Four alternative summaries are given below each text. Choose the
option that best captures the essence of the text.
1. Some decisions will be fairly obvious â€" “no-brainers.†Your
bank account is low, but you have a two-week vacation coming up and
you want to get away to some place warm to relax with your family.
Will you accept your in-laws’ offer of free use of their Florida
beachfront condo? Sure. You like your employer and feel ready to move
forward in your career. Will you step in for your boss for three weeks
while she attends a professional development course? Of course.
A. Some decisions are obvious under certain circumstances. You may,
for example, readily accept a relative’s offer of free holiday
accommodation. Or step in for your boss when she is away.
B. Some decisions are no-brainers. You need not think when making
them. Examples are condo offers from in-laws and job offers from
bosses when your bank account is low or boss is away.
C. Easy decisions are called “no-brainers†because they do not
require any cerebral activity. Examples such as accepting free holiday
accommodation abound in our lives.
D. Accepting an offer from in-laws when you are short on funds and
want a holiday is a no-brainer. Another no-brainer is taking the
boss’s job when she is away.
1. A 2. B 3. C
4. D
2. Physically, inertia is a feeling that you just can’t move;
mentally, it is a sluggish mind. Even if you try to be sensitive, if
your mind is sluggish, you just don’t feel anything intensely. You
may even see a tragedy enacted in front of your eyes and not be able
to respond meaningfully. You may see one person exploiting another,
one group persecuting another, and not be able to get angry. Your
energy is frozen. You are not deliberately refusing to act; you just
don’t have the capacity.
A. Inertia makes your body and mind sluggish. They become insensitive
to tragedies, exploitation, and persecution because it freezes your
energy and decapacitates it.
B. When you have inertia you don’t act although you see one person
exploiting another or one group persecuting another. You don’t get
angry because you are incapable.
C. Inertia is of two types - physical and mental. Physical inertia
restricts bodily movements. Mental inertia prevents mental response to
events enacted in front of your eyes.
D. Physical inertia stops your body from moving; mental inertia
freezes your energy, and stops your mind from responding meaningfully
to events, even tragedies, in front of you.
1. A 2. B 3. C
4. D
3. Try before you buy. We use this memorable saying to urge you to
experience the consequences of an alternative before you choose it,
whenever this is feasible. If you are considering buying a van after
having always owned sedans, rent one for a week or borrow a
friend’s. By experiencing the consequences first hand, they become
more meaningful. In addition, you are likely to identify consequences
you had not even thought of before. May be you will discover that it
is difficult to park the van in your small parking space at work, but
that, on the other hand, your elderly father has a much easier time
getting in and out of it.
A. If you are planning to buy a van after being used to sedans, borrow
a van or rent it and try it before deciding to buy it. Then you may
realize that parking a van is difficult while it is easier for your
elderly father to get in and out of it.
B. Before choosing an alternative, experience its consequences if
feasible. If, for example, you want to change from sedans to a van,
try one before buying it. You will discover aspects you may never have
thought of.
C. Always try before you buy anything. You are bound to discover many
consequences. One of the consequences of going in for a van is that it
is more difficult to park than sedans at the office car park.
D. We urge you to try products such as vans before buying them. Then
you can experience consequences you have not thought of such as
parking problems. But your father may find vans more comfortable than
cars.
1. A 2. B 3. C
4. D
4. It is important for shipping companies to be clear about the
objectives for maintenance and materials management - as to whether
the primary focus is on service level improvement or cost
minimization. Often when certain systems are set in place, the cost
minimization objective and associated procedure become more important
than the flexibility required for service level improvement. The
problem really arises since cost minimization tends to focus on out of
pocket costs which are visible, while the opportunity costs, often
greater in value, are lost sight of.
A. Shipping companies have to either minimize costs or maximize
service quality. If they focus on cost minimization, they will reduce
quality. They should focus on service level improvement, or else
opportunity costs will be lost sight of.
B. Shipping companies should determine the primary focus of their
maintenance and materials management. Focus on cost minimization may
reduce visible costs, but ignore greater invisible costs and impair
service quality.
C. Any cost minimization program in shipping is bound to lower the
quality of service. Therefore, shipping companies must be clear about
the primary focus of their maintenance and materials management before
embarking on cost minimization.
D. Shipping companies should focus on quality level improvement rather
than cost cutting. Cost cutting will lead to untold opportunity costs.
Companies should have systems in place to make the service level
flexible.
1. A 2. B 3. C
4. D
typically, the entrepreneur is seen as individual who owns and
operates a small buisness. But , simply to own and operate a small
buisness or even a big buisness does not make someone an entrepreneur.
if this is a true entreperneur , then new products are being created ,
new ways of providing services are being implemented .
Four alternative summaries are given below the text. Which of the
options best captures the essence of the text?
13.Real and false intuition confused even highly talented thinkers
like Lee Iacocca. Both originate in the subconscious mind and call on
information and experiences stored there. As with conscious thinking,
subconscious patterns can produce both valid and invalid results.
Thus, as with conscious thinking, we must test the validity of
subconsciously produced thoughts. With intuition, however, we must
exercise special care because, unlike conscious reasoning, we cannot
objectively monitor the subconscious intuitive process.
a)
Real and false intuition confused even highly talented thinkers like
Lee Iacocca. Both arise in the subconscious and yield confusing
results which need testing.
b)
While real intuition arises in the conscious mind and produces valid
results, false intuition arises in the subconscious mind and produces
invalid results.
c)
Intuition which emerges from the subconscious mind needs to be
validated with special care because unlike conscious thinking, the
intuitive process cannot be controlled and just like conscious
thinking, it may yield erroneous results.
d)
Intuition needs to be monitored with care as like conscious thinking,
it often produces both valid and invalid results.
Four alternative summaries are given below the text. Which of the
options best captures the essence of the text?
4.Traditionally, a "belief" is a state of mind of a certain sort. But
the behaviourists deny that there are states of mind, or at least that
they can be known; they therefore avoid the word "belief", and, if
they used it, would mean by it a characteristic of bodily behaviour.
There are cases in which this usage would be quite in accordance with
common sense. Suppose you set out to visit a friend whom you have
often visited before, but on arriving at your destination you find
that he has moved, you would say "I thought he was still living at his
old house." Yet it is highly probable that you did not think about it
at all, but merely pursued the usual route from habit. A "thought" or
"belief" may, therefore, in the view of common sense, be shown by
behaviour, without any corresponding "mental" occurrence. And even if
you use a form of words such as is supposed to express belief, you are
still engaged in bodily behaviour, provided you pronounce the words
out loud or to yourself. Shall we say, in such cases, that you have a
belief? Or is something further required?
a)
There is nothing called mind − it is all a complex interplay of
neurons which are physical in nature.
b)
Some of the behavioural traits in humans can be attributed to body
rather than mind.
c)
Behaviour acts at two different levels − body and mind and both are
significant in contributing to a man's actions.
d)
A belief is just a state of mind; and might be different from actions.
Our knowledge of human body and mind is limited and it needs further
research.
Four alternative summaries are given below the text. Which of the
options best captures the essence of the text?
15.There's a large body of medical literature showing that married
people tend to be healthier and live longer than singles. But newer
research adds an important caveat: the quality of the marriage
matters. Surveys show that couples that enjoy good marital
relationships are likely to share common interests when these shared
interests have existed in the individual prior to the marriage. One
should look for a spouse who shares common interests because marital
stress, logically enough, is not good for one's health. Other studies
have shown that happily married women have fewer blockages in their
aortas, and that happily married couples are less likely than unhappy
couples to suffer from heart disease.
a)
It is important to have a healthy and happy married life so as to have
a healthy body and life. The relationship between couples affects an
individual's health and stress between them can lead to problems,
especially where the heart is concerned. Hence, marital relation is a
factor important enough to be considered in case of heart disease.
b)
Most heart diseases are due to stress and most of the stress is due to
problems between spouses. Marital stress needs to be controlled and
considered in case of any heart disease. Couples who are happily
married are less prone to heart disease. All couples that share common
interests will enjoy good marital relationships.
c)
While we've often been told that married life prompts healthy life,
new research shows that happiness in marriage matters. Marital stress
can lead to heart disease, with those who are happy in their marriage
being healthier than those who aren't. Sharing of common interests
when these interests have existed prior to marriage helps in building
happy marriages.
d)
It is important to be happy to stay healthy. Relationship between the
spouses is a major factor governing the stress levels in individuals.
Happy married life is important. A couple that doesn't start with
common interests could develop them and have a happy relationship.
Four alternative summaries are given below the text. Which of the
options best captures the essence of the text?
29.Environmental protection should not be the prime consideration
while allowing for the expansion and diversification of industry. Any
modern human activity, irrespective of whether it uses paper or
chemicals, nuclear power or electronics chips, is bound to and always
does end up degrading the environment. Therefore in the future world,
one must look at ways to combating environmental change, rather than
preventing it. One must, impliedly, look at ways to exist and prosper
in a world with no trees, little oxygen and little animal life. This
may sound ghastly, but it is the only feasible way out. And the human
being, with his infinite intelligence and an unparalleled inherent
skill-set, along with the fact that many of the Universe's secrets
remain unrevealed to him, is equipped to deal efficiently with this
situation. We just need to shed the excessively magnanimous and
so-called humanistic approach to the world around us.
a)
Environmental degradation and human progress go hand in hand.
b)
Jeopardising natural balance for the sake of human development may
seem suicidal in the short run, but it can be overcome in the long
run.
c)
Man should not focus too much on the inevitable effects of
environmental degradation and should let go of the cloak of humanism.
He should look at ways to efficiently improve his future since
irreversible natural changes are bound to occur.
d)
Just like numerous changes have occurred on the Earth's surface since
time immemorial without wiping out life, so will the environmental
changes leave human existence unaffected. Therefore one must concern
oneself only with the future and not look at the past or present.
Four alternative summaries are given below the text. Which of the
options best captures the essence of the text?
31."Our thinking about growth and decay is dominated by the image of a
single life-span, animal or vegetable: seedling, full flower, and
death. "The flower that once has bloomed forever dies". But for an
ever-renewing society, the appropriate image is a total garden, a
balanced aquarium or other ecological system. Some things are being
born, other things are flourishing, still other things are dying --
but the system lives on. Only an exceptional organization manages to
sustain growth when its core business matures. Businesses like the
metaphorical garden are born, flourish and wither. But the fact that a
company's business blossoms and then fades does not mean that the
company must die. Successful companies can and must outlive their
individual businesses.
a)
Companies need to be nurtured like gardens. Else, they, like flowers,
wither and die. Successful companies are those that have businesses
that go on forever, unlike the flowers, which bloom once and then die
forever.
b)
An individual life is subject to eventual termination but a life
system lives on. Similarly, a successful company should outlive
individual businesses by constantly reinventing itself.
c)
A society whose maturing consists simply of acquiring more firmly
established ways of doing things is headed for the graveyard – even if
it learns to do these things with greater and greater skill. In the
ever-renewing society what matures is a system or framework within
which continuous innovation, renewal and rebirth can occur.
d)
We need to change our thinking regarding growth and decay; only then
will we be able to create sustainable systems. A company should
recruit managers who can help the company to sustain growth when its
main business flourishes.
Four alternative summaries are given below the text. Which of the
options best captures the essence of the text?
33.Science apart, the major division in Western thought today, which
affects philosophy, literature, religion, architecture, even history,
is between the post-modernists who are happy with the fragmented
disparate, 'carnival' of culture and those traditionalists who
genuinely feel this sells us short, that this approach involves an
ethical betrayal, avoids judging what is better and what is less good
in human achievement, and, in so doing, hinders people in raising
their game. Postmodernism and relativism are still in the ascendant,
but for how much longer? While the cultures of Africa, Bali and other
third world countries have been recovered, to an extent, and given a
much needed boost, none has so far found the widespread resonance that
the classical civilizations of the Middle East once enjoyed. No one
doubts that jewels of art, learning and science have occured in all
places and at all times, and the identification and extension of this
wide range has been a major achievement of twentieth century
scholarship.
a)
Science is the cause of a major schism in Western thought as it is
supplementing literature, religion, architecture and even history.
Post modernists and traditionalists are divided on the impact of
science on culture.
b)
The revival of the cultures of various third world countries has given
a new lease of life to the traditionalists who were losing out to the
post-modernists.
c)
While postmodernism is on the rise and has favoured the revival of
fragmented, disparate cultures; major achievements in art and science
have occured at all times, especially in classical civilizations.
d)
The culture today is fragmented unlike the culture of yesteryear and
old civilizations. The older cultures were far-reaching and richer.
But post-modernism and relativism are the cultures most likely to
survive in the coming years.
Four alternative summaries are given below the text. Which of the
options best captures the essence of the text?
3.In 2006, three Indian fishermen, in a drunken sleep aboard their
little boat, drifted over the reef bordering the Andamans and fetched
up on the shore in the southeast part of South Andaman Island. They
were promptly killed by the inhabitants, the Jarawa tribes. Their
bodies were kept on display for a while: the helicopter that went to
collect them was driven away by a hail of arrows and spears. The
Jarawa tribe does not welcome trespassers. In an attempt at contacting
the Jarawa, "Contact Expeditions" were embarked upon by the Indian
authorities in Port Blair. These consisted of a series of planned
visits which would progressively leave "gifts", such as coconuts, on
the shores, in an attempt to coax the Jarawa from their hostile
reception of outsiders. Only very occasionally have the Jarawa been
lured down to the beach of their tiny island by these gifts of
coconuts and only once or twice without sending a shower of arrows in
return.
a)
The Jarawa who inhabit the South Andaman Island, are the only
hunter-gatherers who still shun interactions with outsiders. They are
noted for vigorously maintaining their independence and sovereignty
over the island, and actively discourage incursions and attempts at
contact.
b)
By their long standing separation from any other human society, the
tribal people are among the most isolated and unassimilated peoples on
Earth. Only once or twice have they accepted gifts from civilized
people without causing harm to the latter. In 2006 they killed three
Indian fishermen because the latter entered their territory by
mistake.
c)
The Jarawa are actively hostile to unknown intruders and resist any
attempts of contact by outsiders. In 2006, they killed three Indian
fishermen who entered the island by mistake and also attacked the
helicopter that was sent to retrieve their bodies.
d)
Violence is much more pervasive among hunter-gatherers like the Jarawa
than among civilized people. The Jarawa do not allow civilized people
to enter their island and are extremely averse to taking gifts from
the latter. The killing of the three Indian fishermen by the tribal
people along the coast of the Jarawa Island in 2006 proves this.
7.Strategic change requires transformational skills; the ability to
shape a vision of the future, mobilize employees behind the vision and
guide the company's different systems towards achievement of the
vision. A large body of evidence suggests that to fully involve
employees is the surest way to produce a more mobilized workforce, one
willing to abandon established fiefdoms and hard won perks in the
pursuit of their firms' effectiveness. In contrast, isolation from
decision making tends to breed emotional hostility and resistance, and
sometimes, active sabotage. Both action and inaction by managers take
on symbolic meaning and shape lower-level employees' interpretations
about key events. Managers successful at carrying out strategic change
point to the significance of active participation, coalition building
and up-front communication.
a)
Strategic change means transformation. Transformation can be
successful only if managers mobilize and motivate the workforce, which
in turn is possible only if the employees are fully involved in the
achievement of the organizations vision.
b)
Communication is the most important aspect of transformation,
especially communication between managers and workers. Workers not
involved in the decision making process tend to be hostile and resist
any transformation.
c)
Successful transformation managers are those who involve their team in
all decisions.
d)
Workers tend to become discontented and unproductive in the face of
rapid change; managers need to counsel them and spend more time
explaining the need for change. Otherwise the workers may resort to
hostile measures.
The following text is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the
option that best captures the essence of the text.
After the seminal work of Edward Said on Orientalism in 1978 there
have been many interpretations of this subject by various authors.
Emphasis has been changing according to the researcher, unlike the
earlier authors for whom the cultural influences and ecclesiastical
efforts were the basic drivers of gathering knowledge. This process of
acquiring knowledge of the East kept changing in the centuries after
the Portuguese first entered the west coast of India, as initially the
Portuguese intention was just trade and the accompanying missionaries
served the religious need of sailors and others who came with them.
a Study on orientalism and its methodology changed after the
publication of Edward Said's Orientalism and this process has seen
change ever since the Portuguese entered India.
b Knowledge gathering has been on the rise ever since the Portuguese
entered India.
c Missionaries often accompanied the Portuguese sailors to spread Christianity.
d Modern scholars have started to follow the parameters of study
other than cultural influences and ecclesiastical efforts.
The following text is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the
option that best captures the essence of the text.
While women's general social status in Pakistan is clearly reflected
in the country's social indicators such as education, health and
employment, it is the rural women who in particular perform poorly and
lag far behind their urban counterparts. The national female labour
force participation rate in Pakistan indicates the country's
inadequate efforts to bring women into the economic mainstream — rural
women not only experience discrimination but also suffer invisibility
because their economic participation is greatly underestimated.
National statistics on women's labour force participation reflect two
important phenomena that further effect women's participation and bar
them from entering labour markets. First, the stigma attached to their
employment discourages women from working outside their homes, and,
therefore, most tend not to go out for paid work. This not only
hampers women's participation but also widens the large gap between
men's and women's employment. Unfortunately, this situation further
reinforces the perception that paid work is not appropriate for women.
a Pakistani labour force discourages women from being a part of it.
b Rural women suffer immensely because they often do not enter the
workforce because of various reasons.
c Urban women are better positioned in the society than their rural
counterparts.
d Rural women often do not enter the workforce because paid work is
seen as a taboo in Pakistan.
Millions of Americans could see a boost in wages or reduced workload
as a result of new federal regulations on overtime pay the Obama
administration is unveiling this week. The change is likely to please
labor advocates who had called on the administration to consider
raising the threshold to salaries of at least $42,000 per year. They
say an increased threshold could help stimulate the economy by
boosting middle-class workers' wages or triggering new hiring to
prevent the need for paying the higher overtime rate.
a Salary hike: Boon for the working class in the USA
b Quantum jump witnessed in the salary structure in the USA
c Salary hike and its positive effect on the US economy
d Labor advocates' demands have been met by Obama
Saturday 27 February 2016
Friday 26 February 2016
SE 2
1. Mannering's personal diary, a record of ____ preoccupations and
domestic details, belies the depth of thought for which he was
renowned in the academic world.
A. philosophical
B. mundane
C. petty
D. weighty
E. erudite
F. untoward
2. Animal welfare charities have found that extensive advertising,
especially over the Christmas period, can actually drive down the
volume of donations as people who view images of maltreated pets more
than a few times rapidly become ____ .
A. inured
B. miserly
C. disgusted
D. hardened
E. bored
F. overwrought
3. The study's ____ conclusion is that during the first half of the
20th Century improved standards of personal hygiene reduced the risk
of an individual's contracting poliomyelitis, yet tended to make the
disease more lethal to communities.
A. exciting
B. paradoxical
C. unwarranted
D. long-awaited
E. anomalous
F. interim
4. The devotion to the syllabus and testing regime has become so
extreme that most school students close their minds to anything ____
to the needs of the examination.
A. related
B. catering
C. extraneous
D. similar
E. helpful
F. peripheral
5. The ____ tone of the biography is entirely unexpected since both
the biographer in her previous works and her subject in all that he
has written have valued levity over solemnity.
A. lugubrious
B. jaunty
C. jocose
D. frivolous
E. ironic
F. melancholy
6. After hours of acrimonious arguments the negotiations reached a(n)
_____ ; neither side was willing to compromise.
A. solution
B. impasse
C. conclusion
D. end
E. deadlock
F. resolution
7. This new staging of King Lear is not a production in which every
aspect falls neatly into place throughout; however, the drama does
____ at certain points to give the audience memorable and
thought-provoking moments.
