Practice Doc: CAT 2020 For Verbal (Slot - 2) | Additional Study Material for CAT PDF Download

Direction for Reading Comprehension: The pass ages given here are followed by some questions that have four answer choices; read the passage carefully and pick the option whose answer best aligns with the passage
Aggression is any behavior that is directed toward injuring, harming, or inflicting pain on another living being or group of beings. Generally, the victim(s) of aggression must wish to avoid such behavior in order for it to be considered true aggression. Aggression is also categorized according to its ultimate intent. Hostile aggression is an aggressive act that results from anger, and is intended to inflict pain or injury because of that anger. Instrumental aggression is an aggressive act that is regarded as a means to an end other than pain or injury. For example, an enemy combatant may be subjected to torture in order to extract useful intelligence, though those inflicting the torture may have no real feelings of anger or animosity toward their subject. The concept of aggression is very broad, and includes many categories of behavior (e.g., verbal aggression, street crime, child abuse, spouse abuse, group conflict, war, etc.). A number of theories and models of aggression have arisen to explain these diverse forms of behavior, and these theories/models tend to be categorized according to their specific focus. The most common system of categorization groups the various approaches to aggression into three separate areas, based upon the three key variables that are present whenever any aggressive act or set of acts is committed. The first variable is the aggressor him/herself. The second is the social situation or circumstance in which the aggressive act(s) occur. The third variable is the target or victim of aggression.
Regarding theories and research on the aggressor, the fundamental focus is on the factors that lead an individual (or group) to commit aggressive acts. At the most basic level, some argue that aggressive urges and actions are the result of inborn, biological factors. Sigmund Freud (1930) proposed that all individuals are born with a death instinct that predisposes us to a variety of aggressive behaviors, including suicide (self directed aggression) and mental illness (possibly due to an unhealthy or unnatural suppression of aggressive urges). Other influential perspectives supporting a biological basis for aggression conclude that humans evolved with an abnormally low neural inhibition of aggressive impulses (in comparison to other species), and that humans possess a powerful instinct for property accumulation and territorialism. It is proposed that this instinct accounts for hostile behaviors ranging from minor street crime to world wars. Hormonal factors also appear to play a significant role in fostering aggressive tendencies. For example, the hormone testosterone has been shown to increase aggressive behaviors when injected into animals. Men and women convicted of violent crimes also possess significantly higher levels of testosterone than men and women convicted of nonviolent crimes. Numerous studies comparing different age groups, racial/ethnic groups, and cultures also indicate that men, overall, are more likely to engage in a variety of aggressive behaviors (e.g., sexual assault, aggravated assault, etc.) than women. One explanation for higher levels of aggression in men is based on the assumption that, on average, men have higher levels of testosterone than women.
Q.1. The author identifies three essential factors according to which theories of aggression are most commonly categorised. Which of the following options is closest to the factors identified by the author?
(a) Psychologically – Sociologically – Medically.
(b) Aggressor – Circumstances of aggression – Victim.
(c) Extreme – Moderate – Mild.
(d) Hostile – Instrumental – Hormonal.
Ans: b
Solution: This is the easiest question of the passage. The clue to the right answer is given in the last part of the first paragraph. Reading that part is enough to spot the right choice. It says there are three variables present in an aggressive act. They are: the aggressor, the circumstances, and the victim.

Q.2. The author discusses all of the following arguments in the passage EXCEPT that:
(a) men in general are believed to be more hormonally driven to exhibit violence than women.
(b) several studies indicate that aggression may have roots in the biological condition of humanity.
(c) the nature of aggression can vary depending on several factors, including intent.
(d) aggression in most societies is kept under control through moderating the death instinct identified by Freud.
Ans: d
Solution: We must remember that this is an except question. We must pick the choice that is not presented as the author’s argument. Choice a goes out because the author discusses it towards the end of the passage. Men have higher levels of testosterone, resulting in higher aggression. The second sentence of the last paragraph provides clue for choice b. Thus b is also eliminated. The first paragraph elaborately describes the varying nature of aggression. Thus c also is eliminated. The moderation of death instinct is nowhere discussed in the passage, although the presence of death instinct is discussed. Thus d is the right choice.

