and make income supports fiscally lighter while protecting social rights shared by all residents.

        Affordability hinges on parameters: which benefits UBI replaces, tax design, and how far UBS lowers private outlays. Evidence suggests revenue-neutral partial basic incomes are feasible under unified rates, while service upgrades compress necessary cash transfers. [IV] Beyond budgets, post-work guarantees also serve environmental and civic aims: if livelihoods are secured, societies need not chase perpetual GDP expansion or coerced employment, and people can allocate time among paid work, care, volunteering, study, and rest without jeopardising dignity.

(Adapted from Social Justice Ireland, “Basic Income and UBS key to improving living standards after COVID-19”)

Question 12. The word ineluctably in paragraph 1 mostly means ______.

A. loosely optional                                        B. easily circumvented

C. inescapably fated                                        D. marginally uncertain

Question 13. What is the primary policy aim of coupling UBS with post-work guarantees?

A. To privatise essential services while expanding temporary wage subsidies for employers

B. To set service floors so basic income can shrink without eroding dignity

C. To replace progressive taxation with user fees that target frequent service users

D. To mandate full employment by penalising households that reject low-paid offers

Question 14. According to paragraph 2, under UBI, individuals will accept jobs because they ______.
A. keep their tax-free payment while earning additional income from employment

B. lose their benefit swiftly when hours rise beyond a narrow weekly ceiling

C. face sanctions unless they join compulsory programmes administered by agencies

D. must repay transfer overages once earnings exceed a quarterly income threshold

Question 15. Which of the following best summarises paragraph 3?

A. UBS mandates universal access to core services; stronger provision lowers cash needs while safeguarding equal participation across society despite income differences.

B. UBS replaces income transfers entirely, because free services guarantee prosperity even when wages collapse in cyclical downturns and technological transitions.

C. UBS funds luxury amenities for urban residents so they can reduce commuting time and purchase private insurance at negotiated, below-market premium rates.

D. UBS mainly targets middle-income households by subsidising higher education tuition to spur technology startups and reduce aggregate student-loan defaults.

Question 16. What does “frugal but decent” most nearly imply?

A. lavish consumption patterns                        B. basic needs met, modestly

C. strictly temporary aid                                D. earnings-tested support

Question 17. Where in the passage does the following sentence best fit?

This, in turn, reduces the income the state must transfer directly.

A. [I]                        B. [II]                                C. [III]                        D. [IV]

Question 18. The phrase unemployment traps in paragraph 2 refers to ______.

A. benefit cliffs                                        B. job fairs

C. training loans                                        D. vacancy boards

Question 19. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A. A revenue-neutral partial basic income requires eliminating pensions and child benefits while imposing steep user fees on healthcare and public transportation.

B. If UBS expands, participation income becomes obsolete because service quality automatically creates full employment across all regions and demographic groups.

C. Post-work guarantees primarily exist to discourage volunteering by substituting cash payments for civic engagement in communities with limited labour market options.

D. If essential services become more universal and affordable, governments can maintain dignity while setting basic income at lower levels without increasing hardship.

Question 20. Which of the following best paraphrases the underlined sentence in paragraph 3?

The better and cheaper the services, the smaller the basic income required.

A. When governments cut service budgets substantially, they should offset harm by raising cash transfers to ensure wealth creation continues unabated.

B. Enhancing the reach and affordability of public services allows policy-makers to trim basic income levels without diminishing baseline living standards.

C. Only after privatizing hospitals and schools can authorities justify converting universal payments into vouchers whose value appreciates with housing costs.

D. Expanding basic income guarantees automatically finances premium services because households redirect disposable income into tax revenues through retail spending.

Question 21. Which of the following best summarises the passage?

A. Implementing UBS alone is sufficient to eradicate poverty rapidly, regardless of labour-market conditions or the quality of governance and tax administration.

B. Pairing UBS with UBI or participation income can secure dignity, curb traps, and remain affordable by setting service floors that compress required cash transfers.

C. The pandemic proved post-work schemes unnecessary; targeted means-testing and market provision already protect vulnerable households without raising public spending.

D. Participation income eliminates the need for education reform because volunteering and unpaid care inherently generate productivity growth and rising household savings.