A. coalesce
B. crystallize
C. triumph
D. flower
E. dissolve
F. transcend
8. The teacher's mercurial mood changes and ____ approach to grading
made the students uneasy; they never knew what would please him or
what would earn good marks.
A. tardy
B. authoritarian
C. strict
D. ambivalent
E. whimsical
F. hidebound
9. The book is an attempt on the part of the eminent scholar to
reconcile the ____ experience and theoretical underpinnings of certain
everyday phenomena.
A. philosophical
B. empirical
C. arcane
D. practical
E. superficial
F. obtuse
10. The last candidate interviewed conducted herself with commendable
____ even when badgered with questions that had drawn unseemly
outbursts from all the other interviewees.
A. pertinacity
B. adroitness
C. alacrity
D. decorum
E. propriety
F. presence of mind
domestic details, belies the depth of thought for which he was
renowned in the academic world.
A. philosophical
B. mundane
C. petty
D. weighty
E. erudite
F. untoward
2. Animal welfare charities have found that extensive advertising,
especially over the Christmas period, can actually drive down the
volume of donations as people who view images of maltreated pets more
than a few times rapidly become ____ .
A. inured
B. miserly
C. disgusted
D. hardened
E. bored
F. overwrought
3. The study's ____ conclusion is that during the first half of the
20th Century improved standards of personal hygiene reduced the risk
of an individual's contracting poliomyelitis, yet tended to make the
disease more lethal to communities.
A. exciting
B. paradoxical
C. unwarranted
D. long-awaited
E. anomalous
F. interim
4. The devotion to the syllabus and testing regime has become so
extreme that most school students close their minds to anything ____
to the needs of the examination.
A. related
B. catering
C. extraneous
D. similar
E. helpful
F. peripheral
5. The ____ tone of the biography is entirely unexpected since both
the biographer in her previous works and her subject in all that he
has written have valued levity over solemnity.
A. lugubrious
B. jaunty
C. jocose
D. frivolous
E. ironic
F. melancholy
6. After hours of acrimonious arguments the negotiations reached a(n)
_____ ; neither side was willing to compromise.
A. solution
B. impasse
C. conclusion
D. end
E. deadlock
F. resolution
7. This new staging of King Lear is not a production in which every
aspect falls neatly into place throughout; however, the drama does
____ at certain points to give the audience memorable and
thought-provoking moments.
A. coalesce
B. crystallize
C. triumph
D. flower
E. dissolve
F. transcend
8. The teacher's mercurial mood changes and ____ approach to grading
made the students uneasy; they never knew what would please him or
what would earn good marks.
A. tardy
B. authoritarian
C. strict
D. ambivalent
E. whimsical
F. hidebound
9. The book is an attempt on the part of the eminent scholar to
reconcile the ____ experience and theoretical underpinnings of certain
everyday phenomena.
A. philosophical
B. empirical
C. arcane
D. practical
E. superficial
F. obtuse
10. The last candidate interviewed conducted herself with commendable
____ even when badgered with questions that had drawn unseemly
outbursts from all the other interviewees.
A. pertinacity
B. adroitness
C. alacrity
D. decorum
E. propriety
F. presence of mind
SE
1. The Countess dressed with a (an) ____ elegance which seemed to
proclaim to the world just how distinguished she was.
A. studied
B. pronounced
C. ingenuous
D. understated
E. mannered
F. rococo
2. It is a waste of time to ____ someone so dimwitted; he is too dull
to recognize your barbs.
A. disparage
B. ridicule
C. lampoon
D. laud
E. enlighten
F. train
3. The teacher was so abstracted that she gave a ____ evaluation of
what was really an interesting solution to the problem she had set.
A. philosophical
B. cursory
C. detailed
D. considered
E. perfunctory
F. tangential
4. Punishment for transgressions of the law ceases to have a deterrent
effect if the punishment is frequently ____ .
A. arbitrary
B. changed
C. waived
D. lenient
E. commuted
F. applied
5. Not only love affects the eye of the beholder; other emotions also
____ the interpretation of the events that we witness.
A. cloud
B. trigger
C. devalue
D. color
E. objectify
F. impact
6. The human mind can often reject the most ____ data in favor of
something that, though valueless, at least sounds familiar.
A. anomalous
B. inconsequential
C. peripheral
D. pertinent
E. germane
F. visible
7. ____ behavior never has the effect its practitioners hope for; the
attempt to hide only draws attention to what is hidden.
A. Misogynistic
B. Puritanical
C. Covert
D. Miserly
E. Prudish
F. Camouflaging
8. He completed the work with unusual ____ ; his need to get out of
the office overcame his habitual torpor.
A. dispatch
B. grace
C. effectiveness
D. slovenliness
E. carelessness
F. celerity
9. When Smithers took over as chairperson, her colleagues were looking
forward to a less confrontational time on the board of governors,
since they reasoned that no one else was likely to be as ____ as her
predecessor.
A. mordant
B. aggressive
C. flexible
D. bellicose
E. complaisant
F. jaundiced
10. When faced with an urgent problem for which there is no
immediately obvious solution, we tend to welcome any suggestion,
however ____ , that might throw light on the dilemma.
A. unusual
B. hackneyed
C. tentative
D. outrageous
E. illuminating
F. flimsy
proclaim to the world just how distinguished she was.
A. studied
B. pronounced
C. ingenuous
D. understated
E. mannered
F. rococo
2. It is a waste of time to ____ someone so dimwitted; he is too dull
to recognize your barbs.
A. disparage
B. ridicule
C. lampoon
D. laud
E. enlighten
F. train
3. The teacher was so abstracted that she gave a ____ evaluation of
what was really an interesting solution to the problem she had set.
A. philosophical
B. cursory
C. detailed
D. considered
E. perfunctory
F. tangential
4. Punishment for transgressions of the law ceases to have a deterrent
effect if the punishment is frequently ____ .
A. arbitrary
B. changed
C. waived
D. lenient
E. commuted
F. applied
5. Not only love affects the eye of the beholder; other emotions also
____ the interpretation of the events that we witness.
A. cloud
B. trigger
C. devalue
D. color
E. objectify
F. impact
6. The human mind can often reject the most ____ data in favor of
something that, though valueless, at least sounds familiar.
A. anomalous
B. inconsequential
C. peripheral
D. pertinent
E. germane
F. visible
7. ____ behavior never has the effect its practitioners hope for; the
attempt to hide only draws attention to what is hidden.
A. Misogynistic
B. Puritanical
C. Covert
D. Miserly
E. Prudish
F. Camouflaging
8. He completed the work with unusual ____ ; his need to get out of
the office overcame his habitual torpor.
A. dispatch
B. grace
C. effectiveness
D. slovenliness
E. carelessness
F. celerity
9. When Smithers took over as chairperson, her colleagues were looking
forward to a less confrontational time on the board of governors,
since they reasoned that no one else was likely to be as ____ as her
predecessor.
A. mordant
B. aggressive
C. flexible
D. bellicose
E. complaisant
F. jaundiced
10. When faced with an urgent problem for which there is no
immediately obvious solution, we tend to welcome any suggestion,
however ____ , that might throw light on the dilemma.
A. unusual
B. hackneyed
C. tentative
D. outrageous
E. illuminating
F. flimsy
Sunday 21 February 2016
1622 -
https://www.facebook.com/events/1025656420809697/
The following question presents four statements, of which three, when
placed in appropriate order, would form a contextually complete
paragraph. Pick the statement that is not part of the context.
1.
a)
Tides ebb and flow but mean sea levels are among the constants of
climate science.
b)
The rise is caused by thermal expansion (hot water expands) and by
melting ice sheets.
c)
It was not until the spread of satellite observations in the 1990s
that measurement of sea levels became reliable and global.
d)
Though things like the recent slowdown in the rise of average surface
temperatures are puzzling, scientists can at least point to higher sea
levels as clear evidence that climate change is real.
The sentences given in the following questions, when properly
sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Figure out the most logical
order of sentences that constructs a coherent paragraph and enter that
sequence in the input box given below the question. For example, if
you think that (A)(B)(C)(D)(E) is the most logical order of sentences
that constructs a coherent paragraph, then enter ABCDE in the input
box.
2.(A) "To be, or not to be," he begins his musings; that is, indeed, a
central question for him, since he sees little benefit in continuing
to live in a world where injustice reigns.
(B) He invents various devices to help illuminate the truth, such as
his elaborate arrangement for a dumb show that will re-create the
murder of his father in the presence of his uncle Claudius to try to
make the king reveal his guilt.
(C) Many critics have observed that Hamlet is really too sensitive to
effect the revenge that he intends.
(D) Nevertheless, he decides to act to avenge his father's murder –
once he is certain he knows who has been involved in the plot to kill
him – and spends a good portion of his time trying to sort appearance
from reality.
(E) He is by nature melancholic, possessing a fatalistic disposition
that borders on the suicidal and his most famous soliloquy focuses on
the virtue of ending his life.
Four alternative summaries are given below the text. Which of the
options best captures the essence of the text?
3.In 2006, three Indian fishermen, in a drunken sleep aboard their
little boat, drifted over the reef bordering the Andamans and fetched
up on the shore in the southeast part of South Andaman Island. They
were promptly killed by the inhabitants, the Jarawa tribes. Their
bodies were kept on display for a while: the helicopter that went to
collect them was driven away by a hail of arrows and spears. The
Jarawa tribe does not welcome trespassers. In an attempt at contacting
the Jarawa, "Contact Expeditions" were embarked upon by the Indian
authorities in Port Blair. These consisted of a series of planned
visits which would progressively leave "gifts", such as coconuts, on
the shores, in an attempt to coax the Jarawa from their hostile
reception of outsiders. Only very occasionally have the Jarawa been
lured down to the beach of their tiny island by these gifts of
coconuts and only once or twice without sending a shower of arrows in
return.
a)
The Jarawa who inhabit the South Andaman Island, are the only
hunter-gatherers who still shun interactions with outsiders. They are
noted for vigorously maintaining their independence and sovereignty
over the island, and actively discourage incursions and attempts at
contact.
b)
By their long standing separation from any other human society, the
tribal people are among the most isolated and unassimilated peoples on
Earth. Only once or twice have they accepted gifts from civilized
people without causing harm to the latter. In 2006 they killed three
Indian fishermen because the latter entered their territory by
mistake.
c)
The Jarawa are actively hostile to unknown intruders and resist any
attempts of contact by outsiders. In 2006, they killed three Indian
fishermen who entered the island by mistake and also attacked the
helicopter that was sent to retrieve their bodies.
d)
Violence is much more pervasive among hunter-gatherers like the Jarawa
than among civilized people. The Jarawa do not allow civilized people
to enter their island and are extremely averse to taking gifts from
the latter. The killing of the three Indian fishermen by the tribal
people along the coast of the Jarawa Island in 2006 proves this.
The sentences given in the following questions, when properly
sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Figure out the most logical
order of sentences that constructs a coherent paragraph and enter that
sequence in the input box given below the question. For example, if
you think that (A)(B)(C)(D)(E) is the most logical order of sentences
that constructs a coherent paragraph, then enter ABCDE in the input
box.
4.(A) Nor do they lie in science, technology, or legitimate demands
for social change.
(B) Millions sense the pathology of "future-shock" that pervades the
air, but fail to understand its roots.
(C) They are traceable, instead, to the uncontrolled, non-selective
nature of our lunge into the future.
(D) These roots lie not in this or that political doctrine, still less
in some mystical core of despair or isolation presumed to inhere in
the "human condition."
(E) They lie in our failure to direct, consciously and imaginatively,
the advance toward super-industrialism.
Read the following paragraph and answer the question given below it.
5.The origin of the hospitality industry is not exactly known. Some
accounts suggest that it was born in the Middle East in Sumaria, which
is none other than modern day Iraq. With the development of commerce
and industry and with an increasing understanding of languages and
development of currencies to handle commerce, people began to travel
for business and this brought about the need for places for boarding
and lodging. Information found on the Rosetta stone suggests that inns
were found in Egypt as early as 1500 B.C.
Which of the following statements can be inferred from the passage?
a)
Economic growth inevitably led to the development of the hospitality industry.
b)
Trade and business in ancient Egypt were probably developed.
c)
Inns and rest houses were found in Egypt.
d)
Very few sources of the hospitality industry have been found and
therefore its origin cannot be ascertained.
he following question presents four statements, of which three, when
placed in appropriate order, would form a contextually complete
paragraph. Pick the statement that is not part of the context.
6.
a)
Such weaponization has been accomplished in the past by at least five
state bioweapons programs − those of the United Kingdom, Japan, the
United States, Russia, and Iraq − and has been attempted by several
others.
b)
When anthrax spores are inhaled or ingested, or when they come into
contact with a skin lesion on a host, they may become reactivated and
multiply rapidly.
c)
The body of an animal that had active anthrax at the time of death can
also be a source of anthrax spores.
d)
Owing to the hardiness of anthrax spores, and their ease of production
in vitro, they are extraordinarily well suited to use (in powdered and
aerosol form) as biological weapons.
our alternative summaries are given below the text. Which of the
options best captures the essence of the text?
7.Strategic change requires transformational skills; the ability to
shape a vision of the future, mobilize employees behind the vision and
guide the company's different systems towards achievement of the
vision. A large body of evidence suggests that to fully involve
employees is the surest way to produce a more mobilized workforce, one
willing to abandon established fiefdoms and hard won perks in the
pursuit of their firms' effectiveness. In contrast, isolation from
decision making tends to breed emotional hostility and resistance, and
sometimes, active sabotage. Both action and inaction by managers take
on symbolic meaning and shape lower-level employees' interpretations
about key events. Managers successful at carrying out strategic change
point to the significance of active participation, coalition building
and up-front communication.
a)
Strategic change means transformation. Transformation can be
successful only if managers mobilize and motivate the workforce, which
in turn is possible only if the employees are fully involved in the
achievement of the organizations vision.
b)
Communication is the most important aspect of transformation,
especially communication between managers and workers. Workers not
involved in the decision making process tend to be hostile and resist
any transformation.
c)
Successful transformation managers are those who involve their team in
all decisions.
d)
Workers tend to become discontented and unproductive in the face of
rapid change; managers need to counsel them and spend more time
explaining the need for change. Otherwise the workers may resort to
hostile measures.
The sentences given in the following questions, when properly
sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Figure out the most logical
order of sentences that constructs a coherent paragraph and enter that
sequence in the input box given below the question. For example, if
you think that (A)(B)(C)(D)(E) is the most logical order of sentences
that constructs a coherent paragraph, then enter ABCDE in the input
box.
8.(A) Having inherited a virtually bankrupt state from previous
reigns, her frugal policies restored fiscal responsibility.
(B) Economically, Sir Thomas Gresham's founding of the Royal Exchange
(1565), the first stock exchange in England and one of the earliest in
Europe, proved to be a development of the first importance, for the
economic development of England and soon for the world as a whole.
(C) It can be said that Queen Elizabeth provided the country with a
long period of general if not total peace and generally increasing
prosperity.
(D) Her fiscal restraint cleared the regime of debt by 1574, and ten
years later the Crown enjoyed a surplus of £300,000.
(E) With taxes lower than other European countries of the period, the
economy expanded; though the wealth was distributed with wild
unevenness, there was clearly more wealth to go around at the end of
Elizabeth's reign than at the beginning.
In each of the following questions, there are sentences or fragments
of sentences that form a paragraph. Identify the sentence(s) or
fragments of sentence(s) that is/are correct in terms of grammar and
usage, including spelling, punctuation and logical consistency, and
enter the letters corresponding to the sentence(s) or fragments of
sentence(s) in the input box provided below the question. You must
enter your answer in alphabetical order. For example, if you think
that statements (D) and (E) are correct, then enter DE (but not ED) in
the input box.
9.(A) Typically, when a well-established automaker designs and builds
an inexpensive car,
(B) the company's thinking is biased with decades of practices and
procedures, and by its relationships with employees, customers, and
suppliers.
(C) In essence these companies start with a more expensive car and
focus on ways to make it cheaper.
(D) That may count as a form for cost cutting, but it is not frugal engineering.
(E) By contrast, when Tata Motors engineers began creating the Nano,
they were inspired by the three-wheeled vehicles known in India as
auto-rickshaws than by any existing car models in Tata Motors' lineup.
The sentences given in the following questions, when properly
sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Figure out the most logical
order of sentences that constructs a coherent paragraph and enter that
sequence in the input box given below the question. For example, if
you think that (A)(B)(C)(D)(E) is the most logical order of sentences
that constructs a coherent paragraph, then enter ABCDE in the input
box.
10.(A) But what about the social, mental and emotional differences?
(B) Synergy creates a new script for the next generation – one that is
more geared to service and contribution, and is less protective,
adversCalibri, selfish, defensive, political and judgemental; but more
open, trusting, giving, loving and caring.
(C) Could these differences not also be sources of creating new,
exciting forms of life – creating an environment that is truly
fulfilling for each person, that nurtures the self-esteem and
self-worth of each, that creates opportunities for each to mature into
independence?
(D) We obviously value the physical differences between men and women,
husbands and wives.
(E) The very way that a man and a woman bring a child into the world
is synergistic.
In each of the following questions, there are sentences or fragments
of sentences that form a paragraph. Identify the sentence(s) or
fragments of sentence(s) that is/are correct in terms of grammar and
usage, including spelling, punctuation and logical consistency, and
enter the letters corresponding to the sentence(s) or fragments of
sentence(s) in the input box provided below the question. You must
enter your answer in alphabetical order. For example, if you think
that statements (D) and (E) are correct, then enter DE (but not ED) in
the input box.
11.(A) As Robert Harrison sees it, the average citizen of the
developed world today enjoys the luxury of remaining childish innocent
(B) with respect to the instruments that he or she operates, consumes
and depends on daily otherwise.
(C) "I feel ambivalent about where we are culturally in this age of ours.
(D) It is hard to say if we are on the cusp for a wholesale
rejuvenation of human culture
(E) or whether we are tumbling into dangerous and irresponsible juvenility."
Read the following paragraph and answer the question given below it.
12.Today a producer does not really have to rely on the movie theatre
response to a film. He can also make his money from all other avenues
for projection that new technologies are throwing up almost everyday.
Which is a valid assumption behind this argument?
a)
Nowadays film producers make their foray into the industry with a lot
of money; movies create a lot of hype before they are actually
released and so they get good initial openings.
b)
Films are made on a low budget, so the producers have to incur little
or no loss if they do not run successfully.
c)
Whether or not a film will be remunerative is important to producers.
d)
With the film audiences getting fragmented, it is now very difficult
to register their response to a particular film.
Read the following paragraph and answer the question given below it.
13.The martyrs who laid down their lives for the freedom of the
country, had a lofty vision of the future. They wanted the nation to
be free from all the slavery and bondage. They wanted an India in
which all the communities would live in perfect harmony and in which
there would be no high class and no low class of people, the curse of
untouchability having been wiped out completely. Women would enjoy
equal rights with men and contribute their fullest to the making of a
great nation. Such a vision was in keeping with the ancient glory of
the country renowned for its splendid achievements in literature, art
and culture. We must now revitalise this ancient culture of ours with
tolerance as its masthead. lf we forget or cease to take pride in our
noble heritage, we shall have to face severe indictment in the court
of history which is a ruthless judge and seldom spares the erring
people.
The martyrs wanted
a)
the country to be the strongest nation in the world.
b)
the country to be free from class denominations and thralldom.
c)
the country to rule over the other nations.
d)
the people to give up their antiquated customs.
The term "society" is used to describe a bond or interaction between
friendly or civil parties. It can also refer to the entirety of
humanity ("society at large"), although those who are unfriendly or
uncivil to the remainder of society may be termed "antisocial".