Q.3. All of the following statements can be seen as logically implied by the arguments of the passage EXCEPT:
(a) the Freudian theory of suicide as self-inflicted aggression implies that an aggressive act need not be sought to be avoided in order for it to be considered aggression.
(b) a common theory of aggression is that it is the result of an abnormally low neural regulation of testosterone.
(c) if the alleged aggressive act is not sought to be avoided, it cannot really be considered aggression.
(d) Freud’s theory of aggression proposes that aggression results from the suppression of aggressive urges.
Ans: b
Solution: Though this is an except question, this question can be easily answered if we look for the phrase “neural regulation” in the passage. The neural inhibition has been discussed with regards to aggressive impulses, not the hormone testosterone. Thus b is definitely not implied by the author. Once we have found the right answer there is no need to verify the others. The rest of the options, however, do find indirect reference in the passage. 

Q.4. “An enemy combatant may be subjected to torture in order to extract useful intelligence, though those inflicting the torture may have no real feelings of anger or animosity toward their subject.” Which one of the following best explicates the larger point being made by the author here?
(a) Information revealed by subjecting an enemy combatant to torture is not always reliable because of the animosity involved.
(b) When an enemy combatant refuses to reveal information, the use of torture can sometimes involve real feelings of hostility.
(c) In certain kinds of aggression, inflicting pain is not the objective, and is no more than a utilitarian means to achieve another end.
(d) The use of torture to extract information is most effective when the torturer is not emotionally involved in the torture.
Ans: c
Solution: The point made by the author in the quoted remark is that you may be aggressive without any real feelings of anger or animosity. Why? Because inflicting pain is not the objective, but serves some other end. Thus c directly becomes the right choice. This was a very easy question. 

Direction for Reading Comprehension: The pass ages given here are followed by some questions that have four answer choices; read the passage carefully and pick the option whose answer best aligns with the passage
174 incidents of piracy were reported to the International Maritime Bureau last year, with Somali pirates responsible for only three. The rest ranged from the discreet theft of coils of rope in the Yellow Sea to the notoriously ferocious Nigerian gunmen attacking and hijacking oil tankers in the Gulf of Guinea, as well as armed robbery off Singapore and the Venezuelan coast and kidnapping in the Sundarbans in the Bay of Bengal. For [Dr. Peter] Lehr, an expert on modern-day piracy, the phenomenon’s history should be a source of instruction rather than entertainment, piracy past offering lessons for piracy present. . . .
But . . . where does piracy begin or end? According to St Augustine, a corsair captain once told Alexander the Great that in the forceful acquisition of power and wealth at sea, the difference between an emperor and a pirate was simply one of scale. By this logic, European empire-builders were the most successful pirates of all time. A more eclectic history might have included the conquistadors, Vasco da Gama and the East India Company. But Lehr sticks to the disorganised small fry, making comparisons with the renegades of today possible.
The main motive for piracy has always been a combination of need and greed. Why toil always a starving peasant in the 16th century when a successful pirate made up to £4,000 on each raid? Anyone could turn to freebooting if the rewards were worth the risk . . . .
Increased globalisation has done more to encourage piracy than suppress it. European colonialism weakened delicate balances of power, leading to an influx of opportunists on the high seas. A rise in global shipping has meant rich pickings for freebooters. Lehr writes: “It quickly becomes clear that in those parts of the world that have not profited from globalisation and modernisation, and where abject poverty and the daily struggle for survival are still a reality, the root causes of piracy are still the same as they were a couple of hundred years ago.” . . .
Modern pirate prevention has failed. After the French yacht Le Gonant was ransomed for $2million in 2008, opportunists from all over Somalia flocked to the coast for a piece of the action. . . . A consistent rule, even today, is there are never enough warships to patrol pirate-infested waters. Such ships are costly and only solve the problem temporarily; Somali piracy is bound to return as soon as the warships are withdrawn. Robot shipping, eliminating hostages, has been proposed as a possible solution; but as Lehr points out, this will only make pirates switch their targets to smaller carriers unable to afford the technology.
His advice isn’t new. Proposals to end illegal fishing are often advanced but they are difficult to enforce. Investment in local welfare put a halt to Malaysian piracy in the 1970s, but was dependent on money somehow filtering through a corrupt bureaucracy to the poor on the periphery. Diplomatic initiatives against piracy are plagued by mutual distrust: The Russians execute pirates, while the EU and US are reluctant to capture them for fear they’ll claim asylum.
Q.5. “Why toil away as a starving peasant in the 16th century when a successful pirate made up to £4,000 on each raid?” In this sentence, the author’s tone can best be described as being:
(a) analytical, to explain the contrasts between peasant and pirate life in medieval England. 
(b) indignant, at the scale of wealth successful pirates could amass in medieval times. 
(c) ironic, about the reasons why so many took to piracy in medieval times. 
(d) facetious, about the hardships of peasant life in medieval England.
Ans: c
Solution: This is a passage easy to read and understand. The very first question is author’s tone in the given sentence. Indignant means angry, but there is no anger as the author is relating to something that used to happen 400 years ago. The author is not trying to be analytical, rather he is trying to be ironical. Irony is used to highlight a situation by using contrast in an amusing way. His intention is not to discuss the contrast between peasant life and pirate life way back in the 16th century. c is the best choice. 

