XAT Verbal And Logical Ability MCQ Quiz - 2 - CAT MCQ

On one visit I walked out to Mitchell’s studio to look at a painting. I liked the painting very much and thought there was no problem with the way I looked at it. It was what it was, shapes and colors, white and blue. Then I was told by Joan or someone else that it referred to the landscape here in Vetheuil, specifically to cornflowers. Whatever I had known or not known about painting before, this was a surprise to me, even a shock. Apparently I had not known that an abstract painting could contain references to subject matter. Two things happened at once: the painting abruptly went beyond itself, lost its solitariness, acquired a relationship to fields, to flowers; and it changed from something I understood into something I did not understand, a mystery, a problem.

Q. What does the phrase “lost its solitariness” allude to?

Answer the question based on the passage given below.

Everyone seems happy, though there is a well-known phenomenon called the “Stanford duck syndrome”: students seem cheerful, but all the while they are furiously paddling their legs to stay afloat. What they are generally paddling toward are careers of the sort that could get their names on the buildings on campus like some of its famous alumni. The campus has its jocks, stoners, and poets, but what it is famous for are budding entrepreneurs, engineers, and computer aces hoping to make their fortune in one crevasse or another of Silicon Valley. Innovation comes from myriad sources, including the bastions of East Coast learning, but Stanford has established itself as the intellectual nexus of the information economy. In early April, Facebook acquired the photo-sharing service Instagram, for a billion dollars; naturally, the co-founders of the two-year-old company are Stanford graduates in their late twenties. The initial investor was a Stanford alumnus.

Q. Which of the following advantages of studying at Stanford cannot be deduced from the passage? 

The following question consists of a certain number of sentences. Some sentences are grammatically incorrect or inappropriate. Select the option that indicates the grammatically incorrect and inappropriate sentence(s).

A. These may be a puncture, contused, or lacerated.
B. Round balls make a large opening than those which are conical.
C. A shot fired from 5 metres makes one large ragged opening.
D. The Lee-Metford bullet is more destructive than the Mauser.
E. The former is heavier, but the difference in size is not much.

The following question consists of a set of labelled sentences. These sentences, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Choose the most logical order of sentences from the options.

A. Unfortunately, in modem times, they are engaged in a fight for survival.
B. Constitutionally, tribals are people belonging to a community classified under the List of Scheduled Tribes mentioned in the Indian Constitution under Article 342(i) and 342(ii).
C. Yet, the fascinating elements of their culture are folk dances, songs, and languages which are indigenous to the region they inhabit.
D. Whether it is maternal and child mortality rates, size of agricultural holdings or access to drinking water and electricity, tribal communities lag far behind the general populace of India.
E. It is necessary to preserve and protect these cultures that hold the key to man's primordial nature.

Read each of the short passages given below and answer the question that follows each.

Words that need to be spoken should not accumulate inside. The hurt, pain or jealousy a person feels cannot hide.

Sorrow and anger can be and will be suppressed.
But this only leads to a person feeling depressed.
Anger is a deadly toxin in which the body it flows.
When it takes over limb by limb, everyone knows.

Q. Which of the following is certainly NOT implied in the above verse?

Group Question

Answer the questions based on the passage given below.

There are some accounts of the nature of language learning that seem to imply that masters of a language have knowledge about their language. According to some accounts, a child learning a language is involved in much the same sort of activity as a field linguist who is trying to figure out the language of the natives she is studying. The field linguist is involved in constructing a theory of the native language: the linguist formulates hypotheses about what certain words and phrases mean, tests these hypotheses (perhaps by making predictions about what the natives would say in a certain situation, or by talking to the natives and making predictions about their replies to her), and modifies her theory in light of the results of those tests. The idea is that infant language learners are “little linguists” involved in the same sort of process. Of course, on this picture of language learning as theory construction, the theory construction takes place at a subconscious level and the hypotheses are formulated in the so-called Language of Thought, which is distinct from any natural language.
If this account of language learning is true, then it must be the case that language learners have linguistic knowledge. For one, the language learners will know the results of their theory. In much the way that the linguist, at the end of the day, knows that “toktok” is the native word for “fire”, so the language learner will know the meanings of the words of the language he has learned. Second, the language learner must have knowledge of the concepts required for the formulation of his hypotheses. If, for instance, the hypotheses formulated by the language learner include claims like “‘The large box’ is a noun phrase” and “The box was painted by Nancy’ is in the passive voice”, then the language learner must know what noun phrases are and what it means for a sentence to be in the passive voice. To formulate hypotheses about noun phrases, the passive voice, and other semantic and syntactic categories, the language learner must have knowledge about those categories. Or, to put the point another way, the language learner must possess the concepts he deploys in the hypotheses he formulates in the process of learning the language.