What constitutes a civil society varies from culture to culture. A
civil society can be defined by one culture in terms of the results
produced. Another definition may focus on the preconditions for civil
society. A third culture may describe it as a desirable state for all
society. And a fourth may emphasize the composition of civil society −
who is and is not included. Another consideration in discussing civil
society is the cultural context. What are considered essential
elements for a civil society in one culture may not be essential
elements in another culture.
One should determine what local citizens consider key elements of a
civil society. These elements should promote an active, inclusive, and
diversified public participation process. The three sectors of society
(government sector, for-profit/private business sector, and the third
sector which consists of nongovernmental organizations) need to share
responsibilities to ensure public participation. Each sector has
strengths and weaknesses in providing what citizens need. The business
sector most effectively delivers goods. The government sector drafts
and enforces laws, and defends the country's borders. NGOs provide
services that the business and government sectors are unwilling to
provide, and they provide a venue for citizens to come together and be
heard on important issues. For a society to achieve its full potential
and for citizens to fulfill their goals, all three sectors must
cooperate with one another. Effective partnerships between NGOs and/or
businesses and government require concerted efforts to become and
remain accountable, transparent, and inclusive. Continuous public
participation throughout the process of design, implementation, and
evaluation of projects legitimizes decisions and enriches outcomes.
All individuals have the right to be part of the decisions influencing
their quality of life. Special efforts should be made to include
women, indigenous people, youth, and marginalized groups, such as
racial and ethnic minorities. Being inclusive is fundamental to
achieving longterm, equitable and sustainable solutions.
Transparency ensures all motives are apparent and reliable information
vital to a decision is presented. Cooperation among national,
regional, and local government authorities and NGOs is essential for
effective coordination of public participation. It is not sufficient
to have cooperation at only one or two levels. Openness to informal
and formal routes of communication broadens the scope of public
participation.
In a developing civil society, an ever-increasing number of people are
involved in all types of activities and decisions. These citizens come
from all the different parts of the society and represent its
diversity. Each country, including the United States, is at a
different place on the continuum of a "developed" civil society. None
is a society in which all citizens participate on a regular basis.
NGOs strengthen the fabric of civil societies in still-fragile,
emerging democracies. They are essential partners for governments, the
private sector, and development organizations in meeting people's
needs. NGOs are an expression of people's belief that through their
own initiative, they can better fulfill their potential by working
together, and reduce the opportunity gap that exists between the
advantaged and disadvantaged in society.
NGOs promote pluralism, diversity, and tolerance in society while
protecting and strengthening cultural, ethnic, religious, linguistic,
and other identities. They advance science; develop art; protect the
environment; and support all activities that make a vibrant civil
society. They motivate citizens in all aspects of society to act,
rather than depend on state power and beneficence. NGOs create an
alternative to centralized state agencies and provide services with
greater independence and flexibility.
14. What does 'they' refer to in the concluding sentence of the
penultimate paragraph (..... they can better fulfill their
potential.....)?
a)
Government and private sector
b)
The public
c)
NGOs
d)
Foreign citizens
15. All of the following statements are true, as understood from the
passage, EXCEPT ......... (?)
a)
The definition of a civil society varies from culture to culture and
cultural context is one of the elements included in the definition of
civil society.
b)
The responsibility of ensuring public participation rests with all the
three sectors of society.
c)
The scope of public participation can be broadened by inclusion,
openness in communication, transparency and cooperation and the public
participation process in turn affects the justice and fairness in
civil societies.
d)
Diversity is not obligatory in a developing civil society.
16. According to the passage, which of the statements is true about NGOs?
a)
They make people dependent on state power and centralized state agencies.
b)
They widen the opportunity gap that exists between the advantaged and
disadvantaged in society.
c)
They strengthen the form and organization of civil societies in
emerging democracies.
d)
They are a threat to economic and political stability in emerging democracies.
17. The style of the passage is
a)
Descriptive
b)
Narrative
c)
Analytical
d)
Abstruse
In eukaryotic cells, small molecules diffuse to where they are needed.
Large intracellular components like vesicles and mitochondria are too
large to diffuse to their destinations. Motor engines help transport
cargo like chromosomes, membranes, proteins, axons within cells. These
engines powering the cell's freight are three families of proteins −
kinesin, dynein and myosin. Progress has been made in understanding
the role of kinesin motors in cell division, cell motility, and
intracellular trafficking.
"The kinesin motors are the world's smallest moving machines, the
smallest proteins," said Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator
Ronald Vale of the University of California, San Francisco. "It's
exciting to understand how these compact machines have evolved that
ability to generate motion." The kinesin protein links with another
kinesin to form a two-molecule ferry that moves cellular freight along
tram tracks composed of infinitesimal filaments called microtubules
that criss-cross the cell's interior, hydrolysing one molecule of
adenosine triphosphate (ATP) at each step. Kinesins walk towards the
plus end of a microtubule transporting cargo from the cell's centre
towards the periphery (anterograde transport). Dyneins move towards
the minus end of the microtubule, transporting cargo from the
periphery towards the centre (retrograde transport).
The researchers' analyses showed that a tiny piece of the kinesin
protein dubbed the "neck linker" abruptly stiffens like velcro;
zipping up when the energy molecule ATP attaches to kinesin. This
stiffening throws the neck linker forward and provides the mechanical
force that puts the kinesin molecule in motion along microtubule
tracks. The discovery that motion is generated by the neck linker,
composed of 15 amino acids, helped scientists understand how two
linked kinesin molecules coordinate their movement along the
microtubule.
To begin their experiments, Vale and his colleagues created kinesin
molecules that included specific attachment points for various marker
molecules that would help reveal how the neck linker moves. To obtain
"snapshots" of the marker-carrying molecules at specific stages, they
treated kinesins with altered versions of ATP, called analogues, that
"froze" the kinesins at various stages of activity.
The linked kinesins take step after step along the microtubule by
coordinating the cycling of ATP molecules, first onto one kinesin,
then onto its partnerwith the ATPs alternately attaching, releasing
their energy, and detaching as spent products. When the scientists
attached a gold particle to the neck linker and used electron
microscopy to obtain images of the kinesin at different stages, the
images revealed that in absence of ATP analogues, the linker neck
could pivot either forward or backward, but the binding of an ATP
analogue locked the protein piece in the forward position. After the
kinesin released the ATP analogue, however, the neck linker again
became mobile. "The kinesin motor walks along the microtubule much
like a person walks along steppingstones across a pond," said Vale.
"Just as a person has to step from stone to stone, there are only
certain points where kinesin molecules can attach to a microtubule.
Basically, the neck linker zippers up and throws its rearward partner
forward to the next attachment site, like swinging the rear leg
forward to the next stepping stone."
"We also studied two kinesin mutant molecules stuck at the ATP-binding
step," Vale continued. "However, one of these mutants can take a
single step along the microtubule, and the other one can't. We
predicted that if the neck linker motion was actually necessary for
kinesin to take a step, then we should see motion in the mutant that
can take a step, but not in the one that can't. That's what we saw
clearly."
"Humans have 50 different kinds of kinesin motors, and understanding
how they work might help in selectively inhibiting those involved in
chromosome segregation in mitosis," said Vale. "Since cancer cells are
constantly dividing, such inhibitors might have applications as cancer
chemotherapeutic agents. Certain neurodegenerative diseases might
result from kinesin-related deficiencies in transport and a therapy
that stimulates the transport system might be effective in treatment."
18. The primary purpose of the passage is to
a)
describe events leading to a discovery.
b)
evaluate a research study.
c)
decipher the cause of a process.
d)
report new research findings.
19. The analogy "The kinesin motor walks along the microtubule much
like a person walks along steppingstones across a pond", given by the
author in para 5 is used to explain
a)
how ATP binding and hydrolysis cause kinesin to travel along the
micotubule via a seesaw mechanism about a pivot point.
b)
the freezing of the neck linker which provides a bridge for the ATP
molecule to attach to the kinesin.
c)
the stiffening of the neck linker.
d)
how the ATP molecule attaches to the kinesin protein.
20. All of the following can be understood from the passage EXCEPT?
a)
Understanding how kinesin motors work could lead to medical therapies
that either inhibit or stimulate kinesin activity.
b)
In retrograde transport, the minus end of the microtubule transports
cargo from the periphery of the cell towards the centre.
c)
In the passage, kinesin is compared to an engine, a ferry and a person
walking. Microtubules are likened to stepping stones and tram tracks.
d)
A critical experiment using mutant kinesin molecules showed that neck
linker motion was necessary for kinesin movement along the
microtubule.
21. Which of the following statement(s) follow from the passage?
(A) Kinesins are a family of molecular motors that use the energy of
ATP hydrolysis to move along the surface of microtubule filaments.
(B) Howard Hughes is a scientist.
(C) The 'two-molecule ferry' is a kinesin construction.
(D) Myosin and kinesin are unrelated.
(E) Kinesin motility has been understood to be driven by the
coordinated forward extension of the neck linker in one part and the
rearward positioning of the neck linker in the other.
Identify all that apply and enter the corresponding letters in the
input box given below. You must enter your answer in alphabetical
order. For example, if you think (A) and (B) apply, then enter AB (but
not BA) in the input box.
Kaname Akamatsu's flying geese paradigm (FGP) or "wild geese" theory,
propounded in the 1960s, is a model for international division of
labor in East Asia based on dynamic comparative advantage and explains
the growth experience of Japan, South Korea and other Far East Asian
miracle economies. The paradigm postulated that Asian nations will
catch up with the West as a part of a regional hierarchy where the
production of commoditized goods would continuously move from more
advanced countries to less advanced ones.
The main driver in the model is the "leader's imperative for internal
restructuring" due to increasing labor costs. As comparative
advantages (on a global scale) of the "lead goose" causes it to shift
further and further away from labor-intensive production to more
capital-and knowledge-intensive activities it sheds its
low-productivity production to nations further down in the hierarchy
or formation in a pattern that then reproduces itself between the
countries in the lower tiers. The FGP has proved to be a useful tool
when describing the regional production patterns in East Asia as
industries such as the textile industry had left not only Japan, the
most advanced East Asian nation in the 1960s, but also, at a later
point, South Korea and Taiwan etc. These second tier nations had
firmly established themselves in the automotive industry and were
beginning to shift to the even more advanced production of
microcomputers and the like by the 1980s.
Akamatsu's "wild geese" theory divides economic development into three
phases. The process begins with the import of new products in response
to a growing domestic demand and the impulses generated for their
domestic production. Thus, import substitution takes place through
replacing imported items with domestic substitutes.
Stage one is defined as the period in which domestic production equals
domestic consumption. Over time domestic costs tend to decline through
economies of scale as well as import of technology within the
framework of a protected market. Stage two is marked by a commencement
of exports with the domestic cost structure reaching international
levels. Thus domestic production becomes larger than domestic
consumption. Stage three envisages a slow down in export expansion
with a rise in the cost of the domestic factors of production like
labour as well as the operation of the 'catching up cycle' in other
developing countries.
The experiences of Japan and South Korea provide interesting examples.
Historically speaking, Japan could not have been described as a
developing country prior to World War II. After the war, however, its
economy was in a shambles and the development process had to commence
afresh. With financial help from the US and the dissolution of the
Zaibatsu, a number of new businesses began to take root. The national
goal, which reflected the aspirations of most Japanese, was to become
an economic superpower. Japan proceeded to do this not on the strength
of domestic consumption, which was low on account of a paucity of
incomes but on the basis of accessing international markets. Japanese
ingenuity lay not in copying foreign goods but in analysing them
component-by-component and producing something better and cheaper.
Their burgeoning export surpluses helped in creating an increasingly
prosperous middle class, which also maintained a significantly high
saving rate. Its economic development was vigorously export-driven.
South Korea is a striking example of Akamatsu's 'catching up cycle'.
Korea, like Japan, was war-shattered in 1950 with the difference that
it was a poorly developed country before the war. It commenced its
recovery by addressing the export market in consumer goods like shoes,
garments and sportsware. Soon it began an aggressive drive to develop
complex industries like ship building, steel and electronics.
Development impulses along these lines created the Asian Tigers, which
besides Japan and South Korea included Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore,
Malaysia and Thailand. Despite many differences in their political
philosophies they shared a similar approach to economic development,
viz., high domestic savings and an accent on exports.
22. Which of the following choices best summarizes the characteristics
of the three stages of Akamatsu's "wild geese" theory of economic
development, as presented in para 4?
a)
One can follow in the Asian Tigers' trail through the sequential
development of imports (first stage), which leads to domestic
production (second stage) and then to exports (third stage).
b)
Domestic costs tend to decline (first stage), domestic cost structure
reaches international levels through exports (second stage), cost of
the domestic factors of production increases and export expansion
slows down (third stage).
c)
Domestic production equals domestic consumption (first stage),
domestic production becomes larger than domestic consumption (second
stage), domestic production ceases (third stage).
d)
Both B and C.
23. According to the passage, which of the following statements is
definitely false?
a)
Regarding the internal order of nations within the model, Akamatsu
would not consider the relative positions to be fixed as it would
otherwise be difficult for a nation to shift from one tier to another.
b)
Nations which are focussed on reducing their imports stand to benefit
and an export oriented production is an advantage for an economy.
c)
The country in the rear guard in the formation sheds its production to
the "lead goose" and moves away from labor-intensive production to
more capital-and knowledge-intensive activities.
d)
Concentrating one's energy only on the domestic market is not likely
to lead to "wild geese" type of development.
24. In the context of the passage, the idea behind the term "wild
geese" is best encapsulated in one of the following statements.
Identify that statement.
a)
Undomesticated nature of nations that build strong economies from
scratch in a "big push" approach fighting against all odds.
b)
A gaggle of 25 geese achieving a 70 percent-range energy saving over a
bird flying solo thanks to benefits like "wingtip vortex" and
"upcurrent speed enhancement" mutually created by flying together.
c)
A top down model of heirarchy with commands always coming from the top tier.
d)
The transition in economies in a region, from underdeveloped to
developing to developed, is not so much from the push of the economies
themselves, as from the pull of the leader.
25. One may infer from the passage that "Zaibatsu" (mentioned in para
5) most probably refers to ____________________ and in Kaname
Akatmatsu's theory, the impetus for growth, in Japan, clearly came
from ___________________.
a)
an economic group . . . export
b)
the head of state . . . recycling of goods and product upgrading
c)
Japanese markets . . . domestic production
d)
ladder of economic development . . . import substitution
Are successful entrepreneurial concepts the product of nature or of
nurture? Do they spring unformed from the minds of inventors, or are
they carefully cultivated adaptations of preexisting notions? Before
we answer this question, one has to ask whether there is a difference
between innovation and invention. Previously, innovation was often
equated with invention because consonant with the etymological origin
of the word, "innovation" implied the creation of something new.
However, today invention is considered the first occurrence of an idea
for a new product or process. Innovation is anything but invention:
innovators offer deliverables because their focus is on taking
something already known and improving it.
David Edwards, biomedical engineering professor at Harvard University,
is a proponent of inventiveness: development of new ideas that respond
to new conditions and that may or may not become profit generators.
The potential to advance the human race is what should come first in
any venture--and if one can do that, then a big payoff is likely not
far behind. Politically, environmentally, socially--the world is
changing at a rapid clip and the key to adapting quickly is invention.
The ability to innovate and translate an idea into a commercial
success is a special skill indeed, but it's far more consequential to
come up with an idea that redraws the very boundaries of what is
possible. Consider the printing press, antibiotics and the internet:
inventions that altered the course of history in ways "innovative"
software and mobile startups can't even approach. Revenue models
certainly weren't a big part of the development process for these
inventions, yet countless opportunities arose from their creation.
Thomas Edison once said that to create one needed "a good imagination
and a pile of junk". For Edison, the pile of junk was not an annoyance
but a morass of imagined, lateral possibilities, a collage of
relationships waiting to be seen in a new way.
According to David, support for wild ideas "so naive no one would
encourage them" is lagging in the private sector. Rather, environments
such as Silicon Valley promote the reworking of existing concepts--a
process that is more easily taught and has more immediate
gratification. "If you look at really successful inventors, they tend
to be in positions that allow for fresh perspective anchored in
innocence and luck, hence many breakthroughs come from young minds. If
the goal is to crack the world's toughest problems, institutions
should foster creativity for creativity's sake (just like art for
art's sake) and do what they can to promote ideas that hold long-term
promise", he says.
Edward de Bono, father of lateral thinking, echoes the same view about
invention: "We can't find something we have not thought of if the
process we employ only tells us what we already suspect." To this
truth one might add: if we have to show in advance to some auditor
what "deliverables" our research will provide, there is no way that
the work will take us laterally across domains of knowledge to a new
place we have never visited, a place that an impact assessor would
have challenged our right even to approach. This obsession with
finding what we are looking for is also why we so often mistake
innovation for invention. Innovators engage in what patent lawyers
call 'reverse engineering': Japanese and Korean manufacturers did not
invent the car or the computer, but they make them better than most
other people. Getting funding for innovation is relatively easy: the
demonstrably better mousetrap saves money and delivers more dead
vermin.
This may explain why outcome-driven funders infrequently support
important discoveries; how could they when the methods they promote
directly undermine what we already know about nourishing creativity?
Limiting freedom of thought may be our best weapon against moving
intuitions forward. Is it any wonder then that so little comes out of
demands from government or charity that we remove the pile of junk,
make "better" use of the wasted space it occupies, and punish any
would-be Edison for having squandered our precious resources? How can
we expect genius to emerge from sponsored research? Under the current
terms of engagement, let's face it: genius can't emerge.
26. The passage lends support to which of the following statements?
a)
If one knows exactly what one's research is meant to deliver and has
no time or energy to wander beyond that, then creative thinking is
hampered.
b)
While invention is an important part of the economy we need to shift
our focus to fostering unfettered research leading to innovations as
innovations have better staying power than inventions.
c)
The paradox of innovation is that it is accepted as an innovation when
it has become an imitation.
d)
Inventors are not as obsessed as innovators with finding what they are
looking for but innovators can translate any idea into a commercial
success.
27. Which of the following best states the reason why outcome-driven
funders fail to support major discoveries?
a)
They cannot differentiate between innovation and invention.
b)
They do not support projects whose results are unpredictable.
c)
They believe that all inventions never make it off the page.
d)
They are risk-averse with respect to invention and risk-seeking with
respect to innovation.
28. All of the following can be inferred from the passage EXCEPT?
a)
Invention takes place in the domain of the unknown and discovering the
new involves moving across various disciplines.
b)
Innovators are obsessed with finding what they are looking for.
c)
When researchers work towards expectations, the possibilities of their
discovering something original diminish.
d)
Despite their great contributions, innovators cannot crossover to
becoming inventors.
29. Among the following options, which one represents the most
important argument raised in the passage?
a)
To foster invention, researchers should be allowed to play around with
a pile of junk without placing any expectation on deliverables.
b)
As long as sponsorship of research projects is prededicated on
providing a pre-defined set of deliverables there is no chance
bringing about the next big invention.
c)
It is high time we differentiate between invention and innovation and
foster the former instead of the latter.
d)
Sponsors of research projects do not have the methods to evaluate
ideas that will lead to major discoveries.
30. DIRECTIONS for question 96: In each of the following questions,
there are sentences or fragments of sentences that form a paragraph.
Identify the sentence(s) or fragments of sentence(s) that is/are
correct in terms of grammar and usage, including spelling, punctuation
and logical consistency, and enter the letters corresponding to the
sentence(s) or fragments of sentence(s) in the input box provided
below the question. You must enter your answer in alphabetical order.
For example, if you think that statements (D) and (E) are correct,
then enter DE (but not ED) in the input box.
(A) "The Rain in Spain" is turning point in the plotline of the
musical My Fair Lady, which was published in 1956.
(B) Professor Henry Higgins and Colonel Pickering have been drilling
Eliza Doolittle incessantly with speech exercises, trying to break her
cockney ascent speech pattern.
(C) With the three of them nearly exhausted, Eliza finally "gets it",
and recites the sentence "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain"
correctly.