Q.6. “A more eclectic history might have included the conquistadors, Vasco da Gama and the East India Company. But Lehr sticks to the disorganised small fry . . .” From this statement we can infer that the author believes that:
1. Lehr does not assign adequate blame to empire builders for their past deeds. 
2. colonialism should be considered an organised form of piracy. 
3. Vasco da Gama and the East India Company laid the ground for modern piracy. 
4. the disorganised piracy of today is no match for the organised piracy of the past.
Ans: b
Solution: The author by giving the example of Vasco da Gama and the east India company to suggest that they both were not very different from piracy. Options b brings out that suggestion appropriately. a goes out because the author does consider them as pirates. c might look like a good choice but the phrase “laid the ground for modern piracy” brings something that is not implied or stated in the passage. d could have been another close choice, but the author’s intention is not to compare the disorganized piracy of today with the organized piracy of the past. His intention is to compare the disorganized small piracy of the past with the renegades of today. It is small Vs small, and not small Vs big. b is the right answer.

Q.7. We can deduce that the author believes that piracy can best be controlled in the long run:
(a) through the extensive deployment of technology to track ships and cargo.
(b) through international cooperation in enforcing stringent deterrents.
(c) if we eliminate poverty and income disparities in affected regions.
(d) through lucrative welfare schemes to improve the lives of people in affected regions.
Ans: c
Solution: At the end of the fourth paragraph the author says that “root causes of piracy today are the same as they were a couple of hundred years ago”. What were the causes a couple of hundred years ago? According to the author it is poverty. Thus he believes that eliminating poverty will solve the problem. Thus c is the right choice. All the other choices are mentioned only to show that they haven’t brought the desired results.

Q.8. The author ascribes the rise in piracy today to all of the following factors EXCEPT:
(a) colonialism’s disruption of historic ties among countries.
(b) decreased surveillance of the high seas.
(c) the high rewards via ransoms for successful piracy attempts.
(d) the growth in international shipping with globalisation.
Ans: b
Solution: We have to pick the choice that is not the cause behind the rise in piracy. a goes out because it is the cause. The first sentence of the fourth paragraph offers the clue. The third paragraph says that “the main motive for piracy has always been a combination of need and greed...”. Thus c also is correct, as a cause of piracy. The fourth paragraph has clue to option d as well. Thus b is the right choice. The author believes that surveillance can never be an effect solution because it is not addressing the root cause.

