NMAT Mock Test - 8 New Pattern) - CAT MCQ

Directions: Answer the questions based on the passage given below:

The guy sitting grimly alone in the corner of the office may not be anti-social. He may, in fact, even be working. That could be one of the inferences drawn from a recent survey conducted by America Online and Salary.com. Socializing with co-workers, spacing out and surfing the Web could, says that survey, cost US companies as much as $ 759 billion in salary. The survey of 10,044 employees debunks some popular myths. Men and women are found to have wasted an equal amount of time at work. Older workers were significantly more attentive. As compared to the overall average of two hours a day being wasted, lunchtime not counted, workers over 55 were found to have wasted just 30 minutes. While 33% of the respondents said they wasted time because they didn't have enough work, 25% said they did so because they were underpaid. However, not all time-wasting activities are detrimental to the organization. Salary.com senior vice-president Bill Coleman felt that personal use of the Internet could even be positive since it could generate new business ideas if not contributed to a happier work environment. "There is such a thing as creative waste. Not all wasted time is bad," Coleman was quoted by Reuters as saying.

A survey on time-wasting in Indian organizations could throw up interesting results. The most irritating waste of time is when those working inside the office are asked for directions by visitors. With receptionists and security staff also doing duty at the switchboard for telephone calls, it is usually the employee nearest the entrance who has to field queries ranging from "Where is so and so?" to "Where is the toilet?" However, the most formally-sanctioned way of wasting time in the Indian organization remains the office-meeting. Organizations are known to hold meetings at the drop of a hat. Even a decision to cut down on meetings would be taken at a meeting! The conference-hall is bigger than the canteen which serves a more useful purpose!

Q. The central idea of the passage relates to:

Directions: Answer the questions based on the passage given below:

The guy sitting grimly alone in the corner of the office may not be anti-social. He may, in fact, even be working. That could be one of the inferences drawn from a recent survey conducted by America Online and Salary.com. Socializing with co-workers, spacing out and surfing the Web could, says that survey, cost US companies as much as $ 759 billion in salary. The survey of 10,044 employees debunks some popular myths. Men and women are found to have wasted an equal amount of time at work. Older workers were significantly more attentive. As compared to the overall average of two hours a day being wasted, lunchtime not counted, workers over 55 were found to have wasted just 30 minutes. While 33% of the respondents said they wasted time because they didn't have enough work, 25% said they did so because they were underpaid. However, not all time-wasting activities are detrimental to the organization. Salary.com senior vice-president Bill Coleman felt that personal use of the Internet could even be positive since it could generate new business ideas if not contributed to a happier work environment. "There is such a thing as creative waste. Not all wasted time is bad," Coleman was quoted by Reuters as saying.

A survey on time-wasting in Indian organizations could throw up interesting results. The most irritating waste of time is when those working inside the office are asked for directions by visitors. With receptionists and security staff also doing duty at the switchboard for telephone calls, it is usually the employee nearest the entrance who has to field queries ranging from "Where is so and so?" to "Where is the toilet?" However, the most formally-sanctioned way of wasting time in the Indian organization remains the office-meeting. Organizations are known to hold meetings at the drop of a hat. Even a decision to cut down on meetings would be taken at a meeting! The conference-hall is bigger than the canteen which serves a more useful purpose!

Q. The passage does NOT deal with:

Directions: relate to the following article:

Pick up a glossy magazine or newspaper supplement and there will almost certainly be at least one double page spread that looks like a regular editorial page but is headed up either 'promotion' or 'advertisement'. These hybrids - unattractively but aptly called advertorials -are being used with increasing frequency by a growing number of companies. Traditionally the preserve of high-technology clients with a complicated message to get across to potential customers, the use of this technique has now spread to sectors like financial services, alcohol and automobiles.

One major reason why marketing departments are becoming more receptive to ideas for advertorials is that publishers are pursuing them more aggressively at a time of shrinking ad budgets, while they are being treated far more professionally in a bid to persuade clients that this is a creative opportunity to spread their message to their target audiences. Pouring more imagination into them allied with raising production standards has also been a means whereby the commercial executives of magazines and newspapers can try to convince sceptical editors who strongly disapprove of blurring the advertising / editorial line of their worth.