(D) The trio break into song, repeating this key phrase as well as
singing other exercises correctly, such as "In Hertford, Hereford and
Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen", in which Eliza had failed
before by dropping the leading 'H'.
(E) Now, Spanish rain does not actually stay in the plain and it falls
mainly in the northern mountains.
33.
a)
However, Guevara's paradoxical standing is further complicated by his
array of seemingly diametrically opposed qualities and he still
remains a transcendent figure both in specifically political contexts
and as a wide-ranging popular icon of youthful rebellion.
b)
As a result of his perceived martyrdom, poetic invocations for class
struggle, and desire to create the consciousness of a "new man" driven
by moral rather than material incentives, he has evolved into a
quintessential icon of various leftist-inspired movements.
c)
TIME magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the
20th century, while an Alberto Korda photograph of him, titled
Guerrillero Heroico, was cited by the Maryland Institute College of
Art as "the most famous photograph in the world".
d)
Che Guevara remains both a revered and reviled historical figure,
polarized in the collective imagination in a multitude of biographies,
memoirs, essays, documentaries, songs, and films.
Computers change too quickly for software to keep up. Major computer
companies now feel that they will be exceptionally successful if they
can design a model that will last in the marketplace for 18 months.
Unsuccessful models disappear in a few months. Most models fall
somewhere in between. At the same time, Moore's Law states that the
power of the microprocessor will double every 18 months. The
microprocessor is a computer processor that incorporates the functions
of a computer's central processing unit (CPU) on a single integrated
circuit (IC), or at most a few integrated circuits i.e. on a single
chip or on a few chips. This multipurpose, programmable device accepts
digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored
in its memory, and provides results as output. Software is the
mechanism that takes the power unleashed by Moore's Law and converts
it into something useful--programs that make us want to dump our old
computers and buy new ones with even faster microprocessors.
Programmers don't have time to be craftsmen if they're under the gun
to extract ever more functionality out of ever more powerful machines
and correcting a piece of software is even more difficult than writing
it well the first time.
Which of the following statements, if true, weakens the argument?
a)
Moore's second law states that rate of change of any phenomenon cannot
be constant over a long period of time.
b)
Parallel industry now exists that refurbishes old computers into new
faster ones.
c)
Most software been written today is for cloud computing, which focuses
on maximizing the effectiveness of the shared resources.
d)
Software programs are written in the same way as construction models
that are built using building blocks. The model can be dismantled and
rebuilt with new blocks to replace old ones or new ones can be added
to existing ones.
The following question presents four statements, of which three, when
placed in appropriate order, would form a contextually complete
paragraph. Pick the statement that is not part of the context.
1.
a)
Tides ebb and flow but mean sea levels are among the constants of
climate science.
b)
The rise is caused by thermal expansion (hot water expands) and by
melting ice sheets.
c)
It was not until the spread of satellite observations in the 1990s
that measurement of sea levels became reliable and global.
d)
Though things like the recent slowdown in the rise of average surface
temperatures are puzzling, scientists can at least point to higher sea
levels as clear evidence that climate change is real.
The sentences given in the following questions, when properly
sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Figure out the most logical
order of sentences that constructs a coherent paragraph and enter that
sequence in the input box given below the question. For example, if
you think that (A)(B)(C)(D)(E) is the most logical order of sentences
that constructs a coherent paragraph, then enter ABCDE in the input
box.
2.(A) "To be, or not to be," he begins his musings; that is, indeed, a
central question for him, since he sees little benefit in continuing
to live in a world where injustice reigns.
(B) He invents various devices to help illuminate the truth, such as
his elaborate arrangement for a dumb show that will re-create the
murder of his father in the presence of his uncle Claudius to try to
make the king reveal his guilt.
(C) Many critics have observed that Hamlet is really too sensitive to
effect the revenge that he intends.
(D) Nevertheless, he decides to act to avenge his father's murder –
once he is certain he knows who has been involved in the plot to kill
him – and spends a good portion of his time trying to sort appearance
from reality.
(E) He is by nature melancholic, possessing a fatalistic disposition
that borders on the suicidal and his most famous soliloquy focuses on
the virtue of ending his life.
Four alternative summaries are given below the text. Which of the
options best captures the essence of the text?
3.In 2006, three Indian fishermen, in a drunken sleep aboard their
little boat, drifted over the reef bordering the Andamans and fetched
up on the shore in the southeast part of South Andaman Island. They
were promptly killed by the inhabitants, the Jarawa tribes. Their
bodies were kept on display for a while: the helicopter that went to
collect them was driven away by a hail of arrows and spears. The
Jarawa tribe does not welcome trespassers. In an attempt at contacting
the Jarawa, "Contact Expeditions" were embarked upon by the Indian
authorities in Port Blair. These consisted of a series of planned
visits which would progressively leave "gifts", such as coconuts, on
the shores, in an attempt to coax the Jarawa from their hostile
reception of outsiders. Only very occasionally have the Jarawa been
lured down to the beach of their tiny island by these gifts of
coconuts and only once or twice without sending a shower of arrows in
return.
a)
The Jarawa who inhabit the South Andaman Island, are the only
hunter-gatherers who still shun interactions with outsiders. They are
noted for vigorously maintaining their independence and sovereignty
over the island, and actively discourage incursions and attempts at
contact.
b)
By their long standing separation from any other human society, the
tribal people are among the most isolated and unassimilated peoples on
Earth. Only once or twice have they accepted gifts from civilized
people without causing harm to the latter. In 2006 they killed three
Indian fishermen because the latter entered their territory by
mistake.
c)
The Jarawa are actively hostile to unknown intruders and resist any
attempts of contact by outsiders. In 2006, they killed three Indian
fishermen who entered the island by mistake and also attacked the
helicopter that was sent to retrieve their bodies.
d)
Violence is much more pervasive among hunter-gatherers like the Jarawa
than among civilized people. The Jarawa do not allow civilized people
to enter their island and are extremely averse to taking gifts from
the latter. The killing of the three Indian fishermen by the tribal
people along the coast of the Jarawa Island in 2006 proves this.
The sentences given in the following questions, when properly
sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Figure out the most logical
order of sentences that constructs a coherent paragraph and enter that
sequence in the input box given below the question. For example, if
you think that (A)(B)(C)(D)(E) is the most logical order of sentences
that constructs a coherent paragraph, then enter ABCDE in the input
box.
4.(A) Nor do they lie in science, technology, or legitimate demands
for social change.
(B) Millions sense the pathology of "future-shock" that pervades the
air, but fail to understand its roots.
(C) They are traceable, instead, to the uncontrolled, non-selective
nature of our lunge into the future.
(D) These roots lie not in this or that political doctrine, still less
in some mystical core of despair or isolation presumed to inhere in
the "human condition."
(E) They lie in our failure to direct, consciously and imaginatively,
the advance toward super-industrialism.
Read the following paragraph and answer the question given below it.
5.The origin of the hospitality industry is not exactly known. Some
accounts suggest that it was born in the Middle East in Sumaria, which
is none other than modern day Iraq. With the development of commerce
and industry and with an increasing understanding of languages and
development of currencies to handle commerce, people began to travel
for business and this brought about the need for places for boarding
and lodging. Information found on the Rosetta stone suggests that inns
were found in Egypt as early as 1500 B.C.
Which of the following statements can be inferred from the passage?
a)
Economic growth inevitably led to the development of the hospitality industry.
b)
Trade and business in ancient Egypt were probably developed.
c)
Inns and rest houses were found in Egypt.
d)
Very few sources of the hospitality industry have been found and
therefore its origin cannot be ascertained.
he following question presents four statements, of which three, when
placed in appropriate order, would form a contextually complete
paragraph. Pick the statement that is not part of the context.
6.
a)
Such weaponization has been accomplished in the past by at least five
state bioweapons programs − those of the United Kingdom, Japan, the
United States, Russia, and Iraq − and has been attempted by several
others.
b)
When anthrax spores are inhaled or ingested, or when they come into
contact with a skin lesion on a host, they may become reactivated and
multiply rapidly.
c)
The body of an animal that had active anthrax at the time of death can
also be a source of anthrax spores.
d)
Owing to the hardiness of anthrax spores, and their ease of production
in vitro, they are extraordinarily well suited to use (in powdered and
aerosol form) as biological weapons.
our alternative summaries are given below the text. Which of the
options best captures the essence of the text?
7.Strategic change requires transformational skills; the ability to
shape a vision of the future, mobilize employees behind the vision and
guide the company's different systems towards achievement of the
vision. A large body of evidence suggests that to fully involve
employees is the surest way to produce a more mobilized workforce, one
willing to abandon established fiefdoms and hard won perks in the
pursuit of their firms' effectiveness. In contrast, isolation from
decision making tends to breed emotional hostility and resistance, and
sometimes, active sabotage. Both action and inaction by managers take
on symbolic meaning and shape lower-level employees' interpretations
about key events. Managers successful at carrying out strategic change
point to the significance of active participation, coalition building
and up-front communication.
a)
Strategic change means transformation. Transformation can be
successful only if managers mobilize and motivate the workforce, which
in turn is possible only if the employees are fully involved in the
achievement of the organizations vision.
b)
Communication is the most important aspect of transformation,
especially communication between managers and workers. Workers not
involved in the decision making process tend to be hostile and resist
any transformation.
c)
Successful transformation managers are those who involve their team in
all decisions.
d)
Workers tend to become discontented and unproductive in the face of
rapid change; managers need to counsel them and spend more time
explaining the need for change. Otherwise the workers may resort to
hostile measures.
The sentences given in the following questions, when properly
sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Figure out the most logical
order of sentences that constructs a coherent paragraph and enter that
sequence in the input box given below the question. For example, if
you think that (A)(B)(C)(D)(E) is the most logical order of sentences
that constructs a coherent paragraph, then enter ABCDE in the input
box.
8.(A) Having inherited a virtually bankrupt state from previous
reigns, her frugal policies restored fiscal responsibility.
(B) Economically, Sir Thomas Gresham's founding of the Royal Exchange
(1565), the first stock exchange in England and one of the earliest in
Europe, proved to be a development of the first importance, for the
economic development of England and soon for the world as a whole.
(C) It can be said that Queen Elizabeth provided the country with a
long period of general if not total peace and generally increasing
prosperity.
(D) Her fiscal restraint cleared the regime of debt by 1574, and ten
years later the Crown enjoyed a surplus of £300,000.
(E) With taxes lower than other European countries of the period, the
economy expanded; though the wealth was distributed with wild
unevenness, there was clearly more wealth to go around at the end of
Elizabeth's reign than at the beginning.
In each of the following questions, there are sentences or fragments
of sentences that form a paragraph. Identify the sentence(s) or
fragments of sentence(s) that is/are correct in terms of grammar and
usage, including spelling, punctuation and logical consistency, and
enter the letters corresponding to the sentence(s) or fragments of
sentence(s) in the input box provided below the question. You must
enter your answer in alphabetical order. For example, if you think
that statements (D) and (E) are correct, then enter DE (but not ED) in
the input box.
9.(A) Typically, when a well-established automaker designs and builds
an inexpensive car,
(B) the company's thinking is biased with decades of practices and
procedures, and by its relationships with employees, customers, and
suppliers.
(C) In essence these companies start with a more expensive car and
focus on ways to make it cheaper.
(D) That may count as a form for cost cutting, but it is not frugal engineering.
(E) By contrast, when Tata Motors engineers began creating the Nano,
they were inspired by the three-wheeled vehicles known in India as
auto-rickshaws than by any existing car models in Tata Motors' lineup.
The sentences given in the following questions, when properly
sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Figure out the most logical
order of sentences that constructs a coherent paragraph and enter that
sequence in the input box given below the question. For example, if
you think that (A)(B)(C)(D)(E) is the most logical order of sentences
that constructs a coherent paragraph, then enter ABCDE in the input
box.
10.(A) But what about the social, mental and emotional differences?
(B) Synergy creates a new script for the next generation – one that is
more geared to service and contribution, and is less protective,
adversCalibri, selfish, defensive, political and judgemental; but more
open, trusting, giving, loving and caring.
(C) Could these differences not also be sources of creating new,
exciting forms of life – creating an environment that is truly
fulfilling for each person, that nurtures the self-esteem and
self-worth of each, that creates opportunities for each to mature into
independence?
(D) We obviously value the physical differences between men and women,
husbands and wives.
(E) The very way that a man and a woman bring a child into the world
is synergistic.
In each of the following questions, there are sentences or fragments
of sentences that form a paragraph. Identify the sentence(s) or
fragments of sentence(s) that is/are correct in terms of grammar and
usage, including spelling, punctuation and logical consistency, and
enter the letters corresponding to the sentence(s) or fragments of
sentence(s) in the input box provided below the question. You must
enter your answer in alphabetical order. For example, if you think
that statements (D) and (E) are correct, then enter DE (but not ED) in
the input box.
11.(A) As Robert Harrison sees it, the average citizen of the
developed world today enjoys the luxury of remaining childish innocent
(B) with respect to the instruments that he or she operates, consumes
and depends on daily otherwise.
(C) "I feel ambivalent about where we are culturally in this age of ours.
(D) It is hard to say if we are on the cusp for a wholesale
rejuvenation of human culture
(E) or whether we are tumbling into dangerous and irresponsible juvenility."
Read the following paragraph and answer the question given below it.
12.Today a producer does not really have to rely on the movie theatre
response to a film. He can also make his money from all other avenues
for projection that new technologies are throwing up almost everyday.
Which is a valid assumption behind this argument?
a)
Nowadays film producers make their foray into the industry with a lot
of money; movies create a lot of hype before they are actually
released and so they get good initial openings.
b)
Films are made on a low budget, so the producers have to incur little
or no loss if they do not run successfully.
c)
Whether or not a film will be remunerative is important to producers.
d)
With the film audiences getting fragmented, it is now very difficult
to register their response to a particular film.
Read the following paragraph and answer the question given below it.
13.The martyrs who laid down their lives for the freedom of the
country, had a lofty vision of the future. They wanted the nation to
be free from all the slavery and bondage. They wanted an India in
which all the communities would live in perfect harmony and in which
there would be no high class and no low class of people, the curse of
untouchability having been wiped out completely. Women would enjoy
equal rights with men and contribute their fullest to the making of a
great nation. Such a vision was in keeping with the ancient glory of
the country renowned for its splendid achievements in literature, art
and culture. We must now revitalise this ancient culture of ours with
tolerance as its masthead. lf we forget or cease to take pride in our
noble heritage, we shall have to face severe indictment in the court
of history which is a ruthless judge and seldom spares the erring
people.
The martyrs wanted
a)
the country to be the strongest nation in the world.
b)
the country to be free from class denominations and thralldom.
c)
the country to rule over the other nations.
d)
the people to give up their antiquated customs.
The term "society" is used to describe a bond or interaction between
friendly or civil parties. It can also refer to the entirety of
humanity ("society at large"), although those who are unfriendly or
uncivil to the remainder of society may be termed "antisocial".
What constitutes a civil society varies from culture to culture. A
civil society can be defined by one culture in terms of the results
produced. Another definition may focus on the preconditions for civil
society. A third culture may describe it as a desirable state for all
society. And a fourth may emphasize the composition of civil society −
who is and is not included. Another consideration in discussing civil
society is the cultural context. What are considered essential
elements for a civil society in one culture may not be essential
elements in another culture.
One should determine what local citizens consider key elements of a
civil society. These elements should promote an active, inclusive, and
diversified public participation process. The three sectors of society
(government sector, for-profit/private business sector, and the third
sector which consists of nongovernmental organizations) need to share
responsibilities to ensure public participation. Each sector has
strengths and weaknesses in providing what citizens need. The business
sector most effectively delivers goods. The government sector drafts
and enforces laws, and defends the country's borders. NGOs provide
services that the business and government sectors are unwilling to
provide, and they provide a venue for citizens to come together and be
heard on important issues. For a society to achieve its full potential
and for citizens to fulfill their goals, all three sectors must
cooperate with one another. Effective partnerships between NGOs and/or
businesses and government require concerted efforts to become and
remain accountable, transparent, and inclusive. Continuous public
participation throughout the process of design, implementation, and
evaluation of projects legitimizes decisions and enriches outcomes.
All individuals have the right to be part of the decisions influencing
their quality of life. Special efforts should be made to include
women, indigenous people, youth, and marginalized groups, such as
racial and ethnic minorities. Being inclusive is fundamental to
achieving longterm, equitable and sustainable solutions.
Transparency ensures all motives are apparent and reliable information
vital to a decision is presented. Cooperation among national,
regional, and local government authorities and NGOs is essential for
effective coordination of public participation. It is not sufficient
to have cooperation at only one or two levels. Openness to informal
and formal routes of communication broadens the scope of public
participation.
In a developing civil society, an ever-increasing number of people are
involved in all types of activities and decisions. These citizens come
from all the different parts of the society and represent its
diversity. Each country, including the United States, is at a
different place on the continuum of a "developed" civil society. None
is a society in which all citizens participate on a regular basis.
NGOs strengthen the fabric of civil societies in still-fragile,
emerging democracies. They are essential partners for governments, the
private sector, and development organizations in meeting people's
needs. NGOs are an expression of people's belief that through their
own initiative, they can better fulfill their potential by working
together, and reduce the opportunity gap that exists between the
advantaged and disadvantaged in society.
NGOs promote pluralism, diversity, and tolerance in society while
protecting and strengthening cultural, ethnic, religious, linguistic,
and other identities. They advance science; develop art; protect the
environment; and support all activities that make a vibrant civil
society. They motivate citizens in all aspects of society to act,
rather than depend on state power and beneficence. NGOs create an
alternative to centralized state agencies and provide services with
greater independence and flexibility.
14. What does 'they' refer to in the concluding sentence of the
penultimate paragraph (..... they can better fulfill their
potential.....)?
a)
Government and private sector
b)
The public
c)
NGOs
d)
Foreign citizens
15. All of the following statements are true, as understood from the
passage, EXCEPT ......... (?)
a)
The definition of a civil society varies from culture to culture and
cultural context is one of the elements included in the definition of
civil society.
b)
The responsibility of ensuring public participation rests with all the
three sectors of society.
c)
The scope of public participation can be broadened by inclusion,
openness in communication, transparency and cooperation and the public
participation process in turn affects the justice and fairness in
civil societies.
d)
Diversity is not obligatory in a developing civil society.
16. According to the passage, which of the statements is true about NGOs?
a)
They make people dependent on state power and centralized state agencies.
b)
They widen the opportunity gap that exists between the advantaged and
disadvantaged in society.
c)
They strengthen the form and organization of civil societies in
emerging democracies.
d)
They are a threat to economic and political stability in emerging democracies.
17. The style of the passage is
a)
Descriptive
b)
Narrative
c)
Analytical
d)
Abstruse
In eukaryotic cells, small molecules diffuse to where they are needed.
Large intracellular components like vesicles and mitochondria are too
large to diffuse to their destinations. Motor engines help transport
cargo like chromosomes, membranes, proteins, axons within cells. These
engines powering the cell's freight are three families of proteins −
kinesin, dynein and myosin. Progress has been made in understanding
the role of kinesin motors in cell division, cell motility, and
intracellular trafficking.
"The kinesin motors are the world's smallest moving machines, the
smallest proteins," said Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator
Ronald Vale of the University of California, San Francisco. "It's
exciting to understand how these compact machines have evolved that
ability to generate motion." The kinesin protein links with another
kinesin to form a two-molecule ferry that moves cellular freight along
tram tracks composed of infinitesimal filaments called microtubules
that criss-cross the cell's interior, hydrolysing one molecule of
adenosine triphosphate (ATP) at each step. Kinesins walk towards the
plus end of a microtubule transporting cargo from the cell's centre
towards the periphery (anterograde transport). Dyneins move towards
the minus end of the microtubule, transporting cargo from the
periphery towards the centre (retrograde transport).