Direction for Reading Comprehension: The pass ages given here are followed by some questions that have four answer choices; read the passage carefully and pick the option whose answer best aligns with the passage
The claims advanced here may be condensed into two assertions: [first, that visual] culture is what images, acts of seeing, and attendant intellectual, emotional, and perceptual sensibilities do to build, maintain, or transform the worlds in which people live. [And second, that the] study of visual culture is the analysis and interpretation of images and the ways of seeing (or gazes) that configure the agents, practices, conceptualities, and institutions that put images to work. . . .
Accordingly, the study of visual culture should be characterized by several concerns. First, scholars of visual culture need to examine any and all imagery – high and low, art and non art.. . . They must not restrict themselves to objects of a particular beauty or aesthetic value. Indeed, any kind of imagery may be found to offer up evidence of the visual construction of reality. . . .
Second, the study of visual culture must scrutinize visual practice as much as images themselves, asking what images do when they are put to use. If scholars engaged in this enterprise inquire what makes an image beautiful or why this image or that constitutes a masterpiece or a work of genius, they should do so with the purpose of investigating an artist’s or a work’s contribution to the experience of beauty, taste, value, or genius. No amount of social analysis can account fully for the existence of Michelangelo or Leonardo. They were unique creators of images that changed the way their contemporaries thought and felt and have continued to shape the history of art, artists, museums, feeling, and aesthetic value. But study of the critical, artistic, and popular reception of works by such artists as Michelangelo and Leonardo can shed important light on the meaning of these artists and their works for many different people. And the history of meaning-making has a great deal to do with how scholars as well as lay audiences today understand these artists and their achievements.
Third, scholars studying visual culture might properly focus their interpretative work on lifeworlds by examining images, practices, visual technologies, taste, and artistic style as constitutive of social relations. The task is to understand how artifacts contribute to the construction of a world. . . . Important methodological implications follow: ethnography and reception studies become productive forms of gathering information, since these move beyond the image as a closed and fixed meaning-event. . . .
Fourth, scholars may learn a great deal when they scrutinize the constituents of vision, that is, the structures of perception as a physiological process as well as the epistemological frameworks informing a system of visual representation. Vision is a socially and a biologically constructed operation, depending on the design of the human body and how it engages the interpretive devices developed by a culture in order to see intelligibly. . . . Seeing . . . operates on the foundation of covenants with images that establish the conditions for meaningful visual experience.
Finally, the scholar of visual culture seeks to regard images as evidence for explanation, not as epiphenomena.
Q.9. “No amount of social analysis can account fully for the existence of Michelangelo or Leonardo.” In light of the passage, which one of the following interpretations of this sentence is the most accurate?
(a) Socially existing beings cannot be analysed, unlike the art of Michelangelo or Leonardo which can. 
(b) Michelangelo or Leonardo cannot be subjected to social analysis because of their genius. 
(c) No analyses exist of Michelangelo’s or Leonardo’s social accounts. 
(d) Social analytical accounts of people like Michelangelo or Leonardo cannot explain their genius.
Ans: d
Solution: This is so simple a question that one will not feel like marking the right choice just because it is too straightforward. The author in the third paragraph says that the study of visual culture is very important to understand the agents, practices and institutions that put images to work. Then he further goes to say that “no amount of social analysis (visual culture) can account fully for the existence of Michelangelo or Leonardo. They were unique creators. Choice d is very close to this statement. It is so easy that one is highly likely to miss out on this. Choice b is close but a little absurd. It says that because they are genius they cannot be subjected to social analysis. The author says that we may have social analysis of these artists but no matter how much we analyse; the analysis may not be enough.

Q.10. “Seeing . . . operates on the foundation of covenants with images that establish the conditions for meaningful visual experience.” In light of the passage, which one of the following statements best conveys the meaning of this sentence?
(a) Sight as a meaningful visual experience is possible when there is a foundational condition established in images of covenants. 
(b) Images are meaningful visual experiences when they have a foundation of covenants seeing them. 
(c) Sight becomes a meaningful visual experience because of covenants of meaningfulness that we establish with the images we see. 
(d) The way we experience sight is through images operated on by meaningful covenants.
Ans: c
Solution: This question asks us to interpret a phrase given in the passage. For meaningful visual experience, we need the conditions, which operate on the foundation of covenants. c precisely captures that meaning. In fact, the question asks us to pick the option that is similar in content to the one given in the question. a could have been close but it distorts the idea by saying “when there is foundational condition established in images”. It suggests that the foundation is established in images. Only c correctly rephrases the whole idea given in the question

Q.11. Which set of keywords below most closely captures the arguments of the passage?
(a) Scholars, Social Analysis, Michelangelo and Leonardo, Interpretive Devices.
(b) Visual Construction of Reality, Work of Genius, Ethnography, Epiphenomena.
(c) Imagery, Visual Practices, Lifeworlds, Structures of Perception.
(d) Visual Culture, Aesthetic Value, Lay Audience, Visual Experience.
Ans: c
Solution: This was an easy question. Two keywords are very important, one is visual images or imagery, and the other is visual culture or practices. Both these are important as per the first paragraph of the passage and only in choice c can we find these two keywords. Thus c is the best choice. d misses on imagery or visual images. b misses on the visual culture. a misses both visual culture and images.

Q.12. All of the following statements may be considered valid inferences from the passage, EXCEPT:
(a) studying visual culture requires institutional structures without which the structures of perception cannot be analysed.
(b) understanding the structures of perception is an important part of understanding how visual cultures work.
(c) artifacts are meaningful precisely because they help to construct the meanings of the world for us.
(d) visual culture is not just about how we see, but also about how our visual practices can impact and change the world.
Ans: a
Solution: We have to mark the choice that is not a valid inference. b can be inferred from last paragraph. d can be inferred from the first paragraph, and also the paragraph that discusses Michelangelo and Leonardo. In the third last paragraph the author says “how artifacts contribute to the construction of a world...”.  Thus c also can be inferred. a cannot be inferred because structures of perception have been discussed as a physiological process, not as an institutional structure. Thus a is farfetched and the right choice as it cannot be inferred.

