Read the passage given below and answer questions. (From 41 to 50) Nationalism and national identity are not just ideological constructs. Rather, they are created and enforced through a bureaucracy that produces censuses, surveys and identity documents. This bureaucracy and its technologies of surveillance (photography, fingerprinting, statistics) are very recent, but they have become an indelible part of our lives. Holding a passport is a sign o citizenship of legal residency recognised by any other sovereign state in the world. But even before modern states could attempt to control the movement of their populations, people weren't free to move around as they pleased. For most of history, large segments of the population, including serfs, slaves, and indentured servants required privately created passes or papers to legitimate their movement. But as the global economy expanded. and New World frontiers and early industrial factories developed an insatiable demand for labor, these private controls fell away. The European empires of the late 19th century imposed new rights, responsibilities, and identities on their citizens through education, conscription, and taxation. The prevailing liberalism, the vagueness of nationality in an taxation. The prevailing liberalism, the vagueness of nationality in an imperial context, and the limits of surveillance meant millions upon millions were able to move to settler colonies in the Americas, South Africa and Oceania---with often the notable exclusion of Asians. This diplomatic - surveillance regime changes after WWI. Nation-states claiming to represent exclusive nationalities replaced empires. The rise of communist parties in Russia and elsewhere in Europe gave rise to suspicion of foreign agents. Moreover, the demand for labor was easing. National working classes constituted political interest groups that protested the labor competition of new immigrant classes. With the hardening of borders security and immigration quotas between these new nation states, and the spread of cheap photography, passports became both standardised, mandatory travel documents and ritual tools reinforcing national identity. Indeed, holders of passports from more powerful nations enjoy privileges abroad that others do not. Meanwhile, many of the fragments of empires that failed to form nation states, or unwanted minority groups, have at times been made " stateless" populations. These groups have ranged from Russian expatriates after the Bolshevik Revolution, to European Jews during the Holocaust and Palestinian refugees after the creation of Israel. Lacking a passport in a worldwide systems of nation states is the ultimate negation of agency. But national identity doesn't even mean all that it used to. Much of the new nationalism expressed as xenophobia and racism is rooted in nostalgia, accurate or not, for a time when national membership meant certain shared experiences and rights bridging social classes. The march of de-industrialisation, the decline of welfare services and the widening of income inequality mean that the global elite are everywhere carving out private zones of privilege guarded by fences and private security. The value of a passport as diplomatic currency is losing ground to another currency ---- the almighty dollar.
Which of the following statements is true according of the passage?
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A.
Privileges and rights are conferred by nations only to passport holders
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B.
Dollars cannot replace passports even though they have greater purchasing power
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C.
Photography, fingerprinting and statistics were brought into passports by bureaucrats.
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D.
Immigration quotas in the USA at present are a by- product of the enhanced status of American passports
Correct Answer:
B. Dollars cannot replace passports even though they have greater purchasing power
Explanation:
"Dollars cannot replace passports even though they have greater purchasing power" is a true statement according to the passage. Hence, option (b) is correct.
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