The researchers' analyses showed that a tiny piece of the kinesin
protein dubbed the "neck linker" abruptly stiffens like velcro;
zipping up when the energy molecule ATP attaches to kinesin. This
stiffening throws the neck linker forward and provides the mechanical
force that puts the kinesin molecule in motion along microtubule
tracks. The discovery that motion is generated by the neck linker,
composed of 15 amino acids, helped scientists understand how two
linked kinesin molecules coordinate their movement along the
microtubule.
To begin their experiments, Vale and his colleagues created kinesin
molecules that included specific attachment points for various marker
molecules that would help reveal how the neck linker moves. To obtain
"snapshots" of the marker-carrying molecules at specific stages, they
treated kinesins with altered versions of ATP, called analogues, that
"froze" the kinesins at various stages of activity.
The linked kinesins take step after step along the microtubule by
coordinating the cycling of ATP molecules, first onto one kinesin,
then onto its partnerwith the ATPs alternately attaching, releasing
their energy, and detaching as spent products. When the scientists
attached a gold particle to the neck linker and used electron
microscopy to obtain images of the kinesin at different stages, the
images revealed that in absence of ATP analogues, the linker neck
could pivot either forward or backward, but the binding of an ATP
analogue locked the protein piece in the forward position. After the
kinesin released the ATP analogue, however, the neck linker again
became mobile. "The kinesin motor walks along the microtubule much
like a person walks along steppingstones across a pond," said Vale.
"Just as a person has to step from stone to stone, there are only
certain points where kinesin molecules can attach to a microtubule.
Basically, the neck linker zippers up and throws its rearward partner
forward to the next attachment site, like swinging the rear leg
forward to the next stepping stone."
"We also studied two kinesin mutant molecules stuck at the ATP-binding
step," Vale continued. "However, one of these mutants can take a
single step along the microtubule, and the other one can't. We
predicted that if the neck linker motion was actually necessary for
kinesin to take a step, then we should see motion in the mutant that
can take a step, but not in the one that can't. That's what we saw
clearly."
"Humans have 50 different kinds of kinesin motors, and understanding
how they work might help in selectively inhibiting those involved in
chromosome segregation in mitosis," said Vale. "Since cancer cells are
constantly dividing, such inhibitors might have applications as cancer
chemotherapeutic agents. Certain neurodegenerative diseases might
result from kinesin-related deficiencies in transport and a therapy
that stimulates the transport system might be effective in treatment."
18. The primary purpose of the passage is to
a)
describe events leading to a discovery.
b)
evaluate a research study.
c)
decipher the cause of a process.
d)
report new research findings.
19. The analogy "The kinesin motor walks along the microtubule much
like a person walks along steppingstones across a pond", given by the
author in para 5 is used to explain
a)
how ATP binding and hydrolysis cause kinesin to travel along the
micotubule via a seesaw mechanism about a pivot point.
b)
the freezing of the neck linker which provides a bridge for the ATP
molecule to attach to the kinesin.
c)
the stiffening of the neck linker.
d)
how the ATP molecule attaches to the kinesin protein.
20. All of the following can be understood from the passage EXCEPT?
a)
Understanding how kinesin motors work could lead to medical therapies
that either inhibit or stimulate kinesin activity.
b)
In retrograde transport, the minus end of the microtubule transports
cargo from the periphery of the cell towards the centre.
c)
In the passage, kinesin is compared to an engine, a ferry and a person
walking. Microtubules are likened to stepping stones and tram tracks.
d)
A critical experiment using mutant kinesin molecules showed that neck
linker motion was necessary for kinesin movement along the
microtubule.
21. Which of the following statement(s) follow from the passage?
(A) Kinesins are a family of molecular motors that use the energy of
ATP hydrolysis to move along the surface of microtubule filaments.
(B) Howard Hughes is a scientist.
(C) The 'two-molecule ferry' is a kinesin construction.
(D) Myosin and kinesin are unrelated.
(E) Kinesin motility has been understood to be driven by the
coordinated forward extension of the neck linker in one part and the
rearward positioning of the neck linker in the other.
Identify all that apply and enter the corresponding letters in the
input box given below. You must enter your answer in alphabetical
order. For example, if you think (A) and (B) apply, then enter AB (but
not BA) in the input box.
Kaname Akamatsu's flying geese paradigm (FGP) or "wild geese" theory,
propounded in the 1960s, is a model for international division of
labor in East Asia based on dynamic comparative advantage and explains
the growth experience of Japan, South Korea and other Far East Asian
miracle economies. The paradigm postulated that Asian nations will
catch up with the West as a part of a regional hierarchy where the
production of commoditized goods would continuously move from more
advanced countries to less advanced ones.
The main driver in the model is the "leader's imperative for internal
restructuring" due to increasing labor costs. As comparative
advantages (on a global scale) of the "lead goose" causes it to shift
further and further away from labor-intensive production to more
capital-and knowledge-intensive activities it sheds its
low-productivity production to nations further down in the hierarchy
or formation in a pattern that then reproduces itself between the
countries in the lower tiers. The FGP has proved to be a useful tool
when describing the regional production patterns in East Asia as
industries such as the textile industry had left not only Japan, the
most advanced East Asian nation in the 1960s, but also, at a later
point, South Korea and Taiwan etc. These second tier nations had
firmly established themselves in the automotive industry and were
beginning to shift to the even more advanced production of
microcomputers and the like by the 1980s.
Akamatsu's "wild geese" theory divides economic development into three
phases. The process begins with the import of new products in response
to a growing domestic demand and the impulses generated for their
domestic production. Thus, import substitution takes place through
replacing imported items with domestic substitutes.
Stage one is defined as the period in which domestic production equals
domestic consumption. Over time domestic costs tend to decline through
economies of scale as well as import of technology within the
framework of a protected market. Stage two is marked by a commencement
of exports with the domestic cost structure reaching international
levels. Thus domestic production becomes larger than domestic
consumption. Stage three envisages a slow down in export expansion
with a rise in the cost of the domestic factors of production like
labour as well as the operation of the 'catching up cycle' in other
developing countries.
The experiences of Japan and South Korea provide interesting examples.
Historically speaking, Japan could not have been described as a
developing country prior to World War II. After the war, however, its
economy was in a shambles and the development process had to commence
afresh. With financial help from the US and the dissolution of the
Zaibatsu, a number of new businesses began to take root. The national
goal, which reflected the aspirations of most Japanese, was to become
an economic superpower. Japan proceeded to do this not on the strength
of domestic consumption, which was low on account of a paucity of
incomes but on the basis of accessing international markets. Japanese
ingenuity lay not in copying foreign goods but in analysing them
component-by-component and producing something better and cheaper.
Their burgeoning export surpluses helped in creating an increasingly
prosperous middle class, which also maintained a significantly high
saving rate. Its economic development was vigorously export-driven.
South Korea is a striking example of Akamatsu's 'catching up cycle'.
Korea, like Japan, was war-shattered in 1950 with the difference that
it was a poorly developed country before the war. It commenced its
recovery by addressing the export market in consumer goods like shoes,
garments and sportsware. Soon it began an aggressive drive to develop
complex industries like ship building, steel and electronics.
Development impulses along these lines created the Asian Tigers, which
besides Japan and South Korea included Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore,
Malaysia and Thailand. Despite many differences in their political
philosophies they shared a similar approach to economic development,
viz., high domestic savings and an accent on exports.
22. Which of the following choices best summarizes the characteristics
of the three stages of Akamatsu's "wild geese" theory of economic
development, as presented in para 4?
a)
One can follow in the Asian Tigers' trail through the sequential
development of imports (first stage), which leads to domestic
production (second stage) and then to exports (third stage).
b)
Domestic costs tend to decline (first stage), domestic cost structure
reaches international levels through exports (second stage), cost of
the domestic factors of production increases and export expansion
slows down (third stage).
c)
Domestic production equals domestic consumption (first stage),
domestic production becomes larger than domestic consumption (second
stage), domestic production ceases (third stage).
d)
Both B and C.
23. According to the passage, which of the following statements is
definitely false?
a)
Regarding the internal order of nations within the model, Akamatsu
would not consider the relative positions to be fixed as it would
otherwise be difficult for a nation to shift from one tier to another.
b)
Nations which are focussed on reducing their imports stand to benefit
and an export oriented production is an advantage for an economy.
c)
The country in the rear guard in the formation sheds its production to
the "lead goose" and moves away from labor-intensive production to
more capital-and knowledge-intensive activities.
d)
Concentrating one's energy only on the domestic market is not likely
to lead to "wild geese" type of development.
24. In the context of the passage, the idea behind the term "wild
geese" is best encapsulated in one of the following statements.
Identify that statement.
a)
Undomesticated nature of nations that build strong economies from
scratch in a "big push" approach fighting against all odds.
b)
A gaggle of 25 geese achieving a 70 percent-range energy saving over a
bird flying solo thanks to benefits like "wingtip vortex" and
"upcurrent speed enhancement" mutually created by flying together.
c)
A top down model of heirarchy with commands always coming from the top tier.
d)
The transition in economies in a region, from underdeveloped to
developing to developed, is not so much from the push of the economies
themselves, as from the pull of the leader.
25. One may infer from the passage that "Zaibatsu" (mentioned in para
5) most probably refers to ____________________ and in Kaname
Akatmatsu's theory, the impetus for growth, in Japan, clearly came
from ___________________.
a)
an economic group . . . export
b)
the head of state . . . recycling of goods and product upgrading
c)
Japanese markets . . . domestic production
d)
ladder of economic development . . . import substitution
Are successful entrepreneurial concepts the product of nature or of
nurture? Do they spring unformed from the minds of inventors, or are
they carefully cultivated adaptations of preexisting notions? Before
we answer this question, one has to ask whether there is a difference
between innovation and invention. Previously, innovation was often
equated with invention because consonant with the etymological origin
of the word, "innovation" implied the creation of something new.
However, today invention is considered the first occurrence of an idea
for a new product or process. Innovation is anything but invention:
innovators offer deliverables because their focus is on taking
something already known and improving it.
David Edwards, biomedical engineering professor at Harvard University,
is a proponent of inventiveness: development of new ideas that respond
to new conditions and that may or may not become profit generators.
The potential to advance the human race is what should come first in
any venture--and if one can do that, then a big payoff is likely not
far behind. Politically, environmentally, socially--the world is
changing at a rapid clip and the key to adapting quickly is invention.
The ability to innovate and translate an idea into a commercial
success is a special skill indeed, but it's far more consequential to
come up with an idea that redraws the very boundaries of what is
possible. Consider the printing press, antibiotics and the internet:
inventions that altered the course of history in ways "innovative"
software and mobile startups can't even approach. Revenue models
certainly weren't a big part of the development process for these
inventions, yet countless opportunities arose from their creation.
Thomas Edison once said that to create one needed "a good imagination
and a pile of junk". For Edison, the pile of junk was not an annoyance
but a morass of imagined, lateral possibilities, a collage of
relationships waiting to be seen in a new way.
According to David, support for wild ideas "so naive no one would
encourage them" is lagging in the private sector. Rather, environments
such as Silicon Valley promote the reworking of existing concepts--a
process that is more easily taught and has more immediate
gratification. "If you look at really successful inventors, they tend
to be in positions that allow for fresh perspective anchored in
innocence and luck, hence many breakthroughs come from young minds. If
the goal is to crack the world's toughest problems, institutions
should foster creativity for creativity's sake (just like art for
art's sake) and do what they can to promote ideas that hold long-term
promise", he says.
Edward de Bono, father of lateral thinking, echoes the same view about
invention: "We can't find something we have not thought of if the
process we employ only tells us what we already suspect." To this
truth one might add: if we have to show in advance to some auditor
what "deliverables" our research will provide, there is no way that
the work will take us laterally across domains of knowledge to a new
place we have never visited, a place that an impact assessor would
have challenged our right even to approach. This obsession with
finding what we are looking for is also why we so often mistake
innovation for invention. Innovators engage in what patent lawyers
call 'reverse engineering': Japanese and Korean manufacturers did not
invent the car or the computer, but they make them better than most
other people. Getting funding for innovation is relatively easy: the
demonstrably better mousetrap saves money and delivers more dead
vermin.
This may explain why outcome-driven funders infrequently support
important discoveries; how could they when the methods they promote
directly undermine what we already know about nourishing creativity?
Limiting freedom of thought may be our best weapon against moving
intuitions forward. Is it any wonder then that so little comes out of
demands from government or charity that we remove the pile of junk,
make "better" use of the wasted space it occupies, and punish any
would-be Edison for having squandered our precious resources? How can
we expect genius to emerge from sponsored research? Under the current
terms of engagement, let's face it: genius can't emerge.
26. The passage lends support to which of the following statements?
a)
If one knows exactly what one's research is meant to deliver and has
no time or energy to wander beyond that, then creative thinking is
hampered.
b)
While invention is an important part of the economy we need to shift
our focus to fostering unfettered research leading to innovations as
innovations have better staying power than inventions.
c)
The paradox of innovation is that it is accepted as an innovation when
it has become an imitation.
d)
Inventors are not as obsessed as innovators with finding what they are
looking for but innovators can translate any idea into a commercial
success.
27. Which of the following best states the reason why outcome-driven
funders fail to support major discoveries?
a)
They cannot differentiate between innovation and invention.
b)
They do not support projects whose results are unpredictable.
c)
They believe that all inventions never make it off the page.
d)
They are risk-averse with respect to invention and risk-seeking with
respect to innovation.
28. All of the following can be inferred from the passage EXCEPT?
a)
Invention takes place in the domain of the unknown and discovering the
new involves moving across various disciplines.
b)
Innovators are obsessed with finding what they are looking for.
c)
When researchers work towards expectations, the possibilities of their
discovering something original diminish.
d)
Despite their great contributions, innovators cannot crossover to
becoming inventors.
29. Among the following options, which one represents the most
important argument raised in the passage?
a)
To foster invention, researchers should be allowed to play around with
a pile of junk without placing any expectation on deliverables.
b)
As long as sponsorship of research projects is prededicated on
providing a pre-defined set of deliverables there is no chance
bringing about the next big invention.
c)
It is high time we differentiate between invention and innovation and
foster the former instead of the latter.
d)
Sponsors of research projects do not have the methods to evaluate
ideas that will lead to major discoveries.
30. DIRECTIONS for question 96: In each of the following questions,
there are sentences or fragments of sentences that form a paragraph.
Identify the sentence(s) or fragments of sentence(s) that is/are
correct in terms of grammar and usage, including spelling, punctuation
and logical consistency, and enter the letters corresponding to the
sentence(s) or fragments of sentence(s) in the input box provided
below the question. You must enter your answer in alphabetical order.
For example, if you think that statements (D) and (E) are correct,
then enter DE (but not ED) in the input box.
(A) "The Rain in Spain" is turning point in the plotline of the
musical My Fair Lady, which was published in 1956.
(B) Professor Henry Higgins and Colonel Pickering have been drilling
Eliza Doolittle incessantly with speech exercises, trying to break her
cockney ascent speech pattern.
(C) With the three of them nearly exhausted, Eliza finally "gets it",
and recites the sentence "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain"
correctly.
(D) The trio break into song, repeating this key phrase as well as
singing other exercises correctly, such as "In Hertford, Hereford and
Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen", in which Eliza had failed
before by dropping the leading 'H'.
(E) Now, Spanish rain does not actually stay in the plain and it falls
mainly in the northern mountains.
33.
a)
However, Guevara's paradoxical standing is further complicated by his
array of seemingly diametrically opposed qualities and he still
remains a transcendent figure both in specifically political contexts
and as a wide-ranging popular icon of youthful rebellion.
b)
As a result of his perceived martyrdom, poetic invocations for class
struggle, and desire to create the consciousness of a "new man" driven
by moral rather than material incentives, he has evolved into a
quintessential icon of various leftist-inspired movements.
c)
TIME magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the
20th century, while an Alberto Korda photograph of him, titled
Guerrillero Heroico, was cited by the Maryland Institute College of
Art as "the most famous photograph in the world".
d)
Che Guevara remains both a revered and reviled historical figure,
polarized in the collective imagination in a multitude of biographies,
memoirs, essays, documentaries, songs, and films.
Computers change too quickly for software to keep up. Major computer
companies now feel that they will be exceptionally successful if they
can design a model that will last in the marketplace for 18 months.
Unsuccessful models disappear in a few months. Most models fall
somewhere in between. At the same time, Moore's Law states that the
power of the microprocessor will double every 18 months. The
microprocessor is a computer processor that incorporates the functions
of a computer's central processing unit (CPU) on a single integrated
circuit (IC), or at most a few integrated circuits i.e. on a single
chip or on a few chips. This multipurpose, programmable device accepts
digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored
in its memory, and provides results as output. Software is the
mechanism that takes the power unleashed by Moore's Law and converts
it into something useful--programs that make us want to dump our old
computers and buy new ones with even faster microprocessors.
Programmers don't have time to be craftsmen if they're under the gun
to extract ever more functionality out of ever more powerful machines
and correcting a piece of software is even more difficult than writing
it well the first time.
Which of the following statements, if true, weakens the argument?
a)
Moore's second law states that rate of change of any phenomenon cannot
be constant over a long period of time.
b)
Parallel industry now exists that refurbishes old computers into new
faster ones.
c)
Most software been written today is for cloud computing, which focuses
on maximizing the effectiveness of the shared resources.
d)
Software programs are written in the same way as construction models
that are built using building blocks. The model can be dismantled and
rebuilt with new blocks to replace old ones or new ones can be added
to existing ones.
Saturday 20 February 2016
TEST 3
16. We appreciated his ____ summary of the situation; he wasted no
words yet put his point most persuasively.
A. trite
B. succinct
C. timorous
D. ponderous
E. fractious
17. Waste management is a ____ problem for the modern city, a problem
that is never likely to be addressed unless we change our ____
attitude to recycling.
A. growing - flexible
B. minor - positive
C. trivial - ambivalent
D. perennial - lax
E. recurring - stringent
18. Our accountant is most ____; he has never made a mistake in all
the years he has worked for us.
A. curmudgeonly
B. cantankerous
C. morose
D. meticulous
E. lethargic
19. When he was described on stage as a ____, Johnson threatened to
sue the comedian for ____, claiming that he was as dexterous as the
next man.
A. lummox - slander
B. conjuror - libel
C. wizard - misrepresentation
D. failure - compensation
E. criminal - embezzlement
20. The journalist ____ the efforts of the drug squad to control drug
pedaling, claiming that the police team had actually made the problem
worse.
A. disparaged
B. described
C. desecrated
D. commended
E. misconstrued
words yet put his point most persuasively.
A. trite
B. succinct
C. timorous
D. ponderous
E. fractious
17. Waste management is a ____ problem for the modern city, a problem
that is never likely to be addressed unless we change our ____
attitude to recycling.
A. growing - flexible
B. minor - positive
C. trivial - ambivalent
D. perennial - lax
E. recurring - stringent
18. Our accountant is most ____; he has never made a mistake in all
the years he has worked for us.
A. curmudgeonly
B. cantankerous
C. morose
D. meticulous
E. lethargic
19. When he was described on stage as a ____, Johnson threatened to
sue the comedian for ____, claiming that he was as dexterous as the
next man.
A. lummox - slander
B. conjuror - libel
C. wizard - misrepresentation
D. failure - compensation
E. criminal - embezzlement
20. The journalist ____ the efforts of the drug squad to control drug
pedaling, claiming that the police team had actually made the problem
worse.
A. disparaged
B. described
C. desecrated
D. commended
E. misconstrued
Friday 19 February 2016
TEST
21. The new ballet has a (an)____ setting: the shepherds and
shepherdesses glide across the stage against a backdrop of ____
fields.