Q.13. Which one of the following best describes the word “epiphenomena” in the last sentence of the passage?
(a) Phenomena amenable to analysis.
(b) Visual phenomena of epic proportions.
(c) Phenomena supplemental to the evidence.
(d) Overarching collections of images.
Ans: c
Solution: To mark the correct answer, we must understand the meaning of epiphenomenon, which means a secondary effect or a by-product. c is the right choice because supplemental means “provided in addition to”. Thus by-product=supplemental.

Direction for Reading Comprehension: The pass ages given here are followed by some questions that have four answer choices; read the passage carefully and pick the option whose answer best aligns with the passage
In a low-carbon world, renewable energy technologies are hot business. For investors looking to redirect funds, wind turbines and solar panels, among other technologies, seem a straightforward choice. But renewables need to be further scrutinized before being championed as forging a path toward a low-carbon future. Both the direct and indirect impacts of renewable energy must be examined to ensure that a climate-smart future does not intensify social and environmental harm. As renewable energy production requires land, water, and labor, among other inputs, it imposes costs on people and the environment. Hydropower projects, for instance, have led to community dispossession and exclusion . . .Renewable energy supply chains are also intertwined with mining, and their technologies contribute to growing levels of electronic waste . . . Furthermore, although renewable energy can be produced and distributed through small-scale, local systems, such an approach might not generate the high returns on investment needed to attract capital.
Although an emerging sector, renewables are enmeshed in long-standing resource extraction through their dependence on minerals and metals . . . Scholars document the negative consequences of mining . . . even for mining operations that commit to socially responsible practices[:] “many of the world’s largest reservoirs of minerals like cobalt, copper, lithium,[and] rare earth minerals”—the ones needed for renewable technologies— “are found in fragile states and under communities of marginalized peoples in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.” Since the demand for metals and minerals will increase substantially in a renewable-powered future . . . this intensification could exacerbate the existing consequences of extractive activities.
Among the connections between climate change and waste, O’Neill . . . highlights that “devices developed to reduce our carbon footprint, such as lithium batteries for hybrid and electric cars or solar panels[,] become potentially dangerous electronic waste at the end of their productive life.” The disposal of toxic waste has long perpetuated social injustice through the flows of waste to the Global South and to marginalized communities in the Global North . ..
While renewable energy is a more recent addition to financial portfolios, investments in the sector must be considered in light of our understanding of capital accumulation. As agricultural finance reveals, the concentration of control of corporate activity facilitates profit generation. For some climate activists, the promise of renewables rests on their ability not only to reduce emissions but also to provide distributed, democratized access to energy . . .But Burke and Stephens . . . caution that “renewable energy systems offer a possibility but not a certainty for more democratic energy futures.” Small-scale, distributed forms of energy are only highly profitable to institutional investors if control is consolidated somewhere in the financial chain. Renewable energy can be produced at the household or neighborhood level.
However, such small-scale, localized production is unlikely to generate high returns for investors. For financial growth to be sustained and expanded by the renewable sector, production and trade in renewable energy technologies will need to be highly concentrated, and large asset management firms will likely drive those developments.
Q.14. Based on the passage, we can infer that the author would be most supportive of which one of the following practices?
(a) The localised, small-scale development of renewable energy systems.
(b) More stringent global policies and regulations to ensure a more just system of toxic waste disposal.
(c) Encouragement for the development of more environment-friendly carbon-based fuels.
(d) The study of the coexistence of marginalised people with their environments.
Ans: b
Solution: The question asks us to pick a choice that the author would be most supportive of. a goes out because the author in the last paragraph says that localised renewable energy systems is unlikely to generate high returns for investors. b can be definitely inferred because the author clearly says at the end of second last para that disposal of toxic waste has perpetuated social injustice. Thus b is the right choice. For many c might be a tempting choice, but it is beside the point. The author is not concerned with more environment friendly carbon based fuels. He is talking about renewable energy sources, and the social and financial costs behind it. The whole discussion in the passage is based on the premise that we have already taken the path low carbon based renewable energy path. So the suggestion in c is pointless. d goes out because the author is not favouring any study. He wants resolution to the problem, so he wants action.

