Question

Read the passage and answer the questions that follow: As British rule expanded from Bengal to other parts of India, new systems of revenue were imposed. The Permanent Settlement was rarely extended to any region beyond Bengal. Why was this so? One reason was that after Bengal’s agricultural prices rose, increasing the value of harvests produced, and enlarging the income of the Bengal administrators. Since the revenue demand was fixed under the Permanent Settlement, the colonial state could not claim any share of this enhanced income. Keen on expanding its financial resources, the colonial government had to think of ways to maximise its land revenue. So in territories annexed in the nineteenth century, temporary revenue settlements were made. There were other reasons too. When officials devise policies, their thinking is deeply shaped by economic theories they are familiar with. By the 1820s, the economist David Ricardo was a celebrated figure in England. Colonial officials had learnt Ricardo’s ideas during their college years. In Maharashtra when British officials set about formulating the terms of the early settlement in the 1820s, they operated according to these ideas. According to Ricardo’s ideas, a landowner should have a claim only to the “average rent” that prevailed at a given time. When the land yielded more than this “average rent,” the landowner had a surplus that the state needed to take. If tax was not levied, cultivators were likely to turn into renters, and their surplus income was unlikely to be productively invested in the improvement of the land. Many British officials in India thought that the history of Bengal confirmed Ricardo’s theory. The meaning of the word 'celebrated' as it appears in the passage (para - 3) is :

• A. prominent
• B. popular
• C. renowned
• D. solemnized

Hint:

In reading comprehension questions, focus on context clues surrounding the word. In this case, "celebrated" is used to describe an economist whose theories were highly regarded, indicating that it means "renowned."

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

The term "celebrated" in the passage refers to someone well-known or highly respected. In this case, the economist David Ricardo is referred to as a "celebrated figure" because his ideas were widely acknowledged and regarded as important during that period. The correct meaning of "celebrated" in this context is "renowned," meaning widely known and respected.