A. nondescript - rural
B. pastoral - verdant
C. summery - desolate
D. lamentable - ploughed
E. imaginative - realistic
22. The hotel claims that the water in its mock-Roman bath has ____
properties, but some cynics say that the shock of seeing the bill will
____ any improvements to the health of the guests.
A. therapeutic - undo
B. medicinal - underscore
C. salutary - sanction
D. rejuvenating - bolster
E. chemical - defeat
23. My mother gave the then unfashionable watercolors that she had
painted when she was young to a local ____ because she wanted someone
to appreciate them, but now regrets her action as there has been a
(an) ____ interest in the medium and a national museum recently
approached her to see if she had any to sell.
A. critic - waning of
B. collector - continuation of
C. historian - intensification of
D. resident - decline in
E. connoisseur - resurgence of
24. The fruit's ____ exterior belied the contents: the flesh was more
____ than a ripe mango, and had an intense flavor.
A. intriguing - interesting
B. gaudy - juicy
C. colorful - drab
D. nondescript - succulent
E. exotic - tender
25. Against my better judgment I went up into the decrepit attic to
search for a mah jong set that had been ____ there for more than forty
years, but as I stepped ____ on the beams I couldn't help feeling that
the ceiling was going to give way under me.
A. lying - firmly
B. languishing - gingerly
C. rotting - athletically
D. flourishing - tentatively
E. stored - jauntily
shepherdesses glide across the stage against a backdrop of ____
fields.
A. nondescript - rural
B. pastoral - verdant
C. summery - desolate
D. lamentable - ploughed
E. imaginative - realistic
22. The hotel claims that the water in its mock-Roman bath has ____
properties, but some cynics say that the shock of seeing the bill will
____ any improvements to the health of the guests.
A. therapeutic - undo
B. medicinal - underscore
C. salutary - sanction
D. rejuvenating - bolster
E. chemical - defeat
23. My mother gave the then unfashionable watercolors that she had
painted when she was young to a local ____ because she wanted someone
to appreciate them, but now regrets her action as there has been a
(an) ____ interest in the medium and a national museum recently
approached her to see if she had any to sell.
A. critic - waning of
B. collector - continuation of
C. historian - intensification of
D. resident - decline in
E. connoisseur - resurgence of
24. The fruit's ____ exterior belied the contents: the flesh was more
____ than a ripe mango, and had an intense flavor.
A. intriguing - interesting
B. gaudy - juicy
C. colorful - drab
D. nondescript - succulent
E. exotic - tender
25. Against my better judgment I went up into the decrepit attic to
search for a mah jong set that had been ____ there for more than forty
years, but as I stepped ____ on the beams I couldn't help feeling that
the ceiling was going to give way under me.
A. lying - firmly
B. languishing - gingerly
C. rotting - athletically
D. flourishing - tentatively
E. stored - jauntily
Wednesday 17 February 2016
TEST
21. It was difficult to interpret the expression on the professor's
face when confronted with the suspicion that you copied your
assignment, but his ____ demeanor does not justify your assumption
that he ____ plagiarism.
A. glacial - misunderstands
B. inscrutable - condones
C. open - abhors
D. pleasant - confronts
E. puzzling - practices
22. Knowing that Moriarty was a ____ adversary, the cautious detective
never underestimated his enemy's powers, and so, to ensure that he was
not observed, took a ____ route to his secret rendezvous.
A. redoubtable - circuitous
B. cunning - elevated
C. famous - well-known
D. defeated - direct
E. unsavory - quick
23. The action committee collected enough funds to renovate the ____
station and refurbish the steam train so that local residents could
get a flavor of the ____ days of rail travel.
A. razed - decrepit
B. ancient - impoverished
C. derelict - halcyon
D. pristine - bygone
E. unspoiled - glorious
24. The fact that tourists are being offered an excursion to see the
biggest slum in Asia and experience for themselves the ____ the lives
of the rich and the poor makes a ____ all our claims to be an advanced
democratic nation.
A. inequality of - display of
B. disparity between - travesty of
C. similarity in - mockery of
D. proximity of - comment on
E. futility of - statement about
25. The participants at the conference were, by and large, a ____
collection of self-proclaimed revolutionaries and mavericks, but
surprisingly included several ____ supporters of the establishment.
A. moth-eaten - temporary
B. miserable - jovial
C. curious - vacillating
D. dull - boorish
E. motley - staunch
face when confronted with the suspicion that you copied your
assignment, but his ____ demeanor does not justify your assumption
that he ____ plagiarism.
A. glacial - misunderstands
B. inscrutable - condones
C. open - abhors
D. pleasant - confronts
E. puzzling - practices
22. Knowing that Moriarty was a ____ adversary, the cautious detective
never underestimated his enemy's powers, and so, to ensure that he was
not observed, took a ____ route to his secret rendezvous.
A. redoubtable - circuitous
B. cunning - elevated
C. famous - well-known
D. defeated - direct
E. unsavory - quick
23. The action committee collected enough funds to renovate the ____
station and refurbish the steam train so that local residents could
get a flavor of the ____ days of rail travel.
A. razed - decrepit
B. ancient - impoverished
C. derelict - halcyon
D. pristine - bygone
E. unspoiled - glorious
24. The fact that tourists are being offered an excursion to see the
biggest slum in Asia and experience for themselves the ____ the lives
of the rich and the poor makes a ____ all our claims to be an advanced
democratic nation.
A. inequality of - display of
B. disparity between - travesty of
C. similarity in - mockery of
D. proximity of - comment on
E. futility of - statement about
25. The participants at the conference were, by and large, a ____
collection of self-proclaimed revolutionaries and mavericks, but
surprisingly included several ____ supporters of the establishment.
A. moth-eaten - temporary
B. miserable - jovial
C. curious - vacillating
D. dull - boorish
E. motley - staunch
Tuesday 16 February 2016
1624 -16.02.16
Solutions - https://www.facebook.com/events/1736644779901761/
In each of the following questions, there are sentences or fragments
of sentences that form a paragraph. Identify the sentence(s) or
fragments of sentence(s) that is/are correct in terms of grammar and
usage
1. (A) In 2009, when James Cameron made "Avatar", he set his colonial
allegory not in an alien planet but in the moon of such a planet.
(B) Perhaps he felt that exoplanets themselves were passé as settings
for fiction, since in fact so many had being discovered.
(C) If so, he got in just in time, for reality may soon imitate art in
the matter of both moons as well as planets.
(D) That is because few astronomers are indeed beginning the search
for satellites around
(E) some of the thousands of known and suspected exoplanets.
2
(A) Shortly after returning to being the firm's chief executive in
2011, Larry Page said he wanted it to develop more services that
everyone would use at least twice a day, like a toothbrush.
(B) Its latest purchase is Nest Labs, a maker of sophisticated
thermostats and smoke detectors and Google has made an announcement
that it would pay $3.2 billion in cash for the firm.
(C) Now, with a string of recent acquisitions, Google seems to be
planning to become as big in hardware as it is in software, developing
"toothbrush" products in a variety of areas from robots to cars to
domestic-heating controls.
(D) At Google they call it the toothbrush test.
(E) Its search engine and its Android operating system for mobile
devices pass that test.
Three out of four sentences in the paragraph given below, when
correctly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Which of the following
sentences does not fit into the context?
3.
a)
The former will play a lot of video games and the like; the latter
will be deprived and left far behind.
b)
Many of the underlying causes of the growing gap between rich and poor
− fast technological change and the rapid globalization of the economy
− are deep-seated and likely to persist.
c)
Inequality is not impervious to government policy, but higher marginal
tax rates are not the only or the best way to address it.
d)
It is thought that the population will soon be divided into two
groups: those who are good at working with intelligent machines and
those who can be replaced by them.
Four alternative summaries are given below the text. Which of the
options best captures the essence of the text?
4.Traditionally, a "belief" is a state of mind of a certain sort. But
the behaviourists deny that there are states of mind, or at least that
they can be known; they therefore avoid the word "belief", and, if
they used it, would mean by it a characteristic of bodily behaviour.
There are cases in which this usage would be quite in accordance with
common sense. Suppose you set out to visit a friend whom you have
often visited before, but on arriving at your destination you find
that he has moved, you would say "I thought he was still living at his
old house." Yet it is highly probable that you did not think about it
at all, but merely pursued the usual route from habit. A "thought" or
"belief" may, therefore, in the view of common sense, be shown by
behaviour, without any corresponding "mental" occurrence. And even if
you use a form of words such as is supposed to express belief, you are
still engaged in bodily behaviour, provided you pronounce the words
out loud or to yourself. Shall we say, in such cases, that you have a
belief? Or is something further required?
a)
There is nothing called mind − it is all a complex interplay of
neurons which are physical in nature.
b)
Some of the behavioural traits in humans can be attributed to body
rather than mind.
c)
Behaviour acts at two different levels − body and mind and both are
significant in contributing to a man's actions.
d)
A belief is just a state of mind; and might be different from actions.
Our knowledge of human body and mind is limited and it needs further
research.
5.(A) Nowhere has captivated the minds of Western mapmakers as much as
fabled Cathay, finding a sea route to China inspired many of the great
explorers.
(B) In November last year they issued a map showing a new Chinese "air
defence identification zone" that includes the airspace around some
disputed islands, owned by Japan which calls them the Senkakus and
claimed by China which named them the Diaoyus.
(C) In the 19th century the navigators finally succeeded and Chinese
leaders are now flexing their own cartographic muscles.
(D) Maps can be tools for trade, but they can also be weapons of war;
for centuries cartographers have embraced both aims.
(E) European maps of the past 400 years tell the story of empire and
the efforts to prise China open for trade.
In each of the following questions, there are sentences or fragments
of sentences that form a paragraph. Identify the sentence(s) or
fragments of sentence(s) that is/are correct in terms of grammar and
usage,
6. (A) The SugarHouse Casino on Delaware river in Philadelphia was
packed on a recent federal holiday.
(B) The slot machines were all almost occupied. The betting tables
were busy. The car park was nearly full.
(C) SugarHouse, along with Pennsylvania's ten other casinos, have been
siphoning much of Atlantic City's gambling business.
(D) As much as, that Pennsylvania, which did not open a casino until
2006, is now the second-largest gambling market in America
(E) after Las Vegas, bypassing the "City by the Sea", which held a
monopoly on gambling in the north-east for nearly 30 years
7.(A) On top of this, atmospheric drag often brings them back to Earth
in an untimely fashion.
(B) Nanosatellites are spacecraft, little larger than a smartphone,
that can fly cheaply into orbit by piggybacking on rockets carrying
bigger payloads.
(C) Fitting them with their own rocket motors would give them
directional autonomy, and would also let them boost their orbits every
so often, to escape the atmosphere's clutches.
(D) But their dependence on other people's goodwill for their launch
means that their orbits are not completely under their owners'
control, which restricts their usefulness.
(E) The power of modern electronics means that such tiny vessels can
be equipped with lots of useful kits, including GPS trackers, cameras
and radios.
In each of the following questions, there are sentences or fragments
of sentences that form a paragraph. Identify the sentence(s) or
fragments of sentence(s) that is/are correct in terms of grammar and
usage,
8. (A) The two more popular words in the business lexicon are probably
"global" and "leadership".
(B) Put them together and people in a suit start to salivate.
(C) That is perhaps more than 1,000 corporate bosses are flocking to
Davos, a Swiss ski resort, this week.
(D) There, at the annual bash of the World Economic Forum (WEF), they
sip cocktails with some 50 heads of state and 300 cabinet ministers.
(E) Whatever the topic, between deficits to deadly diseases, the talk
is all of providing "global leadership".
9.(a) They make fundamentally differing assumptions about what exists
and about what constitutes secure knowledge.
(b) Philosophy sometimes is thought to offer the vantage point, but it
can only help to clarify the issues; naturalism can do at least as
well as religion in satisfying human needs for coherence and meaning.
(c) Stephen J. Gould takes the position that science and religion
cannot be in conflict, since they deal with separate domains.
(d) However, there may not be a higher vantage point from which to
answer the question of what system is best.
(e) This seems doubtful, since science and religion both make strong,
incompatible claims about the world we inhabit.
a)
bdcae
b)
bcead
c)
caedb
d)
ceadb
OMO
10.
a)
Saturday morning had arrived, and all the summer world was bright and
fresh, and brimming with life.
b)
He surveyed the fence, and all gladness left him and a deep melancholy
settled down upon his spirit.
c)
Thirty yards of board fence nine feet high; life to him seemed hollow,
and existence but a burden.
d)
Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a
long-handled brush.
11.The reality is that most newly privatized companies need dominant,
experienced shareholders to compensate for the weaknesses of managers
never before exposed to best business practice. Without the support
and prodding of such shareholders, Eastern companies tend to operate
very much along the lines learned in the days of central planning,
insider control, and relentless focus on production. Old-guard
managers simply lack the skills and experience to convert a company
from its old communist predilections to a genuine market orientation.
But when these same enterprises receive support from strong, capable −
most often Western − shareholders, they have shown that they can
perform to international standards and even outperform some leading
Western competitors.
Which of these statements cannot be inferred from the passage?
a)
The capability to adapt to market conditions is largely lacking in the
newly privatised companies in the East which tend to adhere strongly
to age-old practices like insider control and central planning.
b)
Dominant shareholders can turn around the fortune of a company.
c)
Eastern companies need to be pushed to perform to international
standards by shareholders.
d)
Western companies do not need to be prodded by shareholders into
outperforming competitors.
Four alternative summaries are given below the text. Which of the
options best captures the essence of the text?
12.A propeller is a machine that moves you forward through a fluid (a
liquid or gas) when you turn it. Since a ship propeller works in
water, the ship speed will normally be less than the theoretical
speed. The difference between the two speeds is known as the apparent
slip and is usually expressed as a ratio or percentage of the
theoretical speed. If the ship speed is measured relative to the
surrounding water, i.e. by means of a log line, the theoretical speed
will invariably exceed the ship speed, giving a positive apparent
slip. If, however, the ship speed is measured relative to the land,
then any movement of water will affect the apparent slip, and should
the vessel be travelling in a flowing current, the ship speed may
exceed the theoretical speed, resulting in a negative apparent slip.
a)
All the propellers work in water as a result of which the ship speed
is usually less than the theoretical speed. This means there is a
negative apparent slip as the apparent slip is the difference between
two speeds.
b)
Apparent slip is relative to how the ship speed is measured. Even the
movement of water will affect the apparent slip.
c)
The speed of a propeller driven vessel can be measured in different
ways, ship speed or theoretical speed, relative to surrounding water,
land, or flowing current. Apparent slip, the difference between the
theoretical speed and the actual ship speed, may be positive or
negative depending on the parameters and mode of measurement.
d)
Apparent slip is calculated by the difference between ship speed and
the theoretical speed. However, it varies with the method of measuring
the ship speed.
Three out of four sentences in the paragraph given below, when
correctly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Which of the following
sentences does not fit into the context?
13.
a)
But now the situation may have changed, and it is time to zero-base it again.
b)
Whenever you are involved in something that, knowing what you now
know, you wouldn't get into again, you experience ongoing stress,
aggravation, irritation and anger.
c)
Many decisions that you make will turn out to be wrong in the fullness of time.
d)
When you made the decision or commitment, it was probably a good idea,
based on the circumstances of the moment.
14.No archaeological excavation has ever excited so general and so
lasting an interest as that which brought to light the tomb of the
Pharaoh Tutankhamun. The tomb's importance was due, first and
foremost, to the amazing number of beautiful things which it contained
--an unparalleled contribution to the world's treasury of art which
the public was right to appreciate. On the other hand it must be
admitted that the discovery added nothing to what was known about the
history of Egypt. The tomb yielded no written documents other than the
stereotyped funerary inscriptions. The brief reign of this
insignificant boy Pharaoh (he was only eighteen years old when he
died) was not marked by any event of note -- that he renounced the
Aten worship proclaimed by his father-in-law Akhenaton and that under
his rule the priests of Amen at Thebes regained their old power were
facts already familiar to historians. Of course the tomb, the only
Egyptian royal tomb found virtually intact, did illustrate with
unsurpassed splendour the ritual of a Pharaoh's burial, but the ritual
was already known, too, from written documents, wall-paintings and
reliefs, and objects surviving in plundered graves; it was indeed
satisfactory to have the actual furniture instead of pictures of it,
but it taught us nothing new.
All of the following have resulted in stimulating or prompting a
general and lasting interest in Tutankhamun's tomb EXCEPT?
a)
Structure and opulence of the tomb.
b)
The presence of an amazing number of beautiful objects that
contributed to the world treasury of art.
c)
The tomb was found intact with actual furniture and pieces of art and
illustrated with unsurpassed splendour the ritual of a Pharaoh's
burial.
d)
Funerary inscriptions and written documents about the history of Egypt.
Four alternative summaries are given below the text. Which of the
options best captures the essence of the text?
15.There's a large body of medical literature showing that married
people tend to be healthier and live longer than singles. But newer
research adds an important caveat: the quality of the marriage
matters. Surveys show that couples that enjoy good marital
relationships are likely to share common interests when these shared
interests have existed in the individual prior to the marriage. One
should look for a spouse who shares common interests because marital
stress, logically enough, is not good for one's health. Other studies
have shown that happily married women have fewer blockages in their
aortas, and that happily married couples are less likely than unhappy
couples to suffer from heart disease.
a)
It is important to have a healthy and happy married life so as to have
a healthy body and life. The relationship between couples affects an
individual's health and stress between them can lead to problems,
especially where the heart is concerned. Hence, marital relation is a
factor important enough to be considered in case of heart disease.
b)
Most heart diseases are due to stress and most of the stress is due to
problems between spouses. Marital stress needs to be controlled and
considered in case of any heart disease. Couples who are happily
married are less prone to heart disease. All couples that share common
interests will enjoy good marital relationships.
c)
While we've often been told that married life prompts healthy life,
new research shows that happiness in marriage matters. Marital stress
can lead to heart disease, with those who are happy in their marriage
being healthier than those who aren't. Sharing of common interests
when these interests have existed prior to marriage helps in building
happy marriages.
d)
It is important to be happy to stay healthy. Relationship between the
spouses is a major factor governing the stress levels in individuals.
Happy married life is important. A couple that doesn't start with
common interests could develop them and have a happy relationship.
16.Outsourcing of services to India has become a major campaign issue
in the US. The future of US workers is said to be at stake. A lot of
economic nonsense has been peddled by presidential candidates. There
is an echo of the protests against globalization that we heard in
India ten years ago. Indian industry, it was said, would be crushed by
multinationals in the 1990s after the economy opened up to the world.
And what happened? I wouldn't even bother to answer.
It can be inferred from the passage that?
a)
Typically presidential campaigns in the US are high on rhetoric.
b)
American industry is facing the same crisis that Indian industry
faced, 10 years ago.
c)
Indian companies have done well since lowering of trade barriers in the 1990s.
d)
America does not practice free trade.
Four alternative summaries are given below the text. Which of the
options best captures the essence of the text?
17.There is no trick to motivating others. It requires a clear,
unbiased understanding of the situation at hand, deep insight into the
vagaries of human nature at both the individual and the group levels,
the establishment of appropriate and reasonable expectations and
goals, and the construction of a balanced set of tangible and
intangible incentives. It requires, in other words, hard thinking and
hard work. And when an organization is under strain or is in crisis,
the challenges-and the stakes-become that much higher. The questions
that managers have to grapple with as they try to inspire their people
are many and complex: How do you deal with individuals or groups at
different motivation levels that vary in different ways? How can you
influence the behavior of a single individual, let alone an
organization of hundreds or thousands? How can you help people feel
enthusiastic and committed, especially in difficult times?
a)
During periods of organization crisis, the challenges faced by
managers in corporates are magnified by issues of employee motivation.
b)
Employee motivation is the single most challenge that managers face.
c)
For organizations to succeed, it is critical to align goals of
individual employees with organizational goals.
d)
Due to heterogeneity in employee populations, large organizations are
difficult to manage.