Q.15. All of the following statements, if true, could be seen as supporting the arguments in the passage, EXCEPT:
(a) Marginalised people in Africa, Asia and Latin America have often been the main sufferers of corporate mineral extraction projects.
(b) The example of agricultural finance helps us to see how to concentrate corporate activity in the renewable energy sector.
(c) One reason for the perpetuation of social injustice lies in the problem of the disposal of toxic waste.
(d) The possible negative impacts of renewable energy need to be studied before it can be offered as a financial investment opportunity.
Ans: d
Solution: This is a slightly difficult question. But a definitely supports the author. It must go out. We can find the evidence in the second paragraph. The second sentence of the last paragraph provides evidence for the 2nd choice. The third choice has already been inferred while solving the earlier question. It can be found in the last sentence of the second last para. d is the right answer because there is no reference for it in the passage. We have to mark the answer based on the evidence that we see in the passage.

Q.16. Which one of the following statements, if false, could be seen as best supporting the arguments in the passage?
(a) Renewable energy systems are not as profitable as non-renewable energy systems.
(b) Renewable energy systems are as expensive as non-renewable energy systems.
(c) The production and distribution of renewable energy through small-scale, localsystems is not economically sustainable.
(d) Renewable energy systems have little or no environmental impact.
Ans: d
Solution: This is the easiest question of the passage. We have to first falsify the choice and then see whether it is supporting the arguments in the passage. Choice d, when falsified, says that renewable energy systems have an environmental impact. If that is the case, the author’s arguments find support in the passage. Thus d is the right choice. a goes out because the author says in the passage that renewable energy systems are not as profitable as nonrenewable energy systems. The Last sentence of the first paragraph provides evidence for this. The profitability aspect has been discussed in the last paragraph of the passage. Thus it takes care of both b and c, because if the profitability is low, it means that the expense is high, and therefore economically unsustainable. Thus all a, b and c support the author without being negated, whereas d supports the author only when it is negated

Q.17. Which one of the following statements, if true, could be an accurate inference from the first paragraph of the passage?
(a) The author has reservations about the consequences of non-renewable energysystems.
(b) The author’s only reservation is about the profitability of renewable energy systems.
(c) The author has reservations about the consequences of renewable energy systems.
(d) The author does not think renewable energy systems can be as efficient as nonrenewable energy systems.
Ans: c
Solution: This question is an easy question because to find the answer we have to read only the first paragraph. The author says “...but renewables need to be further scrutinized...”. This suggests that the author has some reservations or doubts pertaining to renewable energy. Thus c is the right choice. A very easy question indeed. a goes out because it talks of nonrenewable energy systems. b goes out because the author is equally concerned about environmental and social impact of renewable energy systems. d finds no mention in the passage and the first paragraph.

Q.18. Which one of the following statements best captures the main argument of the last paragraph of the passage?
(a) Most forms of renewable energy are not profitable investments for institutional investors.
(b) Renewable energy produced at the household or neighbourhood level is more efficient than mass-produced forms of energy.
(c) Renewable energy systems are not democratic unless they are corporate-controlled.
(d) The development of the renewable energy sector is a double-edged sword.
Ans: d
Solution: This is a pretty interesting question. The author says “renewable energy can be produced at the household or neighbourhood level...but such small scale localised production is unlikely to generate high returns for investors.” This is a double edged sword. b goes out because efficiency has not at all been discussed in the last paragraph. Corporate control is indeed discussed but not in reference to democratic distribution of energy. Thus c goes out. a goes out because renewable energy has been discussed as a single idea, without any forms and types. Thus a also is a distortion

Q.19. Five jumbled up sentences, related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd one out and key in the number of the sentence as your answer:
1. The victim’s trauma after assault rarely gets the attention that we lavish on the moment of damage that divided the survivor from a less encumbered past.
2. One thing we often do with narratives of sexual assault is sort their respective parties into different temporalities: it seems we are interested in perpetrators’ futures and victims’ pasts.
3. One result is that we don’t have much of a vocabulary for what happens in a victim’s life after the painful past has been excavated, even when our shared language gestures toward the future, as the term “survivor” does.
4. Even the most charitable questions asked about the victims seem to focus on the past, in pursuit of understanding or of corroboration of painful details.
5. As more and more stories of sexual assault have been made public in the last two years, the genre of their telling has exploded --- crimes have a tendency to become not just stories but genres.
Ans: 4
Solution: The official answer for this question seems to be a little weird. Though 4 is the official answer, we believe that sentence 5 should have been the right choice. 2 will open the paragraph. 1 and 4 focus on the victim’s past. 1 says “victim’s trauma after the assault rarely gets the attention...” and 4 says “even the most charitable question seems to focus on the victim’s past...”. 3 finally concludes by saying “the result is that we don’t have much of a vocabulary for what happens in a victim’s life after the painful past...”. 5 should have been the right answer, but the official answer is 4.