Q. According to the passage, an infant learner of a language....

There are some accounts of the nature of language learning that seem to imply that masters of a language have knowledge about their language. According to some accounts, a child learning a language is involved in much the same sort of activity as a field linguist who is trying to figure out the language of the natives she is studying. The field linguist is involved in constructing a theory of the native language: the linguist formulates hypotheses about what certain words and phrases mean, tests these hypotheses (perhaps by making predictions about what the natives would say in a certain situation, or by talking to the natives and making predictions about their replies to her), and modifies her theory in light of the results of those tests. The idea is that infant language learners are “little linguists” involved in the same sort of process. Of course, on this picture of language learning as theory construction, the theory construction takes place at a subconscious level and the hypotheses are formulated in the so-called Language of Thought, which is distinct from any natural language.
If this account of language learning is true, then it must be the case that language learners have linguistic knowledge. For one, the language learners will know the results of their theory. In much the way that the linguist, at the end of the day, knows that “toktok” is the native word for “fire”, so the language learner will know the meanings of the words of the language he has learned. Second, the language learner must have knowledge of the concepts required for the formulation of his hypotheses. If, for instance, the hypotheses formulated by the language learner include claims like “‘The large box’ is a noun phrase” and “The box was painted by Nancy’ is in the passive voice”, then the language learner must know what noun phrases are and what it means for a sentence to be in the passive voice. To formulate hypotheses about noun phrases, the passive voice, and other semantic and syntactic categories, the language learner must have knowledge about those categories. Or, to put the point another way, the language learner must possess the concepts he deploys in the hypotheses he formulates in the process of learning the language.

Q. Which of the following, if true, would weaken the school of thought that believes that “masters of a language have knowledge about their language”? 

Answer the following question based on the information given below.

At the launch of his much awaited book, The Umbawa Revelations’ - the third part of his Gainworld Trilogy, author Sameet Bose started off by saying that he had been very remiss in his writing duties in the last year but was glad that he finally got around doing it.

Q.Which word best replaces the word ‘remiss’?

Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate word/set of words  from the gjven options.

Travel writers are also______. They present a picture through their______. They show their artistic talent by______the place in such ______details that the readers actually______ it.

Group Question

A passage is followed by questions pertaining to the passage. Read the passage and answer the questions. Choose the most appropriate answer.

He believed that the Tao of Tian is expressed in principle or li but that it is sheathed in matter or qi. In this, his system is based on Buddhist systems of the time that divided things into principle and shi. In the Neo-Confucian formulation, li in itself is pure and almost- perfect, but with the addition of qi, base emotions and conflicts arise. Human nature is originally good, the Neo-Confucians argued (following Mencius), but not pure unless action is taken to purify it. The imperative is then to purify one's li. However, in contrast to Buddhists and Taoists, neo-Confucians did not believe in an external world unconnected with the world of matter. In addition, Neo-Confucians in general rejected the idea of reincarnation and the associated idea of karma.

Q. Which of the following would Neo-Confucians disagree with? 

He believed that the Tao of Tian is expressed in principle or li but that it is sheathed in matter or qi. In this, his system is based on Buddhist systems of the time that divided things into principle and shi. In the Neo-Confucian formulation, li in itself is pure and almost- perfect, but with the addition of qi, base emotions and conflicts arise. Human nature is originally good, the Neo-Confucians argued (following Mencius), but not pure unless action is taken to purify it. The imperative is then to purify one's li. However, in contrast to Buddhists and Taoists, neo-Confucians did not believe in an external world unconnected with the world of matter. In addition, Neo-Confucians in general rejected the idea of reincarnation and the associated idea of karma.