Three out of four sentences in the paragraph given below, when
correctly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Which of the following
sentences does not fit into the context?
18.
a)
For there comes a time when choice, rather than freeing the
individual, becomes so complex, difficult and costly, that it turns
into its opposite.
b)
And technology, far from restricting our individuality, will multiply
our choices and our freedom exponentially.
c)
There comes a time, in short, when choice turns into overchoice and
freedom into un-freedom.
d)
Whether man is prepared to cope with the increased choice of material
and cultural wares available to him is, however, a totally different
question.
Do you have the emotional intelligence of a truly great professional?
Job seekers tend to focus only on their professional experience.
However, employers are constantly on the lookout for smart people who
are not only experts in their fields, but also have the emotional
intelligence to become a well-rounded worker and a fit within the
company's culture. Employees with emotional intelligence can instantly
take the temperature of the room and adjust to different
personalities. These are the people who find it easy to get along with
coworkers and who work well as part of integrated teams. According to
Goleman, great leaders are often distinguished by emotional
intelligence (E.I.), which includes "soft skills" like self-awareness,
self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills.
Staying flexible is also important to one's overall emotional
intelligence. Flexibility may mean different things to different
employers, from working cross-departmentally to completing tasks
remotely. In a job interview, one should show employers that one has
the ability to adapt to new environments and work with a wide variety
of people in order to communicate the flexibility of one's emotional
intelligence. Employers want to know whether one can adapt to anything
thrown one's way, and high levels of emotional intelligence can help
one succeed in a variety of situations. In a global marketplace, this
can be the difference between "You're hired!" and unemployment.
There are some widespread misunderstandings about emotional
intelligence. Emotional intelligence does not mean giving free rein to
feelings--"letting it all hang out" Rather, it means managing feelings
so that they are expressed appropriately, enabling people to work
together smoothly toward their common goals.
Also, women are not "smarter" than men when it comes to emotional
intelligence, nor are men superior to women. Each of us has a personal
profile of strengths and weaknesses in these capacities. Some of us
may be highly empathic but lack some abilities to handle our own
distress; others may be quite aware of the subtlest shift in our own
moods, yet be inept socially.
It is true that men and women as groups tend to have a shared,
gender-specific profile of strong and weak points. An analysis of
emotional intelligence in thousands of men and women found that women,
on average, are more aware of their emotions, show more empathy, and
are more adept interpersonally. Men, on the other hand, are more
self-confident and optimistic, adapt more easily, and handle stress
better.
In general, however, there are far more similarities than differences.
Some men are as empathic as the most interpersonally sensitive women,
while some women are every bit as able to withstand stress as the most
emotionally resilient men. Indeed, on average, looking at the overall
ratings for men and women, the strengths and weaknesses average out,
so that in terms of total emotional intelligence, there are no sex
differences.
Finally, our level of emotional intelligence is not fixed genetically,
nor does it develop only in early childhood. Unlike IQ, which changes
little after our teen years, emotional intelligence seems to be
largely learned, and it continues to develop as we go through life and
learn from our experiences--our competence in it can keep growing. In
fact, studies that have tracked people's level of emotional
intelligence through the years show that people get better and better
in these capabilities as they grow more adept at handling their own
emotions and impulses, at motivating themselves, and at honing their
empathy and social adroitness.
In the new, stripped-down, every-job-counts business climate; the need
for connection, for empathy, for open communication will matter more
than ever. Massive change is a constant; technical innovations, global
competition, and the pressures of institutional investors are
ever-escalating forces for flux.
Another reality makes emotional intelligence ever more crucial: As
organizations shrink through waves of downsizing, those people who
remain are more accountable--and more visible. Where earlier a
midlevel employee might easily hide a hot temper or shyness, now
competencies such as managing one's emotions, handling encounters
well, teamwork, and leadership, show--and count--more than ever.
19. DIRECTIONS for question 85: Type in your answer in the input box
provided below the question.
Which of the following statements can be deduced from the passage?
(A) Tests for emotional intelligence would assess the cognitive and
social abilities of individuals.
(B) The ability to work effectively with other people and resolve
conflicts can be an indicator of one's emotional intelligence.
(C) While emotional intelligence may not seem to be as important of a
skill as, say, technical expertise, it can be the key you need to
stand out in a competitive job market.
(D) None of the above
Identify all that apply and enter the corresponding letters in the
input box given below. You must enter your answer in alphabetical
order only. For example, if you think (A) and (B) apply, then enter AB
(but not BA) in the input box.
20. According to the author, unlike Emotional quotient, Intelligence
Quotient develops
a)
little in teens.
b)
mainly in early childhood.
c)
throughout teen years.
d)
continuously through life span.
21. As regards emotional intelligence, the author suggests that
a)
differences between men and women are negligible.
b)
there are absolutely no differences between men and women.
c)
there are more similarities than differences between men and women.
d)
none of the above.
22. All of the following can be inferred from the passage EXCEPT:
a)
E.I. is learned behaviour that can only be measured quantitatively.
b)
E.I. is invaluable for efficient workplace management today.
c)
E.I. is an ever growing dynamic competency.
d)
E.I. is learned behaviour that can be measured qualitatively.
It is a general weakness of men dealing with reason and delivering
ideas that they are able to convince themselves that their words
represent a break with the past and a new beginning. In the early
stages of a revolution, history is at its most malleable. Disorder and
optimism combine to wipe out those truths artificially manufactured by
the preceding regimes. At the same time, they usually wipe out the
memory of any inconvenient real event.
We have great difficulty dealing with philosophy in the context of
real events. These two categories seem to live on separate planets. We
are still convinced that violence is the product of fear and fear the
product of ignorance. And yet, since the beginning of the Age of
reason, there has been a parallel growth in both knowledge and
violence, culminating in the slaughters of the 20th century.
Also, revolutions do not begin on dates, although we constantly search
for that kind of reassuring touch point. An argument is sometimes made
that the assumptions and methods of applied reason where all the key
elements of modern intellectual thought can be found were first
developed by the Inquisition. The Inquisitors were the first to
formalize the idea that to every question there is a right answer. The
answer is known, but the question must be asked and correctly
answered. Relativism, humanism, common sense and moral beliefs were
all irrelevant to this process because they assume doubt. Since the
Inquisitors knew the answer, doubt was impossible. Process, however,
was essential for efficient governance and process required that
questions be asked in order to produce the correct answer.
When the Inquisition was created in the thirteenth century, no one,
least of all Pope Gregory, understood what was being set in motion.
Issuing a bull which made the persecution of heresy the special
function of the Dominicans hardly seemed a revolutionary step. The
Inquisitors' definition of truth was arrived at slowly, as was the
process which permitted them to establish it. But as each detail of
that process emerged, so the assumptions involved became clear.
Everything the Inquisition did -- except the execution, of the guilty
-- took place in secret. Public silence surrounded the work of the
travelling Inquisitors. Unlike judges, magistrates, nobles and kings,
who have always worn some symbolic costume, the Inquisitors wore the
simplest, most anonymous black, like the proverbial accountant. And
while their power permitted them to do their work on the basis of
accusations and denunciations, what they really wanted were complete
inquisitions. Being already in possession of the truth, they were
interested in the rational demonstration of it by each victim. Perhaps
the most telling detail was that each of these secret tribunals
included a notary. His job was to record every word of every question
and answer. These notarised manuscripts became the perpetual records
of truth. But again, the purpose of such exactitude was to glorify the
methodology, not the outcome. The notary was there to confirm the
relationship between a priori truth and assembled fact. On the surface
the Inquisitors were torturers and monsters. On a more profound level
they were moral auditors.
23. From the passage, one can understand that the revolutionary
aspects of the Inquisition involved
a)
asking questions and providing clear answers.
b)
the persecution of heresy and the execution of unbelievers and other
people found guilty.
c)
exploring the constitution of questions, answers and the truth.
d)
preserving certified and attested manuscripts which became the
perpetual record of truth.
24. Which of the following describes the key elements of the thought
developed during the Inquisition?
a)
Moral auditing, order and reason.
b)
Impossibility of dubiousness.
c)
Humanism, common sense and relationism.
d)
Process for efficient administration and control or exercise of authority.
25. After reading the passage, one can understand, from it, all of the
following sentences EXCEPT?
a)
The inquisitors executed their victims overtly.
b)
A likely consequence of correct answers would be the desired truth,
arrived at through the desired process.
c)
The Inquisitors promoted violence by feeding on fear and ignorance in
people's minds. The victims were tortured and thus revealed the truth
but were executed anyway.
d)
The notary was a bridge between the theoretical deduction and the
constructed actuality.
26. The word "exactitude" in the context of the passage means
a)
certainty of judgement and rational demonstration.
b)
the slow but steady details of the process by which the exact truth
was defined and established.
c)
notarizing word by word to achieve the end result.
d)
preciseness of the methodology involving framing questions, seeking
answers and establishing the truth.
For more than three millennia, human beings have invested some of
their best cognitive and affective resources in the spiritual and the
religious. That investment, in retrospect, might not have been
uniformly wise and uniformly creative. But it has not been uniformly
forgettable either. The investment in secular statecraft and secular
public life, on the other hand, has been relatively recent and, though
it has also often been immensely creative, it has been spectacularly
destructive, too. In any case, the second set of investments can never
compare with the three millennia of human achievement in the sphere of
religion. Civilisation, as we know it, is largely the achievement of
the religious way of life, though we try hard to forget that part of
the story. I say this as a non-believer who has invested some years of
life in the study of the psychological and cultural sources of human
creativity.
Can we ignore or bypass these achievements for the sake of a theory of
progress that seeks to wipe clean the pre-Enlightenment world or
freeze it as a museum piece? If the answer is 'no', how can we
acknowledge the achievements of a part of our self that the
Enlightenment vision has declared terra incognita? I leave the reader
with these questions in the hope that they will help me find an answer
to one of the most persistent puzzles of our times: why do we so
frequently and enthusiastically forget the secular world's capacity to
endorse evil, while at the same time being so fearful of religion and
its capacity to endorse evil? Is it because the secular world is more
transparent to us? Or, is it because we belong to the secular world
and read all accusations of its complicity with evil as moral
indictments of us? (Such defensive denial of complicity has become an
inescapable part of the career graph of many contemporary ideologies.
Despite the shoddy record of nationalism in the last century, there
are millions of nationalists all over the world, even in Europe and
Japan, who have paid an enormous price for their nationalist fervour.
Even today, there are more Stalinists in India than in the former
Soviet Union, even though these inane ad-mirers of the Georgian
psychopath have no need to defend his record of oppression and
genocide.) One suspects that the evil that grows out of religion is
alien territory to us and looks eerily like witchcraft and blood
sacrifice, while the death of millions in the hands of secular states
and secular despots look like necessary costs to pay for lofty ideals
such as nation-building, state formation, progress, development,
scientific rationality and history. Indeed, the emphasis on the
blood-thirstiness associated with religions helps the non-believers to
wipe clean the record of their own kind.
Perhaps things are not as simple as these questions suggest. The
secular study of religion, at one level, is the other side of the
secular use of religion in which many politicians specialise. Part of
the bitterness towards the political versions of Islam, Judaism,
Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity come from a vague but threatening
awareness that those who deploy religion for personal or political
gains have the same instrumental concept of religion and use the same
set of psychological mechanisms that we use when we study religion
from outside, to produce a good ethnography or social history or to
write an acceptable doctoral dissertation.
31. The author uses the phrase 'in retrospect' (para 1) to refer to (?) .......
a)
the ability to look inwards.
b)
the expectation(s) in future based on an analysis of past.
c)
a comparison of the past and the present to resolve contentious issues.
d)
the review or the contemplation of the past from a different perspective.
32. All of the following can be deduced from the passage EXCEPT:
a)
There are more evils arising from religion than from secularism.
b)
Religion as object of research is often approached superficially.
c)
Secularism is not as blemish free and blame free as it is made out to be.
d)
Certain destructive acts are carried out in the name of high sounding ideals.
33. The author feels that the uneasiness with which people view evil
that appears to be endorsed by religion arises from?
a)
an attitude that denies that one is an accomplice of evil.
b)
the impression that these are not necessarily evils.
c)
short-sightedness and obeisance to transient fashions based on lofty
ideals like progress, nation-building, state formation and development
of a whole civilization.
d)
the fact that religion is not as transparent as secularism but is
synonymous to witchcraft, blood sacrifice and psychopathic violence.
34. Which of the following can be understood from the passage?
a)
Due to progress made by secularism, it is good to wipe clean the
contributions of religion to civilization.
b)
Terra incognita means known or discovered or explored territory.
c)
Ethno-religious nationalists who use religion as a pathway to power
would use the same religious concepts or psychological processes that
ethnographers or ardent secular nationalists would use.
d)
The investment of human cognitive and affective resources in secular
public life has always been wise and creative.
In each of the following questions, there are sentences or fragments
of sentences that form a paragraph. Identify the sentence(s) or
fragments of sentence(s) that is/are correct in terms of grammar and
usage
1. (A) In 2009, when James Cameron made "Avatar", he set his colonial
allegory not in an alien planet but in the moon of such a planet.
(B) Perhaps he felt that exoplanets themselves were passé as settings
for fiction, since in fact so many had being discovered.
(C) If so, he got in just in time, for reality may soon imitate art in
the matter of both moons as well as planets.
(D) That is because few astronomers are indeed beginning the search
for satellites around
(E) some of the thousands of known and suspected exoplanets.
2
(A) Shortly after returning to being the firm's chief executive in
2011, Larry Page said he wanted it to develop more services that
everyone would use at least twice a day, like a toothbrush.
(B) Its latest purchase is Nest Labs, a maker of sophisticated
thermostats and smoke detectors and Google has made an announcement
that it would pay $3.2 billion in cash for the firm.
(C) Now, with a string of recent acquisitions, Google seems to be
planning to become as big in hardware as it is in software, developing
"toothbrush" products in a variety of areas from robots to cars to
domestic-heating controls.
(D) At Google they call it the toothbrush test.
(E) Its search engine and its Android operating system for mobile
devices pass that test.
Three out of four sentences in the paragraph given below, when
correctly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Which of the following
sentences does not fit into the context?
3.
a)
The former will play a lot of video games and the like; the latter
will be deprived and left far behind.
b)
Many of the underlying causes of the growing gap between rich and poor
− fast technological change and the rapid globalization of the economy
− are deep-seated and likely to persist.
c)
Inequality is not impervious to government policy, but higher marginal
tax rates are not the only or the best way to address it.
d)
It is thought that the population will soon be divided into two
groups: those who are good at working with intelligent machines and
those who can be replaced by them.
Four alternative summaries are given below the text. Which of the
options best captures the essence of the text?
4.Traditionally, a "belief" is a state of mind of a certain sort. But
the behaviourists deny that there are states of mind, or at least that
they can be known; they therefore avoid the word "belief", and, if
they used it, would mean by it a characteristic of bodily behaviour.
There are cases in which this usage would be quite in accordance with
common sense. Suppose you set out to visit a friend whom you have
often visited before, but on arriving at your destination you find
that he has moved, you would say "I thought he was still living at his
old house." Yet it is highly probable that you did not think about it
at all, but merely pursued the usual route from habit. A "thought" or
"belief" may, therefore, in the view of common sense, be shown by
behaviour, without any corresponding "mental" occurrence. And even if
you use a form of words such as is supposed to express belief, you are
still engaged in bodily behaviour, provided you pronounce the words
out loud or to yourself. Shall we say, in such cases, that you have a
belief? Or is something further required?
a)
There is nothing called mind − it is all a complex interplay of
neurons which are physical in nature.
b)
Some of the behavioural traits in humans can be attributed to body
rather than mind.
c)
Behaviour acts at two different levels − body and mind and both are
significant in contributing to a man's actions.
d)
A belief is just a state of mind; and might be different from actions.
Our knowledge of human body and mind is limited and it needs further
research.
5.(A) Nowhere has captivated the minds of Western mapmakers as much as
fabled Cathay, finding a sea route to China inspired many of the great
explorers.
(B) In November last year they issued a map showing a new Chinese "air
defence identification zone" that includes the airspace around some
disputed islands, owned by Japan which calls them the Senkakus and
claimed by China which named them the Diaoyus.
(C) In the 19th century the navigators finally succeeded and Chinese
leaders are now flexing their own cartographic muscles.
(D) Maps can be tools for trade, but they can also be weapons of war;
for centuries cartographers have embraced both aims.
(E) European maps of the past 400 years tell the story of empire and
the efforts to prise China open for trade.
In each of the following questions, there are sentences or fragments
of sentences that form a paragraph. Identify the sentence(s) or
fragments of sentence(s) that is/are correct in terms of grammar and
usage,
6. (A) The SugarHouse Casino on Delaware river in Philadelphia was
packed on a recent federal holiday.
(B) The slot machines were all almost occupied. The betting tables
were busy. The car park was nearly full.
(C) SugarHouse, along with Pennsylvania's ten other casinos, have been
siphoning much of Atlantic City's gambling business.
(D) As much as, that Pennsylvania, which did not open a casino until
2006, is now the second-largest gambling market in America
(E) after Las Vegas, bypassing the "City by the Sea", which held a
monopoly on gambling in the north-east for nearly 30 years
7.(A) On top of this, atmospheric drag often brings them back to Earth
in an untimely fashion.
(B) Nanosatellites are spacecraft, little larger than a smartphone,
that can fly cheaply into orbit by piggybacking on rockets carrying
bigger payloads.
(C) Fitting them with their own rocket motors would give them
directional autonomy, and would also let them boost their orbits every
so often, to escape the atmosphere's clutches.
(D) But their dependence on other people's goodwill for their launch
means that their orbits are not completely under their owners'
control, which restricts their usefulness.
(E) The power of modern electronics means that such tiny vessels can
be equipped with lots of useful kits, including GPS trackers, cameras
and radios.
In each of the following questions, there are sentences or fragments
of sentences that form a paragraph. Identify the sentence(s) or
fragments of sentence(s) that is/are correct in terms of grammar and
usage,
8. (A) The two more popular words in the business lexicon are probably
"global" and "leadership".
(B) Put them together and people in a suit start to salivate.
(C) That is perhaps more than 1,000 corporate bosses are flocking to
Davos, a Swiss ski resort, this week.
(D) There, at the annual bash of the World Economic Forum (WEF), they
sip cocktails with some 50 heads of state and 300 cabinet ministers.
(E) Whatever the topic, between deficits to deadly diseases, the talk
is all of providing "global leadership".
9.(a) They make fundamentally differing assumptions about what exists
and about what constitutes secure knowledge.
(b) Philosophy sometimes is thought to offer the vantage point, but it
can only help to clarify the issues; naturalism can do at least as
well as religion in satisfying human needs for coherence and meaning.
(c) Stephen J. Gould takes the position that science and religion
cannot be in conflict, since they deal with separate domains.
(d) However, there may not be a higher vantage point from which to
answer the question of what system is best.
(e) This seems doubtful, since science and religion both make strong,
incompatible claims about the world we inhabit.
a)
bdcae
b)
bcead
c)
caedb
d)
ceadb
OMO
10.
a)
Saturday morning had arrived, and all the summer world was bright and
fresh, and brimming with life.
b)
He surveyed the fence, and all gladness left him and a deep melancholy
settled down upon his spirit.
c)
Thirty yards of board fence nine feet high; life to him seemed hollow,
and existence but a burden.
d)
Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a
long-handled brush.
11.The reality is that most newly privatized companies need dominant,
experienced shareholders to compensate for the weaknesses of managers
never before exposed to best business practice. Without the support
and prodding of such shareholders, Eastern companies tend to operate
very much along the lines learned in the days of central planning,
insider control, and relentless focus on production. Old-guard
managers simply lack the skills and experience to convert a company
from its old communist predilections to a genuine market orientation.