Q.20. The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4) below, when properly sequenced would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer:
1. While you might think that you see or are aware of all the changes that happen in your immediate environment, there is simply too much information for your brain to fully process everything.
2. Psychologists use the term ‘change blindness’ to describe this tendency of people to be blind to changes though they are in the immediate environment.
3. It cannot be aware of every single thing that happens in the world around you.
4. Sometimes big shifts happen in front of your eyes and you are not at all aware of these changes.
Ans: 1342  
Solution: This question is a difficult one, where two possible sequences might be correct. There is no doubt that 42 is one pair and 13 is the other. The point is which will come first 13 or 42. The official answer says 1342, though we believe that 4213 is just equally logical a sequence.

Q.21. Five jumbled up sentences, related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd one out and key in the number of the sentence as your answer:
1. You can observe the truth of this in every e-business model ever constructed: monopolise and protect data.
2. Economists and technologists believe that a new kind of capitalism is being created - different from industrial capitalism as was merchant capitalism.
3. In 1962, Kenneth Arrow, the guru of mainstream economics, said that in a free market economy the purpose of inventing things is to create intellectual property rights.
4. There is, alongside the world of monopolised information and surveillance, a different dynamic growing up: information as a social good, incapable of being owned or exploited or priced.
5. Yet information is abundant. Information goods are freely replicable. Once a thing is made, it can be copied and pasted infinitely.
Ans: 2
Solution: This is a question of moderate difficulty. 1 points at some truth. We must try to find the sentence that connects with 1. How can we monopolize and protect data? By having intellectual property rights. Thus 31 form a pair. 4 adds another idea to the story; it says “alongside the world of monopolised information (already discussed in 31), we have information as a social good, incapable of being owned. 5 concludes by saying that “information good are freely replicable....it can be copied and pasted infinitely”. In the light of intellectual property rights, and free information goods, 2 seems to be the odd one out.

Q.22. The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage. 
With the Treaty of Westphalia, the papacy had been confined to ecclesiastical functions, and the doctrine of sovereign equality reigned. What political theory could then explain the origin and justify the functions of secular political order? In his Leviathan, published in 1651, three years after the Peace of Westphalia, Thomas Hobbes provided such a theory. He imagined a “state of nature” in the past when the absence of authority produced a “war of all against all.” To escape such intolerable insecurity, he theorized, people delivered their rights to a sovereign power in return for the sovereign’s provision of security for all within the state’s border. The sovereign state’s monopoly on power was established as the only way to overcome the perpetual fear of violent death and war.
(a) Thomas Hobbes theorized the emergence of sovereign states based on a transactional relationship between people and sovereign state that was necessitated by a sense of insecurity of the people.
(b) Thomas Hobbes theorized the voluntary surrender of rights by people as essential for emergence of sovereign states.
(c) Thomas Hobbes theorized the emergence of sovereign states as a form of transactional governance to limit the power of the papacy.
(d) Thomas Hobbes theorized that sovereign states emerged out of people’s voluntary desire to overcome the sense of insecurity and establish the doctrine of sovereign equality. 
Ans: a
Solution: The passage has three important keywords: sovereign equality, sense of insecurity, and what was done to overcome that insecurity. The passage tells us that people delivered their rights to a sovereign power in return for the sovereign’s provision of security. This was the only way to overcome the fear of insecurity. After all there is a give and take happening, and therefore there is a transaction. Thus a is the best choice. b misses on the people’s sense of insecurity. c goes out because limiting the power of papacy is not the essence of the discussion. Choice d misses the idea of give and take, people give their rights to the sovereign in return for his protection. It misses the crucial word “transactional relationship”.

Q.23. The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4) below, when properly sequenced would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer:
1. It also has four movable auxiliary telescopes 1.8 m in diameter.
2. Completed in 2006, the Very Large Telescope (VLT) has four reflecting telescopes,8.2 m in diameter that can observe objects 4 billion times weaker than can normally be seen with the naked eye.
3. This configuration enables one to distinguish an astronaut on the Moon.
4. When these are combined with the large telescopes, they produce what is called interferometry: a simulation of the power of a mirror 16 m in diameter and the resolution of a telescope of 200 m.
Ans: 2143
Solution: This is one of the easiest questions. 2 introduces the idea of VLT and mentions what it has. 1 comes as an addition and mentions the additional things that VLT has. 4 talks about what happens when these are combined. 3 is the result of that combination. Thus 2143 is the right sequence. A very easy question indeed!  