Q. Which of the following options summarises the idea expressed in the passage? 

Group Question

A passage is followed by questions pertaining to the passage. Read the passage and answer the questions. Choose the most appropriate answer.

Take an ordinary soda-water syphon, with or without a wine-glassful of brandy, and empty it till only a few drops remain in the bottom.
Then the bottle is full of gas; and that gas, which will rush out with a spurt when you press the knob, is the stuff that plants eat - the raw material of life, both animal and vegetable. The tree grows and lives by taking in the carbonic acid from the air, and solidifying its carbon; the animal grows and lives by taking the solidified carbon from the plant, and converting it once more into carbonic acid. That, in its ideally simple form, is the Iliad in a nutshell, the core and kernel of biology. The whole cycle of life is one eternal see-saw. First the plant collects its carbon compounds from the air in the oxidized state; it deoxidizes and rebuilds them: and then the animal proceeds to burn them up by slow combustion within his own body, and to turn them loose upon the air, once more oxidized. After which the plant starts again on the same round as before, and the animal also recommences da capo. And so on ad infinitum.

Q. ‘Iliad’ as mentioned in the passage refers to:

Take an ordinary soda-water syphon, with or without a wine-glassful of brandy, and empty it till only a few drops remain in the bottom.
Then the bottle is full of gas; and that gas, which will rush out with a spurt when you press the knob, is the stuff that plants eat - the raw material of life, both animal and vegetable. The tree grows and lives by taking in the carbonic acid from the air, and solidifying its carbon; the animal grows and lives by taking the solidified carbon from the plant, and converting it once more into carbonic acid. That, in its ideally simple form, is the Iliad in a nutshell, the core and kernel of biology. The whole cycle of life is one eternal see-saw. First the plant collects its carbon compounds from the air in the oxidized state; it deoxidizes and rebuilds them: and then the animal proceeds to burn them up by slow combustion within his own body, and to turn them loose upon the air, once more oxidized. After which the plant starts again on the same round as before, and the animal also recommences da capo. And so on ad infinitum.

Q. The word ‘da capo’ is closest in meaning to: 

Group Question

The passage given below is followed by a set of questions. Choose the most appropriate answer to each question.

Heloise despises her paternal grandfather. Heloise is homicidal and has been trained in various lethal combat techniques. Despite her relish at the thought of murdering her grandfather, time has conspired against her, for her grandfather has been dead for 30 years. As a crime investigator might say, she has motive and means, but lacks the opportunity; that is, until she fortuitously comes into the possession of a time machine. Now Heloise has the opportunity to fulfill her desire. She makes the necessary settings on the machine and plunges back into time 80 years. She emerges from the machine and begins to stalk her grandfather. He suspects nothing. She waits for the perfect moment and place to strike so that she can enjoy the full satisfaction of her hatred. At this point, we might pause to observe: “If Heloise murders her grandfather, she will have prevented him from fathering any children. That means that Heloise’s own father will not be born. And that means that Heloise will not be born. But if she never comes into existence, then how is she able to return...?” And so we have the infamous grandfather paradox. Before we examine what happens next, let’s consider the possible outcomes of her impending action.
First, let’s assume that the many-worlds hypothesis correctly describes the universe. If so, then we avoid the paradox. If Heloise succeeds in killing her grandfather before her father is conceived, then the state of the world includes quantum entanglement of the events involved in Heloise’s mind, body, surrounding objects, etc., such that when she succeeds in killing her grandfather (or willing his death just prior to the physical accomplishment of it), the universe at that moment divides into one universe in which she succeeded and a second universe in which she did not. So the paradox of causal continuity in external time does not arise; causation presumably connects events in the different universes without any inconsistency.
Next, let’s assume that we do not have the many-worlds quantum interpretation available to us, nor for that matter, any theory of different worlds. Can Heloise murder her grandfather? As David Lewis famously remarked, in one sense she can, and in another sense she can’t. The sense in which she can murder her grandfather refers to her ability, her willingness, and her opportunity to do so. But the sense in which she cannot murder her grandfather trumps the sense in which she can. In fact, she does not murder her grandfather because the moments of external time that have already passed are no longer separable. Assuming that events 80 years ago did not include Heloise murdering her grandfather, she cannot create another moment 80 years ago that does. A set of facts is arranged such that it is perfectly appropriate to say that, in one sense, Heloise can murder her grandfather. However, this set of facts is enclosed by the larger set of facts that include the survival of her grandfather. Were Heloise to actually succeed in carrying out her murderous desire, this larger set of facts would contain a contradiction (that her grandfather both is murdered and is not murdered 80 years ago), which is impossible. History remains consistent.