What advertorials are about is control - controlling the message in an editorial format. Positive editorial coverage of a company and / or its products in credible publications is the best publicity any company can hope for, but often proves elusive. A successful advertorial can pinpoint the way the company delivers its message to the heart of its target audience. High technology was one of the main sources of early advertorials - unsurprisingly, the products are complex and need to be explained with some technical detail to get the story across. That is not so easy with traditional advertising.

Advertorials can also to some degree circumvent journalistic indifference to what a company is doing because editorial coverage has already been so extensive. For example, in the case of a company like Compaq, whose swift growth in the computer market attracted many inches of editorial space, that very success can lead to journalists wondering how they can write something different about Compaq. There can be diminishing returns from an editorial point of view. So advertorials let the company present things editorially but with bought space. While they should be strongly labelled, information is being given to readers in a format that looks familiar.

Q. In the above passage, the phrase "blurring the advertising / editorial line of their worth" implies

Directions: relate to the following article:

Pick up a glossy magazine or newspaper supplement and there will almost certainly be at least one double page spread that looks like a regular editorial page but is headed up either 'promotion' or 'advertisement'. These hybrids - unattractively but aptly called advertorials -are being used with increasing frequency by a growing number of companies. Traditionally the preserve of high-technology clients with a complicated message to get across to potential customers, the use of this technique has now spread to sectors like financial services, alcohol and automobiles.

One major reason why marketing departments are becoming more receptive to ideas for advertorials is that publishers are pursuing them more aggressively at a time of shrinking ad budgets, while they are being treated far more professionally in a bid to persuade clients that this is a creative opportunity to spread their message to their target audiences. Pouring more imagination into them allied with raising production standards has also been a means whereby the commercial executives of magazines and newspapers can try to convince sceptical editors who strongly disapprove of blurring the advertising / editorial line of their worth.

What advertorials are about is control - controlling the message in an editorial format. Positive editorial coverage of a company and / or its products in credible publications is the best publicity any company can hope for, but often proves elusive. A successful advertorial can pinpoint the way the company delivers its message to the heart of its target audience. High technology was one of the main sources of early advertorials - unsurprisingly, the products are complex and need to be explained with some technical detail to get the story across. That is not so easy with traditional advertising.

Advertorials can also to some degree circumvent journalistic indifference to what a company is doing because editorial coverage has already been so extensive. For example, in the case of a company like Compaq, whose swift growth in the computer market attracted many inches of editorial space, that very success can lead to journalists wondering how they can write something different about Compaq. There can be diminishing returns from an editorial point of view. So advertorials let the company present things editorially but with bought space. While they should be strongly labelled, information is being given to readers in a format that looks familiar.

Q. According to the passage,

Directions: relate to the following article:

Pick up a glossy magazine or newspaper supplement and there will almost certainly be at least one double page spread that looks like a regular editorial page but is headed up either 'promotion' or 'advertisement'. These hybrids - unattractively but aptly called advertorials -are being used with increasing frequency by a growing number of companies. Traditionally the preserve of high-technology clients with a complicated message to get across to potential customers, the use of this technique has now spread to sectors like financial services, alcohol and automobiles.

One major reason why marketing departments are becoming more receptive to ideas for advertorials is that publishers are pursuing them more aggressively at a time of shrinking ad budgets, while they are being treated far more professionally in a bid to persuade clients that this is a creative opportunity to spread their message to their target audiences. Pouring more imagination into them allied with raising production standards has also been a means whereby the commercial executives of magazines and newspapers can try to convince sceptical editors who strongly disapprove of blurring the advertising / editorial line of their worth.

What advertorials are about is control - controlling the message in an editorial format. Positive editorial coverage of a company and / or its products in credible publications is the best publicity any company can hope for, but often proves elusive. A successful advertorial can pinpoint the way the company delivers its message to the heart of its target audience. High technology was one of the main sources of early advertorials - unsurprisingly, the products are complex and need to be explained with some technical detail to get the story across. That is not so easy with traditional advertising.

