Direction (Qs.1 to 10): In a passage given below there are 10 blanks, each followed by a word given in bold. Every blank has four alternative words given in options (1), (2), (3) and (4). You have to choose which word will best suit to the respective blank. Choose (5) as your answer if the word given in the bold after the blank is your answer i.e., “No change required”.

On July 18th the European Commission hit Google with a record fine of €4.3Bn for _____ (1) [fixed] its dominance in internet search by illegally tying together this service and other mobile apps with Android. A year ago the commission levied a fine of €2.4Bn on Google for using its clout in search to _____ (2) [directing] users away from rival offerings and towards its own comparison-shopping service. The commission deserves credit for _____ (3) [check] the behaviour of dominant online firms its activism stands in pointed contrast to supine American authorities. However, none of its antitrust actions in recent years has done much to strengthen competition. Google, for its part, protests loudly but treats the penalty as a cost of doing business. This week’s fine amounts to only 5% of Google’s current net cash balance. Nothing really changes. If that sounds _____ (4) [untrusted], look at the Android case more closely. Google requires smartphone-makers and mobile operators to sign strict agreements if they want to use any of its apps. For instance, if device-makers want to install Google’s app store which in most markets they must in order to make their gadgets attractive to users they also have to install all of Google’s apps, including the one for its search service. Unsurprisingly, Google argues that these restrictions are for the good of consumers. They ensure, for instance, that people always have a familiar set of apps on their home screen and that Android does not _____ (5) [bursts] into incompatible versions. Yet what Google calls “fragmentation” is actually competition, as China’s _____ (6) [excited] mobile market shows. Because Google Play is not available there, device-makers that use Android are not compelled to install the firm’s apps but can pick and choose. The commission wants Google itself to come up with remedies, which in effect means dropping all the restrictions it _____ (7) [force]on device-makers. But that alone is unlikely to be enough to restore competition quickly because of the dominance of Google’s version of Android, which powers 80% of smartphones in Europe. A similar approach in the market for comparison-shopping services has been ineffectual. Tougher remedies would include ______ (8) [urges] Google to allow competing app stores to distribute its apps, which would make it easier for other firms to launch competing app stores. If it really wants to merit the accolades it gets for tackling the tech titans, the commission needs not only to be more forceful but also to act more swiftly. The comparison-shopping case was seven years old by the time it was decided; most of Google’s rivals had already _____ (9) [cease]. Europe is a less friendly environment than America for the tech giants. But it has not so far achieved much more in terms of _____ (10) [promote] competition than the regulators across the Atlantic. That is a disappointment as big as any fine.