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 3...

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 31 to 40.

        For as long as migrants have pursued opportunity, money has flown back home through channels that are reliable yet sclerotic. Legacy rails privilege domestic speed but hobble cross-border transfers with lag, opacity, and intermediary tolls. In many corridors, large banks and MTOs set the tempo, not the sender’s urgency. Small sums – those that matter for groceries or school fees – are penalised by fixed charges and cash-out frictions. [I] The result is a paradox: the poorer the recipient and the smaller the amount, the harsher the proportionate fee.

        Digitisation moved the counter onto smartphones but left the plumbing intact. KYC/AML variations, costly brick-and-mortar cash-out points, and uncertain recourse still make compliance onerous and settlement brittle. Average fees north of six percent siphon billions in deadweight costs from low- and middle-income economies each year, while the unbanked remain distant from formal finance. [II] Market concentration among incumbent MTOs keeps price competition tepid, especially where physical networks are expensive to maintain.

        Cryptocurrencies propose different infrastructure rather than a shinier interface. Peer-to-peer transfers ride open networks, settle near-instantly, and do not require shared correspondent accounts or branch coverage. Addresses substitute for bank details; wallets can hold funds or earn yield, a hedge in inflation-prone settings. Because transfers are disintermediated and near-instant, micro-remittances cease to be prohibitive and become routine. [III] In this model, the rail itself is global by default, and the marginal cost of sending $5 is not punished for being small.

        Evidence suggests adoption is no longer fringe: many U.S. senders already try crypto when moving funds abroad, reporting lower fees – often several percentage points – versus legacy methods. UN analyses imply that even modest efficiency gains in digital payments could lift tens of millions from poverty if savings reach recipients at scale. [IV] Where corridors are fee-heavy and recipients are unbanked, crypto-backed micro-remittances act like capillaries of inclusion, converting trickles into dependable flows that compound into development.

(Adapted from Coinbase Institute, “Crypto and Remittances,” 2021)

Question 31. The word sclerotic in paragraph 1 mostly means ______.

A. pleasantly brisk                                        B. marginally flexible

C. moderately agile                                        D. painfully rigid