But when these same enterprises receive support from strong, capable −
most often Western − shareholders, they have shown that they can
perform to international standards and even outperform some leading
Western competitors.
Which of these statements cannot be inferred from the passage?
a)
The capability to adapt to market conditions is largely lacking in the
newly privatised companies in the East which tend to adhere strongly
to age-old practices like insider control and central planning.
b)
Dominant shareholders can turn around the fortune of a company.
c)
Eastern companies need to be pushed to perform to international
standards by shareholders.
d)
Western companies do not need to be prodded by shareholders into
outperforming competitors.
Four alternative summaries are given below the text. Which of the
options best captures the essence of the text?
12.A propeller is a machine that moves you forward through a fluid (a
liquid or gas) when you turn it. Since a ship propeller works in
water, the ship speed will normally be less than the theoretical
speed. The difference between the two speeds is known as the apparent
slip and is usually expressed as a ratio or percentage of the
theoretical speed. If the ship speed is measured relative to the
surrounding water, i.e. by means of a log line, the theoretical speed
will invariably exceed the ship speed, giving a positive apparent
slip. If, however, the ship speed is measured relative to the land,
then any movement of water will affect the apparent slip, and should
the vessel be travelling in a flowing current, the ship speed may
exceed the theoretical speed, resulting in a negative apparent slip.
a)
All the propellers work in water as a result of which the ship speed
is usually less than the theoretical speed. This means there is a
negative apparent slip as the apparent slip is the difference between
two speeds.
b)
Apparent slip is relative to how the ship speed is measured. Even the
movement of water will affect the apparent slip.
c)
The speed of a propeller driven vessel can be measured in different
ways, ship speed or theoretical speed, relative to surrounding water,
land, or flowing current. Apparent slip, the difference between the
theoretical speed and the actual ship speed, may be positive or
negative depending on the parameters and mode of measurement.
d)
Apparent slip is calculated by the difference between ship speed and
the theoretical speed. However, it varies with the method of measuring
the ship speed.
Three out of four sentences in the paragraph given below, when
correctly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Which of the following
sentences does not fit into the context?
13.
a)
But now the situation may have changed, and it is time to zero-base it again.
b)
Whenever you are involved in something that, knowing what you now
know, you wouldn't get into again, you experience ongoing stress,
aggravation, irritation and anger.
c)
Many decisions that you make will turn out to be wrong in the fullness of time.
d)
When you made the decision or commitment, it was probably a good idea,
based on the circumstances of the moment.
14.No archaeological excavation has ever excited so general and so
lasting an interest as that which brought to light the tomb of the
Pharaoh Tutankhamun. The tomb's importance was due, first and
foremost, to the amazing number of beautiful things which it contained
--an unparalleled contribution to the world's treasury of art which
the public was right to appreciate. On the other hand it must be
admitted that the discovery added nothing to what was known about the
history of Egypt. The tomb yielded no written documents other than the
stereotyped funerary inscriptions. The brief reign of this
insignificant boy Pharaoh (he was only eighteen years old when he
died) was not marked by any event of note -- that he renounced the
Aten worship proclaimed by his father-in-law Akhenaton and that under
his rule the priests of Amen at Thebes regained their old power were
facts already familiar to historians. Of course the tomb, the only
Egyptian royal tomb found virtually intact, did illustrate with
unsurpassed splendour the ritual of a Pharaoh's burial, but the ritual
was already known, too, from written documents, wall-paintings and
reliefs, and objects surviving in plundered graves; it was indeed
satisfactory to have the actual furniture instead of pictures of it,
but it taught us nothing new.
All of the following have resulted in stimulating or prompting a
general and lasting interest in Tutankhamun's tomb EXCEPT?
a)
Structure and opulence of the tomb.
b)
The presence of an amazing number of beautiful objects that
contributed to the world treasury of art.
c)
The tomb was found intact with actual furniture and pieces of art and
illustrated with unsurpassed splendour the ritual of a Pharaoh's
burial.
d)
Funerary inscriptions and written documents about the history of Egypt.
Four alternative summaries are given below the text. Which of the
options best captures the essence of the text?
15.There's a large body of medical literature showing that married
people tend to be healthier and live longer than singles. But newer
research adds an important caveat: the quality of the marriage
matters. Surveys show that couples that enjoy good marital
relationships are likely to share common interests when these shared
interests have existed in the individual prior to the marriage. One
should look for a spouse who shares common interests because marital
stress, logically enough, is not good for one's health. Other studies
have shown that happily married women have fewer blockages in their
aortas, and that happily married couples are less likely than unhappy
couples to suffer from heart disease.
a)
It is important to have a healthy and happy married life so as to have
a healthy body and life. The relationship between couples affects an
individual's health and stress between them can lead to problems,
especially where the heart is concerned. Hence, marital relation is a
factor important enough to be considered in case of heart disease.
b)
Most heart diseases are due to stress and most of the stress is due to
problems between spouses. Marital stress needs to be controlled and
considered in case of any heart disease. Couples who are happily
married are less prone to heart disease. All couples that share common
interests will enjoy good marital relationships.
c)
While we've often been told that married life prompts healthy life,
new research shows that happiness in marriage matters. Marital stress
can lead to heart disease, with those who are happy in their marriage
being healthier than those who aren't. Sharing of common interests
when these interests have existed prior to marriage helps in building
happy marriages.
d)
It is important to be happy to stay healthy. Relationship between the
spouses is a major factor governing the stress levels in individuals.
Happy married life is important. A couple that doesn't start with
common interests could develop them and have a happy relationship.
16.Outsourcing of services to India has become a major campaign issue
in the US. The future of US workers is said to be at stake. A lot of
economic nonsense has been peddled by presidential candidates. There
is an echo of the protests against globalization that we heard in
India ten years ago. Indian industry, it was said, would be crushed by
multinationals in the 1990s after the economy opened up to the world.
And what happened? I wouldn't even bother to answer.
It can be inferred from the passage that?
a)
Typically presidential campaigns in the US are high on rhetoric.
b)
American industry is facing the same crisis that Indian industry
faced, 10 years ago.
c)
Indian companies have done well since lowering of trade barriers in the 1990s.
d)
America does not practice free trade.
Four alternative summaries are given below the text. Which of the
options best captures the essence of the text?
17.There is no trick to motivating others. It requires a clear,
unbiased understanding of the situation at hand, deep insight into the
vagaries of human nature at both the individual and the group levels,
the establishment of appropriate and reasonable expectations and
goals, and the construction of a balanced set of tangible and
intangible incentives. It requires, in other words, hard thinking and
hard work. And when an organization is under strain or is in crisis,
the challenges-and the stakes-become that much higher. The questions
that managers have to grapple with as they try to inspire their people
are many and complex: How do you deal with individuals or groups at
different motivation levels that vary in different ways? How can you
influence the behavior of a single individual, let alone an
organization of hundreds or thousands? How can you help people feel
enthusiastic and committed, especially in difficult times?
a)
During periods of organization crisis, the challenges faced by
managers in corporates are magnified by issues of employee motivation.
b)
Employee motivation is the single most challenge that managers face.
c)
For organizations to succeed, it is critical to align goals of
individual employees with organizational goals.
d)
Due to heterogeneity in employee populations, large organizations are
difficult to manage.
Three out of four sentences in the paragraph given below, when
correctly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Which of the following
sentences does not fit into the context?
18.
a)
For there comes a time when choice, rather than freeing the
individual, becomes so complex, difficult and costly, that it turns
into its opposite.
b)
And technology, far from restricting our individuality, will multiply
our choices and our freedom exponentially.
c)
There comes a time, in short, when choice turns into overchoice and
freedom into un-freedom.
d)
Whether man is prepared to cope with the increased choice of material
and cultural wares available to him is, however, a totally different
question.
Do you have the emotional intelligence of a truly great professional?
Job seekers tend to focus only on their professional experience.
However, employers are constantly on the lookout for smart people who
are not only experts in their fields, but also have the emotional
intelligence to become a well-rounded worker and a fit within the
company's culture. Employees with emotional intelligence can instantly
take the temperature of the room and adjust to different
personalities. These are the people who find it easy to get along with
coworkers and who work well as part of integrated teams. According to
Goleman, great leaders are often distinguished by emotional
intelligence (E.I.), which includes "soft skills" like self-awareness,
self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills.
Staying flexible is also important to one's overall emotional
intelligence. Flexibility may mean different things to different
employers, from working cross-departmentally to completing tasks
remotely. In a job interview, one should show employers that one has
the ability to adapt to new environments and work with a wide variety
of people in order to communicate the flexibility of one's emotional
intelligence. Employers want to know whether one can adapt to anything
thrown one's way, and high levels of emotional intelligence can help
one succeed in a variety of situations. In a global marketplace, this
can be the difference between "You're hired!" and unemployment.
There are some widespread misunderstandings about emotional
intelligence. Emotional intelligence does not mean giving free rein to
feelings--"letting it all hang out" Rather, it means managing feelings
so that they are expressed appropriately, enabling people to work
together smoothly toward their common goals.
Also, women are not "smarter" than men when it comes to emotional
intelligence, nor are men superior to women. Each of us has a personal
profile of strengths and weaknesses in these capacities. Some of us
may be highly empathic but lack some abilities to handle our own
distress; others may be quite aware of the subtlest shift in our own
moods, yet be inept socially.
It is true that men and women as groups tend to have a shared,
gender-specific profile of strong and weak points. An analysis of
emotional intelligence in thousands of men and women found that women,
on average, are more aware of their emotions, show more empathy, and
are more adept interpersonally. Men, on the other hand, are more
self-confident and optimistic, adapt more easily, and handle stress
better.
In general, however, there are far more similarities than differences.
Some men are as empathic as the most interpersonally sensitive women,
while some women are every bit as able to withstand stress as the most
emotionally resilient men. Indeed, on average, looking at the overall
ratings for men and women, the strengths and weaknesses average out,
so that in terms of total emotional intelligence, there are no sex
differences.
Finally, our level of emotional intelligence is not fixed genetically,
nor does it develop only in early childhood. Unlike IQ, which changes
little after our teen years, emotional intelligence seems to be
largely learned, and it continues to develop as we go through life and
learn from our experiences--our competence in it can keep growing. In
fact, studies that have tracked people's level of emotional
intelligence through the years show that people get better and better
in these capabilities as they grow more adept at handling their own
emotions and impulses, at motivating themselves, and at honing their
empathy and social adroitness.
In the new, stripped-down, every-job-counts business climate; the need
for connection, for empathy, for open communication will matter more
than ever. Massive change is a constant; technical innovations, global
competition, and the pressures of institutional investors are
ever-escalating forces for flux.
Another reality makes emotional intelligence ever more crucial: As
organizations shrink through waves of downsizing, those people who
remain are more accountable--and more visible. Where earlier a
midlevel employee might easily hide a hot temper or shyness, now
competencies such as managing one's emotions, handling encounters
well, teamwork, and leadership, show--and count--more than ever.
19. DIRECTIONS for question 85: Type in your answer in the input box
provided below the question.
Which of the following statements can be deduced from the passage?
(A) Tests for emotional intelligence would assess the cognitive and
social abilities of individuals.
(B) The ability to work effectively with other people and resolve
conflicts can be an indicator of one's emotional intelligence.
(C) While emotional intelligence may not seem to be as important of a
skill as, say, technical expertise, it can be the key you need to
stand out in a competitive job market.
(D) None of the above
Identify all that apply and enter the corresponding letters in the
input box given below. You must enter your answer in alphabetical
order only. For example, if you think (A) and (B) apply, then enter AB
(but not BA) in the input box.
20. According to the author, unlike Emotional quotient, Intelligence
Quotient develops
a)
little in teens.
b)
mainly in early childhood.
c)
throughout teen years.
d)
continuously through life span.
21. As regards emotional intelligence, the author suggests that
a)
differences between men and women are negligible.
b)
there are absolutely no differences between men and women.
c)
there are more similarities than differences between men and women.
d)
none of the above.
22. All of the following can be inferred from the passage EXCEPT:
a)
E.I. is learned behaviour that can only be measured quantitatively.
b)
E.I. is invaluable for efficient workplace management today.
c)
E.I. is an ever growing dynamic competency.
d)
E.I. is learned behaviour that can be measured qualitatively.
It is a general weakness of men dealing with reason and delivering
ideas that they are able to convince themselves that their words
represent a break with the past and a new beginning. In the early
stages of a revolution, history is at its most malleable. Disorder and
optimism combine to wipe out those truths artificially manufactured by
the preceding regimes. At the same time, they usually wipe out the
memory of any inconvenient real event.
We have great difficulty dealing with philosophy in the context of
real events. These two categories seem to live on separate planets. We
are still convinced that violence is the product of fear and fear the
product of ignorance. And yet, since the beginning of the Age of
reason, there has been a parallel growth in both knowledge and
violence, culminating in the slaughters of the 20th century.
Also, revolutions do not begin on dates, although we constantly search
for that kind of reassuring touch point. An argument is sometimes made
that the assumptions and methods of applied reason where all the key
elements of modern intellectual thought can be found were first
developed by the Inquisition. The Inquisitors were the first to
formalize the idea that to every question there is a right answer. The
answer is known, but the question must be asked and correctly
answered. Relativism, humanism, common sense and moral beliefs were
all irrelevant to this process because they assume doubt. Since the
Inquisitors knew the answer, doubt was impossible. Process, however,
was essential for efficient governance and process required that
questions be asked in order to produce the correct answer.
When the Inquisition was created in the thirteenth century, no one,
least of all Pope Gregory, understood what was being set in motion.
Issuing a bull which made the persecution of heresy the special
function of the Dominicans hardly seemed a revolutionary step. The
Inquisitors' definition of truth was arrived at slowly, as was the
process which permitted them to establish it. But as each detail of
that process emerged, so the assumptions involved became clear.
Everything the Inquisition did -- except the execution, of the guilty
-- took place in secret. Public silence surrounded the work of the
travelling Inquisitors. Unlike judges, magistrates, nobles and kings,
who have always worn some symbolic costume, the Inquisitors wore the
simplest, most anonymous black, like the proverbial accountant. And
while their power permitted them to do their work on the basis of
accusations and denunciations, what they really wanted were complete
inquisitions. Being already in possession of the truth, they were
interested in the rational demonstration of it by each victim. Perhaps
the most telling detail was that each of these secret tribunals
included a notary. His job was to record every word of every question
and answer. These notarised manuscripts became the perpetual records
of truth. But again, the purpose of such exactitude was to glorify the
methodology, not the outcome. The notary was there to confirm the
relationship between a priori truth and assembled fact. On the surface
the Inquisitors were torturers and monsters. On a more profound level
they were moral auditors.
23. From the passage, one can understand that the revolutionary
aspects of the Inquisition involved
a)
asking questions and providing clear answers.
b)
the persecution of heresy and the execution of unbelievers and other
people found guilty.
c)
exploring the constitution of questions, answers and the truth.
d)
preserving certified and attested manuscripts which became the
perpetual record of truth.
24. Which of the following describes the key elements of the thought
developed during the Inquisition?
a)
Moral auditing, order and reason.
b)
Impossibility of dubiousness.
c)
Humanism, common sense and relationism.
d)
Process for efficient administration and control or exercise of authority.
25. After reading the passage, one can understand, from it, all of the
following sentences EXCEPT?
a)
The inquisitors executed their victims overtly.
b)
A likely consequence of correct answers would be the desired truth,
arrived at through the desired process.
c)
The Inquisitors promoted violence by feeding on fear and ignorance in
people's minds. The victims were tortured and thus revealed the truth
but were executed anyway.
d)
The notary was a bridge between the theoretical deduction and the
constructed actuality.
26. The word "exactitude" in the context of the passage means
a)
certainty of judgement and rational demonstration.
b)
the slow but steady details of the process by which the exact truth
was defined and established.
c)
notarizing word by word to achieve the end result.
d)
preciseness of the methodology involving framing questions, seeking
answers and establishing the truth.
For more than three millennia, human beings have invested some of
their best cognitive and affective resources in the spiritual and the
religious. That investment, in retrospect, might not have been
uniformly wise and uniformly creative. But it has not been uniformly
forgettable either. The investment in secular statecraft and secular
public life, on the other hand, has been relatively recent and, though
it has also often been immensely creative, it has been spectacularly
destructive, too. In any case, the second set of investments can never
compare with the three millennia of human achievement in the sphere of
religion. Civilisation, as we know it, is largely the achievement of
the religious way of life, though we try hard to forget that part of
the story. I say this as a non-believer who has invested some years of
life in the study of the psychological and cultural sources of human
creativity.
Can we ignore or bypass these achievements for the sake of a theory of
progress that seeks to wipe clean the pre-Enlightenment world or
freeze it as a museum piece? If the answer is 'no', how can we
acknowledge the achievements of a part of our self that the
Enlightenment vision has declared terra incognita? I leave the reader
with these questions in the hope that they will help me find an answer
to one of the most persistent puzzles of our times: why do we so
frequently and enthusiastically forget the secular world's capacity to
endorse evil, while at the same time being so fearful of religion and
its capacity to endorse evil? Is it because the secular world is more
transparent to us? Or, is it because we belong to the secular world
and read all accusations of its complicity with evil as moral
indictments of us? (Such defensive denial of complicity has become an
inescapable part of the career graph of many contemporary ideologies.
Despite the shoddy record of nationalism in the last century, there
are millions of nationalists all over the world, even in Europe and
Japan, who have paid an enormous price for their nationalist fervour.
Even today, there are more Stalinists in India than in the former
Soviet Union, even though these inane ad-mirers of the Georgian
psychopath have no need to defend his record of oppression and
genocide.) One suspects that the evil that grows out of religion is
alien territory to us and looks eerily like witchcraft and blood
sacrifice, while the death of millions in the hands of secular states
and secular despots look like necessary costs to pay for lofty ideals
such as nation-building, state formation, progress, development,
scientific rationality and history. Indeed, the emphasis on the
blood-thirstiness associated with religions helps the non-believers to
wipe clean the record of their own kind.
Perhaps things are not as simple as these questions suggest. The
secular study of religion, at one level, is the other side of the
secular use of religion in which many politicians specialise. Part of
the bitterness towards the political versions of Islam, Judaism,
Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity come from a vague but threatening
awareness that those who deploy religion for personal or political
gains have the same instrumental concept of religion and use the same
set of psychological mechanisms that we use when we study religion
from outside, to produce a good ethnography or social history or to
write an acceptable doctoral dissertation.
31. The author uses the phrase 'in retrospect' (para 1) to refer to (?) .......
a)
the ability to look inwards.
b)
the expectation(s) in future based on an analysis of past.
c)
a comparison of the past and the present to resolve contentious issues.
d)
the review or the contemplation of the past from a different perspective.
32. All of the following can be deduced from the passage EXCEPT:
a)
There are more evils arising from religion than from secularism.
b)
Religion as object of research is often approached superficially.
c)
Secularism is not as blemish free and blame free as it is made out to be.
d)
Certain destructive acts are carried out in the name of high sounding ideals.
33. The author feels that the uneasiness with which people view evil
that appears to be endorsed by religion arises from?
a)
an attitude that denies that one is an accomplice of evil.
b)
the impression that these are not necessarily evils.
c)
short-sightedness and obeisance to transient fashions based on lofty
ideals like progress, nation-building, state formation and development
of a whole civilization.
d)
the fact that religion is not as transparent as secularism but is
synonymous to witchcraft, blood sacrifice and psychopathic violence.
34. Which of the following can be understood from the passage?
a)
Due to progress made by secularism, it is good to wipe clean the
contributions of religion to civilization.
b)
Terra incognita means known or discovered or explored territory.
c)
Ethno-religious nationalists who use religion as a pathway to power
would use the same religious concepts or psychological processes that
ethnographers or ardent secular nationalists would use.
d)
The investment of human cognitive and affective resources in secular
public life has always been wise and creative.
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