Q. Which of the following would provide sufficient circumstances for Heloise to murder her grandfather in the past and still show no inconsistency? 

Heloise despises her paternal grandfather. Heloise is homicidal and has been trained in various lethal combat techniques. Despite her relish at the thought of murdering her grandfather, time has conspired against her, for her grandfather has been dead for 30 years. As a crime investigator might say, she has motive and means, but lacks the opportunity; that is, until she fortuitously comes into the possession of a time machine. Now Heloise has the opportunity to fulfill her desire. She makes the necessary settings on the machine and plunges back into time 80 years. She emerges from the machine and begins to stalk her grandfather. He suspects nothing. She waits for the perfect moment and place to strike so that she can enjoy the full satisfaction of her hatred. At this point, we might pause to observe: “If Heloise murders her grandfather, she will have prevented him from fathering any children. That means that Heloise’s own father will not be born. And that means that Heloise will not be born. But if she never comes into existence, then how is she able to return...?” And so we have the infamous grandfather paradox. Before we examine what happens next, let’s consider the possible outcomes of her impending action.
First, let’s assume that the many-worlds hypothesis correctly describes the universe. If so, then we avoid the paradox. If Heloise succeeds in killing her grandfather before her father is conceived, then the state of the world includes quantum entanglement of the events involved in Heloise’s mind, body, surrounding objects, etc., such that when she succeeds in killing her grandfather (or willing his death just prior to the physical accomplishment of it), the universe at that moment divides into one universe in which she succeeded and a second universe in which she did not. So the paradox of causal continuity in external time does not arise; causation presumably connects events in the different universes without any inconsistency.
Next, let’s assume that we do not have the many-worlds quantum interpretation available to us, nor for that matter, any theory of different worlds. Can Heloise murder her grandfather? As David Lewis famously remarked, in one sense she can, and in another sense she can’t. The sense in which she can murder her grandfather refers to her ability, her willingness, and her opportunity to do so. But the sense in which she cannot murder her grandfather trumps the sense in which she can. In fact, she does not murder her grandfather because the moments of external time that have already passed are no longer separable. Assuming that events 80 years ago did not include Heloise murdering her grandfather, she cannot create another moment 80 years ago that does. A set of facts is arranged such that it is perfectly appropriate to say that, in one sense, Heloise can murder her grandfather. However, this set of facts is enclosed by the larger set of facts that include the survival of her grandfather. Were Heloise to actually succeed in carrying out her murderous desire, this larger set of facts would contain a contradiction (that her grandfather both is murdered and is not murdered 80 years ago), which is impossible. History remains consistent.

Q. According to David Lewis, can Heloise murder her grandfather? 

Each of the questions consists of a certain number of sentences. some sentences are grammatically incorrect or inappropriate.
Select the option that indicates the grammatically correct and appropriate sentence(s).

A. Those who choose not to empathise may enable real monsters.
B. Without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it, through our own apathy.
C. Tax avoidance was one of the main purposes of the transaction.
D. The power of human empathy saves lives and frees prisoners.
E. Macroeconomic policy is all about achieving that elusive balance between frugality and extravagance, to be sustained over twenty or thirty years to have a clearly visible impact.