Advertorials can also to some degree circumvent journalistic indifference to what a company is doing because editorial coverage has already been so extensive. For example, in the case of a company like Compaq, whose swift growth in the computer market attracted many inches of editorial space, that very success can lead to journalists wondering how they can write something different about Compaq. There can be diminishing returns from an editorial point of view. So advertorials let the company present things editorially but with bought space. While they should be strongly labelled, information is being given to readers in a format that looks familiar.

Q. In the light of your reading of the passage above, identify the option that contains the set of words CLOSEST in meaning to the set of words in CAPITALS

SCEPTICAL: CIRCUMVENT: ELUSIVE

Directions: relate to the following article:

Pick up a glossy magazine or newspaper supplement and there will almost certainly be at least one double page spread that looks like a regular editorial page but is headed up either 'promotion' or 'advertisement'. These hybrids - unattractively but aptly called advertorials -are being used with increasing frequency by a growing number of companies. Traditionally the preserve of high-technology clients with a complicated message to get across to potential customers, the use of this technique has now spread to sectors like financial services, alcohol and automobiles.

One major reason why marketing departments are becoming more receptive to ideas for advertorials is that publishers are pursuing them more aggressively at a time of shrinking ad budgets, while they are being treated far more professionally in a bid to persuade clients that this is a creative opportunity to spread their message to their target audiences. Pouring more imagination into them allied with raising production standards has also been a means whereby the commercial executives of magazines and newspapers can try to convince sceptical editors who strongly disapprove of blurring the advertising / editorial line of their worth.

What advertorials are about is control - controlling the message in an editorial format. Positive editorial coverage of a company and / or its products in credible publications is the best publicity any company can hope for, but often proves elusive. A successful advertorial can pinpoint the way the company delivers its message to the heart of its target audience. High technology was one of the main sources of early advertorials - unsurprisingly, the products are complex and need to be explained with some technical detail to get the story across. That is not so easy with traditional advertising.

Advertorials can also to some degree circumvent journalistic indifference to what a company is doing because editorial coverage has already been so extensive. For example, in the case of a company like Compaq, whose swift growth in the computer market attracted many inches of editorial space, that very success can lead to journalists wondering how they can write something different about Compaq. There can be diminishing returns from an editorial point of view. So advertorials let the company present things editorially but with bought space. While they should be strongly labelled, information is being given to readers in a format that looks familiar.

Q. The passage DOES NOT discuss

Directions: In the following question, a word in capital is followed by four options. From the options, find the appropriate word that reflects the closest or similar meaning (synonym) to the given word.

KIN

Directions: The question below has blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Choose the set of words for each blank which best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

There is a growing recognition that China faces serious "imbalances" that could derail its long economic boom. Obsessed ____ recently _____ high growth, China has been pushing too hard _____ keep its currency too cheap

Directions: The question below has blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Choose the set of words for each blank which best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

I take it, are ordained _____ priests to keep alive the sacred fires ____ the altar of impartial truth, and I have _____ faithfully endeavoured to keep my oath ______ office as well as the circumstances would permit

Directions: Rearrange the following five sentences (A), (B), (C),(D) and (E) in the proper sequence to form a meaningful paragraph; then answer the questions given below them.

(A) These inhibitors to providing profitable mobile services to rural India come from two main sources-

(B) Rural India has a massive pent-up derhand for mobile services; a limitless supply of low-cost labour to help deploy them; and a large entrepreneurial class ready to deliver services at the local level.

(C) As powerful as these market drivers may be, the inhibitors are even more formidable.

(D) Firstly, there are the inherent constraints of the market - its geography, economy and skill levels; and secondly, the inherent limitations of current GSM technology, processes and models.

(E) Cheap handsets are available and unlike urban locations, space for Base Stations is plentiful.

Q. Which of the following should be the FIFTH sentence after rearrangement?

Directions: In the following passage, there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. These numbers are printed below the passage and against each, five words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case.

Employee misconduct, (A) of leave, tardiness, abuse of lunch hours or coffee breaks, (B) to comply with the agency's procedures, or any other (C) of the employee/employer relationship are examples of problems for which disciplinary actions may be (D). Such actions (E) from admonishments, warnings and oral or written reprimands to suspensions, reduction-in-grade or pay, or removal.

Q. Find out the appropriate word at “B”.