India’s __(1)__ over the past half century since independence has been unique and __(2)__ in many ways. Yet the record is __(3)__ in relation to what the country set out to achieve and could certainly have been __(4)__. It is __(5)__ to look at both sides; the alternative is to be __(6)__ down by unrelieved gloom or unwarranted __(7)__. The fact is that after eight 5-year plans, about 40 per cent of population is __(8)__ below the poverty line. The human development indices are __(9)__ low, placing India at the 126th position in the world table, far below many countries that came into __(10)__ much later than it did.

1)
a) development
b) domination
c) predicament
d) history
e) excellence

2)
a) dubious
b) insignificant
c) desperate
d) special
e) commendable

3)
a) outshining
b) broken
c) disappointing
d) brighter
e) played

4)
a) underplayed
b) accomplished
c) tampered
d) noteworthy
e) exaggerated

5)
a) proposed
b) futile
c) impracticable
d) necessary
e) suggested

6)
a) laid
b) struck
c) cooled
d) weighed
e) brought

7)
a) progress
b) debating
c) meticulousness
d) haste
e) complacency

8)
a) much
b) still
c) obviously
d) found
e) far

9)
a) deplorably
b) admirably
c) surprisingly
d) not
e) amusingly

10)
a) world
b) being
c) independence
d) compete
e) India