Answer the question based on the information given in the passage.

Two years ago, Time magazine named ‘you’ its Person of the Year for doing your small part in fuelling the Web 2.0 revolution.
The magazine argued that by collecting and distributing the creations of millions of individuals, the Web is upending the way we learn about what’s going on in the world around us. There’s no doubt this is true; for example, a lot of what you learn these days comes from articles put together by the anonymous hordes who power Wikipedia. Yet even though they’ve changed the way we live, sites that collect and share content produced by all of us haven’t done the one thing many tech evangelists said they’d do - make a ton of money. Or, in many cases, any money.

Q. What is the point the author is trying to make?

Arrange the jumbled sentences in order.

A. However, by the time he arrives there, it will have crawled to a new place, so then Achilles must run to this new place, but the tortoise meanwhile will have crawled on, and so forth.
B. Achilles will never catch the tortoise, says Zeno.
C. The tortoise has a head start, so if Achilles hopes to overtake it, he must run at least to the place where the tortoise presently is.
D. In Zeno's Achilles Paradox, Achilles races to catch a slower runner-for example, a tortoise that is crawling away from him.
E. Therefore, good reasoning shows that fast runners never can catch slow ones.

Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate word/set of words from the given options.

While I was _________ the bookstore_________ the mall, I met Radhika_________the Fiction section.

Choose a suitable one-word substitute for the given phrase from the options under each question.

Being bashful, I never laughed out loud at his jokes and this made him think that I detest him.

Q. Which of the following words is closest in meaning to the word ‘bashful’?

Group Question

Answer the questions based on the passage given below.

In the late seventeenth century, in the wake of Britain’s Glorious Revolution, when Britain revolted against the spendthrift and autocratic Stuart dynasty, the British government that was formed after William and Mary assumed the throne, adopted a new approach to debt. Voting budgets in parliament - a representative institution - ensured that the people as a whole were liable for the obligations incurred by their government. They would thus have a powerful incentive to impose controls on spending to insure that their claims could be met. The alternative model to British constitutionalism was French aristocracy. Official bankruptcy, a regular occurrence, required prolonging maturities on state debt and reducing interest payments. But this solution raised the cost of new borrowing, so France began to consider the British model. The problem was that the imitation was imperfect.

Q. Which of the following distinguishes British constitutionalism from the French aristocracy?

In the late seventeenth century, in the wake of Britain’s Glorious Revolution, when Britain revolted against the spendthrift and autocratic Stuart dynasty, the British government that was formed after William and Mary assumed the throne, adopted a new approach to debt. Voting budgets in parliament - a representative institution - ensured that the people as a whole were liable for the obligations incurred by their government. They would thus have a powerful incentive to impose controls on spending to insure that their claims could be met. The alternative model to British constitutionalism was French aristocracy. Official bankruptcy, a regular occurrence, required prolonging maturities on state debt and reducing interest payments. But this solution raised the cost of new borrowing, so France began to consider the British model. The problem was that the imitation was imperfect.

Q. Which of the following could not be a consequence of the French aristocracy prolonging maturities on state debt?

Answer the question based on the passage given below.

In whatever manner beings are interpreted - whether as spirit, after the fashion of spiritualism; or as matter and force, after the fashion of materialism; or as becoming and life, or idea, will, substance, subject, or energeia; or as the eternal recurrence of the same event - every time, beings as beings appear in the light of Being. Wherever metaphysics represents beings, Being has entered into the light. Being has arrived in a state of unconcealedness. But whether and how Being itself involves such unconcealedness, whether and how it manifests itself in, and as, metaphysics, remains obscure. Being in its revelatory essence, i. e. in its truth, is not recalled. Nevertheless, when metaphysics gives answers to its question concerning beings as such, metaphysics speaks out of the unnoticed revealedness of Being. The truth of Being may thus be called the ground in which metaphysics, as the root of the tree of philosophy, is kept and from which it is nourished.

Q. Which of the following is true about the state of Being?