Q.24. The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage. 
All humans make decisions based on one or a combination of two factors. This is either intuition or information. Decisions made through intuition are usually fast, people don’t even think about the problem. It is quite philosophical, meaning that someone who made a decision based on intuition will have difficulty explaining the reasoning behind it. The decision-maker would often utilize her senses in drawing conclusions, which again is based on some experience in the field of study. On the other side of the spectrum, we have decisions made based on information. These decisions are rational — it is based on facts and figures, which unfortunately also means that it can be quite slow. The decision-maker would frequently use reports, analyses, and indicators to form her conclusion. This methodology results in accurate, quantifiable decisions, meaning that a person can clearly explain the rationale behind it.
(a) We make decisions based on intuition or information on the basis of the time available.
(b) It is better to make decisions based on information because it is more accurate, and the rationale behind it can be explained.
(c) Decisions based on intuition and information result in differential speed and ability to provide a rationale.
(d) While decisions based on intuition can be made fast, the reasons that led to these cannot be spelt out.
Ans: c
Solution: In the passage the author compares the two factors based on which humans make decisions. The first is intuition and the other is information. The author seems to be comparing the two without any preference. a goes out because it inaccurately says that “we choose intuition or information based on the time available”. Nothing of this sort has been given in the passage. Time in not the causative factor here. b says “it is better”. Since the author has not given any preference, it would be wrong to say which one is better. Thus b also goes out. c is the right summary, and captures the essence by stating that the difference is differential speed and ability to provide a rationale. d just focuses on intuition, and ignores the other factor entirely.

Q.25. The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
The rural-urban continuum and the heterogeneity of urban settings pose an obvious challenge to identifying urban areas and measuring urbanization rates in a consistent way within and across countries. An objective methodology for distinguishing between urban and rural areas that is based on one or two metrics with fixed thresholds may not adequately capture the wide diversity of places. A richer combination of criteria would better describe the multifaceted nature of a city’s function and its environment, but the joint interpretation of these criteria may require an element of human judgment.
(a) The difficulty of accurately identifying urban areas means that we need to create a rich combination of criteria that can be applied to all urban areas. 
(b) With the diversity of urban landscapes, measurable criteria for defining urban areas may need to be supplemented with human judgement. 
(c) Current methodologies used to define urban and rural areas are no longer relevant to our being able to study trends in urbanisation. 
(d) Distinguishing between urban and rural areas might call for some judgement on the objective methodology being used to define a city’s functions.
Ans: b
Solution: There are three important keywords in this paragraph: the challenge posed by rural-urban continuum, the objective methodology with one or two metrics may not be enough to capture the wide diversity, it may require an element of human judgement. b captures all the keywords succinctly. a misses the element of human judgement, c also misses on the same. d goes out because it is not about the judgment of objective methodology, but human judgement coming as an additional factor to aid the methodology.

Q.26. The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4) below, when properly sequenced would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer:
1. But the attention of the layman, not surprisingly, has been captured by the atom bomb, although there is at least a chance that it may never be used again. 
2. Of all the changes introduced by man into the household of nature, [controlled]largescale nuclear fission is undoubtedly the most dangerous and most profound. 
3. The danger to humanity created by the so-called peaceful uses of atomic energy may, however, be much greater. 
4. The resultant ionizing radiation has become the most serious agent of pollution of the environment and the greatest threat to man’s survival on earth.
Ans: 2413
Solution: This might a little tricky question, but without doubt 2 will open the paragraph. The resultant ionising radiation in 4 is a consequence of large scale nuclear fission mentioned in 2. Thus 24 form a pair. 4 and 1 are contrasting ideas, something that justifies the presence of the conjunction “but” in 1. The resultant ionising radiation has become the most serious agent of pollution... but the attention of the layman has been captured by the atom bomb....3 comes as the appropriate conclusion. 3 can’t come after 4 because both 4 and 3 talk nuclear fission, which does not justify the presence of the word “however” in 3. We use however to contrast two ideas, but both 4 and 3 talk of peaceful uses of atomic energy. Nuclear fission is used for purposes other than atomic bomb. Thus 2413 is the right sequence.